VRR

VRR or Variable Refresh Rate describes technology that allows a computer to coordinate the refresh rate or “frames per second” with the display dynamically with the goal to prevent or eliminate the perception of dropped frames or tearing or stuttering artifacts that could otherwise break the viewer’s illusion of smooth motion. When the graphics processor cannot maintain the highest possible frame rate due to insufficient processing power or bandwidth, VRR can prevent or eliminate these distracting artifacts. VRR can also adjust the refresh rate to suit the content on the display (examples: 24 frames per second for a film or 29.97 for video). For branding purposes, AMD uses the term FreeSync while NVidia calls its standard G-Sync. Although Apple describes VRR using the term ProMotion for internal displays on MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and iPhone 14 Pro (Max), Apple has not yet licensed this term for use on third-party displays. Apple’s VRR implementation for external displays is only available over HDMI since the M2 Pro (and Max) MacBook Pros. Apple-branded external displays are all limited to 60 Hz (as of May 2023).