Apple Brings TechWoven to iPad With All-New $79 iPad Mini Smart Folio

Apple today announced a TechWoven Smart Folio for the new iPad mini bringing its woven fabric to an iPad cover for the first time and replacing the previous, long-standing polyurethane design. With no polyurethane alternative announced, the new iPad mini looks set to become the first ‌iPad‌ since the original model in 2010 to launch without an Apple polyurethane cover option. Apple introduced the material with the ‌iPad‌ 2’s Smart Cover in 2011, continuing through subsequent ‌iPad‌ Smart Covers and Smart Folios until today.

The new accessory comes in Navy Blue and Taupe, complementing the ‌iPad mini‌’s Midnight and Starlight finishes. It costs $79 in the U.S., a $20 increase over the previous-generation Smart Folio. Alongside the material change, Apple has redesigned the cover with a two-panel construction.

It attaches magnetically to the ‌iPad mini‌ and offers an adjustable range of viewing angles, which Apple says provides a greater range of motion and new viewing angles, for enhanced versatility. Pre-orders for the new Smart Folio begin on Wednesday, October 28, alongside the ‌iPad mini‌, with availability starting on Friday, November 6. Related Roundup: iPad mini Buyer’s Guide: iPad Mini (Coming Soon) Related Forum: iPad This article, " Apple Brings TechWoven to iPad With All-New $79 iPad Mini Smart Folio " first appeared on com Discuss this article in our forums.

By adopting an OLED display, A20 Pro SoC, and IP67 durability, Apple leaves rival mini slates with virtually no counter. Apple just eliminated Android’s biggest advantages in compact tablets with the new iPad mini.

The new iPad mini crushes Android compact tablets. Powered by the 2nm A20 Pro chip alongside custom N1 wireless and C2 5G silicon, it outperforms budget-tier Android slates while retaining Apple Pencil Pro support.

A $200 price hike to $699 leaves room for potential Android challengers, but weak market interest means Apple will likely maintain its grip on the segment. Apple has officially unveiled the redesigned iPad mini, handing its smallest slate an overdue top-to-bottom transformation highlighted by a shift to OLED, a new SoC, and a thinner chassis.

The announcement is the first in Apple’s late-October iPad and Mac showcase but follows the HomeView reveal earlier in the month, positioning the petite tablet less as a casual media viewer and more like a pocketable iPad Air. According to Apple’s announcement, the refreshed iPad mini slate trades the long-standing 8.3-inch LCD for a larger 8.5-inch OLED display.

The panel delivers more than double the peak brightness of its predecessor, along with deep contrast and true blacks, thanks to the shift to OLED.

Apple Brings TechWoven to iPad With All-New $79 iPad Mini Smart Folio. Related Roundup: iPad mini Buyer’s Guide: iPad Mini (Coming Soon) Related Forum: iPad [ 8 comments ].