Apple's new iPad mini A20 Pro (called the iPad mini 8 in some reviews) lifted its media embargo days ago. Across reviews from The Verge, Tom's Guide, 9to5Mac and MKBHD, the new device won praise for sound quality, battery life and on-device AI performance, but the 60Hz screen's lack of ProMotion became the sharpest point of criticism.
Acoustic Display: Sound and Durability Gains
The new iPad mini uses Acoustic Display technology, with sound firing out of the front panel rather than from speaker holes. The Verge's David Pierce judged that it doesn't sound any better than before, maybe a tiny bit bassier, but also doesn't sound worse, and having the sound pointed at you instead of out the sides of the tablet is slightly better. He sees it mainly as a trade-off made for durability, and an acceptable one.
MKBHD's Marques Brownlee is a fan of the Acoustic Display, enough to imagine Apple bringing it to a future high-end iPhone (like a big redesign next year for the 20th anniversary). But he also notes you can feel the whole iPad shake when the volume is turned up high. YouTube's Stephen Robles found the sound muffled at high volume and disliked the vibration. Tom's Guide's Tony Polanco liked the sound quality.
Battery Life and On-Device AI Performance
Tom's Guide's battery test (continuous web browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits) put the iPad mini 8 at 14 hours 24 minutes, nearly four hours more than the previous generation and Apple's official claim. Polanco ran the test only once.
MacStories' John Voorhees was impressed by the on-device AI performance. Using Russet's built-in benchmark to run Qwen 3.5 4B (4-bit) locally, the 512GB iPad mini averaged 40 tokens per second across four sessions (tests generating 128 or 256 tokens).
60Hz Screen Becomes the Focus of Criticism
9to5Mac's Chance Miller said flatly that the new iPad mini's screen doesn't support ProMotion or a 120Hz refresh rate of any kind, and is still locked to 60Hz — "an incredibly frustrating decision." He acknowledged that OLED pixel response time is faster, making home-screen swipes, social media scrolling and system animations noticeably smoother, but said it still falls short of ProMotion devices and can't replace a high-refresh-rate screen.
"Unfortunately, the new iPad mini's screen has one limitation: it doesn't support ProMotion, or a 120Hz refresh rate of any kind. Instead, it's still locked to 60Hz. This is an incredibly frustrating decision that I can't quite wrap my head around." — Chance Miller, 9to5Mac
Miller noted that Apple is very stingy with ProMotion, having extended it to non-Pro products only last year (the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air), and this year's $2,000 iPhone Duo supports it too. But the $1,600 Studio Display is still 60Hz, and only the $3,300 Studio Display XDR supports 120Hz. Since Apple doesn't sell an iPad Pro smaller than 11 inches, users who want a small iPad and care about ProMotion have no option.
MKBHD also criticized the new iPad mini's lack of a 120Hz screen and wondered where Apple sourced a high-quality OLED that doesn't support 120Hz. Daring Fireball's John Gruber argued the problem isn't the panel but the display controller: ProMotion requires a more expensive display driver, and adding it to the iPad mini would either push the price up further or eat into Apple's margins.
MKBHD also described the two color options as "annoyingly, slightly not black and slightly not white."
What to Watch
Reviews broadly agree that the Acoustic Display and battery life are highlights, but the 60Hz screen could affect buying decisions. Whether Apple brings ProMotion to more non-Pro devices, and how the new iPad mini performs in the market, are worth watching.