Apple says it is working to fix an issue that is preventing iPhone 13 Pro from running animations in third-party apps at 120Hz and limiting them to 60Hz
One of the biggest new features exclusive to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max this year is the inclusion of high-refresh rate displays, or what Apple calls “ProMotion.” Source: Apple Developer Documentation .
9to5MacBenjamin Mayo
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple introduced ProMotion on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max as a 10Hz-to-120Hz display capability in its iPhone 13 Pro launch. The newly acknowledged third-party-app limitation creates a gap between that hardware capability and the app experiences users can access at launch.
The report also fits a later pattern in which Apple addressed a third-party-app iPhone issue through a promised software fix for iPhone 14 Pro camera shake, making software support central to the reliability of new-device features.
First-order effects
iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max owners see third-party app animations capped at 60Hz rather than the advertised 120Hz ceiling.
Apple must correct the issue to bring third-party app behavior into line with the ProMotion capability it introduced on the devices.
Second-order effects
Third-party developers cannot presently deliver the same animation smoothness available where 120Hz works, leaving Apple’s platform fix—not app-level differentiation—as the immediate dependency.
The limitation weakens ProMotion’s consistency as a device-level benefit, because its visible value varies by app rather than solely by the display hardware.
Third-order effects
If new iPhone capabilities repeatedly depend on post-launch fixes in third-party apps, feature differentiation will increasingly be judged by Apple’s software compatibility work as well as its hardware announcements.
Apple’s handling of third-party compatibility becomes part of the launch-cycle standard for premium iPhone features, with parity across apps determining whether a capability feels platform-wide.
The trend: Premium iPhone features are becoming more dependent on software-layer parity across Apple and third-party apps, not just on the hardware shipped at launch.
Am I correct in seeing that UIView.animateWithDuration APIs aren't clocked at 120Hz on iPhone 13? On UIScrollView, system ones, and Metal by the looks of it, rest is still 60Hz? https://twitter.com/...
There is a workaround for the 60fps frame rate cap on iPhone 13 Pro. Set CADisableMinimumFrameDurationOnPhone to true in your Info.plist. https://developer.apple.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
I hope what was genuinely an innocent dev question didn't make anyone at Apple's Friday harder than it needed to be, and sorry if I did. I'm sure Apple will fix it. https://twitter.com/...
Looks like there's a new API/plist key to uncork 120Hz animations on iPhone 13 Pro for apps! ‘CADisableMinimumFrameDurationOnPhone’: https://developer.apple.com/ ... I can only get it working with CADisplayLink and SceneKit though, still doesn't seem to work with UIView/CALayer.
@jamesthomson Right? Was legitimately just trying to find an answer but things go places you didn't think they would. ;_; And Apple's really good about this stuff so I don't think there's much reason for concern.
Interestingly, while Dice can detect the 120Hz display of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, and I'm requesting 120Hz output from SceneKit, I don't see anything above 60Hz. Not so on an iPad Pro running the same code. I'm guessing/hoping that's a bug... https://twitter.com/...
@MishaalRahman @RyneHager The fact that they didn't give this to developers earlier is a perfect example of how Apple's obsession with secrecy hurts them and the market.
Update: Apple says Core Animation frame rate bug will be fixed in future OS update. Documentation on opt-in plist key is coming soon (I dunno why it wasn't ready last week with the RC) https://9to5mac.com/...
This is a really weird situation and still not 100% sure if it's a bug or intentional — but on iPhone 13 Pro most animations in third-party apps are limited to 60Hz, and iOS seems to specifically exempt Apple's apps from this limit. https://9to5mac.com/...
Here's the docs. A lot of angst could have been avoided if this was published a week ago, alongside the Xcode RC seed. https://developer.apple.com/ ...
The doubled refresh speed on the iPhone 13 Pro gives the system a polished and smooth feel. Didn't think I would notice it, but is the difference between spreading warm butter vs cold butter on a slice of bread: https://developer.apple.com/ ...
Update: Apple has shared documentation with a key that developers can add to an app's Info.plist file to enable the full range of ProMotion refresh rates for custom animations on iPhone 13 Pro models. https://www.macrumors.com/... https://twitter.com/...