iFixit has released their teardown of the new iPad mini 7, shedding light on Apple’s approach to addressing the notorious “jelly scrolling” issue that troubled its predecessor. Contrary to expectations, Apple did not rotate the display driver to fix the problem. Instead, the solution appears to lie elsewhere. But where?
The jelly scrolling effect, which causes one half of the display to refresh slower than the other, resulting in a wobbling effect, was a big concern for iPad mini 6 users. With the release of the new model, reviewers noted a marked improvement, with some claiming the issue had disappeared entirely.
Federico Viticci from MacStories reported that the fix came from an “optimized display controller” rather than changes to the display hardware itself. According to Viticci, this optimization guarantees the entire panel refreshes at the same rate and speed.
The iFixit teardown confirms that Apple made a few changes to the overall hardware design of the iPad mini 7. This revelation adds to the mystery surrounding the jelly scrolling fix, which iFixit describes as “unknown trickery.”
While the primary focus was on the scrolling issue, the teardown did uncover one interesting detail: the Apple logo on the back of the device is now a separate, removable piece glued to the back plate rather than being etched into the metal.
Users testing the iPad mini 7 are split on the jelly scrolling fix—some say it’s totally gone, while others see big improvements but not a full fix.
The exact solution remains unclear, but it appears to be a software-based fix or related to display controller optimization rather than a major hardware overhaul.
More here.