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Those of you who have had an iPad with a ProMotion display (Pro models 2017 and later), would you bu

  • Yes

    Votes: 37 32.5%
  • No

    Votes: 64 56.1%
  • Maybe/Undecided

    Votes: 13 11.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    114

OriginalAppleGuy

Suspended
Sep 25, 2016
968
1,137
Virginia
testufo.com has several motion tests and even the vertical text scrolling test still shows 60Hz.

https://www.testufo.com/framerates-text

So, ProMotion is a gimmick if it doesn't work in the most actively used app which is the browser regardless of Safari, Chrome, etc.

Well....something is happening. I've got the 2021 12.9 pro comparing it to my 2017 MacBook pro (60 Hz machine) with scrolling the same web pages. The MacBook looks choppy while the iPad is smooth. Easier on the eyes. I wonder if the testufo.com and displayhz.com sites key in on the hz it sees initially and not the up to 120 hz the display may be capable of?
 

nStyle

macrumors 68000
Dec 6, 2009
1,513
1,072
It’s more of a marketing gimmick since displayhz.com, testufo.com, etc. show 60Hz while my other >=120Hz capable devices do say >=120Hz.

The reason why it doesn’t show above 60hz is the site doesn’t fully support Safari. It’s stated clearly under “supported browsers”.

The display is definitely 120hz and is clearly visibly smoother than 60hz.
 
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OriginalAppleGuy

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Sep 25, 2016
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The reason why it doesn’t show above 60hz is the site doesn’t fully support Safari. It’s stated clearly under “supported browsers”.

The display is definitely 120hz and is clearly visibly smoother than 60hz.

I saw that myself so I tried Chrome which is supposed to be fully supported. Same thing it did with Safari. I'm not sure they have kept up with that anyway. When using Safari, clicking on the supported browsers link, the "result" is the Safari I'm using is fully supported but the table below says it isn't. I wonder how old that site is.
 

mpetrides

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2007
594
525
I go back and forth between my 2018 12.9 inch iPad Pro and my iPad mini 4 and have noticed no difference. But I haven’t been looking for differences either. And the mini’s screen size IS considerably smaller.
 
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OriginalAppleGuy

Suspended
Sep 25, 2016
968
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ProMotion has been a gimmick since 2017. Other browsers support >60Hz except when used with ProMotion.

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=173434

Works fine on my non-ProMotion phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, etc. except for iPad Pro.

All that link seems to show is Apple isn't supporting one VSYNC method "requestAnimationFrame". Still not buying your argument it's a "gimmick" as I can see a difference between a 60 hz display and my iPad pro when scrolling around a web page or moving images around.
 
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nStyle

macrumors 68000
Dec 6, 2009
1,513
1,072
I saw that myself so I tried Chrome which is supposed to be fully supported. Same thing it did with Safari. I'm not sure they have kept up with that anyway. When using Safari, clicking on the supported browsers link, the "result" is the Safari I'm using is fully supported but the table below says it isn't. I wonder how old that site is.

All iPad browsers are basically just skins of Safari. Chrome on iPad just basically syncs your Chrome stuff but still renders exactly the same way Safari does and pages even still detect Safari. It’s only supported up to 60hz that’s why it’s not showing anything over. I’m pretty sure you’d get the same result if you had a Mac hooked up to a 120hz display in Safari but if you opened Chrome on the Mac you’d probably get 120hz.
 

iF34R

macrumors 65816
Jul 13, 2011
1,325
549
South Carolina
It’s more of a marketing gimmick since displayhz.com, testufo.com, etc. show 60Hz while my other >=120Hz capable devices do say >=120Hz.
Not sure why you'd think it was a gimmick simply because of browser benchmarks. Rush Rally Origins (beta) runs at 120fps.
 

perezr10

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2014
2,014
1,486
Monroe, Louisiana
I can’t live without ProMotion. In fact, it’s ruined my appreciation of the iPhone. Scrolling on my 11 Pro Max looks so janky by comparison.

Where I REALLY appreciate ProMotion is when I’m reading a lot of text and scrolling while I read. It’s especially helpful with tiny text. If you blow your text up to gigantic fonts, you may not notice as much.
 

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,725
13,245
UK
I wouldn’t buy a full sized iPad without it. Having said that I really don’t notice the difference between my iPad Pro and iPad mini 5th gen.
 

G5isAlive

Contributor
Aug 28, 2003
2,869
4,918
Yes. And do. I currently own 4 iPads, two pro-motion (2020 iPad Pro 11, 2021 iPad Pro 12.9 with mini-led's), two not (iPad mini 5 and iPad Air 4th get). And will likely be upgrading my mini to the new one when it comes out.

Sure I like iPads. I use them in different places (work, home, cabin) for games, email, web browsing and videos and I tend to reach for the one that is closest. I do not think, wait, where is my pro-motion, this air just won't do!! But I have the ability to take in the bigger picture, not micro focus on how smooth the scrolling is or whatever. I just dont notice it because I am noticing the content. And that includes the fancy 2021 12.9 promotion mini led display. Sure, sometimes I admire it, but never seek it out, UNLESS, I am importing 61 MP raw images from my Sony camera for review. Then I bow down to the latest greatest tech.
 
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iOSpecialist

macrumors regular
Aug 7, 2016
116
68
Canada
This might seem weird, but I have an M1 11” Pro with ProMotion turned off because it feels weird to write with my Apple Pencil (which I use almost daily for school) with promotion turned on. It almost feels too smooth and unnatural compared to paper, and having that extra bit of latency sort of makes an illusion of friction. I don’t want to buy a paperlike (which I’ve tried on a friend’s iPad) since it compromises the touch experience. I haven’t really tested how having promotion on/off affects battery life, but I wouldn’t be surprised if having it off/unsupported saves power.
 

BigBlur

macrumors 6502a
Jul 9, 2021
827
974
Yep. I have the iPad Air 2, and got the new 11” Pro a couple months ago. I really can’t tell the difference between the two or even my iPhone when scrolling…maybe a tiny bit, but nothing amazing. What should I be looking for? I didn’t get the 11” Pro for the ProMotion though. I would have gone with the Air 4 if it had Face ID.
 
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yoimrae

macrumors member
Jul 11, 2014
42
6
Hong Kong
Yes. I owned an iPad Pro 10.5 before, passed it to my wife and I bought an iPad Air 4. I don't miss the ProMotion at all.
 

mi7chy

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2014
10,626
11,298
How do you turn off promotion?

Under Accessibility > Motion > Limit Frame Rate.

Doesn’t make a difference in display Hz. Everything still looks 60Hz with or without compared to my other devices that do >=120Hz. So, ProMotion seems more like like FPS rather than display Hz.

Going to enable the option to see if it makes the device run cooler and increase battery life since it’s kind of pointless to have >60fps on a 60Hz display.
 
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