Standard iPhone 17 Display Again Said to Feature Higher Refresh Rate

[MacRumors]

Apple's standard iPhone 17 next year will feature a display with a higher refresh rate, potentially bringing "ProMotion" technology to the base model in Apple's flagship iPhone lineup for the first time.

Weibo-based Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station claimed over the weekend that supply chain materials corroborate rumors about a higher refresh rate display coming to the standard iPhone 17. The leaker did not mention a specific hertz (Hz) rating, but previous rumors have suggested Apple plans to use 120Hz, or the "ProMotion" rate historically limited to the Pro versions of its iPhone lineup.

Apple is expected to use low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) panels for all iPhone 17 models, which is what enables ProMotion due to its superior power efficiency. The current iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus use low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) panels, which are capped at a maximum 60Hz refresh rate.

ProMotion enables refresh rates ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz. At the low end, ProMotion allows for always-on functionality, which means always-on time, widgets, and notifications that have been available on Pro models' Lock Screens for some time now. Meanwhile, at the high end, 120Hz enables smoother scrolling and video content.

Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants has claimed that both the standard iPhone 17 and a slimmer model that we are calling the "iPhone 17 Air" will both feature ProMotion. With all four iPhones slated to get ProMotion displays in 2025, higher refresh rates will no longer be a feature that sets the Pro iPhone models apart. Perhaps more importantly, it will also see Apple's flagship lineup finally ditch 60Hz displays – something most other premium smartphone brands left behind quite a while ago.

Digital Chat Station accurately revealed that the ‌iPhone 15‌ and ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus would feature a slightly smaller 48-megapixel sensor than the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max last year, as well as the display panel design of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 back in 2020. Next year's iPhone 17 series is expected to launch around the usual September time frame.

Article Link: Standard iPhone 17 Display Again Said to Feature Higher Refresh Rate

 

[abatabia]

This is one of those “I’ll believe it when I see it” rumors. It’s long overdue but I remain skeptical.

 

[zombierunner]

iPhone 17 - 999 👏

 

[MayaUser]

ok ok we got it...after a decade we get 120hz to all models (except probably SE)

 

[pksv]

If so, what display upgrades will the Pro lineup get?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Pretty stupid calling it ‘ProMotion’ when there’s nothing professional about a quality of life feature. 120hz has been standard on Android for years, it’s well overdue.

 

[jdavid_rp]

Which marketing name will get this new Retina Display? Liquiditastic Retina?

 

[green_diyos]

What I'd want is ~20% better battery life per generation.

Whether through better performance per watt efficiency or larger mAh batteries.

Higher than 120hz display is useless to me because I turn on Low Power Mode by default.

 

[brofkand]

What I'd want is ~20% better battery life per generation.

Whether through better performance per watt efficiency or larger mAh batteries.

Higher than 120hz display is useless to me because I turn on Low Power Mode by default.

The refresh rate is dynamic, when you're looking at static content the refresh rate can clock down - thus saving power, even over an old fashioned 60Hz panel.

 

[pksv]

Pretty stupid calling it ‘ProMotion’ when there’s nothing professional about a quality of life feature. 120hz has been standard on Android for years, it’s well overdue.

But ProMotion with its not only high refresh rate but also the ability to go up or down depending on the content was actually quite novel when it came out. No other phone had it as far as I remember.

 

[snipr125]

There have been a few articles on MR now with similar reports, so it looks like Promotion VRR 120 hz is finally coming to ‘regular’ iPhone models. This then needs to follow suit with the iPad Air and Macbook Air also.

 

[sunapple]

This is one of those “I’ll believe it when I see it” rumors. It’s long overdue but I remain skeptical.

This how I think of high refresh rate screens in general, not having used one yet. I’m skeptical if this is really a life changing experience or just something you forget about in a day. Guess we’ll see someday.

