Other Honestly, does 120 Hz even matter on iPhone displays?

[kht410]

I’ve had the first gen 12.9” iPad Pro without the 120 Hz Pro Motion and now with the 2018 12.9” iPad Pro with Pro Motion.

It was just a pleasant experience to glide through pages smoothly on such a big screen and on top of that, a slight improvement on Apple Pencil latency. It was probably the biggest upgrade I’ve had in terms of screen quality. So to me, that was a game changer on the iPad.

I’m not sure if the experience or the feel can be replicated on smaller screens. Like, sure it would be nice, but it also feels overrated at the same time. On an iPhone screen, I never once thought the 60 Hz refresh rate is bad or too slow.

(This could just be me justifying the upcoming iPhones without 120Hz screen haha)

Would love to hear other thoughts and opinions from this forum 🙂

 

[javisan]

Not once have I scrolled on my iPhone 8+ and said "man I could use the 120Hz screen right now". Note that I have a 10.5 inch iPad Pro with ProMotion and I go back and forth between both throughout the day.

Sure it would great to have, especially at the $1k iPhone price point.

There must be a FOMO element about it ("Non-Apple phones have it, why can't the iPhone have it?").

 

[aakshey]

It works on smaller devices exactly the same way, except to a slightly lower degree. But has a very similar effect.

 

[myfoneisdank]

I mean, just go to Best Buy and play with a Note 20 Ultra. It’s literally night and day. Maybe 60hz is not “too slow” for most people as you said, but that bump in refresh rate makes a world of difference. You’d never be able to go back. Apple not releasing 120hz on at least the max phone this year would be an absolute joke. But sadly most won’t care

 

[aakshey]

I mean, just go to Best Buy and play with a Note 20 Ultra. It’s literally night and day. Maybe 60hz is not “too slow” for most people as you said, but that bump in refresh rate makes a world of difference. You’d never be able to go back

This 100x. Once you go 120 Hz, 60 Hz is laggy crap.

However going up to 120 Hz initially only feels like a moderate upgrade.

 

[casperes1996]

You’re all going to think I’m crazy now, but I’m writing this on my 12.9” iPad Pro (2018 model with ProMotion). And I absolutely cannot tell the difference between the 120hz refresh rate and my phone, iMac or any other 60hz device. I mean, if I reaaaaally focus on it, I can maybe see a bit of a difference when scrolling real fast, but the majority of the time I notice nothing at all

 

[LasersGoPewPew]

I've been playing with an S20 FE that my brother just got and the 120hz just makes everything so smooth. Not bad for a $600 phone.

 

[Zune55]

I've been playing with an S20 FE that my brother just got and the 120hz just makes everything so smooth. Not bad for a $600 phone.

I used 120hz in galaxy s20 5g and i felt little nauseated. It does not look natural to me. So i turned it off and went to sleep.

 

[menist]

I’ve seen and used a S20 and Note 20 ultra, and it wasn’t good for my eyes. I care less about 120mhz.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

I’d have to see 120hz in action on a phone to honestly know. Since the 12 series likely won’t have it, I won’t be testing out devices that do. I tend not to miss or envy what I’m not aware of.

 

[UltimateSyn]

As much as I love ProMotion I will admit that the choppiness of 60Hz is much less noticeable on the smaller screens. It looks awful on iPads to me now, though.

You’re all going to think I’m crazy now, but I’m writing this on my 12.9” iPad Pro (2018 model with ProMotion). And I absolutely cannot tell the difference between the 120hz refresh rate and my phone, iMac or any other 60hz device. I mean, if I reaaaaally focus on it, I can maybe see a bit of a difference when scrolling real fast, but the majority of the time I notice nothing at all

Have you ever limited the frame rate to 60Hz on your iPad and tried to tell that way? It's in Settings -> Accessibility -> Motion -> Limit Frame Rate

 

[magicman32]

You’re all going to think I’m crazy now, but I’m writing this on my 12.9” iPad Pro (2018 model with ProMotion). And I absolutely cannot tell the difference between the 120hz refresh rate and my phone, iMac or any other 60hz device. I mean, if I reaaaaally focus on it, I can maybe see a bit of a difference when scrolling real fast, but the majority of the time I notice nothing at all

Im also one of the crazy or blind ones that can’t perceive the difference. This night and day or you can’t go back once you see it difference is just junk to me. 3rd gen iPad Pro 12.9 and an Android 60hz phone. Go back and forth all day long and never once can tell the difference for feel annoyed using my phone. Other than the ESPN app, which just lags like ass on my phone When reading an article. Otherwise, truly couldn’t care less. But yeah, for the price is t should have it. I just won’t be the complaining (or cheerleading) about it either way.

