Entire iPhone 17 line-up getting ProMotion displays, say reports

Display analyst Ross Young said back in September that the entire iPhone 17 line-up Will get ProMotion displaya feature currently exclusive to the two Pro models. A new supply chain report released over the weekend confirms this.

The latest report is less specific, mentioning only “high refresh rates,” but it does hint that non-Pro models will get both of ProMotion’s benefits for the first time…

A monitor’s refresh rate measures the number of times the screen is redrawn or refreshed per second and is expressed in Hz readings. Non-Pro iPhone models have 60Hz displays, which means they refresh 60 times per second.

Many of today’s monitors offer higher update rates, but a more sophisticated approach is a variable update rate monitor, which reduces or increases the number of times the screen updates to suit the content. This is achieved through an OLED technology called LTPO (Low Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide).

Apple calls its variable refresh rate display ProMotion, with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and as low as 1Hz. This provides three benefits:

• 120Hz doubles the frame rate for games and similar content for increased responsiveness
• Intermediate update rates save battery power when fewer updates are needed
• 1Hz enables always-on display because this rate consumes almost no power

The feature will reportedly be available on all iPhone 17 models

Ross Young reports LTPO displays will appear on all iPhone 17 models next year, which means both the base model and the iPhone 17 Air will get the new feature.

Weibo leaker digital chat station Having previously posted accurate leaks about the iPhone 16 Pro’s telephoto lens and the larger sensor size for this year’s main camera, they’ve now echoed this from their own supply chain sources.

Judging from supply chain materials, the standard version of the iPhone 17 series is likely to adopt a high refresh rate.

This is certainly a timely update, as variable refresh rates have become common on Android smartphones that cost less than the base model iPhone.

photo: apple