3 ways the iPhone 17’s screen should improve over the iPhone 16’s

The iPhone’s screen has come a long way in recent years, seeing improvements like Dynamic Island for better multitasking, a lower minimum brightness for better reading in dark environments, and a higher peak brightness.

But there are still some ways Apple could push the screens of its smartphones forward, especially on the base models. Screen quality is one of the biggest factors that separate the Pro models from regular iPhones, although there are plenty of other factors that set them apart. Compared to the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Pro has a special telephoto lens, a titanium design, a more powerful processor, a slightly larger screen and a longer battery life.

That’s a lot, and it makes me believe it’s time to bring features like high refresh rates and an always-on display to the mainstream models.

It’s also worth noting that Apple could shake up its iPhone range next year with the addition of an iPhone 17 Slim, which the iPhone Plus claims would replace the iPhone Plus. Bloomberg, The information and analysts Ming Chi Kuo And Ross Young.

If Apple reconsiders its approach to the iPhone 17 family, I hope it means we’ll see more screen upgrades as well. After all, your iPhone’s screen controls everything you do on the device, from watching YouTube videos to sending text messages, playing games, and taking photos.

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High refresh rate on regular models

With its static, native 60Hz refresh rate, the iPhone 16 feels a bit stuck in the past. Many phones in the iPhone 16 price range, such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 9, are able to change their refresh rate between 1 and 120 Hz.

What does that mean for your phone? A higher refresh rate usually results in smoother scrolling and animations because the screen is refreshed more often per second. You might notice it in certain games depending on the maximum refresh rate the game supports, but the biggest area where you’re likely to notice this is when you’re scrolling through menus and screens throughout the operating system.

Is it a necessity? No. But a higher refresh rate can make your phone feel a little faster and more responsive, and it feels like this should be a standard part of the iPhone experience at this point.

While we won’t know what the iPhone 17 has in store until Apple announces it probably next year, according to a report from the South Korean tech news outlet ETNews suggests that all iPhone 17 models will come with low-temperature polycrystalline oxide display panels. These types of displays are currently only available on the Pro models, so their arrival on the standard iPhones could indicate that they will support dynamic refresh rates.

Always seen on regular models

Like higher refresh rates, an always-on screen should be standard across Apple’s iPhone lineup. An always-on display is exactly what it sounds like; it allows your iPhone to keep the lock screen on low brightness even when your phone is idle. It can be useful to see things like the time, notifications, and your widgets at a glance, especially if you don’t have an Apple Watch.

If you’re anything like me, grabbing my phone to check vital information like a new notification often leads me down a rabbit hole of distractions. The always-on screen helps prevent this because I can just look at my phone without waking it up to see what time it is or who just texted me.

But unfortunately, this feature is only available on Apple’s 2022 Pro models, taking advantage of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max’s screen and the newer ability to go to 1Hz for the Always-On display in 2022. It’s one of the few features I missed when moving from the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 16, and like the high refresh rates, always-on displays have been standard on many Android phones for years.

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A nano-textured display option for the Pro

Okay, I know it’s a long shot, but listen up: a nano-textured display could be great on the iPhone. The technology was recently introduced on the M4-powered MacBook Pro and before that on the iPad Pro, and I think there’s an argument that it belongs on the iPhone too.

The biggest benefit of a nano-textured finish is the reduction of glare, making it ideal for people who spend a lot of time outdoors. What better device to have a nano-textured screen than the one you always carry with you?

Of course, there are concerns that the nanotexture coating could make the screen less vibrant. But that’s why I think nanotexturing is a… option for one specific model such as the iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max, no general change. The nano-textured screen combined with the Pro’s durable titanium could make this the ultimate iPhone for outdoorsmen.

To be clear, there’s no indication that Apple has any plans to bring a nano-textured display to the iPhone. But if it were, I wouldn’t be surprised if it found a way to preserve the bold colors of the iPhone screen even with nanotexturing, especially considering that the company regularly develops custom technologies for its products. CNET’s Lori Grunin also found that the 2024 MacBook Pro’s nano-textured screen had barely any impact on accuracy, white points, or brightness when she tested it.

Apple could also find another way to improve the iPhone’s glare reduction. For example, Samsung uses Corning Gorilla Armor on the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s screen to combat glare, which made a huge difference to my colleague Lexy Savvides when she compared it to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro earlier this year.

Apple is working with Corning on the Ceramic Shield coating for the iPhone’s screen, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a new version that’s better optimized to eliminate glare in the future. However, there are no indications about Apple’s upcoming plans for Ceramic Shield.

The screen is critical to the iPhone experience, and Apple clearly knows this. Whether it’s hardware changes like the iPhone 16’s 1 nit minimum brightness, new software interfaces like iOS 17’s standby mode, or a combination of both hardware and software like the Dynamic Island. Now I’d like to see Apple pay more attention to the screens of the base iPhone models and come up with new ways for the Pro’s screen to be brought forward.