I notice difference between 60hz to 120 hz for most of my uses. I can’t unsee it, I don’t want to own an iPad/mini or no pro versions. Enjoy what ever you have if it makes no difference.
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iPad Air There is NO difference drawing on a 60hz vs 120hz iPad screen with the Apple Pencil
- Thread starter Greenmeenie
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Not for all cases. I suffered extreme eye strain while working on my PC. I spoke to my eye doctor about it, they suggested a higher refresh rate. Once I did that, I have literally never gotten eye strain again and I have had 18 hour work days multiple times. I can literally tell just by moving my mouse that it's 60Hz. I can tell old phones and iPads are 60Hz by just the animations. It hurts my eyes after extended use.
Drawing itself doesn't benefit from it, but for me literally everything else on the iPad is a benefit so that is fine with me.
Happy_John
macrumors 65816
I’m sorry, I really don’t buy this. Yes, it looks nicer. No, medical reasons do not oblige you to not use 60 hz screens.
If you are doing 18 hours a day in front of a screen, the refresh rate is not really the problem. Don’t sit in front of a monitor for 18 hours a day, irrespective of the hz.
Are you claiming you cannot use a TV? Would it have been damaging to your health to use a Mac 25 years ago.
If you prefer using refresh rates, fine. But that’s a preference, not a requirement.
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For me, yes it is a requirement. Sorry I trust my eye doctors more than a random forum post.
A TV doesn't have the type of motion that leads to eye strain. TV media by the very nature has motion blur built into it. This is why movies/TV look fine but a video game at 24fps is horrible. I am not moving my mouse around a TV.
And by the way, you probably don't have a career that requires on call activity. I literally do not have an option sometimes. If an entire business is down, I need to be in front of my monitor and get it fixed. I can't just say 'Sorry, I cannot keep working some guy on a forum post said I cannot work more than 18 hours!"
You did not understand what I was saying. I literally used the screen for 18 hours WITHOUT eye strain with the high refresh rates. With 60Hz, my eyes would get so bad even after 2 hours of use.
FreakinEurekan
macrumors G3
"A little bit" I'd buy; "Huge" is certainly overstating it - to me at least 😉
ZiBart
macrumors 6502
I'll leave the drawing feedback to artists here, but I can absolutely notice the difference between 60hz and 120hz, when scrolling/cursor movement. I just returned the M5 MacBook Air because I have a 120hz monitor and when I used it in dual display mode, going back and forth between the 60hz Air screen and 120hz monitor, resulted in eye strain. If I never got devices with 120hz or higher refresh, I probably would not have any issues with strain. But once you have used higher refresh for years, your eyes really get used to it and going back is both noticeable (jittery vs smooth) and can be physically challenging to your sight.
macchelsea
macrumors newbie
uacd
macrumors 68000
120 Hz is the most stupid marketing ploy that tech bros were ever able to pull off. It is as nauseating as fast charging, computational photography (I.e. AI slop cameras), triple camera setups and ugly ultrawide macro cameras. But most people fail to notice🤷♂️
Gamers all swear they see the difference. You know what the difference is on iPhone 17 Pro? When you force 60Hz mode, the phone starts to lag. But not because 60Hz feels so, but because iOS developers NEED to be replaced by AI as soon as possible, maybe machine finally notices the bug that they don’t want to fix
Gamers all swear they see the difference. You know what the difference is on iPhone 17 Pro? When you force 60Hz mode, the phone starts to lag. But not because 60Hz feels so, but because iOS developers NEED to be replaced by AI as soon as possible, maybe machine finally notices the bug that they don’t want to fix
Unami
macrumors 68000
D`uh. Does anyone draw faster than 60 paintstrokes per second? A lower refresh-rate might lead to more eyestrain for some people, though. Brains do vary.
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I'm not saying people don't vary. But i have very good close eyesight & I cannot detect any lag, nor do i suffer from any eyestrain from the 60hz. Studies suggest the opposite actually. There is a significant number of people who experience eyestrain & headaches from the 120hz panels on the OLED iPad Pros. Less to do with the refresh rate tho & more to do with the PWM frequency Apple uses for OLEDs. Again, not claiming this is everyone or saying one size fits all. We're all different. My main intention with this thread was pointing out how most of the tech youtubers who are not artists painted the 60hz vs 120hz issue with a very wide brush and were saying the iPad Pro was better for serious artists because of the 120hz screen, which is totally false. I really just wanted to communicate to all the young artists out there that they don't need to spend the extra $ for the pro ipad to get a better drawing experience. I also encouraged them to go down to the Apple store & compare the Air & Pro side by side. ✍️ 👍
it doesn’t have to be related to good eyesight. Every one’s brains process visual signals differently. In fact eyes are sensors and brain processes the data. Your eyes could have perfect sight and you could be blind or messed up if brain has problem.
