iFixit Explains iPad Mini 'Jelly Scroll' Issue in Teardown Video

[Wiesi87]

Not only every LCD has this but also every OLED. The problem is related to the mounting of the controller board as mentioned in the article. Because of the panel having its refresh sideways to the primary usage orientation, people are noticing it more. If I turn my 11 Pro in Landscape and try some scrolling up/down up/down on this very side - boom jelly effect. If I turn it upside down - boom expansion and contraction effect. It gets broadly noticed when the panel is mounted the wrong way - Oneplus made this mistake with the OP5 if I remember correct, which had its panel mounted upside-down and everybody started complaining. Apple here made the mistake of rotating the panel 90 degrees from the normally used portrait orientation.
There‘s nothing that anybody can do about this other than redesigning the hardware.

Edit: A higher refresh rate of course maskes the problem better. With 120Hz it would be far less or even not noticeable at all.

 

[Realityck]

It’s just a cheaper display which Apple decided to use for the iPad Mini.

He makes that assumption but that doesn't make it so. Just like his assumption about the clock speed of the A15 is related to binned parts.

 

[yaxomoxay]

People will complain about anything. You can't please all the people all the time.

Agreed, but this is a true issue. It's visible, it's there, it's on the most important part of the device and it happens with an action that is done thousands of times on a daily basis. They can't simply say "it's normal".

 

[coolfactor]

Non-issue for the mini.

If this happened noticeable on the Pro lineup, then there's be something to complain about.

Let's hope that Apple raises the bar, though. I agree this does not meet Apple's high standards. They should definitely aim higher than "normal behaviour".

 

[ender21]

You get what you are willing to pay for. Don’t like it? Don’t buy it.

Interestingly enough, this problem would not have been discovered were it not for discerning consumers to have bought it first. That informs potential future consumers, true, but not those reporting the issue. They had to buy it before they decided not to like it.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

do people actually notice it? Most reviews I‘ve seen acknowledge it but nobody has actually said it bothers them in day to day usage.

 

[Jensend]

It’s just a cheaper display

I've seen many people say this, but I don't understand. Is it cheaper to make a screen that refreshes in one direction rather than another? The iFixit video speculates that it's because the display controller is in a different position in the iPad.
It appears to be a bad design decision, but I don't understand the accusations that Apple did this so it would be cheaper to produce.
It also looks like at least some of the Pro iPads have the screen refresh oriented the same way, so maybe the way Apple was cheap was by not using a 120Hz display.

 

[Joniz]

What gets my goat is that there’s this issue…

…and they charged you $100 more for it.

 

[lsara]

I can only see this under very specific circumstances of scrolling in a very specific manner up and down quickly which is not the way I scroll anyways. Regular scrolling doesn't show anything. You can also see that this happens on all types of devices including iPhones and Macs.

 

[reallynotnick]

Agreed, but this is a true issue. It's visible, it's there, it's on the most important part of the device and it happens with an action that is done thousands of times on a daily basis. They can't simply say "it's normal".

It's visible on literally all LCD and OLED screens if you rotate them. Outside of somehow changing the way the display refreshes when you rotate it so it always refreshes "top" to "bottom" the best they can do is increase the refresh rate to 120hz+ to minimize how noticiable it is.

 

[usagora]

Agreed, but this is a true issue. It's visible, it's there, it's on the most important part of the device and it happens with an action that is done thousands of times on a daily basis. They can't simply say "it's normal".

I simply disagree that it's a "true issue." Even if it does bother somebody, it's not like you're going to be reading the screen as you're swiping quickly up and down to "show" the effect. It's not preventing anyone from using their iPad as intended.

 

[KPOM]

“Normal” or not, people are complaining about this issue. Apple should listen. The screen is quite an important part of a tablet.

I've tried to replicate it on my iPad mini 6, and can't see it. Not saying it isn't there, but I don't notice it.
Maybe more people are noticing because the iPad mini is more likely to be used in portrait mode than larger iPads.

 

[l0stl0rd]

do people actually notice it? Most reviews I‘ve seen acknowledge it but nobody has actually said it bothers them in day to day usage.

I can tell you I do if I scroll slow of fast.

Lines become angled and pictures don’t stay straight either.

Trying to decide if it bothers be enough to send it back.

