iPhone 13 Pro What does ProMotion get me in apps?

[Thisismattwade]

Hi everyone,

I've got an iPhone 13 Pro. I love the slick ProMotion display, compared to my XS or wife's old iPhone 12 Pro, but I'm wondering what exactly it does in certain uses. For instance, if I'm in our nursery watching late night hockey with a baby slumbering on me, isn't that feed coming over at a certain Frames Per Second, 24 I think? Or, if I watch a movie on my iPhone (rare, but still), isn't that coming across the screen at 24 FPS? I know I can record videos on my phone at higher than 60 FPS, but if I watch a 60 FPS video in Photos, does ProMotion do anything (other than downshift to 24 Hz)?

In everyday usage ProMotion is really noticeable to me (compared to the above mentioned, or even our family's new iPad 10th gen), but how does its benefit extend to other 3rd party apps I use?

Thanks!

 

[MacCheetah3]

Hi everyone,

For instance, if I'm in our nursery watching late night hockey with a baby slumbering on me, isn't that feed coming over at a certain Frames Per Second, 24 I think? Or, if I watch a movie on my iPhone (rare, but still), isn't that coming across the screen at 24 FPS? I know I can record videos on my phone at higher than 60 FPS, but if I watch a 60 FPS video in Photos, does ProMotion do anything (other than downshift to 24 Hz)?

What this means is that it can go up to 120 frames per second, to make things like the interface and Apple Pencil seem really smooth. But when you're watching a movie in 24 frames per second, it drops the frame rate to match that, so it's not wasting energy. In fact, it can drop all the way down to just 10 frames per second.

Smartphone display refresh rates: What does Apple ProMotion and 120Hz mean, and does it matter?

With the arrival of 120Hz displays on smartphones, we answer why it might (and might not) be important and what it means.

www.pocket-lint.com

There’s also a technical explanation of dynamic and adaptive frame rates that might help to understand the overall benefits:

Optimize for variable refresh rate displays - WWDC21 - Videos - Apple Developer

Discover how to achieve smooth screen updates on all Apple platforms that support dynamic display timing. Learn techniques for pacing...

developer.apple.com

 

[krspkbl]

frame rate is different from refresh rate. a display will be 60, 120, 144, 240, 360hz. iphone is either 60 or 120hz.

if you're watching a movie at 24fps then it doesn't matter if you're at 60 or 120hz. if you're playing a game at 30fps then it doesn't matter again. generally you're only going to benefit from 120hz display when using iOS UI as the animations/scrolling will be at 120fps. not all apps support it so one app could scroll at 120fps and another might only be 60fps but i think this is rare. if you play back a video you recorded at 120fps then the display will be at 120hz.

a variable refresh rate will do what the name suggests and change the refresh rate based on the content. it will sync the refresh rate to display. i don't know exactly how iPhone implements it but on my gaming monitor if i'm playing a game at 144fps then the refresh rate will be 144hz. if the game drops to 48fps then the display goes to 48hz. this is more important for gaming because if the frame rate and refresh rate don't sync then it can cause perceived stuttering. i don't know if iPhone adjusts to match the content (like watching something on youtube or netflix).

apple watch (and iphone i think) will change the display to 1hz (or 1fps) when using always on display. this is done to improve battery life. when you raise your hand or start using your phone the refresh rate will go back up to 120hz.

 

[1rottenapple]

Your webscroll is smoother. lol hence why I think it’s a nonsense feature for most people who won’t care. Ie regular people.

 

[Thisismattwade]

Thank you all, for the replies! It sounds like my intuitions are correct: movies and broadcasts are probably not coming over at full 120 FPS, and if anything appears smoother it's computational on my phone.

I must admit that in everyday usage I can tell a diff between 60 and 120 Hz. Even if it is just scrolling MR, I can appreciate the smoother scrolling.

 

[Christopher Kim]

Yes, where you notice 120hz the most on iPhone is when 1) UI animations (eg. swapping home screens, opening settings menus, etc.) and 2) when you're scrolling text (eg. websites on safari, news articles, etc.) and it's so smooth you can "read the text" while it's still scrolling.

As others have mentioned, playing videos (youtube, netflix, videos you took with your camera in photos, etc.), you will only see it at the framerate it was filmed at. It won't convert that to a higher framerate just for your screen.