It’s been widely reported that Apple will bring 120Hz displays to the entire iPhone 17 lineup, including the base models. That immediately led many to assume ProMotion would finally come to all iPhones. But that might not be the case. Apple has always referred to anything over 60Hz as ProMotion, but the branding isn’t just about refresh rate—it’s about adaptive refresh.
ProMotion uses LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) panels, which let the refresh rate scale from 120Hz all the way down to 10Hz or even 1Hz. This helps preserve battery life and enables features like Always-On Display and StandBy mode. But according to a leak from Fixed Focus Digital, the iPhone 17 and new iPhone 17 Air will reportedly stick with LTPS (low-temperature polycrystalline silicon) displays. These support fixed 120Hz refresh rates, which improves scrolling and animations but lacks the battery savings and dynamic features of LTPO.
This makes a big difference. A fixed 120Hz display would make the iPhone 17 feel faster and more responsive than the iPhone 15 or 16, but it likely wouldn’t support Always-On Display or ProMotion-style adaptability. Apple could still brand it as “ProMotion,” but technically it would fall short of what that term has meant on the Pro models.
This also contradicts earlier claims by analyst Ross Young, who said that all iPhone 17 models would get ProMotion and LTPO. If that turns out to be true, this would be the first time Apple brings ProMotion to the full lineup. But if the new leak is accurate, Apple may simply be upgrading the refresh rate without changing the underlying display tech.
For now, it looks like the iPhone 17 and 17 Air will get 120Hz displays, just not the adaptive kind. The Pro models will likely keep LTPO and remain the only ones to support full ProMotion and Always-On Display features.