Yeah I know I most be scrolling at the wrongs speeds.

 

[_Spinn_]

That's interesting. I wonder why Apple decided to have it refresh rotated compared to how most people would use the device?

 

[ender21]

do people actually notice it? Most reviews I‘ve seen acknowledge it but nobody has actually said it bothers them in day to day usage.

It's visible on literally all LCD and OLED screens if you rotate them. Outside of somehow changing the way the display refreshes when you rotate it so it always refreshes "top" to "bottom" the best they can do is increase the refresh rate to 120hz+ to minimize how noticiable it is.

If it's just like displays from other device manufacturers, that's all well-and-good as a point of reference but ipad buyers tend to be ipad buyers. So the question to me is, how is it relative to other ipad mini generations? Is it exactly the same? If so then why has this never been brought up before? We own two ipad mini 4s and will want to upgrade them at some point. We'll likely do so anyway regardless of the reported scrolling issue because these devices have just become slow as molasses, but I'll be more inclined to wait for sales or refurbs than to pay full price.

 

[BootsWalking]

Every iPad mini 6 comes with a free subscription to Apple's Jelly of the Month club.

 

[javisan]

This would be an instant return for me. I've never experienced this on any previous iPad, Mac, or LCD iPhone I've had. I've had 4 iPads starting with the iPad 2 and not once have I seen this happen. I support the theory they're using cheap panels and did not give a F when they saw it during testing, because.. margins.

There are zero excuses and completely unacceptable given the price hike on this Mini. On the $329 iPad maybe, just maybe, I would have given them a pass. Honestly this is just the new Apple, I am not surprised at all at this point.

 

[Jensend]

this would apply if apple was forthright about the screens being significantly better in their other products, or worse in this one. But they don't give you that info, you have to buy the iPad and discover it yourself. So this is not a matter of educated consumption.

There is a ton of info they don't give you. My iPad has much more brightness change with change in viewing angle than my desktop monitors. I've never seen that on a specification listed either, beyond a non-specific "better viewing angles".

 

[one more]

It's visible on literally all LCD and OLED screens if you rotate them. Outside of somehow changing the way the display refreshes when you rotate it so it always refreshes "top" to "bottom" the best they can do is increase the refresh rate to 120hz+ to minimize how noticiable it is.

FWIW, I have just tried to reproduce this jelly effect on my iPhone 12 mini scrolling at different speeds in both vertical and horizontal iPhone orientation - no issues at all. 🖐

 

[fel10]

And there are still people here defending Apple about this. You know if this was Samsung, you would be singing a different tune.

 

[Realityck]

There are zero excuses and completely unacceptable given the price hike on this Mini. On the $329 iPad maybe, just maybe, I would have given them a pass. Honestly this is just the new Apple, I am not surprised at all at this point.

In these days where people don't think much of dropping several hundred for a Apple Watch, a new iPhone, this $100 cost to finally modernize the iPad mini seems tame. So the mini has been $399 for a long time (Mini 3, Mini 4, Mini 5), where does it say Apple can't charge more for something a bit more pro like? The older Mini 5 camera's and speakers weren't great, but it did OK with front FaceTime I found. Its no longer a dated ARM SoC like past models, it uses the same as the latest iPhone except reduced clock likely for battery. About the only thing I would be critical about is the base storage, which could have been 128GB even if they charged a bit more for it.

 

[usagora]

Every iPad mini 6 comes with a free subscription to Apple's Jelly of the Month club.

 

[gaanee]

To test whether iFixit theory is correct, one can scroll on the iPad Air in the landscape mode, if you notice jelly-scrolling then that verifies iFixit claim. If you don't notice jelly-scrolling then it's because of the poor display on the new mini.
In any case, if users are noticing it then Apple should not just dismiss the claim saying it's a normal behavior for LCD display.

 

[Armada2]

I am surprised by the rigorous quality of testing and looking for the right materials etc this got through the net when you are staring at it constantly and if Apple engineers knew about it and thought that was high standards then they should be embarrased

 

[sevoneone]

The scary thing to me is that either a) nobody at Apple noticed or cared about this during testing or b) saw it and decided it was ok. Not the Apple I know.

This is the only comment that matters in any of this. Cheap and/or lazy is not the Apple brand and there is no way this is not one or the other, possibly both.