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Why? Refresh rate is mostly important for gamers, and refresh rate for high resolution displays is much more difficult and expensive.

You might as well say Apple should just drop back to 1080P like all the competition and forget about retina.

Above 120 Hz it's not really important for games either. In fact 80 fps is a sweet spot for 120Hz displays right now because pushing above it requires some extreme image reconstruction techniques even with latest gen hardware. So essentially unless you're playing a decade old game your frame target will be around 80-90 fps anyway.

As long as the display has VRR, 90 Hz is good enough for gaming. It's actually 5K resolution that would be more of an issue here.
 
There've been a number of replies on this, but people need to remember that doing anything over 60Hz on a 5K monitor (or greater) is not trivial, and currently unheard of in the market. In fact, Apple is one of the very few companies that even make a true 5K resolution monitor (or 6K with the Pro Display XDR).

I think this got tied a bit too quickly into the "why don't all iPhones have 120hz / ProMotion like Android phones", or "why doesn't the MBA have 120hz / Promotion like the MBPs do", or "why don't all the iPads have 120Hz / Promotion like the iPad Pros"... Which is valid and more "marketing" as that's well established in the market.

But would be very different for the external monitor market - Studio Display or Pro Display XDR.

In fairness, the article did add the iMac and iPad Air into it, which are really different questions...
 
How much noticeable difference between 90Hz and 120Hz? I already don't notice anything different between 60 and 120Hz unless I'm looking for it, but I'm not gaming.

Would there be any benefit to going halfway to 90Hz? Is that enough bandwidth savings that a MacStudio would be able to drive three 27" displays at 90Hz instead of two at 120Hz?
In phones where you quickly swipe all the time with your fingers, since the screen is tiny, to me the upgrade from 90Hz to 120Hz was pretty decent (when I jumped from Pixel 4/5 90Hz to Pixel 8 120Hz). Obviously change was not as big as 60Hz (Pixel 3) vs 90Hz (Pixel 4+). I still like 90Hz but can't stand 60Hz. 60Hz just feels much less smoother than 120Hz.

In gaming (with a mouse) 90Hz is pretty decent. But playing Doom at 120-144Hz is even better and smoother with a mouse at 400-800 DPI. Main 90Hz vs 120Hz difference is when moving your 1st person camera rapidly with the mouse. (From 120Hz to 144Hz i noticed less difference, I'll leave that for pro gamers). I have an old 144Hz 1440p 27" VRR monitor that I use at the moment.
Now, for gaming with a controller (like PS5), 60Hz stable is already VERY decent, what it sucks for controller, is 30 FPS (no matter the Hz).

As for a productive laptop (like a Macbook Pro), since it's mainly for apps, web browsing, etc. I'd the difference between 90hz and 120Hz is less and a bit more cosmetic than in the other scenarios. And a real benefit here is to watch go pro videos at 90+ FPS and stuff like that. The latest iPhone I think it can record at 4K 120Hz HDR well that's one good example.
 
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iMac could 120 Hz, Thunderbolt itself could 240 Hz, on Windows you can have 480 Hz.

But perhaps it is the same as with RAM.
"8GB of RAM on a Mac is the same as 16GB of RAM in Windows."
So 90 Hz could be the same as 180 Hz. That's Mac superpower.

I just don't know why the iPad Pro doesn't get this superpower.
 
There've been a number of replies on this, but people need to remember that doing anything over 60Hz on a 5K monitor (or greater) is not trivial
Who said that?
You, Apple or someone with knowledge?

Why are there 4K monitors with 240 Hz, Full HD monitors with 480 Hz, why can Thunderbolt 5 offer 240 Hz over a single cable
Don't mistake cost issues for technical limitations.

Apple could put a complete file system on the iPad, could equip every iPhone with 240 Hz, even install 24 GB of RAM as standard. (Apple Intelligence 16GB + the minimum to work smooth)
Just because the company doesn't want to...
 


A new rumor suggests Apple is developing 90Hz display technology that could make its way to future versions of the Studio Display, iPad Air, and 24-inch iMac, all of which currently feature 60Hz refresh rates.

studio-display-purple-february.jpg

The claim, spotted by 9to5Mac, comes from an anonymous source who contacted the Upgrade podcast, hosted by Myke Hurley and Jason Snell. According to the source, Apple is working on "a higher refresh rate LCD display with a new liquid motion panel fixed at around 90Hz," with plans to implement the technology across multiple products.

Such a development would be particularly noteworthy for the Studio Display, which hasn't received any hardware updates since its March 2022 launch. Many Apple users had hoped to see a refreshed model before the end of 2024, amid on-again, off-again rumors about a potential upgrade featuring mini-LED technology and ProMotion support. Apple's higher-end Pro Display XDR has also remained unchanged since its 2019 debut.

Display analyst Ross Young, who is known for accurate predictions about Apple's display technology, reported in April 2023 that Apple had abandoned plans for a 27-inch monitor with mini-LED backlighting. That canceled project, which could have been a next-generation Studio Display, was said to include the use of ProMotion technology with refresh rates up to 120Hz. Earlier, Young had anticipated such a display launching in 2022, but the release never materialized.

According to the anonymous source, the 90Hz display technology will debut first in the next-generation M3 iPad Air, expected in early 2025, before expanding to other products. The 24-inch iMac, which just received an M4 update, likely wouldn't see this display improvement until late 2025 at the earliest.

The current Studio Display features a 27-inch 5K LCD panel with 60Hz refresh rate, P3 wide color support, and up to 600 nits brightness, starting at $1,599.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Working on 90Hz Studio Display, iMac, iPad Air
I would just be happy to see them release a 30" or 32" Studio Display. Eyes are getting old and working in DAWs there are so many tiny little buttons and such a larger display would really help.
 
