Shortly after the completely revamped iPad mini 6 was released last September, some users noticed that the LCD screen exhibited a so-called “jelly scrolling” display refresh quirk. As first reported by MacRumors and expanded on by Patently Apple, this lawsuit shows that some iPad mini 6 users aren’t satisfied with that explanation. The lawsuit has been filed by Christopher Bryan of Colorado, who alleges that this “defect” of the iPad mini means that the display “bends, warps, blurs and obscures text and images” to the point that it is “unusable.”
In the lawsuit, the plaintiff notes that other devices that use LCD screens don’t suffer nearly as badly from the jelly scrolling defect, including Apple’s own iPad Air.
Is Jelly Scrolling on the iPad Mini Really Normal Behavior?
“I fired up last year’s iPad Mini, an Amazon Fire HD, and a Huawei Media Pad, and couldn’t find one that specifically bothered me with left-right refresh difference,” said Avi Greengart, a consumer tech analyst, in an email to Digital Trends. In the case of the new iPad Mini, while some users were OK with the jelly screen, many were upset because Apple showed no desire to fix the problem since it’s not a hardware or software issue.
“The iPad Mini has a 60Hz refresh rate, meaning the lines of code are refreshed 60 times per second, fast enough where the average person typically will see it as a solid image without lag or flickering,” said David Lynch of Payette Forward, a website dedicated to diagnosing and solving issues with Apple products.
The fact that they aren’t, and that lots of people are noticing a “jelly scroll” effect, is indicative of an issue.”
Apple rarely acknowledges defects, often only fixing the problem later down the line with an adjustment to a future model or expanding warranty service options. It’s far more subjective, and to some extent, it is a genuinely common occurrence, so it’ll be much harder to prove if it does end up in court as some customers are planning.
Many users admitted on social media and tech forums that they didn’t even realize the jelly scrolling effect was present before they read other users’ reports about it, including Digital Trends own mobile section editor, Ajay Kumar, who didn’t notice the problem on his own iPad Mini 6 until he was actively looking for it.
Lawsuit claims iPad mini 6 is defective because of ‘jelly scrolling’ issue
In the lawsuit, which was first spotted by MacRumors, the plaintiff also alleges that “users have reported motion sickness, nausea, vomiting, and migraines when using the Device due to the Defect.” Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Apple is aware of the defect but is still currently selling the iPad mini without taking steps to fix it or amend marketing materials to reflect it.
iPad mini 6 Jelly Scrolling: What Is It (And Does It Matter?)
I’ve only had my iPad mini for 24 hours, but it’s already making a solid claim for the best version of Apple’s tablet. During my recent unboxing and first reactions video, I revealed how long I’ve been waiting for the redesigned iPad mini. Following a tweet from The Verge Executive Editor, Dieter Bohn, the internet has lost its you-know-what about the iPad mini 6 and the device’s apparent display-related failings. But I can confirm that my iPad mini does exhibit the issue, and we appear to be heading into Apple Gate territory.
Most refresh from top to bottom, and if you view them 90 degrees from their default orientation (for instance, if you turn a regular PC monitor on its side), you’ll spot the dreaded jelly effect when scrolling through certain types of content. I’ll refer to Bohn’s tweet above for a slo-mo example of this, but it essentially results in the content ‘bending’ and lagging behind itself from left to right as you scroll up or down. On the iPad mini 6, this only happens when you operate the device in portrait mode, and you’ll only really spot it when there’s lots of full-width text content on the screen. A quick trawl through the discussion threads on the iPad mini 6 jelly scrolling issue isn’t particularly encouraging.
As noted by my podcast co-host, Rob, “it probably isn’t fixable with software as the panel refresh is determined by the display controller, which is hardware.” He knows his stuff, too. Jelly scrolling, therefore, appears to be a common, isolated problem for the new iPad mini, but I don’t think it should put you off if you’re currently considering purchasing one.
iFixit explains why the iPad mini 6 suffers from jelly scrolling
3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , Arc , ARM , Audio , Benchmark , Biotech , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , DIY , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel , Intel Evo , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Leaks / Rumors , Linux / Unix , List , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Raptor Lake , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Wi-Fi 7 , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) , Zen 4 Ticker On the one hand, it notes that Apple has positioned the display’s controller board vertically, the same way that people tend to hold a small tablet or a smartphone. iFixitasserts that displays refresh parallel to the position of their controller boards, horizontally in the case of the iPad mini 6. Hence, the iPad mini 6 refreshes its display in the opposite way in which most people use it, giving the effect of text and images wobbling as you scroll through them.
Apple Says ‘Jelly Scrolling’ on iPad Mini 6 is Normal Behavior for LCD Screens
iPad mini 6 owners have been complaining about a “jelly scrolling” problem that affects some iPad mini models when using the device in portrait mode, and Apple now says that the behavior is normal for an LCD screen. Apple may also issue some kind of software fix in the future to address the problem, even though the company claims that it is normal behavior.
Apple says the ‘jelly scroll’ issue on the iPad mini is ‘normal behavior’
When Apple launched its new 6th generation iPad mini last week to much fanfare, some users began to notice an oddity with the way the display behaves when it is in portrait orientation. It’s caused by a noticeable lag on the left side of the screen that delays and distorts content in that area no matter what you’re using the device for, apps, web, videos, etc. In response to our inquiry, Apple has told us that the “jelly scroll” issue on the 6th-generation iPad mini is normal behavior for LCD screens.
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