iPad Mini 7 Has Display Hardware Changes That Likely Fix Jelly Scrolling

One of the main complaints about the prior-generation iPad mini 6 was "jelly scrolling" or screen tearing, and it sounds like it's a problem that Apple may have addressed with hardware updates to the iPad mini 7 display.

ipad mini 7 feature
In the most recent episode of the Six Colors Podcast, Jason Snell and Dan Moren discussed the new ‌iPad mini 7‌, and shared some information about the display. Snell said that it was his understanding that there have been unspecified adjustments to the display hardware in the ‌iPad mini 7‌ that should make a difference when it comes to jelly scrolling.

Snell didn't provide a source, but his information likely comes directly from Apple. There is only an "implication" that the changes were to fix jelly scrolling, however, and Snell made it clear that because no one has seen the ‌iPad mini 7‌ as of yet, there's no concrete information. "My guess is it's different," he said. "And maybe better. And maybe gone."

Jelly scrolling is a display issue that causes text or images on one side of the display to be out of sync with the other side. The result is text or images that can appear to be tilted downward because of a screen refresh rate mismatch, and for some people, once you've noticed the problem, it's hard to ignore.

‌iPad mini‌ 6 owners started noticing jelly scrolling in portrait mode on the device shortly after it launched in 2021. Some users were not bothered by the effect, while others said that it was irritating to look at and could cause eye strain.

Most if not all ‌iPad mini‌ 6 units seemed to be impacted, but the degree of impact varied from user to user due to different tolerances for screen tearing. The effect likely impacted prior iPads, but it seemed to be more noticeable in the ‌iPad mini‌ 6.

‌iPad mini 7‌ rumors suggested that Apple would rotate the screen assembly in order to cut down on jelly scrolling, so it's possible Apple has done something like that to minimize the issue in the seventh-generation model.

The ‌iPad mini 7‌ is available for pre-order and is set to launch on Wednesday, October 23. Once the tablet is available, users will be able to see for themselves whether jelly scrolling has been addressed, and an iFixit teardown will provide insight into any hardware changes. We'll also likely get reviews before the ‌iPad mini 7‌ models launch, so we could have a more firm answer on the jelly scrolling question in a matter of days.

Related Roundup: iPad mini
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Neutral)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

sleven Avatar
9 months ago
The amount of “maybe,” “possibly,” in this article is amazing.
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
9 months ago

The amount of “maybe,” “possibly,” in this article is amazing.
As someone who has first-hand experience with the world of Apple PR, my opinion is that Apple PR is being intentionally coy here. I am almost certain that Apple PR invited a group of journalists and YouTubers onto a Webex conference call for the new iPad mini, and someone inevitably asked about jelly scrolling during the Q&A session. Then, Apple PR probably gave a sideways answer about the display controller being rotated, without directly admitting that this change is to fix jelly scrolling, but also not denying it either. This achieves the exact objective that Apple PR wants: to inform the public that the iPad mini 7 is a safe buy free of jelly scrolling, while simultaneously avoiding admitting that every iPad mini 6 already sold has an issue. Apple's only-ever public comment on jelly scrolling called it "normal" display behavior, yet Apple has seemingly still made a change here to fix/improve it. What you are witnessing here is nothing other than Apple PR being a masterclass in controlling the narrative. I'm happy it seems to be fixed, though!
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kalafalas Avatar
9 months ago
Rotating the assembly does nothing, just makes it a problem in landscape instead of portrait. Personally I nearly exclusively use my iPad in landscape so that would be a downgrade not an improvement. The only proper solution is moving away from LCD
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nautilus007 Avatar
9 months ago
Okay, now fix the lack of Face ID and Pro Motion.


This!

No reason the iPad Mini should have the same refresh rate for the past 10 years..
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dust-by-Monday Avatar
9 months ago
It's not a frame rate mismatch. The screen refreshes left to right instead of top to bottom. It's more noticeable when the screen is refreshing left to right in portrait mode because of the skinnier screen width. It would be preferable if the screen refreshed top to bottom in portrait mode like they do on iPhone. When you tilt the ipad in landscape, the jelly scroll is less noticeable since the screen is wider.

By the way, you can see this effect on every modern display. Desktop monitors scan top to bottom (hence why you see screen tearing in the horizontal direction when you disable vsync in a video game).

Take a window on your desktop computer and quickly drag it up and down... not much to see there... looks normal right? Now take that same window and shake it left and right and you'll see it skew a bit.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
9 months ago
Okay, now fix the lack of Face ID and Pro Motion.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)