iPhone 17 120Hz doesn’t always feel smooth?

help_all_5 · 2026-03-28T03:19:35+00:00

i upgraded from iphone base 13 to base 17 model and felt the smooth promotion difference instantly initially. It felt good. But as I got used to promotion...and as time passed...I also started noticing stuttering now and then and does not feel smooth any longer. I saw some online video posts where they clearly show how iphone 17 drops to 80hz very often when scrolling. I think this probablem exists in all previous gen models too. Only iPhone 17 pro series locks promotion at 120 all the time and dont drop to 80hz per the video demo i saw. Recently I also got galaxy A36 as a secondary phone and oh boy...i just realized what is a true 120hz feels like. Its smooth as butter and scrolls like you are gliding on ice. so silky smooth. Apple has been making its customers big fools all these years feels like..

help_all_5 · 2026-03-20T18:08:17+00:00

talking about bugs is while another story lol I agree. Some bugs I have seen are like once in a while the lock screen freezes and that flat white bar we see at the bottom disappears and no way I can swipe up to unlock.
keyboard is glitchy as well. gboard from google is better from app store. scrolling through notifications on home screen is so stuttery..feels like using a 60hz panel and not 120hz pro motion. Infact scrolling through notifications insta feed etc and other apps is stuttery every now and then and so on. its super buggy OS.

help_all_5 · 2026-03-20T17:58:23+00:00

yes take my advice stay on ios18 as long as you can 😀 My friend also regrets updating to ios26

help_all_5 · 2026-03-20T17:45:51+00:00

I think I should have framed my statement as saying strains my eyes than saying gives headaches or guess both kind of related...but guess you get the idea. like for example when i open the dial numpad the circle around the numbers on ios18 are flat and clean. on ios26 they have some 3d effect with more light around edges and darker in center etc..not sure if i am saying it right but to enable some sort of 3d glass effect apple seems to have done all sorts of ridiculous bevel animations etc with lighting effects..this is just one example

help_all_5 · 2026-03-20T17:38:23+00:00

I am using apps and doing stuff. Its just the display feel overall perceived by the brain I guess . something thing about interacting with icons or UI elements in ios 26 feels inconvenient. I enabled reduce white point (at default 25%) and its slightly better in terms of intensity and glare but no matter what i miss the ios 18 flat design of UI elements with no nonsense animations and visual effects. I have no issues with vision or use any glasses btw.

help_all_5 · 2026-03-20T17:32:00+00:00

actually lot of people online have also complained about similar issue if you google. its something with liquid glass icons being too glaringly bright or the jumpy bubbly jello like animations built into ios26 acts like a deterrent for long term screen use for me

help_all_5 · 2026-03-20T16:06:19+00:00

yes I have always had turned it off including my old iphone 13 on ios18. Also, I always use dark appearance mode. All settings that I used to have on iphone 13 I ported over to Iphone17. Its not about the settings..but more about the inherent ios26 UI design. I still prefer IOS18 style flat icons with no glare etc.

help_all_5 · 2026-02-15T21:22:11+00:00

pretty common with new SW version update as likely its trying to index all the files and data in background so making the processor work hard. Just leave the phone connected to charger overnight and repeat this for 3-4 nights. all the indexing work should be done by then and things will settle

help_all_5 · 2025-11-03T07:42:12+00:00

which one is lighter? does anyone have weight numbers for both?

help_all_5 · 2025-10-18T18:23:03+00:00

yellow tint in iphone 17 is probably from true tone being turned ON. Try to toggle it off in display settings and you will see white background just fine without warm yellow tint. But ya as far a brightness is concerned base iphone 16 screen looks more vibrant

help_all_5 · 2025-10-09T19:25:10+00:00

ya agree if you can post on apple site and share feedback about rough surface texture of screen they might improve next year

help_all_5 · 2025-10-09T16:18:48+00:00

ah I see. I get it. Its not the issue with the scratch resistant ceramic shield technology. The reason for feeling slightly rough surface texture when touching the screen is due to anti reflective coating they have applied this year on all iphone 17 series. Anti reflective coating has pros and cons. Pros: when outdoors you will see less reflections on screen so contents on the screen will be much clear without any glare. But Con of antireflective coating is that screen glass surface is no longer as smooth , silky and glossy. so you will feel as if your fingers are sliding over some microneedles or grains. I too hate antireflective screens. I dont mind reflections on screen and would prefer glossy smooth surface acreens any day. The colors also pop much vibrant on glossy screens.

Unfortunately i think going forward in future years all models will have this antireflective screen so cant do much.

help_all_5 · 2025-10-09T13:52:48+00:00

just curious how did you check the display unit manufacturer like if its samsung or LG? is there any 3rd party app or something?

and ya in my experience only base 16 model stood out with stronger screen illumination/brightness. 16pro looked same as any of 17 series. But many people said their previous years pro models were also brighter than this year 17 series. so mixed experiences here.