 

[green_diyos]

The refresh rate is dynamic, when you're looking at static content the refresh rate can clock down - thus saving power, even over an old fashioned 60Hz panel.

Given that it does that... more tanginble would be better battery life.

Like say the 227g weight of the Pro Max. I wouldn't mind it increasing to 300g if it means 20% more battery life.

Heck... increase the thickness of the iPhone to make the camera bump flushed to the back.

 

[snipr125]

But ProMotion with its not only high refresh rate but also the ability to go up or down depending on the content was actually quite novel when it came out. No other phone had it as far as I remember.

The Variable refresh rate screens you are referring to was on other higher end Android phones before it came to the iPhone (Promotion debuted on the iPad Pro 2017 model first).

 

[adrianlondon]

Don't care about the "higher refresh rate" which the article talks about, but do want always-on-display (which requires pro-motion for the variable refresh rate that 120Hz display also requires).

So I'm hoping this rumour is true, and the base 17 has AOD. If not, then it may be another generation I skip. We'll see.

 

[citysnaps]

This how I think of high refresh rate screens in general, not having used one yet. I’m skeptical if this is really a life changing experience or just something you forget about in a day. Guess we’ll see someday.

For the most part, for a phone it's just a cudgel to get worked up about.

 

[yeah]

You will get 60 Hz and you will love it!

 

[Virinprew]

It’s ridiculous that the current gen iPhone still doesn’t have this.

 

[unchecked]

But ProMotion with its not only high refresh rate but also the ability to go up or down depending on the content was actually quite novel when it came out. No other phone had it as far as I remember.

The S21 Ultra was the first Samsung phone to have it back in 2021. Google's first phone to have it was the Pixel 6 Pro. And you can find quite a few others like OnePlus and XiaoMi. Granted those also are expensive flagships at the time.

But since then they've trickled down to the mid end phones too. Samsung's $800 tier of phones got this kind of true variable refresh rates since 2022 with the S22 for example. Before that it's the fixed 60 and 120 and nothing in between. Their cheaper A series phones like the A55 have this fixed 60/120Hz thing.

 

[MayaUser]

The Variable refresh rate screens you are referring to was on other higher end Android phones before it came to the iPhone (Promotion debuted on the iPad Pro 2017 model first).

name those phones please that already had prior to 2017 variable refresh rate

 

[MayaUser]

The S21 Ultra was the first Samsung phone to have it back in 2021. Google's first phone to have it was the Pixel 6 Pro. And you can find quite a few others like OnePlus and XiaoMi. Granted those also are expensive flagships at the time.

But since then they've trickled down to the mid end phones too. Samsung's $800 tier of phones got this kind of true variable refresh rates since 2022 with the S22 for example. Before that it's the fixed 60 and 120 and nothing in between. Their cheaper A series phones like the A55 have this fixed 60/120Hz thing.

Apple had it even on bigger displays like ipad pro in 2017, so ...Apple had its lead for 3-4 years

 

[68000/030]

The thing with 120hz is that when you "enable" it it looks great - for few days. Then you get used to it and forget. And then someone hands you a 60hz phone and all of a sudden you see the difference very clearly.

Apple might give the base models a 90hz screen though to keep the difference alive

 

[SnowPenguin]

What I'd want is ~20% better battery life per generation.

Whether through better performance per watt efficiency or larger mAh batteries.

Higher than 120hz display is useless to me because I turn on Low Power Mode by default.

Sadly, we will only get this when one of these battery technologies make it to market, someday… Until then, your only choice is to get a phone with a larger battery.

 

[pksv]

The Variable refresh rate screens you are referring to was on other higher end Android phones before it came to the iPhone (Promotion debuted on the iPad Pro 2017 model first).

List those phones.

 

[Kashifnawaz85]

You can get 120 Hz smartphone now a days for as little as $100, but somehow $800 iPhone only support 60 Hz display from 2005. What a shame and prove that iPhone users are sheeps.