Unpopular Opinion: The ProMotion 120Hz screen isn't a good reason to buy the iPhone 13 Pro

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In the environment of technology journalists, there is a rather one-sided admiration for the way the 120 Hz screen was implemented by Apple. The Cupertino giant did it in a completely different way than its competitors - the screen refresh rate (from 10 to 120 Hz) depends not only on the type of content displayed, but also on the speed of screen scrolling. For example, if you scroll Twitter faster, content scrolls faster. If we do it slowly, the content scrolls slowly, and thanks to the increased refresh rate, the text does not appear fuzzy as it is on 60 Hz screens. In addition, the possibility of using this function is not implemented globally, but at the application level - in order for the application to be able to use it, the developer must implement the API provided by Apple.

This solution has one major advantage - it saves battery energy. And it actually works, because the iPhone 13 Pro has an amazing working time, not to mention the 13 Pro Max. From a utility perspective, however, this makes the iPhone 13 Pro seem surprisingly lethargic compared to its Android competition.

The fastest smartphone on the market seems slow.

The thing is a bit bizarre, because the iPhone 13 Pro is by all means the fastest smartphone on the market. The Apple A15 Bionic chip is ahead of the top Snapdragon so far (especially in the GPU benchmarks) that it's not even fun. Apple has bounced the competition light years when it comes to the performance of its devices. Unfortunately, in everyday use, the iPhone 13 Pro seems much slower than the competition.

This is due to a combination of two factors: the above-mentioned ProMotion behavior and the slowest animations that definitely need to be refreshed in the next iteration of iOS. Until now, Apple has used a neat trick to optically "liquefy" the operation of the iPhone interface, despite the lack of a 120 Hz screen - it extended the animation time, making the phone seem incredibly smooth. However, while on phones with 60 Hz screens this trick works and actually gives the illusion of increased fluidity and speed, on the iPhone 13 Pro it only causes impatience. The animation for returning to the home screen takes ages, just like the animation of entering the application list or the animation of opening a folder. You wait a fraction of a second too long for everything.

Meanwhile, Android competition, no matter if from Samsung, Asus or OnePlus, works immediately. The impression is as if the phone works guided by thought, not touch, because thanks to the combination of high screen refresh rate and even higher sampling rate of the touch layer, the phones respond to the slightest touch of a finger. There is no such thing on the iPhone 13 Pro. When using it, I feel like I am communing with the phone. When using competitors' devices, I feel as if I am interacting directly with the software.

This "slowness" also translates into such trivial activities as scrolling social media, because on the iPhone it is much slower. This can be compared, for example, to the smooth and jumpy operation of the roller in Logitech mice. When the mouse wheel is jumping, we scroll precisely by one / several lines. When it runs smoothly, scrolling is instant, though not as precise. The iPhone focuses on precision, and this unfortunately makes the greatest advantage of the 120 Hz screen - speed, completely disappear.

After four years with better and better screens on Android phones, Apple's first approach to the 120 Hz screen seems to be missed. Instead of doing "wow", as in the case of the competition, it becomes just another element of everyday boredom. Someone might say it's good because the technology is supposed to be transparent. However, I would like the phone for PLN 5,200 to arouse some emotions in me, and the smoothness of the screen, unfortunately, does not do that.

The screen of the iPhone 13 Pro is not an argument to buy this phone.

If you're looking for a reason to pay extra for your iPhone 13 Pro, cross the ProMotion screen off the list. It's a great gift and it's better to have it than not to have it, but it doesn't make such an impression on its own as to base your purchasing decision on it.

Of course, this does not change the fact that many people will still do well to pay extra for the iPhone 13 Pro. The working time itself and the new camera system justify the difference of PLN 1000 compared to the iPhone 13. However, if you do not need a telephoto lens, and the working time of a regular 13 is enough for you, do not feel sorry about buying another iPhone with a 60 Hz screen . The difference is so small you probably won't notice it anyway.

Tags: Appleekran 120 hziphone 13iPhone 13 proiPhone 13 pro max