Where's the iPad Mini 7? I'm sick of jelly scrolling

News
By John-Anthony Disotto
published

Sailing the seven seas.

iPad Mini 6
(Image credit: iMore)

The iPad mini 6 is over two years old, and each passing day makes me shed a tear that I still can’t use my favorite iPad form factor because of one silly issue that I just can’t overlook.

I remember buying the first iPad mini in 2012 while I was still at high school, working weekends to fund the Apple products that I could never properly afford. The iPad mini was my first ever iPad, and I loved it. It was so cool to have a much bigger experience than my iPhone without forking out (what felt like at the time to teenage me) crazy money for the larger iPad.

Nearly ten years later, I purchased an iPad mini 6, and I fell in love again with the form factor, perfect for checking the web while I watch TV or playing fun games with a way more ergonomic form factor. It was one of my favorite ever Apple purchases, but I sold it two months later.

I’m a sucker for refresh rates, and whatever Apple did with the iPad mini 6 is just horrifying for someone susceptible to motion sickness and smooth scrolling. Jelly scrolling, as it's called, is a phenomenon present on the mini 6 that means that using the device has an almost wave-like effect. It renders the device almost unusable for me because one side of the Retina display refreshes significantly slower than the other. It’s awful and renders an incredible piece of kit essentially useless for many people.

So when Apple announced an October event, I hoped for the iPad mini 7 to appear…

I need a hero

I waited with bated breath, hoping that the rumors of an iPad mini 7 that came out of nowhere just a few days before the event were true. Unfortunately for me, just like every other iPad mini owner wanting to update their small iPad, the event came and went with no iPad mini to show for it.

As someone who loves the iPad mini form factor, I’ve been waiting so long for Apple to not only put the same specs as some of the larger iPads into the smaller device but also fix this issue that has plagued the iPad mini for over two years. I’d love an iPad mini 7 with a ProMotion 120Hz display and an M2 chip, or maybe even the brand-new M3 chip, but who am I kidding? 

The next iPad mini will never have the same specs as an iPad Pro, and while that makes me sad, I just want an iPad mini without the nauseating wave that Apple hasn’t addressed for far too long.

So please, Apple, make 2024 the year of the iPad mini, where the unloved smaller sibling gets a huge refresh and a display that’s fit for purpose. Not only would you make this Scotsman very happy, but I’m pretty sure there are many people waiting for their next iPad, and they don’t want to be sailing the seven seas as they use it.

John-Anthony Disotto
John-Anthony Disotto
How To Editor

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019.  John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit. 

2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • naddy69
    Why don‘t you just hold it in the proper orientation? It scrolls fine that way.

    This issue is not a big deal. I remember reading about it when the mini 6 was new. I had one, and it never occurred to me to hold it like a phone.

    I have several iPads now. Mini 5, Mini 6, Air 3, 11” and 13” Pros. They all do it to some degree when held in portrait mode. The Mini 6 is of course the worst.

    But again, I don’t care because holding it that way makes no sense to me. That would be like connecting a 30” screen to my Mac and then turning it sideways.
    Reply
  • williamsbh76
    I need it to have the A17 Pro chip. It would be a gaming monster!
    Reply