Apple’s Worst Habit: Why iPhone 16 is Missing a Crucial Feature
Why Apple’s 60Hz Display is a Step Backwards in the Age of 120Hz
After five years of using an Android device, I decided to swap to an iPhone 15 for a week to reimmerse myself in iOS and contribute to our iPhone coverage with a more informed perspective.
I’ve been impressed by the base model iPhone since I switched. A lot has changed since I parted with my iPhone 5S in 2019, and in the decade between the launch of the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 15, Apple has improved the iPhone in nearly every way, from the screen size (4 inches to 6.1 inches) to the battery life (a couple of hours to nearly all day) and connectivity (USB-C!).
However, there remains one thing that Apple didn’t improve in that decade, and it’s not been fixed with the new iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus either – the display refresh rate.
In the world of Android, 120Hz is the new standard for flagship and high-end phone displays, while budget options are often equipped with 120Hz or 90Hz displays. These days, 60Hz displays are the preserve of tablets and the cheapest budget phones. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are, by modern standards, complete oddballs.
The 60Hz Debacle
The 60Hz display debate has been a hot topic here at TechRadar for years, with our Managing Editor for Mobile Computing, Roland Moore-Colyer, writing "Please, Apple – don’t do this to the iPhone 15" in the run-up to the phone’s launch, and Phones Editor, Axel Metz, finding that 120Hz changed his entire outlook on iPhones when he switched to the iPhone 15 Pro.
Apple is capable of producing high refresh rate phone displays, as the ProMotion displays on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max demonstrate. In my experience, the smaller the screen, the more the benefit of a higher refresh rate is felt, as your eye has less space to work with to accommodate jagged motion.
What’s Stopping the iPhone from Catching Up?
The most egregious example of Apple’s blunt product stratification strategy is the inclusion of 60Hz displays on their flagship phones. It’s staggering to think that a company like Samsung can deliver a flagship phone like the Galaxy S24 with a 120Hz display for $799, the same price as the iPhone 16, counterarguments surrounding component price or manufacturing costs aside.
Why does Apple continue to use lower refresh rate displays? It’s a calculated move to drive customers towards the more expensive iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. It’s a shame, really, because I’ve been otherwise impressed by the iPhone 15, and our iPhone 16 review found that Apple’s latest flagship brings the base model closer than ever to its Pro counterpart. Understandably, the standard and Pro iPhones need to be separated somehow, but here, Apple enforces distance by limiting the low-end model rather than enhancing its premium offering.
This is a regrettably common Apple tactic, evident in the iPad Air and iPad Pro, and the cheapest MacBook Pro is still sold with a paltry 8GB of RAM – decisions that drive people towards more expensive options. As someone who was once a Windows user but converted to Mac last year, I’m far from an Apple hater, but this kind of behavior is my pick for Apple’s worst bad habit. Apple has made its name by thinking differently, but when it comes to refresh rates, I’m afraid everyone else is right.
