Apple’s next iPad mini will apparently be the first iPad with a waterproof design, and the tablet is now expected to arrive in October.
BloombergMark Gurman reported last year that Apple is working on a revised casing that offers protection comparable to the iPhone, making the iPad mini safe to use in a wet environment such as a bathroom or swimming pool. No iPad currently carries an official water resistance rating, and Apple does not consider existing models to be safe from getting wet.
To achieve this, Apple has reportedly designed a vibration-based speaker system that eliminates the need for traditional speaker ports. Instead, the sound can emanate from a flat surface on the tablet chassis, effectively turning the body parts into a speaker diaphragm and eliminating one of the main routes for water and dust to enter the device.
This approach is different from the approach Apple uses on the iPhone, which relies on adhesives and gaskets to seal speaker gaps and other access points. It is not yet known what IP rating the iPad mini will support. The iPhone is rated IP68 and can withstand immersion in water up to six meters deep for 30 minutes.
Apple has been building technology for a long time. A 2014 patent from the company describes a “mechanical panel acoustic system” that vibrates flat panels to emit sound, negating the need for speaker grills entirely.
The closed design will also close the everyday gap between the iPad mini and dedicated e-readers. Devices like the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kobo Libra color are rated to survive immersion, and the ability to read in the bathtub or by the pool has long been one of the practical advantages they have over Apple’s small tablet.
Gurman recently said that Apple plans to release a new iPad mini in October. Korean store ETNews It was reported in June that Samsung Display has begun mass production of OLED panels for the phone, lending weight to the launch in that window.
Water resistance is one of at least four major changes expected this year. The switch to OLED will make the mini the second iPad line to adopt the technology after the iPad Pro, bringing high contrast, true blacks, and better power efficiency than the LCD screen on the iPad mini 7. A Korean source said earlier this month that the panel is an 8.4-inch LTPS design clocked at 60Hz, which can deliver ProMotion.
Apple is reportedly planning a “big leap processor” for the tablet. The code accidentally published by Apple pointed to the A19 Pro chip used in the iPhone Air, while other evidence in the macOS kernel debug kit suggests that the device will use the unreleased A20 Pro.
Apple last updated the iPad mini in October 2024 with the A17 Pro chip and support for Apple Intelligence. The tablet now starts at $599 following the company’s June price hike, and Gurman previously suggested that the OLED model could cost up to $100 more, though that estimate was before the June hike.