Has Apple finally fixed the iPad Mini’s “jelly scroll” problem?

The 6th generation iPad Mini was nearly perfect except for one issue that affected the display, so-called “jelly scrolling.” So does the 2024 7th generation iPad Mini refresh solve the problem? The answer is complicated.

“Jelly scrolling” was an issue that quickly surfaced when the 2021 iPad Mini was used in portrait mode. One side of the screen updates slightly slower than the other, causing a visible “wobble” when scrolling vertically in portrait orientation.

This is because the left side of the iPad Mini screen updates before the right side. There was a visible lag between items on the left and right side as the right side of the screen took a moment to catch up. This was especially noticeable when scrolling at high speeds.

Jelly scrolling was most noticeable when scrolling through text-heavy web pages or documents. It wasn’t as much of an issue in games, and wasn’t noticeable on static or slow-moving screen elements. Unsurprisingly, I had no problems using the iPad in landscape mode.

The main reason for the jelly-like scrolling was the position of the display controller. The display controller is located along the left edge of the display when you hold your iPad Mini in portrait mode. The display controller sends approximately 60 updates per second (hence the screen refresh rate of 60 Hz), but these must be sent from left to right.

“Standard” iPad models work around this problem by placing the display controller vertically at the top of the screen. Jelly scrolling is still a “problem” on these models, but since most people browse the web and read text in portrait mode, the problem is less noticeable.

It’s also worth pointing out that the 60Hz refresh rate only exacerbated the problem. Doubling the refresh rate to 120Hz (Apple calls it ProMotion) will make the screen update twice as fast, making the problem much less noticeable for most people.

So has Apple fixed the jelly scrolling issue on the 2024 iPad Mini? The answer seems to be no, but there’s one big caveat. Despite mixed messages from reviewers, it appears that jelly scrolling is still present on the 7th generation 2024 iPad Mini.

The Verge’s David Pierce says the problem is “still very much present.” Nevertheless, there are signs of hope. Pierce notes that the 2024 model has less jelly-like scrolling, and the problem wasn’t serious enough to make it onto the cons list.

In fact, Jelly Scroll seems much better on the 2024 iPad Mini than on previous models. Reviews posted on Wired, Tom’s Guide, and Stuff say it’s no longer an issue, while CNET and TechRadar don’t mention the issue at all.

This is especially interesting considering what a teardown revealed about the new tablet.

Apple isn’t moving display controllers

iFixit’s teardown confirmed that the jelly scroll is still present through several tests, and also revealed why. Apple hasn’t moved the 2024 iPad Mini’s display controller, but it has somehow improved its performance to the point where it’s less noticeable.

iFixit’s teardown shows that the chip used in the display controller appears to be the same as previous models, but that “Apple has managed to solve the worst parts of the jelly scrolling problem with some trickery.” “I did,” he admits.

This means that this problem may not bother you anymore, especially if it wasn’t so gradual last time. If you primarily use your iPad for sketching, painting, playing games, creating music, or if you spend most of your time in landscape mode, you’ll probably want to think twice about this. You shouldn’t.

So should you upgrade from the 6th generation iPad Mini to the 2024 model? Read our iPad Mini comparison for more information. Unless Apple Intelligence features are really important to you, we don’t blame you if you decide to skip this year’s iPad Mini refresh.