If you don’t see the difference great, and also folks use iPads for lot more than drawing.
You can’t unsee it. Once you notice, it’s hard to overlook.
Kriss_De_Valnor
macrumors member
My gaming Windows laptop has a 165Hz refresh rate, I can switch from 60 to 165Hz and I can't see a bloody difference 😅
Thats what everyone says, but I am an artist who is constantly switching back & forth btwn my 60hz ipad mini & my 120hz ipad pro and it is a non issue. Specifically for drawing. I am just pushing back on the regurgitated talking point for clicks the tech YouTubers constantly spit out about this topic. But hey, you're entitled to your opinion. As am i.
FreakinEurekan
macrumors G3
I see it, when I choose to look for it. Most of the time it's just irrelevant. I have 60Hz and 120Hz devices and I can use them interchangeably.
I'm sure it's a "Big deal" to some people - but certainly not to all of us.
star-affinity
macrumors 68020
To me it’s a big difference. Not in terms of performance, but how responsive navigating and interacting with the device feels. Same thing in macOS – much nicer with 120 Hz vs 60 Hz.
I don’t have time to look for it. It’s just noticeable it. Goo for you if it doesn’t bother you.
Bungaree.Chubbins
macrumors 65816
It took me a month to realise that the HDMI cable I have doesn't support 4k 60Hz, and so I was running two 4k monitors side by side, one at 30Hz, and one at 60Hz, and both next to my MacBook Pro at 120Hz. Since realising that, if I look really closely and pay careful attention, I can tell a difference in the refresh rate between the three. Barely. But I barely even notice 30Hz when just using the computer!
It’s more prominent for me on iPhone and iPad line. It’s very individual, some are ok with jelly scrolling on iPad mini and some can’t unsee it.
For drawing on an iPad – as OP is talking about –, my experience is that there is only a subtle difference, which usually doesn't bother me.
For everything else the difference between 60 and 120 Hz is huge in my opinion. I bought a MBP 16" with Intel and 60 Hz refresh rate in 2019 and then a Studio Display when it was released in 2022. Late 2023 I bought an MBP M3, and I quite quickly had to stop working with the Studio Display because the difference was almost nauseating (no joke here!). Now I have a Studio Display XDR, and I'm fine again.
For everything else the difference between 60 and 120 Hz is huge in my opinion. I bought a MBP 16" with Intel and 60 Hz refresh rate in 2019 and then a Studio Display when it was released in 2022. Late 2023 I bought an MBP M3, and I quite quickly had to stop working with the Studio Display because the difference was almost nauseating (no joke here!). Now I have a Studio Display XDR, and I'm fine again.
I skimmed most of this thread and didn’t see it, but Apple uses variable refresh rate (VRR) so it isn’t true 120Hz. Only Apple device that lets you lock in higher refresh rates is the new ASD XDR.
FreakinEurekan
macrumors G3
Years ago I had to run one display at 30Hz due to hardware limitations, and I agree - “most” of the time it works fine. The biggest issue I ran into was that the mouse would lag just enough that I’d miss items I was trying to point at if moving it too quickly. Due to the lag I’d move the mouse to a button or link, for example, and it’d go just beyond it. I ended up reducing the resolution in order to speed up refresh; to me the lower res was still easily readable and the refresh difference solved my issue.
star-affinity
macrumors 68020
I can do the same on the Windows machines I have. One has a 240 Hz capable OLED and the other has a 280 Hz capable IPS (that I run at 270 Hz for 30 Hz up from 240 Hz).
Going from 60 Hz to 120 Hz on those displays makes a very clear difference and going from 120 Hz to 240 and 270 Hz also makes a clear difference albeit not as big as 60 to 120 Hz.
Not only the motion get much smoother but also how much more responsive everything feels due to the reduced input lag. And it also makes it easier to control the mouse pointer due to this. So definitely not only nice for gaming.
It is very interesting that we perceive this so differently. 🙂