According to a display analyst, the iPhone 12 Pro won’t feature a 120Hz ProMotion display

Is the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max going to feature a ProMotion display with a 120Hz refresh rate? It’s technically possible, but a display analyst doesn’t think it’s happening.

While no one is outright ruling out the possibility of a future iPhone with a ProMotion display and higher refresh rate than what current iPhones offer, there has been a lot of back-and-forth on whether or not the high-end iPhone models set to launch later this year will actually boast the feature. For those who haven’t kept track of how this has shaken out so far, let’s go over the timeline together.

  • July 22, 2019: A report says 2020 iPhones will adopt ProMotion display and feature 120Hz refresh rate
  • October 25, 2019: Apple is expected to adopt low-power LTPO display technology for iPhones, but not until 2021, which would delay adoption of ProMotion display
  • October 28, 2019: Rumors crop up saying 2020 iPhones will have ProMotion-style displays
  • May 11, 2020: The new year starts with yet another rumor saying iPhone 12 Pro will have 120Hz refresh rate
  • June 26, 2020: And yet again, a leaker says ProMotion is coming to 2020 iPhones, and iOS 14 sort of agrees!

Here we are, yet again

Now it’s July 1, 2020, and there is a new report on the matter, this time on the “nay” side of things. According to display analyst Ross Young (via MacRumors), there is currently no sign that Apple is going to adopt a ProMotion-like display with a 120Hz refresh rate for the 2020 iPhone 12 lineup. Specifically, the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max won’t share this feature later this year.

Young is the analyst that has said in the past that Apple’s adoption of low-power LTPO display technology is what the company is waiting for before it adopts the ProMotion-like display technology for its smartphone family. In a tweet sent out today, Young says he has not bene able to corroborate rumors that the 2020 Pro models will have this feature:

For what it’s worth, Young believes that Apple is going to bring the ProMotion-like display to the iPhone lineup beginning in 2021, so it’s still coming as far as he’s concerned. Just not this year.

However. Remember that story on June 26, where iOS 14 “sort of agrees” with the rumor that the iPhone 12 Pro lineup will feature a 120Hz refresh rate? It’s been discovered in the iOS 14 beta that there is a toggle built into the software to limit the display refresh rate to 60Hz. This toggle doesn’t actually show up for all users trying out the pre-release software, however, and could be a bug. Or it could be a sign that, some day in the future, yes, Apple is going to adopt a faster refresh rate for iPhone displays — without actually doing so this year.

But, what do you think? Based on all the rumors, do you think Apple is going to launch the iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max with a 120Hz refresh rate?