Apple reveals battery capacity downgrade for new OLED iPad mini

Apple finally updated its compact tablet, and the new model, the iPad mini 8, brings a good number of upgrades over the last-gen pad. Among them is the OLED display, which is also more pixel-dense and brighter than the IPS screen found on the last model, but it's a bummer to see it max out at a 60Hz refresh rate. The A20 Pro SoC also makes it a very capable device for its form factor.

Beyond the hardware, the iPad mini 8 has seen some design upgrades. As revealed by Apple, the new tablet is 5.4mm thick, a notable improvement over the 6.3mm thickness of the last-gen pad. It's also lighter, weighing 0.56lbs instead of 0.65lbs.

While the company revealed most about the tablet during the announcement, in true Apple fashion, it kept the battery capacity under wraps. However, due to EU regulatory requirements, the brand needed to state it to obtain an EU energy label, and it seems that the thin, lightweight design has taken a toll on the battery.

As Apple revealed in the regulatory information sheet, the new compact tablet has a 4,900mAh battery, a downgrade from the 5,034mAh battery found in the iPad mini 7. On the bright side, this change in the rated capacity doesn't seem to have impacted the overall battery life.

Specifically, Apple claims identical battery life for the iPad mini 8, which is up to 10 hours for video playback or web browsing. This might be due to the efficiency upgrades brought over by the A20 Pro SoC and the OLED display.

The iPad mini 8 still hasn't reached end users, and it's currently available to pre-order, so it's difficult to verify the claim. For those interested in learning more about the tablet, check out our launch coverage.