IPhone 13 Has Problem With High Refresh Rates

The developers who got the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max discovered that under many circumstances their animations can only run at a refresh rate of 60Hz like the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 cheaper mini, as well as previous generations of iPhones.

One of the biggest new features exclusive to Pro phones this year is the high refresh rate screen, or what Apple calls ProMotion.

This means that these models feature new OLED displays that can refresh screen content up to 120 times per second, or 120Hz.

As with iOS 15.0, ProMotion takes effect in third-party apps when you drag or make full screen transitions. This means you continue to have a smooth and responsive experience when scrolling through your Twitter timeline, for example.

However, almost all other animations are specified at 60Hz in external applications. This includes special effects and animations for custom components.

And developer Christian Selig has reported complaints about it from his customers. And a hidden plist key was discovered for a workaround that limits SceneKit and SpriteKit based applications.

However, most animations in iOS apps are driven by the underlying animation framework and are still limited to 60Hz, even with this undocumented private plist entry.

These limits do not apply to third-party apps running on the iPad Pro, which has a 120Hz display since 2017.

It appears that Apple has set these restrictions specifically for new iPhone models. A source suggested this was done for battery life reasons. However, we are not sure if this is the case.

And a passcode check of iOS 15 shows that only external apps are restricted. The operating system code excludes Apple apps and allows them to run at 120Hz for animation all the time.

Also Read: iPhone 13 Mini Gets Slower MagSafe Charging

External apps are limited to 60Hz via iPhone 13

Apple promotes ProMotion on the iPhone as an adaptive system that goes up and down based on what the user is doing. For example, if the screen is asleep, the phone may reduce the refresh rate to 10Hz to save power.

However, customers and developers alike expected that the animations in the app could take advantage of a 120Hz rate for super smooth animation.

It seems certain that Apple’s apps are allowed to do this. As with all apps on the iPad Pro. But not the external applications via iPhone 13.

Apple has officially stated that some of the behaviors described are caused by a bug in the operating system. Full 120Hz refresh rate support in external applications will be available soon.

She also explained that developers need to update apps to announce their use of the higher refresh rate. This can be done by adding an entry to the application menu. The company says it plans to share documentation on the entry it is due to add soon.

Also read: How to View Battery Percentage in iPhone 13 in One Step