As you all know, Apple introduced ProMotion technology with the release of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, allowing its high-end phones to run their displays at 120Hz, delivering a crystal-clear experience whether scrolling through content, playing games, or anything else. But with iOS 18, it seems that the number of frames per second displayed on the screen is capped lower.
A new controversy for Apple?
With iOS 18, which was released to the public last week, Apple introduced a few changes, but some of them were implemented without informing customers. One of them was noticed on X by Ice Universe. The latter, often the author of interesting leaks, published a video showing that iOS 18 has limited the refresh rate of an iPhone to 80 Hz instead of letting it operate at the default frequency of 120 Hz. We can easily imagine that this is a trick to preserve battery life, without losing (too much) fluidity.
According to the leaker, customers shouldn’t be fooled by iOS 18’s beautiful animations (like the new Siri), as he has found a limitation that prevents an iPhone’s refresh rate from exceeding 80Hz. He posted a video below on X, showing that during a brief fast scrolling session with an iPhone 16 Pro that doesn’t exceed 80Hz. At rare moments, the screen jumps to 120 frames per second.
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 news 1990 pic.twitter.com/lAJ10vBRad— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 23, 2024
It’s possible that when scrolling quickly, Apple will reduce the refresh rate to 80Hz to preserve battery life, but assuming that’s actually happening, users deserve to be aware before they upgrade their devices. If the iPhone 16 Pro ships with this version, others like the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro still have a choice.
For those unaware, this isn’t Apple’s only trick to improve the battery life of iPhones running iOS 18. It was previously discovered that Geekbench 6 results for both single-core and multi-core are lower on devices that have been updated. The company is said to have introduced a slight delay that prevents the performance cores from reaching their turbo frequencies immediately.
While the gesture is commendable, Apple risks reliving the batterygate that saw thousands of customers file complaints for reducing performance as the battery aged, to preserve autonomy. Some preferred optimal performance, even if it meant recharging more often.
