SAN FRANCISCO, February 1, 2026, 04:18 PST
- A buried Safari “feature flag” can let some iPhones render webpages up to 120Hz, a report said.
- The switch targets a default cap that keeps Safari’s page rendering near 60 frames per second on many sites.
- Higher refresh rates can look smoother but may raise battery use; Low Power Mode can still limit refresh to 60 fps.
A hidden setting in Apple’s Safari browser can unlock 120Hz webpage rendering on iPhones with high-refresh screens, a Tom’s Guide report said on Saturday. The option sits inside Safari’s “Feature Flags” menu and turns off a default preference to update page rendering near 60 frames per second. (Tom’s Guide)
Why it matters now is simple: more iPhone buyers have 120Hz displays in their pockets, and they notice when the smoothness comes and goes. Safari is the default browser for many users, so a 60fps cap on page scrolling lands right in the most-used app on the phone.
It also underlines something Apple rarely spells out in public settings screens — performance is sometimes dialed back on purpose, even on expensive hardware. A switch buried in “Feature Flags” feels more like testing gear than a consumer feature.
A 120Hz display refreshes the screen 120 times a second. At 60Hz, it updates half as often, which can make fast scrolling look a touch jittery on text-heavy pages.
The report says the toggle is reached through the iPhone’s Settings app, under the Safari section, then Advanced, then Feature Flags. The option is labeled “Prefer Page Rendering Updates near 60fps,” and it must be switched off; Safari then needs a restart to take effect. Users can confirm the change using a refresh-rate test site, it said.
Apple began pushing its “ProMotion” screens into iPhones with the iPhone 13 Pro line in 2021, pitching an adaptive refresh rate — from 10Hz up to 120Hz — to keep things responsive while managing power use. (Apple)
By 2025, Apple was also marketing a ProMotion display on the iPhone 17, part of a broader push to make the feature less exclusive. “The Super Retina XDR 6.3-inch display with ProMotion is bigger and brighter,” Kaiann Drance said in Apple’s launch statement. (Apple)
Battery is the tradeoff hanging over the tweak. Apple says Low Power Mode on ProMotion iPhones limits the display refresh rate to 60 frames per second, which means users trying to force smoother Safari scrolling may see the effect disappear when they switch into battery-saving mode. (Wsparcie Apple)
But the setting lives in Feature Flags for a reason. Apple can change or remove it in a software update, and forcing higher frame rates can cost battery life or behave differently across sites, depending on what a page is doing.
The episode also puts Apple side-by-side with premium Android rivals that have leaned on high-refresh displays for years. Flagships from Samsung and Google sell the “smooth scrolling” pitch hard; Apple is selling it too, just with one more switch left in the weeds.
