The iPad mini 7 might miss out on this key display upgrade

(Image credit: Adam Oram / iMore)

The current iPad mini 6 has been around since September of 2021 which means that it's getting a little long in the tooth at this point. The release of the iPad mini 7 will surely happen eventually, but it appears we should start to temper our expectations ahead of that happening.

That's after a new leak which suggests that the new tablet will be little more than a simple spec bump, with no big upgrades en route. And in particular, those hoping for an upgraded display should probably start looking elsewhere.

In particular, cold water has now been poured on any hope that the iPad mini will get a feature currently only offered on the best iPads — 120Hz ProMotion.

No fast refresh rate for you

ProMotion is currently only available on iPad Pro models, including the latest M2 iPad Pro. It's a feature that gives the iPad a variable refresh rate that can go all the way to 120Hz for a buttery-smooth scrolling and animation experience. But that now seems unlikely to come to the iPad mini next time out after leaker @Tech_Reve posted on X to claim it simply won't be on the iPad mini 7's spec sheet.

iPad mini 7 still doesn't have 120Hz, supposedly only the AP changed from iPad mini 6...I wonder if the jelly scrolling issue still exists? 🥲 I'm curious.October 10, 2023

The report notes that while 120Hz ProMotion won't be added, the new iPad mini will get an upgraded A-series chip but that seems to be all. Hopes of a big new design refresh will likely be dashed, not that there were many to begin with given the fact the current model matches Apple's iPad's latest design language.

The obvious question now is whether Apple will have made changes to the display under the hood in an attempt to deal with the uneven refresh rate issue found on the iPad mini 6. That issue causes one side of the display to appear to move before the other when scrolling, an effect dubbed "jelly scrolling." Apple said in 2021 that this was simply a byproduct of using LCD technology, but here's hoping that some software magic will be employed to minimize the impact.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.