The regular iPhone 14 model won’t feature a 120Hz LTPO ProMotion panel like the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, although previous reports claim it will. This news update was provided by well-known display industry analyst Ross Young, who also gave the reason for making this judgment: Apple suppliers do not have enough capacity to mass-produce LTPO panels for common iPhone 14 models.
There’s likely to be some confusion surrounding which direction Apple is expected to take when it comes to displays in the upcoming iPhone 14 series. Ross Young responded to a question in a tweet, arguing that low-end models won’t feature LTPO ProMotion panels because BOE doesn’t have the capacity to mass-produce these displays at the moment, and adopting the technology would be risky, although he didn’t make it clear mention these risks.
No since BOE doesn’t have enough LTPO capacity and have yet to ship any LTPO panels. Would be quite risky. Maybe in 2023…
— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) January 15, 2022
This may have something to do with BOE’s inability to mass-produce these 120Hz LTPO displays, not to mention that these devices still need to pass Apple’s strict quality control measures. As expected, Samsung and LG have been given the heavy lifting on the supply side, so for 2022, it appears that only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will ship with a 120Hz refresh rate.
Curiously, the same display analyst predicted in 2021 that all iPhone 14 models will feature LTPO panels, which of course may just be Apple’s original intention, although the tech giant also has a cost, quality control and other factors to consider. Also, if higher-end displays somehow come to lower-priced versions arriving later this year, a large customer base may not have the incentive to spend the extra money for higher-end models, eating into Apple’s profit margins.
From a business standpoint, continuing to sell the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max with LTPO 120Hz ProMotion displays is a good strategy, even though many consumers are unhappy that they have to spend more. Ross Young believes that this display technology is likely to be available on all iPhone 15 models in 2023, but as mentioned above, there are several factors to consider before making this decision.