Who said that?
You, Apple or someone with knowledge?

Why are there 4K monitors with 240 Hz, Full HD monitors with 480 Hz, why can Thunderbolt 5 offer 240 Hz over a single cable
Don't mistake cost issues for technical limitations.

Apple could put a complete file system on the iPad, could equip every iPhone with 240 Hz, even install 24 GB of RAM as standard. (Apple Intelligence 16GB + the minimum to work smooth)
Just because the company doesn't want to...

Cost issues matter, if Apple doesn't think creative professionals are willing to pay for it they aren't going to do it.

And to answer your question, a 4K monitor at 240 Hz has to reduce color depth in order to keep the bandwidth requirements below 48 Gbit/s limits. Apple might be able to do that with a 120 Hz 5K monitor, but might not want to do it if its going to hurt color fidelity.

Lastly video compression works a lot better the fewer changes between each frame, so its possible that 240hz benefits from being able to have higher frame compression since fewer pixels should change at half the refresh time.
 
Who said that?
You, Apple or someone with knowledge?

Why are there 4K monitors with 240 Hz, Full HD monitors with 480 Hz, why can Thunderbolt 5 offer 240 Hz over a single cable
Don't mistake cost issues for technical limitations.

Apple could put a complete file system on the iPad, could equip every iPhone with 240 Hz, even install 24 GB of RAM as standard. (Apple Intelligence 16GB + the minimum to work smooth)
Just because the company doesn't want to...
A 4K (3840x2160) monitor pushing ~8.29M pixels 120Hz or more, any decent ones, are selling for $1,000, or more.

A 5K (5120 x 2880) monitor pushes over 14.7M pixels to our eyeballs at 60 frames per second. To do that at 120Hz requires a SKU that does not yet exist. Samsung, LG, MSI, Acer, ASUS, Dell, et al. do not yet make such a monitor.

So, what are we even talking about? If Apple chose to make a new XDR monitor, for example, that would have ProMotion capabilities? I would be surprised if it were less than $20,000, and I would be surprised to see a 5K/120-144Hz monitor (27", 32" or otherwise) for less than $4,000.

Most people, and particularly the ones in these forums, would not be willing to pay that price, and I would go so far to say that it would just give many of the critics something else about Apple to complain about.
 
At this rate we'll see a Studio Display with ProMotion and mini-LED in 2038.

I wonder why they abandoned their plans to release it.

Because they know they can release a 90 hz model have people cough up for that and then put out a 120hz model down the road.

You don't make a trillion dollar market cap without knowing how to milk your user base.
 
I still don't know what all the fuss is about with promotion. when I got my first promotion phones and iPads I really didn't notice and I spend all day staring at screens. looking back and forth between my iPad and my studio display the only thing immediately noticeable is how much better the contrast is on the iPad with the backlighting

That’s a medical issue. People with bad eyes don’t notice the jump from 60 to 120.

In the eye, specialized magnocellular cells in the retina detect motion changes and send this information to the brain. The signals travel through the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus to the primary visual cortex (V1), then move to the dorsal pathway in the parietal lobe, known as the “where” pathway. A key area for motion perception is MT/V5 in the middle temporal region, which analyzes movement speed and direction. Together, these cells and brain areas enable us to perceive smooth motion.

I those cells are off, it must mean you’re basically seeing everything blurry.
 
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!!!… I MEAN WHAT APPLE?

this is apple dribble out features on an annual basis AT IT’S WORST!.. I‘m CERTAIN these are either Samsung or LG displays. Are they really just willing to dribble out features, buying OLD or factory 2nd displays just to save margin or margin contribution?

they are making better and better desktop and laptop machines that CAN DO HIGH FPS and better for MODERATELY capable gaming or video machines, and yet they are willing to put out high cost and high margin products that only produce a - forgive me, but in 2024 CRAP level of refresh rates 90hz display that costs a fortune and many ppl would possibly buy if it was EVEN COMPETITIVE IN ANY WAY.

WTF.. get with the program.
 
Yes but the one thing we can know for sure is that it will be too expensive. :)
I don't think the current one is - there is nothing similar.

There are plenty of very good 4k OLED monitors, but they are at 32" so the DPI is lower and they're aimed more at gaming than productivity or creative tasks. Even then they don't have the build quality of the Studio Display but they're around the same price.
 
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!!!… I MEAN WHAT APPLE?

this is apple dribble out features on an annual basis AT IT’S WORST!.. I‘m CERTAIN these are either Samsung or LG displays. Are they really just willing to dribble out features, buying OLD or factory 2nd displays just to save margin or margin contribution?

they are making better and better desktop and laptop machines that CAN DO HIGH FPS and better for MODERATELY capable gaming or video machines, and yet they are willing to put out high cost and high margin products that only produce a - forgive me, but in 2024 CRAP level of refresh rates 90hz display that costs a fortune and many ppl would possibly buy if it was EVEN COMPETITIVE IN ANY WAY.

WTF.. get with the program.

But 90hz is perfectly fine for productivity and creative tasks. It's plenty. There is no competition in this area at 60hz, let alone 90hz.

There's no need to destroy the GPU by pushing 120hz at 5k when you then want it to be editing video and graphics instead.
 
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What is this 1986? Monitors now are hitting 500+ hz, gaming on consoles is at 120hz, PC's mostly are 240hz and
Apple is sticking to 90hz as some magical feature? I wouldn't even look at a monitor under 120hz now I could care less how gorgeous the screen is.

120hz is rock bottom and for the price of these it should be 240hz
 
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