iPad mini iPad mini 7 display quality

[LotsOfBees]

using the ipad air 13" lcd as the gold standard (ignoring the ppi difference)

I have noticed the following three types of ipad mini lcd

type I:
the rendering is closest to ipad air 13" lcd and this is the best ipad mini lcd imo

type II:
this lcd looks subjectively very sharp, sharper than the ipad air 13" lcd, too sharp to use for extended periods, maybe oversharpened and the backlight is very harsh

type III: (most common)
this lcd is mediocre and looks similar to current macbook air M4 lcd, despite having higher ppi. the glyphs and texts is slightly blurry up close, similar to the macbook air. High resolution images lack detail.

 

[Nikhil72]

Ended up returning an iPad Mini this week and sticking with the 11” Pro as my smaller iPad for on the go computing for the display quality. Without a Magic Keyboard, it’s comparably portable, and the mini didn’t fit into my pant pockets either so both warranted a bag.

 

[LotsOfBees]

I took measurements of four ipad mini gen 7 using an i1d3 colorimeter using generic 99% P3 backlight ccss correction to check factory calibration. This is just to see color response, it does not reveal anything about LCD panel quality, even a mediocre panel can be calibrated to a low delta E.


ipad minis with ios 18.0 - ios 18.2 out of the box have similar factory calibration, with similar greyscale and color measurements

the one ipad mini with ios 18.4 out of the box have improved grayscale calibration(below) but the color measurements did not improve. detail images are here

 

[LotsOfBees]

I found a gen 6 on display at walmart. Apple 100% switched display suppliers for gen 7, probably to reduce cost. As you can clearly see from the different spectral power distribution of the backlight, the old model was more blue and reddish and inline with the ipad air. The new one is dull and yellowish.

 

[Meedoss]

My 7 made a few months ago is not yellowish.
You must be new to apple screens, it's the luck of the draw always has been lol

 

[LotsOfBees]

My 7 made a few months ago is not yellowish.
You must be new to apple screens, it's the luck of the draw always has been lol

do you have an ipad mini 6 to compare with? human eyes adapt to any whitepoint. youre clearly not familiar with backlight spectral power distribution and metamerism. when there is metameric failure it means the backlight is different.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I got an iPad mini A17 from Best Buy for $379. I refuse to pay $600+ for an iPad I only use to read books on (and articles now and then). The screen is very sharp to me. I've never been completely comfortable with my iPhone 15 Pro Max - but I've read 700 page books on it several times now.

I always throw an iCarez matte screen protector on my devices - and I often have the brightness really low - and I read fairly fast. Been really happy with my iPad mini screen - still feel like I spent more than I should have... but if I can keep this for a handful of years, it'll be wroth the cost.

Yes, noticed the lack of 120hz right away, but after a few minutes of diving into a book, I forget about it. The big bonus of this is, every time I pick up my iPhone (after using the mini) - I go wow this is so smooth and nice. Win win imo.

Amazed how draining iPad OS is these days - had to turn off a lot of background app refreshes and notifications to get my iPad to flatline (battery wise) when not in use - otherwise I was having to charge it way too regularly.

 

[BigMcGuire]

OLED gives me migraines so I'm happy they used LCD on the Mini 7 (probably for the last time).

I haven't really noticed any difference between the Mini 6 and my other LCD-based iPads. I've never really noticed the jelly scrolling.

Yeah, I don't know what it is about the new iPad Pros .... I get that instant pressure point in my head when I look at them (similar with my 15 Pro Max). Never get that on the old LCD Pros and I don't get that on my Mini 7.

I downgraded to a mini from a Pro, to me nothing beats the comfort of a mini even if the screen isn't at the same level; my Pro ended up collecting dust from how cumbersome I found it to be, so ymmv

I've used an iPad Pro for many years - was a big fan of the 2018. But the cost now days is just insane ... especially for someone like me who just reads books. So I sold my old iPad Pro years ago (love the resale value on these!) and have been reading on my iPhone.

The mini is just SO AMAZING to hold in my hand for long periods of time - I can read for hours and not even notice it. I always had to prop up the iPad Pro on a pillow or something.

I guess I just don't agree

If these devices were $299 or something maybe, but it's a premium priced device for what it is and the size of the screen, etc

From Apple I just expect better
(yes I've used the Mini 7 at the store for about 30 mins and a Mini lover in general -- Mini 5 mega user)

These devices aren't worth $499... agreed. When I saw Best Buy offering my iPad mini 7 in July for $379, that was much more palatable.

Couldn't justify spend $999 on one now - but I'm just a book / article reader - occasional Youtube video watcher. I understand pros using them to create things, ok... but still, seems way too high.

 

[thadoggfather]

These devices aren't worth $499... agreed. When I saw Best Buy offering my iPad mini 7 in July for $379, that was much more palatable.

Even though I agree 499 is a lot for a mini and I got mine for 399 near launch, I will say from not upgrading iPads that often it is a much better value than a pricier iPhone year over year upgrading, or every other year type thing.

