iFixit Shares iPad Mini 7 Teardown, Adds Mystery to 'Jelly Scrolling' Fix

Electronics repair website iFixit this weekend shared an iPad mini 7 teardown video, and it adds some mystery to the device's 'jelly scrolling' improvements.

'Jelly scrolling' refers to screen tearing, which can cause text or images on one side of the screen to appear to be tilted downwards because of a mismatch in refresh rates. It can cause one side of the display to look as if it is responding faster than the other side, resulting in a visual disturbance that is hard to ignore once noticed. Some customers noticed the effect on the iPad mini 6 when the device was used in portrait orientation, leading to complaints over the past three years, but not everyone noticed it or was bothered by the effect.

Despite an Apple spokesperson once stating that 'jelly scrolling' was 'normal' behavior for iPads with LCD displays, it appears the company still felt inclined to reduce the effect on the iPad mini 7. Many reviewers said that 'jelly scrolling' was less noticeable or not noticeable at all on the latest iPad mini, and it seems that Apple vaguely told some of these reviewers that it made display-related changes to address the matter.

It was speculated that Apple might have rotated the display controller inside the iPad mini 7 to make 'jelly scrolling' less visible in portrait orientation, but interestingly, iFixit said that the display controller's position has not changed compared to the iPad mini 6. The website concluded that Apple has done some unknown 'trickery' to reduce 'jelly scrolling,' so it still remains unclear exactly what Apple has done to mitigate the issue.

The teardown video also revealed that the iPad mini 7's rear Apple logo can be removed, but otherwise the device's internal design is similar to the iPad mini 6.

Apple released the iPad mini 7 last week, with key features including the A17 Pro chip, Apple Intelligence support, Apple Pencil Pro support, and more.Related Roundup: iPad miniTags: iFixit, TeardownBuyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Buy Now)Related Forum: iPadThis article, "iFixit Shares iPad Mini 7 Teardown, Adds Mystery to 'Jelly Scrolling' Fix" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums