New Apple Leak Reveals iPhone 14 Design Shock

Gordon Kelly

Consumer Tech

I write about technology's biggest companies 

iPhone 14 leaks have already revealed a lot of changes, ranging from the radical and controversial to the expensive and the bizarre. But now potentially Apple’s shocking design decision has just been revealed.

 

In a new exclusive, respected site The Elec, has revealed that the iPhone 14 will — once again — miss out on a high refresh rate 120Hz ProMotion display. And in an era where high refresh rate displays are common even on mid-range smartphones, that’s a big gamble. 

Breaking this down, The Elec explains that Apple screen supplier BOE will increase its business with Apple because “it will be supplying 6.06-inch low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) thin-film transistor (TFT) OLED panels for the upcoming iPhone 14 series.” 

LTPS displays were used by older iPhones such as the iPhone X, iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 as well as the standard iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini, all models with standard 60Hz refresh rates. For ProMotion displays, Apple has exclusively used LPTO panels. This is because LPTO panels are capable of variable refresh rates, which allow them to counter the battery drain of high refresh rates with low rates for moments such as reading emails.

Furthermore, unless Apple plans to break with tradition, the company likes to pair the functionality of its non-Pro models. This means The Elec’s news that the iPhone 14 will have an LTPS panel, strongly suggests the new iPhone 14 Max will have one as well. 

Apple stalwarts will say anyone desperate for ProMotion can get an iPhone 14 Pro model but it isn’t so simple this year. Recent leaks have revealed that iPhone 14 Pro models will have a polarizing i-shape cutout to replace the notch and they are also tipped to be more expensive. 

It looks like iPhone fans will have some tough decisions to make in 2022.