iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026) vs iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
80
out of 100
VS
85
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 8.5-inch Apple iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026) (with Apple A20 Pro) that was released on October 26, 2026, against the Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026), which is powered by Apple M4 (iPad) and came out 8 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026)
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- 12% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3478K versus 3116K)
- 25% higher pixel density (325 vs 261 PPI)
- Much smaller footprint: 41% more compact case (40.1 vs 68.5 square inches)
- OLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
- Weighs 209 grams less
- 28% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4752 and 3717 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
- Has a 2.5 inches larger screen size
- Comes with 2632 mAh larger battery capacity: 7606 vs 4974 mAh
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+4)
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | IPS LCD |
| Size | 8.5 inches | 11 inches |
| Resolution | 1512 x 2316 pixels | 1640 x 2360 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 3:2 |
| PPI | 325 ppi | 261 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | - | No |
| Max rated brightness | 600 nits | 500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 83.1% | 81.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | - | 99.6% |
| PWM | - | Not detected |
| Response time | - | 22 ms |
| Contrast | - | 1140:1 |
Screen space comparison
iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
11″ (3:2 ratio) = 55.8 in2
iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026)
8.5″ (3:2 ratio) = 33.3 in2
~67% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 195.3 mm (7.69 inches) | 247.6 mm (9.75 inches) |
| Width | 132.6 mm (5.22 inches) | 178.5 mm (7.03 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.4 mm (0.21 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 255 g (8.99 oz) | 464 g (16.37 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 259 cm2 (40.1 inches2) | 442 cm2 (68.5 inches2) |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.85/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Bad (E) · 42 drops |
Visual size comparison
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (40th and 28th place)
iPad Ranking (9th and 6th place)
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A20 Pro | Apple M4 (iPad) |
| Max clock | 4930 MHz | 4410 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 10 (4 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.64 GHz: - 2 cores at 4.93 GHz: |
- 6 cores at 2.85 GHz: - 4 cores at 4.41 GHz: |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 2 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 7 core Apple GPU | 9 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 1280 |
| GPU clock | 1620 MHz | 1470 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2903 GFLOPS | ~3763.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 63193 | 52952 |
| Single-core score | 4752 | 3717 |
| Multi-core score | 12197 | 13294 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 948657 | 915032 |
| GPU | 1389766 | 1135331 |
| Memory | 420368 | 349968 |
| UX | 720042 | 715682 |
| Total score | 3478833 | 3116013 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [2 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Graphics test | - | 23 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 3099 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 46 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 59 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 45 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 12127 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026)
No benchmark results yet
Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-03 (Astreeek) | AnTuTu 11 | 2940000 |
| 📘 2026-04-26 (BG-M4-User) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 52952 |
| 📘 2026-04-26 (BG-M4-User) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3717 / 13294 |
| 📘 2026-04-26 (BG-M4-User) | AnTuTu 11 | 3116013 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 4800 MHz | - |
| Channels | 3 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iPadOS 27 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 27.2) | iPadOS 26.3 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 27.2) |
| OS size | - | 38 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 0 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4974 mAh | 7606 mAh |
| Max charge power | 20 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | - |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 60 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 2:16 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Quad LED | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Pixel size | - | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.4 |
| Sensor | - | CMOS |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Type of SIM card | eSIM | eSIM |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | October 2026 | March 2026 |
| Release date | November 2026 | March 2026 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $699 | $599 |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 20 W | Yes, 20 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026). But if the display and design are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026).
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