If this report is accurate, Apple’s iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus could feature a ProMotion 120Hz always-on display. This brings the previously ‘Pro’ level iPhone feature to the tech giant’s entry-level devices, similar to how the ‘Dynamic Island’ is now featured in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
This rumour, which cites Chinese parts supplier BOE and comes from The Elec (via MacRumors), says Apple will ditch the current low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) panels featured in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus in favour of the higher refresh rate low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) panels the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max currently offer.
From a purely marketing perspective, this makes a lot of sense, given even many entry-level Android smartphones feature at least a 90Hz display, though this change is at least two years away. That said, I’ve never found always-on displays to be very useful, particularly with the iPhone. After testing the iPhone 15 Pro’s always-on display consistently for the first time, I recently turned it off because I found that it killed battery life too quickly.
ProMotion, on the other hand, is great and makes the experience of navigating iOS much smoother. A higher refresh rate display is the type of thing you don’t notice until you have it, but then it’s difficult to go back, especially with a smartphone. It also doesn’t noticeably affect battery life negatively because it only kicks the refresh rate up to 120Hz when it makes sense and ratchets it down when displaying more static things.
According to The Elec, it’s unclear if BOE will be able to reach the scale and quality required to supply Apple with enough LTPO displays for its entire smartphone lineup, so it’s possible the higher-end display tech won’t make its way to the base-level iPhone 17 series.
If ProMotion does make its way to the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus, it will be interesting to see what new features Apple offers in the higher-end iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Plus to differentiate the more expensive devices.
