Forget iPhone 13: This killer upgrade will blow Android phones away

(Paradigm credit: Jermaine Smit/LetsGoDigital)

The iPhone 13 is rumored to accept a 120Hz display, simply information technology could meet even higher refresh rates.

While it'south not guaranteed still, time to come iPhones could get up to a 240Hz refresh rate on their displays. That'southward double what today's top phones, similar the Samsung Galaxy S21 tin can manage, which is why we're excited to see what Apple has planned.

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The details come from a patent filed past Apple with the USPTO and recently discovered past Plain Apple tree. Information technology specifically mentions the engineering'southward use on iPhones, just also refers to the iPad, Apple Watch, headsets, TVs or even a headset or auto. Perhaps those terminal two refer to the Apple Glasses and Apple Automobile, respectively.

iPhone 240Hz display patent — This illustration from the patent filing demonstrates how circuitry under the screen would exist arranged. (Prototype credit: USPTO)

We accept been eagerly awaiting Apple to upward the refresh rate on its iPhones. The iPad Pro has had ProMotion 120Hz displays available since 2017, and rival phones similar the Galaxy S21 or OnePlus viii Pro already have 120Hz screens. The iPhone 12 line looked like it was going to go 120Hz too until a couple of months earlier launch, when its touch on battery life apparently caused Apple to switch back to 60Hz.

Within the filing, titled "Displays with multiple refresh rate modes", Apple discusses a native and "high" refresh rate mode, with the high mode being twice, three times or four times higher than the basic one. Most phones accept a basic 60Hz refresh rate, with some now offering 120Hz. But as well every bit these mutual refresh rates, the patent also mentions 180Hz and 240Hz frequencies, figures we've merely seen on much larger dedicated displays and monitors.

There is a catch, however. The patent text continues to say that to achieve these loftier speeds, the display would have to reduce the vertical resolution of the brandish, combining two or iii rows of pixels into a single row. It would mean you (or the telephone if it's automatic) would have to choose betwixt the all-time-looking image or the smoothest motion.

It'due south hard to capeesh the difference a high refresh rate makes until you've seen it in activeness for yourself. The overall result is greater smoothness in movement on the screen, be that scrolling through social media feeds or playing games. But using 120Hz or college refresh rates takes its toll on a phone'south bombardment life, unless it uses a variable system that lets the telephone use a lower frequency when possible, or the resolution-altering method that Apple's patent suggests.

This isn't the only new display feature we could run into on the iPhone thirteen. Contempo leaks claim this twelvemonth's iPhone will be Apple tree'due south beginning with an always-on display, assuasive users to go along rail of time, battery status and notifications without touching the phone.

The iPhone 12 series, and in detail the iPhone 12 Pro Max, is currently our elevation selection for the best telephone y'all can buy right now. The iPhone 13 Pro should get a 120Hz display for sure. Merely if it does use this new patented brandish tech, information technology would put Android phones on notice.

Richard is a Tom's Guide staff writer based in London, roofing news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, audio and whatsoever else people demand communication on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the Academy of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Annals and Artistic Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking well-nigh how to mash the perfect cup of specialty java.