Our review of the recently announced iPhone 16 confirmed that Apple has significantly narrowed the gap between the Pro and regular smartphone models: all four models now feature both an “action” button and a new “camera control button,” and for the first time since the iPhone 13 series For the first time, the chipset differences have been almost eliminated, allowing people to buy less expensive models with confidence

Still, there are a few areas where the regular iPhone suffers compared to its Pro siblings, the main one being the screen refresh rate iPhone 16 is still stuck at 60Hz, but since the iPhone 13 Pro, Apple has been offering its top-of-the-line models with 120Hz ” ProMotion” screens

According to display analyst Ross Young, this boundary may finally be removed next year; in a now-deleted X post discovered by 9to5Mac, Young notes that both the regular iPhone 17 and the high-profile iPhone 17 Slim have 120Hz refresh rate and stated that they are set to feature LTPO displays with a refresh rate of 120Hz This suggests that not only will these phones be marketed as ProMotion devices, but they may also benefit from the always-on display first introduced on Apple phones with the iPhone 14 Pro

The original post has now been removed, but Young reiterated this point elsewhere, and we have little reason to doubt this prediction After all, this isn't the first time we've heard of ProMotion finally arriving on regular Apple phones, with others suggesting that an upgrade was on the cards months ago

One thing we shouldn't expect, however, is the introduction of Face ID under the screen; some thought Young was predicting this for the 2025 Pro model because of a mix-up in X's reply, but he has since clarified that it was a slip-up In other words, we can still expect the next iPhone to have Dynamic Island

Of course, this raises the question of how Apple will upsell the iPhone 17 Pro there is talk of 12GB of RAM and a larger screen size, and you would imagine that Apple will retain some camera advantages, but this is not the not add to the large gulf between the phones we've seen in recent years But then, the iPhone 17 Slim is rumored to be Apple's most expensive phone to date, so perhaps this blurring between handset specs is entirely intentional