Last year’s iPhone 13 Pro model was Apple’s first smartphone to feature a 120Hz ProMotion display, and while the two iPhone 14 Pro models will continue to feature the technology, their screens are likely to have a greater refresh rate change this time.
To bring a ProMotion display to the iPhone 13 Pro model, Apple has adopted LTPO panel technology with a variable refresh rate to make the backplane (the part responsible for turning on and off individual pixels) more power-efficient.
In this way, ProMotion is able to dynamically produce fast frame rates when the user needs them while saving battery when not.
On the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, however, Apple’s ProMotion displays are limited to dialing the screen refresh rate between 10Hz and 120Hz. This contrasts with the LPTO panels used by companies such as OPPO and Samsung, which have a refresh rate that drops to 1Hz when viewing still images or devices are inactive.
Display industry analyst Ross Young said he “expects” the ProMotion displays used by the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to drop to the same Hz low. Depending on the way Apple decides, the technology could pave the way for longer battery life or on-screen display elements that are constantly lit.
For example, the Apple Watch 7 Series models use an LTPO display, which allows them to have the same battery life of up to 18 hours as earlier Apple Watch models, despite having an always-on display. Similar to Android phones equipped with LTPO, the same technology on the iPhone can display the time, date, and any notifications on the screen at any time without unlocking the phone.
Last year, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman suggested that Apple might bring similar features to the iPhone 13, but that didn’t happen. At the moment, there is no reliable indication that the iPhone 14 Pro model will be equipped with an always-on display function. However, that doesn’t mean Apple won’t surprise us. In fact, if Apple intends to expand the refresh rate change for its ProMotion display, we don’t see any technical limitations to stopping it at this time.