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

A higher refresh rate is one of the key incentives for people choosing the Pro iPhones over the regular ones as it means a smoother visual experience. The iPhone 16 Pro series comes with a 120Hz LTPO ProMotion display while the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have a basic 60Hz panel. However, a recent post claims the latest iOS 18 update is restraining select “ProMotion” displays to an 80Hz refresh rate. Here’s the full story:

iOS 18 limiting iPhone ProMotion display to 80Hz

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

He shared a video of a Weibo user named Sun Bin 1990 showing the iPhone display running at 80Hz during quick scrolling animations. The iPhone seems to be running a 3rd party refresh rate counter app for this demo. We aren’t sure about the authenticity of the test. So, please 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, Ice Universe says 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 behaviour. You can read it in this Macrumors thread dated Oct 1st, 2021.

Here’s probably why Apple does this

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

In its documentation for developers, Apple notes the LTPO ProMotion display’s dynamic switching lets apps offer “smooth, seamless animations and take advantage of power-saving opportunities“. 

Apple asks developers to “use faster refresh rates when animating fast-moving items that travel across large areas of the screen”. But as we have seen whilst scrolling quickly, the refresh rate isn’t rising to its theoretical ceiling of 120Hz.

Some users have pointed out that 80Hz is closer to 60Hz than 120Hz, and they are unhappy that Apple makes this switch without their knowledge.

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