Apple comments on the iPad mini’s lack of 120Hz
Apple vice president of hardware engineering Dave Pakula commented on the lack of ProMotion in the iPad mini with an A20 Pro chip and a 60Hz OLED display.
No ProMotion
In an interview with Christopher Lawley, Pakula noted that how a display looks depends on a combination of characteristics. He said OLED pixels have a response time more than 10 times shorter than LCD pixels. He claims this makes the image smoother and significantly reduces motion blur.
Pakula also highlighted the contrast, brightness, and color capabilities of the new screen. However, he did not give a specific reason for the lack of ProMotion.
Fast pixel response does not replace a high refresh rate. It reduces the time it takes pixels to transition between shades, but a 60Hz screen still refreshes the image 60 times per second. A 120Hz display can show twice as many intermediate frames during scrolling and animations, if the app provides a corresponding frame rate.
120Hz as a reason to buy an iPad Pro
Among Apple’s tablets, ProMotion with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz remains available only on the iPad Pro lineup.
In our assessment, the reason for this distinction is primarily commercial: Apple keeps the higher refresh rate as a reason to buy a more expensive model. Buyers who want a 120Hz iPad have to pay for the other Pro features too, even if they don’t need them.
The iPad mini’s display and body
The iPad mini display supports the P3 wide color gamut and has a contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1. Peak brightness reaches 1,200 nits when displaying HDR content, while maximum full-screen brightness is 600 nits for both SDR and HDR.
The body is 5.4mm thick. The bezels around the screen have been reduced by 24%, allowing the display diagonal to increase to 8.5 inches while the tablet’s length and width remain unchanged.
