Kuo: the 5.4" iPhone 12 will feature a narrower notch but none of the iPhone 12 models will have a 120hz display; iPad Air will feature Touch ID in side button
here's why Tweets: Dieter Bohn / @backlon : sad! https://twitter.com/... Droid / @droid254 : Then what's the point of upgrading? https://twitter.com/... Jon Prosser / @jon_prosser : @MacRumors @rsgnl RIP Dan Seifert / @dcseifert : really hoped for a bigger refresh from Apple this year Kellen / @iamkellex : apple guy today: it's no big deal, your eyes can't really tell the difference. this feature is all marketing. apple guy next year w/ 120Hz iPhones: see, apple was just waiting to do it right. this is the best implementation yet* *it's just a samsung display that everyone uses https://twitter.com/... Raymond Wong / @raywongy : Oh shit... Touch ID returns... in the power button just like the leaks from last month claimed Smaller notch on 5.4" iPhone 12... what does that mean? Gen-1, iPhone X Face ID? If not, why else wouldn't the notch on the 12 Pro be smaller then? Something's gotta be missing https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Ming-Chi Kuo's supply-chain note lands days before the iPhone 12 launch window and immediately draws pushback from reviewers like Dieter Bohn and Dan Seifert, who read the missing 120Hz panel as a thin refresh. The note also confirms the iPad Air's biometrics move to Touch ID in the side button rather than Face ID.
The corpus shows the deferral was real, not rumor error: Kuo later reported the iPhone 13 Pro models would get 120Hz displays alongside a smaller notch, and that high-end 2022 iPhones were slated to drop the notch for a hole-punch design entirely.
First-order effects
- Upgrade-deciding iPhone buyers face a hard spec ceiling this cycle — no 120Hz on any of the four models — while the iPad Air ships Touch ID in the power button instead of Face ID.
Second-order effects
- Android flagships already advertising 120Hz panels sharpen the comparison at retail, and Kellen's jab that the feature is 'just a Samsung display' puts pressure on Apple to frame the eventual rollout as an implementation advantage rather than a catch-up.
Third-order effects
- The notch-to-hole-punch trajectory Kuo sketched for 2022, combined with 120Hz arriving one generation late on the Pro tier, points to Apple metering display and biometric upgrades across annual cycles so each generation has a distinct reason to exist — with side-button Touch ID kept as a fallback whose future even Kuo claimed no visibility into.
The trend: Apple is rationing display and biometric hardware upgrades across yearly iPhone generations, using deferred features like 120Hz and notch removal to sustain the upgrade cadence.