Optimize Safari for Seamless 120Hz Browsing Experience
Apple’s Safari browser has been traditionally limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, creating a less fluid browsing experience compared to other browsers like Chrome and Firefox. Users of iPhones, iPads, and Macs equipped with ProMotion displays can unlock a 120Hz rendering feature, which significantly improves smoothness during scrolling.
Understanding the 120Hz Rendering Enhancement
At 60Hz, the screen refreshes every 16.7 milliseconds. By contrast, 120Hz reduces the refresh interval to 8.3 milliseconds, enabling images to update twice as frequently. This leads to reduced motion blur and a smoother visual experience when scrolling through content, especially on text-heavy pages.
The impact of this enhancement varies by user; those who are accustomed to the fluidity of browsers like Chrome may notice a distinct difference. However, users who have not previously felt a discrepancy might not perceive any significant improvement.
How to Enable 120Hz Browsing in Safari
Unlocking the 120Hz feature in Safari requires accessing the hidden Feature Flags menu. The steps differ slightly between iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
On iPhone and iPad:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and select Apps, then tap on Safari.
- Navigate to the bottom and tap Advanced.
- Access Feature Flags and find “Prefer Page Rendering Updates near 60fps.”
- Toggle this setting off.
- Force quit Safari and reopen it.
With this configuration, Safari will now render pages at up to 120Hz on compatible Apple devices, including the iPhone 13 Pro and later models, as well as all iPad Pro variants with ProMotion technology.
On Mac:
- Open Safari and click Safari in the menu bar and select Settings….
- Click on the Advanced tab and check the box for “Show features for web developers.”
- A new Feature Flags tab will appear; click it.
- Use the search field to look for “60fps.”
- Uncheck “Prefer Page Rendering Updates near 60fps.”
- Quit Safari completely and reopen it.
This process is effective on any Mac equipped with a ProMotion display, such as the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2021 and later. Users with external displays capable of 120Hz will also see enhanced performance.
This useful tip for activating 120Hz scrolling was uncovered by MacStories, originally shared by developer Matt Birchler.
