Name: Tremplin Numérique
Price range: $$$

NOTICE: I have set up more iPhones than I can remember, but the first time I booted up the iPhone 13 Pro Max, something looked very different to me.

There wasn't a new splash screen or anything, nor was it drastically different from the iPhone 13 I had installed moments before. What made me feel new was that this was my first experience of ProMotion on an iPhone - and it instantly made a difference.

ProMotion is Apple's term for its variable refresh rate technology that debuted on the iPad a few years ago. This allowed the tablet, and now the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, to change the number of screen refreshes from 10 times per second to 120.

While I wanted a faster screen on an iPhone since I first used the Razer 90Hz phone in 2017, I never thought it was so necessary. You see, Android phone makers often use these faster screens to compensate for slower devices with slower animations and software that could be tuned better. Apple doesn't have this problem and the 60Hz panels it has been using for years often seem better to me than a 90Hz version on a competing device.

But as soon as I started the installation process on the iPhone 13 Pro Max, scrolling down a list to select the region of the device, ProMotion spoke clearly and I was glad it was there. . The scroll was, forgive the cliché, creamy and smooth with all kind of jerky a thing of the past.

However, there is more to faster refresh rate panels than just scrolling. ProMotion, along with other VRR LTPO panels used on phones like the OnePlus 9 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, can change the refresh rate on the fly.

Sometimes 120Hz is unnecessary and its constant use can do more harm than good, so these displays adapt to the task. If you are reading, for example, 10 Hz is ideal; while streaming a YouTube video only needs 30Hz. A game running at 120fps can have menus rendered at 30 or 60Hz - another way to save juice. These ProMotion panels are part of the reason why Apple claims the iPhone 13 Pro Max can last 2,5 hours longer than the 12 Pro.

It is still too early to really know whether or not the general iPhone buyer will experience the benefits of this new screen technology. I've shown friends faster refresh rate screens before and while some will notice it right away, others just don't. Maybe that's why Apple is keeping it on “Pro” phones for now, although I wouldn't be surprised if this spills over to the regular iPhone 14 next year.

I've only spent a few days with the iPhone 13 Pro Max so far, so maybe after a week my mind will change and the new camera array or cinematic mode will be the best feature. However, right now it's hard to look past ProMotion as a standout addition to the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max.