As expected with any Apple device, the latest iPhone lineup was met with nothing short of a boatload of hype. Understandably, the Pro models lived up to the anticipation by showing off the new Dynamic Island technology as well as other additions that make it a huge step up from the previous generation. However, the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus models still maintain their 60Hz displays, which can be a little bit jarring if you’re coming from a device with a higher refresh rate. The question now though is this: Is it acceptable for any $799 device to come shipped with a 60Hz display in 2022, even if it’s an iPhone 14?

This is a topic that’s been debated time and time again, on numerous forums. We’d like to first clarify that the iPhone displays are by no means terrible. They’re excellent (if not class-leading) in terms of color reproduction, vibrancy, resolution, viewing angles, and countless other factors that make a good display great. That can be attributed to brilliant hardware that’s mostly taken from Samsung, as well as efficient software optimization. The only Achilles heel here is the refresh rate.

A 60Hz refresh rate was just fine many years ago, but as we continue to use devices with 90Hz displays and higher, our eyes grow increasingly accustomed to the level of smoothness that it provides. This technology has now trickled down to even the most affordable budget models, such as the realme Narzo 50 with a 120Hz IPS display at under PHP 10K. For the Apple devices not to receive the same treatment at an exponentially higher price point is questionable, to say the least.

We first saw variable 120Hz in an Apple product in 2017, with the company dubbing the iPad Pro with the “most advanced display ever.” This was extremely smooth and brought a whole new level of display quality to an iOS device, but it wasn’t until 2021 that the iPhone 13 Pro/Max models began implementing this feature. We expected the ProMotion display to be a selling point of the Pro over the vanilla models, but we’d also stipulate that one year is enough to do so.

Some users then ask: “Why does my 60Hz iPhone feel much smoother than my 60Hz Android device?” For anything released relatively recently, the answer is no longer “the heavy skin” or “lack of optimization.” Android will always be behind iOS in this regard, but the gap has mostly diminished by now.

The main answer here is animations. These are optimized on iPhone to be a bit less brisk but still feel fluid – a slow but steady approach to things. Meanwhile, animations on Android are meant for higher refresh rates which leads to skips and jitters when slowed down. Even for devices that were released at a locked 60Hz refresh rate, flashy animations have always been the cause of software issues. Over time as a device gradually gets weighed down by bloatware and all that, these weaknesses are further magnified.

So what Apple has done here to reconcile its iPhone 14 models still possessing 60Hz refresh rate displays in 2022 is a solution through optimization. They’ve thoroughly studied the user experience to minimize the feeling that you’re not using something that’s as smooth. Comparatively to another 60Hz Android display it manages to take the cake, but take any 90Hz smartphone and the difference becomes clear. Let’s just not talk about the ridiculously powerful flagship chipset residing under the hood.

To answer the question we posed in the title, the answer to this whole iPhone 14 60Hz dilemma isn’t as clear-cut as it seems. Is it all about the experience and are you the type to compare side-by-side with other devices? Do you use another secondary device with a 90 or 120Hz refresh rate on a daily basis? If the answer to those questions is yes, then you may have to consider moving up to the iPhone 14 Pro/Max models. Otherwise, we believe you’d be perfectly fine.