Apple unveiled the 2026 iPad mini with an OLED display and the A20 Pro chipset on Monday, with the first units scheduled to reach customers on November 6. Ahead of its release, one unit has already appeared on Geekbench 7, revealing how the new tablet performs.

The listing belongs to the iPad19,2, which is the Wi-Fi + Cellular version. It recorded 3,879 points in the single-core test and 9,870 points in multi-core. The processor features five CPU cores, consisting of two performance cores and three efficiency cores, with the performance cores running at 4.93GHz. This indicates that the tested device is either the 128GB or 256GB model, both of which use a reduced A20 Pro chip with one efficiency core disabled. Only the 512GB version comes with the complete six-core CPU. Apple has used a similar approach before, as the previous iPad mini also featured a cut-down chip. The benchmark listing additionally reveals 12GB of RAM, a specification Apple does not usually disclose in its marketing materials.

For comparison, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, powered by the full six-core A20 Pro, scores 4,024 points in single-core and 11,424 points in multi-core on Geekbench 7. This puts the iPad mini around 4% behind in single-core performance and 14% behind in multi-core, which is expected given its disabled core. However, it represents a significant improvement over the previous generation, which scored 2,638 and 7,103 points respectively. The new model is therefore 47% faster in single-core and 39% faster in multi-core performance.

The comparison becomes more interesting when looking at Apple’s larger tablets. The M5-powered 13-inch iPad Pro scores 3,580 points in single-core and 15,126 in multi-core, allowing the iPad mini to lead by approximately 8% in single-core performance. However, the iPad Pro is 53% ahead in multi-core. Compared with the M4-powered 13-inch iPad Air, which records 3,206 and 12,686 points, the iPad mini is 21% faster in single-core, while the Air leads by 29% in multi-core. As expected, processors with more cores maintain an advantage in multi-threaded workloads.

The 2026 iPad mini starts at $699, €749, or £699, and pre-orders are already open.