iPad Am I the only one with eye issues on iPad Pro M4

[usmaak]

I excitedly bought an iPad Pro 13” M4 that I received on release day. I was really exited. But within 30 minutes, my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. I had severe eye strain. I played with it for a few day before reluctantly returning it because I couldn’t use it for more than ten minutes without my eyeballs hurting and my eyes watering. Then I thought that perhaps it was just the one I had, so I tried a friends and within ten minutes, my eyes felt just as bad.

I don’t see many people complaining about the screen on the M4 causing eye strain issues. Am I like really rare or is this more of an issue?

I’m jealous of you all who can use this thing without problems. I really like it other than the eye strain.

 

[jonnyb098]

There’s plenty of complaints but what’s strange is if you can use the iPhone X-15 then theoretically the M4 OLED iPads should be fine. But it seems maybe the tech or PWM frequency is different. For example I could use my iPhone 12 and now 15 just fine. But the iPhone X was instant eye fatigue

 

[usmaak]

There’s plenty of complaints but what’s strange is if you can use the iPhone X-15 then theoretically the M4 OLED iPads should be fine. But it seems maybe the tech or PWM frequency is different. For example I could use my iPhone 12 and now 15 just fine. But the iPhone X was instant eye fatigue

I have never had a screen bother me before. I have been using OLED and AMOLED screens forever. I have an iPhone 15 and never have an issue. But the M4 iPad kills my eyes.

 

[madat42]

I’ve not heard of this - did you try turning the brightness down or switch to Dark Mode?

 

[usmaak]

I’ve not heard of this - did you try turning the brightness down or switch to Dark Mode?

Yeah. I’ve tried it all. It’s probably PWM sensitivity, though I have never been sensitive before. High bright, low bright, light mode, dark mode. Doesn’t matter. My eyeballs just don’t like it.

I’m back on an M2 and my eyes are a lot happier.

 

[jonnyb098]

Yeah. I’ve tried it all. It’s probably PWM sensitivity, though I have never been sensitive before. High bright, low bright, light mode, dark mode. Doesn’t matter. My eyeballs just don’t like it.

I’m back on an M2 and my eyes are a lot happier.

I’m wondering then if it’s frequency related….not sure what the phones are at vs the iPad Pro supposedly being 240hz

 

[usmaak]

I’m wondering then if it’s frequency related….not sure what the phones are at vs the iPad Pro supposedly being 240hz

I’d be interested to know this. It might be better than the iPhone but it being a much larger screen might be the problem for me.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I’d be interested to know this. It might be better than the iPhone but it being a much larger screen might be the problem for me.

I have a thread on the PWM frequencies but the screen size is a thing as well. When I originally got my first Pro Max device it was way too much, I was dizzy when I used it and didn't feel good. Over time it went away but eventually I downsized to a regular Pro. Same with the new 13" iPad Pro, it was just too big for the distance I was using it at but when placed further away I was fine so I downsized to the 11" and seem to be okay with that as I use it more like a tablet. Increasing the resolution to 'more space' helped as well. Instead of PWM, it was probably some form of motion sickness given the refresh rate/low response times...it's why I can't use my phone in the car as well. Super weird I know.

 

[RU763R]

I've had to return my 13" M4 as well because of eye strain. I didn't even knew there was such a thing as pwm sensitivity and I have several oled devices ranging from tv to iphone, so it came as quite a shock that my eyes were burning.

 

[lenningj]

Could the tandem OLED used be a contributor to this issue also?

 

[Populus]

AFAIK, 13” and 11” iPad Pro use different panel manufacturers, maybe you could try an 11” model? Although if you really want the big one, it will be a waste of time…

I’m also a bit worried about this TBH, as my eyes are sensitive to OLED iPhones… but I really like the new M4 model

 

[teohyc]

Just happened to see the pwm_sensitive reddit page few minutes again.

r/PWM_Sensitive

A community for those with Temporal Light Modulation (rapid pulsing light flicker) sensitivity. PWM, a common screen dimming techniques today, aggravates its provocative flicker by up to 6300%. Symptoms experienced among sensitive users include: eyestrain; headache; migraine. A new screen...

www.reddit.com

There are people who are really affected

 

[Sezel]

Display can cause eye issues for a lot of factors, it could be due to:

1. PWM (to control brightness)
2. Temporal dithering (to control shades of colour)
3. Contrast (exaggerated example is solar eclipse)
4. Display size can also aggravate the condition (a smartwatch and a monitor)

Some android manufacturers provide DC dimming feature but I am not sure about the effectiveness of that but at least they acknowledge and provide some solution. Unfortunately for Apple it is not the priority as of now since there are very few people which are affected by this issue.

These issues are not intentionally engineered rather they are the by product of making the display at the cheapest rate possible.

The solution is not to wait or hope for them to make a display/device which suits us, but to use what suits us best.

 

[Populus]

Just happened to see the pwm_sensitive reddit page few minutes again.

r/PWM_Sensitive

A community for those with Temporal Light Modulation (rapid pulsing light flicker) sensitivity. PWM, a common screen dimming techniques today, aggravates its provocative flicker by up to 6300%. Symptoms experienced among sensitive users include: eyestrain; headache; migraine. A new screen...

www.reddit.com

There are people who are really affected

It would really be interesting to see (or even create a poll) if this issue is affecting mostly to 13” iPad Pro customers, or if It’s affecting both sizes customers equally…

 

[Super Xander]

It seems like I had a very similar problem with my iPad Pro. Also with no problems on PWM or OLED screens on other phones.

