Is it worth the extra battery life to disable the 120Hz refresh rate on iPhone 15 Pro models?
While the iPhone 15 Plus was not included in our battery test, it has edged out the iPhone 15 Pro Max in some other tests. One of the reasons why the slightly smaller battery on the Plus edges out the battery used by the Pro Max has to do with the 120Hz refresh rate used on the iPhone Pro models. The ProMotion display does refresh the screen at a range of 1Hz to 120Hz depending on the content plastered on the phone’s display. Nearly static images such as the always-on display refresh at the lowest rate.
Lowering the refresh rate maximum to 60Hz on a compatible iPhone Pro model might give you 5% or 6% longer battery life
There is one thing you can try to extend the battery life on any phone
The tests run by Macworld to limit the refresh rate resulted in the Geekbench 4 battery test score for the iPhone 15 Pro rising 5% from 643 at 120Hz to 675 at 60Hz. The iPhone 15 Pro Max Geekbench 4 battery test score rose 6% from 782 at 120Hz to 829 at 60Hz.
If you’re a game player, certain titles support high refresh rates so even if you feel as though you can get by with 60Hz (admittedly a First World problem), if you play certain games like Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Brawl Stars, Alto’s Odyssey and Genshin Impact, you are going to want to keep the higher refresh rate enabled when you play.
There is one overlooked way to extend the battery life on not just an iPhone, but on every phone really. Turn off auto-brightness and set your screen to the lowest level of brightness that you feel comfortable with. Unlike turning on Airplane mode to save battery life, lowering the brightness of your phone’s screen will allow it to remain fully functional while reducing the consumption of energy from the battery.
