The iPhone 13 Pro are the first iPhones to feature a 120 Hz ProMotion screen. Years after the Android competition, Apple has finally deigned to offer a high refresh rate on its smartphones. Samsung, which has been offering 120 Hz since 2020, did not fail to have fun with it.
After the innovative iPhone 12 of 2020, Apple launched a transition generation this year. As expected, the iPhone 13s were more stingy with new features. Among the new features announced during the keynote, however, there is an option eagerly awaited by fans of the brand: the 120 Hz screen.
Reserved for the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, the 120 Hz ProMotion screen adapts the frequency of the panel according to the needs of the user (games, reading, etc.). “Refresh rates are tied to what's happening on the screen. If your game drops to 30 fps, ProMotion does the same. If you watch a video shot at 24 fps, it streams at 24 fps,” Apple explains on its site. The iPhone 13 Pro display offers “exceptional graphics performance” and “accelerates and decelerates naturally to match the speed of your finger”.
Samsung is having fun with Apple, lagging behind on 120 Hz screens
True to form, the Cupertino giant presented the 120 Hz screen as a real revolution. However, many Android smartphones already have a 120 Hz screen, and have done so for several years. In fact, most high-end Android smartphones are covered with a screen with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz.
This is particularly the case with Samsung's flagships. The brand's latest smartphones, such as the Galaxy S21, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 or the Galaxy Z Flip 3, are already equipped with a 120 Hz screen. As a reminder, the 120 Hz screen appeared at Samsung in 2020 with the Galaxy S20. The South Korean brand wanted to let it be known. In a tweet, Samsung's official US account recalled, "We've had 120Hz refresh rate for a while."
For the record, Apple had already almost integrated a 120 Hz screen into the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. Fearing to ruin the autonomy of its smartphones, already undermined by 5G, the manufacturer preferred to postpone the functionality to the following year. 5G technology indeed involves a more energy-consuming modem than for 4G.