 

[NewBench]

Also can't see the fuss at all. I've used a couple of 120Hz devices and then switched back to a 60Hz iPhone within minutes and l can't tell the difference at all.

The bottom line is, for 99.9% of phone users worldwide, they won't be able to tell the difference.

Even if you're super sensitive and can somehow spot an improvement, it's not a substantial enough upgrade to warrant basing a purchase decision over IMO.

 

[CharlesShaw]

It would be useful if MR forums could somehow be grouped by “I’m trying to talk myself out of buying now and waiting” and ”I’m trying to find a reason to buy right now.” 😃

Honestly? It’s such a huge difference on my iPad that I’m happy that I’m not in the market for a new iPhone this year, because once I see it I’ll want it and I keep my phones for more than one year.

 

[bushman4]

120hz would be nice and useful
As well as an underscreen Touch ID sensor

 

[more fps]

Yeah it’s a big deal, specially in games that support it. I got iPad Pro and scrolling seems so much more smoother than my Xs max.

 

[Bandaman]

Yes.

 

[kht410]

Wow it’s nice to hear both sides of the answers.

I totally understand the FOMO feel. Also, we are paying a lot for these phones so we should expect the best that our money can get. But at the same time, as a tech enthusiast, I firmly believe that with 120 Hz display or not, there will always be something better coming up next. So I’m leaning more towards the “not too fuss about it” group. Smartphones upgrades are getting a bit stale nowadays.

With that being said, I’m still interested to see the reveal tomorrow 🙂

 

[MacCheetah3]

I've decided, I'm going to show both sides of the coin, so to speak, and let people judge for themselves.

The argument, demo in favor of 120Hz display.

The explanation as to why motion recognition/depiction is very subjective, both by person and content, and how it has a diminishing effect.

 

[Bandaman]

I've decided, I'm going to show both sides of the coin, so to speak, and let people judge for themselves.

The argument, demo in favor of 120Hz display.

The explanation as to why motion recognition/depiction is very subjective, both by person and content, and how it has a diminishing effect.

What's the point in having a video like that when the video itself doesn't have a high frame rate? That doesn't even remotely show off what it actually looks like in person.

 

[subjonas]

I also go back and forth between my pro motion (12.9” ipp) and non pro motion (ipad mini 5 and iphone se) devices and I don’t notice. I only notice when scrolling on the devices side by side (so pretty much never). Maybe if I played graphic intensive games I’d notice and appreciate it. Other than that, I don’t know what functional value it potentially gives me. I‘m not trying to read text while scrolling super fast. For me it only serves to use up more battery.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Biggest thing I noticed 120hz with ... is my Apple Pencil on my iPad Pro. Scrolling on heavy Safari pages ... sometimes. So, if I had the option I'd probably turn this off on a phone to help save battery life. I'm in the no crowd.

 

[kht410]

Biggest thing I noticed 120hz with ... is my Apple Pencil on my iPad Pro. Scrolling on heavy Safari pages ... sometimes. So, if I had the option I'd probably turn this off on a phone to help save battery life. I'm in the no crowd.

This. The Apple Pencil definitely feels nicer and more fluid with 120 Hz display. That was actually the selling point for me. But on iPhone, I just don't see it as anything bigger than "nice to have".

 

[Bandaman]

This. The Apple Pencil definitely feels nicer and more fluid with 120 Hz display. That was actually the selling point for me. But on iPhone, I just don't see it as anything bigger than "nice to have".

Yes. Nice things are nice to have.

 

[Pilot Jones]

I personally thought nothing of it, until I actually used it. Since then, I've never been able to look at my 60Hz screen the same way. 120 Hz genuinely makes a device feel futuristic despite being such a simple alteration.

A lot of people are saying the Apple Pencil feels better on 120 Hz, which is a fact, but by the same logic, that improvement has to extend to your finger on your phone as well. Maybe not to the same degree, but there is no denying that it would improve one's touch-based experience. And why argue against something good, even if it's extraneous and unnecessary?

I feel the same way about the notch. There are too many notch apologists on the MR forums. I understand it serves a purpose, see why it needs to be there and am waiting for tech to develop so Apple can hide their Face ID array without sacrificing functionality, but when people say they actually prefer a notch over an all-screen, seamless, truly edge-to-edge display, that's where they completely lose me. Like, why would you voluntarily prefer to have an experience that is objectively inferior?

I feel the same way about 120Hz. Yes it may not be necessary, and yes you can choose to settle for less, but why on earth would you want an objectively inferior experience by choice if it was made available?