iOS 18 allegedly limiting iPhone Pro models display refresh rate to 80Hz

One of the significant benefits for choosing the Pro iPhones over the standard ones is a higher refresh rate-this leads to smoother visual performance. The iPhone 16 Pro series features a 120Hz LTPO ProMotion screen; iPhone 16 and 16 Plus retain the usual 60Hz screen. Though, a newer post claims that the latest iOS 18 update also would limit some “ProMotion” displays to an 80Hz refresh rate. Full Story:

iOS 18 capping iPhone ProMotion display to 80Hz

Popular tipster Ice Universe raised the issue on X. He said that iOS 18 downscales the iPhone display refresh rate to 80Hz for “most scenes”.

He posted a video by a Weibo user called Sun Bin 1990, where the iPhone display operates at 80Hz when quickly scrolling through animations. Apparently, the iPhone runs a 3rd party refresh rate counter app to perform this demo. We don’t know if the test is real or not. So, take this with a pinch of salt:

If anyone still doesn't understand this, please watch this video. When scrolling through the list, iOS18 is always locked at 80Hz, and 120Hz is rarely seen.
source：weibo 孙斌1990 pic.twitter.com/lAJ10vBRad

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 23, 2024

In a different post, however, Ice Universe reports the “iPhone only reaches 120Hz when the screen recording function is turned on and it reverts to 80Hz other times”.

This isn’t a new incident though. A Reddit user had alleged their iPhone 13 Pro having this issue a few months back. Looking further into the past, we saw some users accusing Apple of the same behavior. You can read it in this Macrumors thread dated Oct 1st, 2021.

Here’s probably why Apple does this

The most probable answer is battery-saving. In the above said Reddit post, one user says “Apple targets 80Hz for SwiftUI CADisplayLink (ProMotion adaptive refresh animations) on iOS… to conserve battery”.

According to its developer documentation, Apple further observes the dynamic switching in LTPO ProMotion display facilitates such apps to give “smooth, seamless animations and take advantage of power-saving opportunities”.

Developers are encouraged by Apple to “use faster refresh rates when animating fast-moving items that travel across large areas of the screen”. But as we can see from scrolling rapidly, it is not rising to its theoretical peak at 120Hz.

A few users have been complaining that 80Hz more closely resembles 60Hz than it does 120Hz and they do not appreciate that Apple switches this over without their consent.