As spiffy and well-received as the new iPad mini 6 is due to its significant redesign and A15 processor, there may be a display issue to sort out.
As customers receive their new iPads, a prominent issue is being spotted again and again. Colloquially referred to as “jelly scrolling,” it seems that one side of the iPad mini display is refreshing slower than the other side, which appears as a noticeable wobble effect down the middle of the screen when content is moving quickly — like scrolling a web page.
One user who reported the issue said they went back to the Apple Store to replace their seemingly-broken iPad mini, only to find that all of the demo units on display also suffered from the exact same issue.
The issue seems to focus on how the right side of the display updates faster than the left side. Upside down, the left side will now update quicker than the right side. Curiously, the lag is much harder to discern when using the iPad mini in landscape.
Per The Verge’s Dieter Bohn, the issue seems to show a visible shudder as half of the screen updates while the other half lags behind.
It’s unknown as to whether the issue is the fault of the LCD panel itself, the display controllers, or a firmware/software issue. Apple’s displays typically meet a very high specification of quality and other iPad models do not have this issue, or if they do it is way less noticeable. On iPad Pro models, the 120Hz refresh rate helps hide any sync issues during motion.
It’ll be up to the user to determine if this issue is enough to give up on the new iPad mini 6 altogether, or approach Apple for a replacement unit. While subtle visual issues are more off-putting to some users than others, and the brain can become accustomed to this and ignore it after a few hours, it could also possibly trigger headaches or nausea.
If you’ve seen this issue with your new iPad mini 6, please let us know about your experience in the comments.