[DigitalToday reporter Choi Jae-won] Apple’s next-generation iPad mini may come with the A20 Pro chip used in the iPhone 18 Pro, a report said. The device is expected to keep the current model’s overall design, but the front camera position, speaker structure and display are expected to change.

On Sept. 25 (local time), IT media outlet 9to5Mac reported that reference information related to the next iPad mini, along with material believed to be a product icon, was found in Apple internal code. The code also included details that the new model runs on the A20 Pro chip. Apple has not officially announced the new product, so the actual specifications at launch may differ.

The A20 Pro is Apple’s latest mobile chip, included in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max released this month. It is built on a 2-nanometre process and includes a 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU and dual 16-core Neural Engines. Given that the current iPad mini is based on the A17 Pro unveiled in October 2024, a significant performance improvement is expected.

Based on the leaked icon, the overall design is similar to the existing model. The front camera appears to move from the top bezel in portrait use to the side bezel in landscape orientation. That matches the layout in other iPad lineups. A small speaker opening similar to the iPhone is also shown at the top of the screen.

Expectations have also been raised that the next iPad mini will adopt an OLED display, improved water resistance and a new speaker system. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman predicted the new product will go on sale by the end of October. OLED and water resistance are not specifications newly confirmed by this code leak, but expected features known from earlier reports.

If the A20 Pro claim proves true, the iPad mini would keep its small size while offering iPhone Pro-level computing performance. The key question is how the switch to OLED and structural changes will affect the device’s price and battery efficiency.