I ended up getting a replacement unit before the 14-days returning, and this new one seems much better - just like the iPhones with no eye constrain.

I’m not sure the actual difference, but I could see that the battery manufacturing date on the first one was March, where this one is May. Not sure if they got time to ”improve” the production of the panels somehow?

M4 iPad Pro 11 Screen Issues

I have received my new 11 M4 iPad Pro. To me it seems like the screen somehow “flickers” a little bit compared to every other Apple device I have owned. Also having the iPhone 15 Pro, I think this display looks a lot more comfortable to look at, and don’t give any eye constraints compared to the...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[ELman]

I excitedly bought an iPad Pro 13” M4 that I received on release day. I was really exited. But within 30 minutes, my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. I had severe eye strain. I played with it for a few day before reluctantly returning it because I couldn’t use it for more than ten minutes without my eyeballs hurting and my eyes watering. Then I thought that perhaps it was just the one I had, so I tried a friends and within ten minutes, my eyes felt just as bad.

I don’t see many people complaining about the screen on the M4 causing eye strain issues. Am I like really rare or is this more of an issue?

I’m jealous of you all who can use this thing without problems. I really like it other than the eye strain.

I'm having the same issue with eye soreness with the M4 iPads. I purchased the 13" and returned it. I ordered the 11" and it's a little better but not as good as my M2 Pro. I'm going to give the 11" M4 a few more days. If I'm still having trouble it's going back.

 

[jonnyb098]

These issues are not intentionally engineered rather they are the by product of making the display at the cheapest rate possible.

Leave it to Apple to “cheap out” and then charge 25% more. 😒

 

[antiprotest]

Is this issue unrelated to whether ProMotion is enabled?

 

[Populus]

Is this issue unrelated to whether ProMotion is enabled?

I’ve tried several iPhone 13 mini over the course of the two or three years it was on sale, because I really wanted a small and compact iPhone. I was never able to keep them because of how bothersome was the flickering OLED screen… except the first Starlight one, but that one I returned it because I was unable to use it wearing a mask (and I thought masks were here to stay, back then).

The iPhone 13 mini don’t have a ProMotion display.

Now I’m pretty happy using my SE3, and my M2 iPad Pro which, by the way, does have ProMotion. And I have no issues.

In my experience, it’s not related to the refresh rate (images per second), but to the frequency of the display itself, the way the brightness is modulated that causes the flickering.

 

[usmaak]

Is this issue unrelated to whether ProMotion is enabled?

The M2 that I have is like the perfect screen. I can (and often do) stare at it all night without any eye strain at all. Maybe I won't have any issues with the M5 or M6 or whatever they come out with next.

 

[Populus]

The M2 that I have is like the perfect screen. I can (and often do) stare at it all night without any eye strain at all. Maybe I won't have any issues with the M5 or M6 or whatever they come out with next.

If it’s based on the OLED technology, then it is likely to give us eye-troubles. That’s why I feared the day that OLED came to iPads, and that’s why I got my M2 iPad Pro, knowing it would probably be the last iPad Pro I was going to be able to get.

 

[usmaak]

If it’s based on the OLED technology, then it is likely to give us eye-troubles. That’s why I feared the day that OLED came to iPads, and that’s why I got my M2 iPad Pro, knowing it would probably be the last iPad Pro I was going to be able to get.

Except that I've never had a problem with any of the other OLED and AMOLED (Samsung) phones I've used. My iPhone 14PM is fine. Of course I spend a lot more time on my iPad than I ever do on my phone and it's possible that if I spent more time on it, I'd develop the same eyestrain.

Hopefully OLED isn't the end of the technological development line for iPads. There has to be better screen technology out there somewhere. In the meantime I have the M2 and a good 2021 M1 MBP that I use for work. Neither of those screens give me any issues.

 

[Populus]

Hopefully OLED isn't the end of the technological development line for iPads. There has to be better screen technology out there somewhere. In the meantime I have the M2 and a good 2021 M1 MBP that I use for work. Neither of those screens give me any issues.

Yeah, neither of those give me any issues either… because they aren’t OLED!

As for a better technology in the future, there was one called microLED in which Apple was apparently heavily invested developing the screens of future Apple Watch but… they stopped the research, and all leaks point towards Apple abandoning plans of going to microLED. And some people claimed microLED also used PWM, but without actually using the technology, I don’t know if it would have been better or not.

So… yeah, it seems we’re kinda stuck with OLED. There was a small hope for us when Samsung announced the new QD-OLED, which featured a reduced flickering, but for some reason, Apple isn’t using those new panels.

 

[madat42]

Does Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Limit Frame Rate (60fps) help? I don’t understand PWM so that might be unaffected whatever the refresh or frame rate is.

 

[usmaak]

As I understand it, PWM has nothing to do with refresh rate.

I might be wrong about this. It's just my understanding of it based on some reading on the subject.

PWM is used to simulate brightness on an OLED screen. It is actually a series of cycles of the screen being off and then on but it happens so quickly that we just perceive it as brightness on a screen. Either quicker or longer dark cycles make the screen seem dimmer and fewer or shorter dark cycles make it seem brighter. We don't see these because they're quick but the brain registers everything. It's normal for the brain to contract the pupils when it is bright and to let them dilate when it is dark. So the brain tries to process this and it causes imperceptible repeating contraction and dilation. This causes the myriad symptoms some people sensitive to PWM have, including headaches, eye strain, dizziness, and nausea. Some people handle it better than others.