Why Doesn’t the iPhone 16 Have an Always On Display

Last night I was listening to the latest episode of Connected when I heard the following exchange that had me jumping up and down in agreement:

…I’ll just jump in and say, Apple should not be selling a phone with a 60Hz screen at this point. That phone should be 90.
That should be 90. Like,… I mean, honestly, I think it should be 120, but if they’re not going to do that, like, this phone should be 90Hz.
Like, it should offer that. It’s an $800 smartphone.

Well said, Myke. I fully agree that at this point Apple should have a high refresh rate display available line-wide in the iPhone. I’ll go a step further and say they should also have Always On Display available line wide as well.

Today actually marks the 7 year anniversary of the day I got tired enough of Apple that I switched to Android for a few years. After seeing Apple charging $999 for an iPhone with a great screen-to-body ratio, even then, I was annoyed. I decided I needed to try something else, so I got myself a Samsung Galaxy S8. When that phone launched, it was priced around $750, had an Always On display, could run at a 60 or 120Hz refresh rate, and had a lovely screen to body ratio compared to the dated design Apple had been using year after year. Yeah it meant I had to run Android, but it felt nice having those features.

Now it’s 2024 and Apple still thinks that an Always On Display is a a “Pro” feature. I hate to break it to you Apple, but it’s not. It’s a feature at this point that’s pretty standard across Android phones and not something phone makers feel the need to use to gauge a few extra bucks out of their customers. And honestly, when Apple does something like this, that’s exactly what it feels like they’re doing.

Make no mistake, I’m not here to complain about iPhone pricing or say that Apple’s products are too expensive (though that doesn’t mean I agree with every price they charge), but at least this year’s Pro phones felt like they were actually aimed more so at professionals than they had in years past. But there’s still the issue of the Always On Display.

Hopefully we’ll see that expand to all new iPhones in 2025’s lineup.