Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18e will have the same display refresh rate as the existing iPhone 17e, according to a prominent Chinese leaker.
Discussing Apple’s product plans for 2027 in a Weibo post, Digital Chat Station claimed that the next generation of Apple’s low-cost iPhone will feature the same 60Hz low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) TFT panel as the current model.
It means the device will lack the ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate and Always-On display technology that is expected to feature across the rest of the iPhone 18 lineup, similar to the iPhone 17 series.
That’s despite the fact that you can find 120Hz screens on competing Android phones at similar price points as the iPhone 17e.
The claim is substantiated by a report out of Korea earlier this year that said Apple would not use a low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) panel until the fourth-generation model, which is expected to arrive in early 2028. Adoption of LPTO would make the display technically capable of dynamically adjusting its refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz.
The shift in 2028 is said to depend in part on Apple’s development of a next-generation “LTPO+” display technology, which incorporates oxide semiconductors in both switching and drive transistors, and is said to use a lot less battery power.
Apple reportedly plans to reserve LTPO+ for its higher-end models in 2028, including new versions of the iPhone Air and its upcoming foldable iPhone, which would free up standard LTPO panels for the rest of the lineup. But if the new technology isn’t ready in time, it could delay the trickle-down of LPTO panels to the 19e, so nothing’s for certain yet.
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