Apple makes budget buyers wait until 2028 for 120 hz screens
Spring 2028. That is when the cheapest iPhone will finally scroll as smoothly as a USD 250 Android from 2021. Supply-chain whispers reaching TechCurrent say the iPhone 19e—likely rebranded iPhone 20e for the twentieth birthday—will be Apple’s first sub-flagship handset to drop the geriatric 60 Hz panel.
The timing stings. Samsung’s Galaxy A52 5G shipped 120 Hz five years ago; Redmi and Realme have since pushed the spec below the USD 200 mark. Apple’s response? A calendar push. The company will reportedly ship the iPhone 18e this autumn with the same 60 Hz LCD that already felt dated on the 16e. Promoters of the “e” line will have to swallow another twelve-month lag before the LTPO OLED arrives, complete with the 1 Hz idle mode Apple reserves for ProMotion models.
Why the delay is strategic, not technical
Apple has been able to source 120 Hz panels since the iPad Pro 2017. The bottleneck is margin protection. By rationing high refresh rates, Cupertino keeps a daylight-sized gap between its USD 899 flagships and the entry tier. Analysts at Counterpoint estimate every 10 Hz above 60 adds roughly USD 4 in BoM cost—immaterial for a Pro, but enough to erode the already thin 17 % gross margin on the “e” series.
The company also milks the staggered release cadence. Flagships launch every September; the “e” version follows the next spring. That half-year gap lets Apple digest component price drops and re-use leftover flagship parts. In 2028 those leftovers will finally include LTPO OLEDs, once the iPhone 18 Pro cycle has absorbed the early-adopter premium.
Consumers are the collateral. Teenagers, first-time buyers and emerging markets—precisely the cohorts Apple courts with the “e” badge—are condemned to another three years of jittery scrolling while rivals offer 120 Hz as standard.
Lo que nadie cuenta es que Apple already tests 90 Hz panels for the 18e. Engineers green-lit the silicon, marketing killed it. Internal data showed 120 Hz would have lifted demand by 18 %, but would also have convinced 11 % of Pro prospects to downgrade. The revenue delta: negative USD 1.3 billion. La cifra habla por sí sola.
The upshot: a masterclass in managed obsolescence
Come 2028 Apple will sell the 120 Hz breakthrough as revolutionary, bundling it with A18-grade chips trimmed from the 2024 flagship line. Reviewers will applaud; investors will cheer the margin resilience. And the cheapest iPhone will still cost north of USD 500—twice the street price of an Android rocking the same spec today.
That is the real commemoration: two decades of teaching the world to pay flagship money for yesterday’s parts, wrapped in tomorrow’s marketing.