ProMotion

A screen does not show a continuously moving image. It rebuilds the image very quickly over and over again, similar to a flipbook made up of many individual frames. How often this happens per second is measured in hertz: 60 hertz means 60 new images per second. ProMotion is the brand name that the company Apple uses for its faster screens. These manage up to 120 images per second and automatically adjust the rate to whatever is currently being displayed. With a still image, the rate drops sharply; during a fast-paced game, it rises to the maximum value.

Smooth scrolling and longer battery life

The visible benefit lies in motion. When scrolling through a long list, text at 60 images per second tends to blur slightly into an indistinct streak. At 120 images, the text remains noticeably more legible. The pencil on an iPad also feels like it responds instantly, because less time passes between the stroke and the display.

The second benefit is less obvious but economically more important. A screen is one of the biggest power drains in a phone. A device that constantly runs at 120 hertz would be noticeably more depleted by evening. Because ProMotion lowers the rate down to 10 or even 1 image per second for calm content, power consumption stays within bounds.

It is precisely this reduction that enables the always-visible clock on the iPhone’s lock screen. A clock face only needs to be updated once per second. Without a variable refresh rate, such a feature would hardly be sustainable for the battery.

How the refresh rate keeps pace

Technically, this relies on a display type with particularly fast switching elements, usually referred to as LTPO. This design allows the refresh rate to be changed in steps without the image flickering. Older screens cannot do this: they run fixed at one value, such as 60 hertz.

The software then continuously decides what pace is needed. When an animation starts or a finger moves the content, the rate jumps up. When the image stays still, it drops back down. For developers, this means their app has to request the high rate, otherwise it gets stuck at 60 hertz.

A common misconception: ProMotion does not make the image sharper. Resolution, meaning the number of pixels, and refresh rate are two separate things. A 120-hertz screen with few pixels looks smooth but coarse. Color quality also has nothing to do with ProMotion.

Which devices and spec sheets it shows up in

Apple introduced ProMotion in 2017 in the iPad Pro, and in 2021 it arrived in the Pro models of the iPhone. On the Mac, the larger MacBook Pro models carry these screens. In advertising, the name serves as a way to differentiate: the cheaper models of the same generation often remain at 60 hertz.

Other manufacturers offer the same thing, just without this brand name. There, the spec sheet simply states “120 Hz adaptive” or “LTPO display.” Anyone comparing devices should therefore not search for the word ProMotion, but for the hertz figure and whether it is noted as variable.

In tech news, the term mostly comes up around new product announcements. Analysts pay attention to it because such screens are more expensive to manufacture and affect profit margins. Whether a feature remains reserved for only the expensive models is relevant information for suppliers and investors.