That said, of course iPhone is used every day and more often presumably than a 2ndary device like a tablet but

 

[Greenmeenie]

I have an iPad mini 7 that compliments my iPad Pro very nicely. No complaints on the screen. I know the screen is of lesser quality than the iPad Pro, but i don’t notice it at all. I am an artist, and my iPad Pro is my main digital sketchbook & media consumption device while at home, but when I really wanna travel light, I always grab my iPad mini. It’s the perfect size digital sketchbook when on the go. I don’t notice any jelly scrolling & the 60hrtz refresh rate doesn’t bother me at all. Love this little iPad!

 

[ctjack]

I got an iPad mini A17 from Best Buy for $379. I refuse to pay $600+ for an iPad I only use to read books on (and articles now and then). The screen is very sharp to me. I've never been completely comfortable with my iPhone 15 Pro Max - but I've read 700 page books on it several times now.

I always throw an iCarez matte screen protector on my devices - and I often have the brightness really low - and I read fairly fast. Been really happy with my iPad mini screen - still feel like I spent more than I should have... but if I can keep this for a handful of years, it'll be wroth the cost.

Yes, noticed the lack of 120hz right away, but after a few minutes of diving into a book, I forget about it. The big bonus of this is, every time I pick up my iPhone (after using the mini) - I go wow this is so smooth and nice. Win win imo.

Amazed how draining iPad OS is these days - had to turn off a lot of background app refreshes and notifications to get my iPad to flatline (battery wise) when not in use - otherwise I was having to charge it way too regularly.

Also don't sleep on bestbuy trade ins. I was about to bite the bullet at 379 but decided i would enjoy it more spent on buying a bicycle currently. After bike and prices at 350 i might bite.

The real win is when you trade in old ipad mini for a new one - they give pretty good values around 180. I was able to replace ipad regular using this route for 90 dollars.

 

[thadoggfather]

I have an iPad mini 7 that compliments my iPad Pro very nicely. No complaints on the screen. I know the screen is of lesser quality than the iPad Pro, but i don’t notice it at all. I am an artist, and my iPad Pro is my main digital sketchbook & media consumption device while at home, but when I really wanna travel light, I always grab my iPad mini. It’s the perfect size digital sketchbook when on the go. I don’t notice any jelly scrolling & the 60hrtz refresh rate doesn’t bother me at all. Love this little iPad!

if iPad mini OLED is exorbitantly priced, I'm not going to care to upgrade for a while if not possibly ever.
This ship has passed on me really caring about it

I'm glad they addressed jelly scroll enough at least to my eyes to not be something I see in regular use if I don't laser focus on it. with iPad mini 6, I saw it all the time. It didn't bother me that much, but it's the weirdest motion I had on any apple device ever at the same time.

 

[Greenmeenie]

if iPad mini OLED is exorbitantly priced, I'm not going to care to upgrade for a while if not possibly ever.
This ship has passed on me really caring about it

I love the iPad mini 7 and how it sits in my workflow. It does it’s job. Having said that, I wouldn’t mind down the road if it gets some of these features: Face ID, OLED screen with 120hz refresh rate. But if the iPad mini 8 gets all those, I won’t feel compelled to run out & update right away. However, if Apple plans to discontinue the iPad mini because the future foldable iPhone canabalizes that market… then I will definitely upgrade to the latest iPad mini before Apple stops selling them completely. Not that I’m predicting this will happen. Just thinking out loud. Who knows 🤷‍♂️

 

[rui no onna]

Even though I agree 499 is a lot for a mini and I got mine for 399 near launch, I will say from not upgrading iPads that often it is a much better value than a pricier iPhone year over year upgrading, or every other year type thing.

That said, of course iPhone is used every day and more often presumably than a 2ndary device like a tablet

I use iPads a lot more than iPhones. I'm not too fond of current iPad pricing either but it's workable considering the performance remains good for years.

My 1TB M1 12.9" and 11" are still going strong so I've yet to feel the need to upgrade. I'm also finally content with the iPad mini 7 with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage.

Not really interested in going OLED unless they do something about PWM.

 

[klasma]

I found a gen 6 on display at walmart. Apple 100% switched display suppliers for gen 7, probably to reduce cost. As you can clearly see from the different spectral power distribution of the backlight, the old model was more blue and reddish and inline with the ipad air. The new one is dull and yellowish.

View attachment 2527528

View attachment 2527529

This is, unfortunately, "normal" variation between panels of even the same supplier. There's barely an iPhone or iPad model where some users didn't complain about yellowish screens, and I had a share of them myself. When the iPad mini 6 came out, I ended up ordering three units one after another (in the hope that one doesn’t have jelly scrolling), and they all had slightly different whitepoints and contrast ("dullness").

 

[DavGreg]

I have the iPad Pro M4 and the current Mac mini and generally have no complaint regarding the display.
It is quite obviously not the same grade as the Pro but that is to be expected.
This is side by side with the same OS and wallpaper. The brightness is full on both.