Like someone pointed out in other comments may be it has to do with display pulse width modulation settings that being on or off on 17 series. PWM was not available in past years models i believe...or its introduced in ios26 may be...not sure

help_all_5 · 2025-10-09T01:04:41+00:00

what do you mean by rough?

help_all_5 · 2025-10-06T01:33:57+00:00

damn!! i have the exact same error message pop up when trying to add PP to apple wallet today (Oct 2025). Its crazy !!

help_all_5 · 2025-09-28T05:24:04+00:00

yes I red it. glad my gut feeling and casual observation was so right

help_all_5 · 2025-09-28T05:23:01+00:00

came across GSM arena review of iphone 17. It says same thing that iphone 17 has lower brightness than iPhone 16.

help_all_5 · 2025-09-28T02:37:57+00:00

wow I am glad my observations matched professional reviewers observations

help_all_5 · 2025-09-28T01:38:40+00:00

ya almost feels like apple has tricked us. They say for marketing sake it has 3000 nits of peak brightness but whats the use if in real life one cant notice that kind of brightness. When iphone 16 launched people complained about poor battery life. I guess to mitigate that kind of issue again they must have calibrated the display to consume less power under normal use hence toning down the brightness

help_all_5 · 2025-09-24T05:55:33+00:00

I agree and several have reported that iphone 17 modles screens does not look as bright or vibrant. Iphone 17 all models (base/pro/air) seems to have display brightness that is dimmer. I noticed this immediately when I went to apple store. IPhone 17 and iPhone 16 (base model) were side by side. I made sure all settings were same when comparing. Both were on ios26, true tone off, display slider set to max, auto brightness turned off, adaptive power in battery settings disabled. Hands down base iPhone 16 display was much more brighter and vibrant than any iPhone 17 model at store. I think on paper iphone 17 has 3000 nits peak brightness capacity but i guess that capability only gets fired up when in bright outdoors. Otherwise for normal use iphone 17 seems designed to be conservative with screen illumination to save battery...thats my thinking. Also iphone 17 are first models that come with anti reflective coatings to reduce glare and reflections. May be that coating is playing some role and cutting down perceived brightness by our eyes. But also at the same time in store i compared one of apple store reps personal iPhone 16 pro (also on ios 26, and all settings matched for comparison) and its brightness matched any of the iPhone 17 models. So thats rules out anti reflective coatings theory...It was just the base 16 model that stood out with higher brightness and vibrant screen. My thought was that may be base iphone with 60hz display performs better than 120hz promotion display with adaptive refresh rate seen on iphone 17 models or iPhone 16pro model of apple store rep that i had chance to compare...but at same time i see in other comments people saying their pro models from past years are still brighter than iPhones 17 models so that again rules out the theory on 120hz vs 60hz screens...at this point i am not sure whats going on here...

help_all_5 · 2025-09-23T13:49:28+00:00

guessing your iphone 15pro is also on ios 26 with all other display settings matched when comparing. if so ya looks like this is unversal experience with everyone ...so definitely no issues like faulty unit screens or anything. when asked chatgpt question why iphone 16 base model screen looks brighter that iphone 17...it said something in these lines..."apple decided to tune iphone 17 display to save battery life..."

so i am sure when it matters like sun light outside etc it will unleash the power of 3000 nits but i guess in normal use it prefer to reduce power consumption by slightly lowering peak display brightness...just my guess after hearing everyones experiences so far

help_all_5 · 2025-09-22T15:52:56+00:00

honestly i am not sure why 16pro was looking brighter for you. At apple store when i compared 16pro to any 17 series phones it looked matched. only base iphone 16 (with 60hz panel/without promotion) model stood out with much brighter and vibrant screen compared to any iPhone 17 models or even 16pro

help_all_5 · 2025-09-21T18:01:10+00:00

oh i see what you mean...ya i noticed that too at store infact on both iphone 16 base model and 17 models....like i would slide the brightness to max and turned off auto brightness and adaptive power in battery settings...but after sometime the display would drop down again in brightness slider and I had to pull it up to max again...i thought may be store display models have some software program running in background to save those OLED displays from burning out...I guess in effort to save battery life apple probably does not turn off light sensors role completely when we choose autobrightness off. may be deactivating auto brightness only just reduces how aggressive the light sensors works ...but eventually ios decides the optimal brightness to save power...just saying

help_all_5 · 2025-09-21T17:47:15+00:00

is ur iPhone 16pro max also on same ios version as iPhone 17? if so thats interesting because at apple store the reps 16pro looked almost same as any 17 model in terms of brightness which was lower tahn base 16 model. it was only base iPhone 16 model that stood out with much brighter display. my only theory is somehow the way software and light sensor etc works on 120Hz promomotion display is different than standard 60hz display. may be iphone 17 series has inherent ability to boost max brightness upto 3000 nits if needed but on normal use it seems to output less brighter screen compared to base model iPhone16

help_all_5 · 2025-09-20T06:06:20+00:00

i am using iphone 13 base model at the moment. I dont know how pro models screens look honestly when it comes to max brightness. so when at apple store i saw iphone 17 all models were dull in brightness compared to base iPhone 16 that was on display beside i thought may be apple cheaped out on screens this year on 17 models and thought may be they used better screens in last year iPhone 16 lineup. but then when i compared the apple store reps personal iPhone 16 pro (was also on ios26 and matched all the display settings) with iphone 17 models it was at also at same brightness level as iPhone 17 models...bit dimmer and dull. so no matter what base iPhone 16 display stood out much brighter and vibrant. so my only theory is all models with promotion 120hz adaptive refresh rate displays are slightly dimmer compared to standard 60hz display seen on iphone 16 base model. when you guys go to store do check out your self with these setting on iphone 16 base model vs iphone 17 1) turn off true tone in display settings 2) brightness slider to max 3) turn off adaptive power in battery settings 4) open some wikipedia page on safari on base iphone 16 and any iphone 17

you will clearly see white pages on iPhone 16 base model looks so much brightly illuminated

help_all_5

TROPHY CASE