No Display Upgrade? iPhone 16 Rumors Hint at Unchanged Display Specs

The iPhone 16 display is expected to remain unchanged. On November 19 (local time), IT tipster Revegnus revealed the expected tech specs through his X account.

iPhone 16, will display specifications remain the same?

Experts expect the iPhone 16 to maintain the same display size as its predecessors, with 6.1 inches for the standard model and 6.7 inches for the Plus model. However, they expect the Pro model to be slightly larger, estimated at 6.3 inches for the Pro and 6.9 inches for the Pro Max.

The display process technology is expected to be the same as the previous model. The iPhone 15 applied LTPS (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon) technology to the standard model and LTPO (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) technology to the Pro model.

The difference between LTPS and LTPO is the presence of Oxide bonding. Depending on the materials used, the TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) that makes up the display divides into a-Si (Amorphous Silicon), Oxide, and LTPS. However, LTPS has fast electron mobility (current speed) but low uniformity. It is a structure that inevitably creates a leakage current.

Developers created LTPO to reduce the power consumption of the existing LTPS. Reports indicate that combining Oxide with LTPS reduced power consumption by 20%.

Dynamic Island is likely to remain the same. Although there were rumors of applying a punch-hole display recently, display expert Ross Young predicted that the iPhone 16 would adopt a dynamic display.

The punch-hole design is likely to be applied to the iPhone 17. IT tipster Majin Bu stated on his X account on November 12 (local time) that Apple is testing the punch-hole design but added that there would be no design changes until the iPhone 17.

Even the refresh rate is the same

The refresh rate is also expected to remain the same as the previous model. The standard model supports a 60Hz refresh rate, while the Pro model supports an adaptive screen refresh rate of 1~120Hz. Changes in the refresh rate are also expected to occur from the iPhone 17.

What is the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz? The refresh rate refers to the number of still images shown per second. 60Hz means showing 60 images in one second, and 120Hz means showing 120 images. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother the screen movement. Motion blur is reduced when scrolling the screen or playing high-spec games. This is why we expect better performance from the iPhone Pro.

A higher refresh rate is not always better. Higher numbers can lead to greater battery consumption and the possibility of heat generation. For this reason, smartphones that support over 60Hz provide options to change the refresh rate in the settings or apply a feature that automatically adjusts the refresh rate according to the content.

Apple also supports ProMotion technology on the iPhone. ProMotion is a variable refresh rate display technology unveiled at WWDC in 2017. It is not always maintained at 120Hz, but the refresh rate is adjusted as needed.

How much longer does the battery life extend when the refresh rate is lowered? IT specialist media Macworld conducted a Geekbench 4 battery test by reducing the iPhone 15 Pro model screen refresh rate to 60Hz on November 16 (local time). According to the test results, the battery life of the Pro and Pro Max increased by 5~6%. However, they added that this is not a change worth giving up the smooth screen at 120Hz.

Are there any other changes?

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 16 in the second half of next year unless there are surprises, with foreign media pointing out various changes. First of all, there is a lot of talk about changing the arrangement of the rear camera lenses. Apple, which started applying diagonal lens arrangements from the iPhone 13, is expected to return to the vertical arrangement of the iPhone 12, with the space speculated to support Vision Pro’s space video.

The Pro model will likely feature a new AP (Application Processor) A18 Pro chip, applying TSMC’s 2nd generation 3nm process, N3E.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 16 series in September 2024, and it remains to be seen whether they will maintain the display specifications as they are.

By. Kim Tae Woo