Those of you who typically buy the non-Pro iPhone model when you upgrade have seen some nice additions to the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus this year. First of all, love it or hate it, the Dynamic Island has been included with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. The 48MP image sensor first used to back the main Wide camera on the iPhone 14 Pro models last year is now a part of the 2023 non-Pro models.
Yeah, there are still many things that the more expensive iPhone models have that the lower-priced units don’t. Of course, there is the Tetraprism periscope lens that delivers 5x optical zoom to iPhone 15 Pro Max users only (the iPhone 16 Pro will reportedly get the feature next year). One feature limited to the Pro models that will be available to the non-Pro models soon is the 120Hz ProMotion screen that brings a 120Hz refresh rate to iPhone 15 Pro series users.
According to Ross Young, the founder and CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) and one of the most accurate tipsters around, the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus will be the first non-Pro iPhone models to feature a 120Hz refresh rate in 2025. Currently, the non-Pro iPhone screens refresh at 60Hz or 60 times per second which is half the rate of the ProMotion displays on the Pro iPhone models.
Ross Young’s iPhone road map through 2025
According to Young’s road map, which he shared on X, next year’s iPhone 16 will feature a 6.12-inch display while the iPhone 16 Plus will be equipped with a 6.69-inch screen. The aspect ratio for both phones will be 19.5:9 and these specs match exactly what the non-Pro iPhone 15 models have this year. In 2025, Young sees some changes to the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus with screen sizes of 6.27 inches and 6.86 inches respectively.
The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus will replace the Low-Temperature PolySilicon (LTPS) display with a low-temperature Polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) screen. The reason for that change is due to Young’s belief that the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus will be the first non-Pro models to sport a ProMotion display giving it a 120Hz refresh rate. With LTPO, the refresh rate can adjust to a lower rate when certain content (like e-mail) appears on the screen. The result? Users get a longer-lasting battery life. The aspect ratio will also change ever so slightly to 19.6:9 according to Young.
Next year’s iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will carry a 6.27-inch and a 6.86-inch screen respectively while the aspect ratio will rise slightly to 19.6:9. Everything else will remain the same compared to the 2023 Pro handsets. For 2025, Young expects the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max to replace the Dynamic Island with an under-display Face ID and use a punch hole cutout for FaceTime and selfies. So if you’re a fan of the Dynamic Island, Young says that you might be losing the feature on the 2025 Pro models although it will still appear on the non-Pro models that year.
