iPad mini iPad mini 7 on iPadOS 18.5?

[Andy_2341]

I used to own a pink 256 cellular mini 6 and sold it back in June 2025 when it was still on 18.4. Just before Christmas I bought myself a 128 WiFi space gray mini 7 as a present and it was delivered yesterday (Amazon). To my surprise, it was manufactured back in June and was running 18.5 out of the box. I thought for sure I’d get a tablet with OS26 on it.

Just wanted to throw that out there because I found that really surprising. I’m enjoying having 18.7.3 even though all my other devices are on 26. The slide over/splitview makes so much more sense on the mini, especially since I have a MacBook Air for a true windowed environment. The 7 also just seems faster than the 6 ever was and the screen isn’t bad at all. It plays games just like I wanted and handles light productivity easy. Very solid tablet with an extra surprise!

 

[It’s always something]

I used to own a pink 256 cellular mini 6 and sold it back in June 2025 when it was still on 18.4. Just before Christmas I bought myself a 128 WiFi space gray mini 7 as a present and it was delivered yesterday (Amazon). To my surprise, it was manufactured back in June and was running 18.5 out of the box. I thought for sure I’d get a tablet with OS26 on it.

Just wanted to throw that out there because I found that really surprising. I’m enjoying having 18.7.3 even though all my other devices are on 26. The slide over/splitview makes so much more sense on the mini, especially since I have a MacBook Air for a true windowed environment. The 7 also just seems faster than the 6 ever was and the screen isn’t bad at all. It plays games just like I wanted and handles light productivity easy. Very solid tablet with an extra surprise!

For what it’s worth (and not suggesting anything about whether to do it or not): the mini 7 runs iPadOS 26 very well in Full Screen mode at least. But I do miss being able to shift into Split Screen at will on occasion.

 

[Andy_2341]

For what it’s worth (and not suggesting anything about whether to do it or not): the mini 7 runs iPadOS 26 very well in Full Screen mode at least. But I do miss being able to shift into Split Screen at will on occasion.

I’ll probably stick with 18 for the time being. I ran the OS26 betas on my mini 6 before reverting back, selling it, and buying the MacBook. I needed more multitasking and external drive support. 26 didn’t deliver on multitasking like I thought it would and full external drive support(like safe ejecting) is still a Mac thing for now. So full screen is how I mostly use my iPad these days, but for the occasional multitasking I want to keep split screen. Around time for OS27 I may reconsider though. Depends on how my usage evolves, or the lack there of, and how the OS grows from here.

 

[Meedoss]

My M4 iPad Pro I just got was made last June

 

[Andy_2341]

My M4 iPad Pro I just got was made last June

Dang. Lots of old stock left or is that normal? My MacBook was made two months before I got it and my 15 pro was only a mon5 before. Although the Mac came from Apple and the 15 Pro from Verizon while the iPad is from Amazon

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Dang. Lots of old stock left or is that normal?

Not unusual for 3rd party (Amazon) purchases. It'd be less common if you purchased from the Apple Online Store.

 

[1rottenapple]

I’ll probably stick with 18 for the time being. I ran the OS26 betas on my mini 6 before reverting back, selling it, and buying the MacBook. I needed more multitasking and external drive support. 26 didn’t deliver on multitasking like I thought it would and full external drive support(like safe ejecting) is still a Mac thing for now. So full screen is how I mostly use my iPad these days, but for the occasional multitasking I want to keep split screen. Around time for OS27 I may reconsider though. Depends on how my usage evolves, or the lack there of, and how the OS grows from here.

There was a news article the said the adoption rate was in the 20s for iOS 26. I frankly haven’t update my iPad and Mac to liquid glass and I find the design on big devices horrible. Look at the Mac. Square windows contrasting with rounded corners on the software UI. I’m sticking to 18 on my iPad and Mac for sure. It fine on the phone and it shows the design was geared for the iPhone and secondary to big screen Apple devices.