iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026) vs iPad mini 7.9” (5th Gen, 2019)
80
out of 100
VS
51
out of 100
Here we compared two 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 mini 7.9” (5th Gen, 2019), which is powered by Apple A12 Bionic and came out 7 years and 9 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026)
- Waterproof body (IP67 classification)
- 3.9x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3478K versus 895K)
- Has 4x more RAM: 12GB versus 3GB
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Thinner bezels – 12.6% more screen real estate
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A20 Pro
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- OLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad mini 7.9” (5th Gen, 2019)
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
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 | 7.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1512 x 2316 pixels | 1536 x 2048 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 4:3 |
| PPI | 325 ppi | 324 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% | 70.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | - | 99.7% |
| PWM | - | 5556 Hz |
| Response time | - | 25 ms |
| Contrast | - | 858:1 |
Screen space comparison
iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026)
8.5″ (3:2 ratio) = 33.3 in2
iPad mini 7.9” (5th Gen, 2019)
7.9″ (4:3 ratio) = 30 in2
~11% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 195.3 mm (7.69 inches) | 203.2 mm (8 inches) |
| Width | 132.6 mm (5.22 inches) | 134.8 mm (5.31 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.4 mm (0.21 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 255 g (8.99 oz) | 300.5 g (10.6 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 259 cm2 (40.1 inches2) | 274 cm2 (42.5 inches2) |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (43rd and 137th place)
iPad Ranking (9th and 29th place)
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A20 Pro | Apple A12 Bionic |
| Max clock | 4930 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.64 GHz: - 2 cores at 4.93 GHz: |
- 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest - 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 2 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 7 core Apple GPU | Apple GPU 4-core |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1620 MHz | 1125 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2903 GFLOPS | ~576 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 63193 | - |
| Single-core score | 4752 | 1346 |
| Multi-core score | 12197 | 2767 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 948657 | 309104 |
| GPU | 1389766 | 144993 |
| Memory | 420368 | 139578 |
| UX | 720042 | 301952 |
| Total score | 3478833 | 895627 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | Less than 3 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 78% |
| Graphics test | - | 9 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1537 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 12 GB | 3 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 4800 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 3 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iPadOS 27 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 27.2) | iPadOS 12.1.3 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| OS size | - | 9 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | - |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4974 mAh | 5124 mAh |
| Max charge power | 20 W | 12 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) | No |
| Full charging time | - | 3:10 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 08:20 hr |
| Watching video | - | 11:52 hr |
| Gaming | - | 04:49 hr |
| Standby | - | 164 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | - |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Quad LED | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (720p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 8 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 32 mm |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 7 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 3472 x 2063 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 31 mm |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 3.1 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| DisplayPort | Yes | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | - | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | eSIM | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | October 2026 | March 2019 |
| Release date | November 2026 | March 2019 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $699 | $399 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026) |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 20 W | Yes, 10 W |
Further details
Notes on iPad mini 7.9” (5th Gen, 2019):
- Supports only 1st generation of Apple Pencil.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPad mini 8.5" (8th Gen, 2026) is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1