They promote it with a Liquid Retina display, but I'm sure if they did an OLED one (Super Retina), they would promote that as the new selling point.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone XS Max Apple OLED vs LCD quality/clarity
- Thread starter janeauburn
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They promote it with a Liquid Retina display, but I'm sure if they did an OLED one (Super Retina), they would promote that as the new selling point.
My XS Max is ever so slightly better than my R. But I think you mostly notice this in a darkened room watching videos.
Both displays are superb.
Both displays are superb.
I think they promote the “All screen” versus just the LCD part of it. But in terms of general marketing, it seems to be the Apple Pencil and Face ID are the main marketing features.
Apple prides itself on delivering the best LCD displays you'll find in a smartphone, but they pale incomparison to the OLED screens offered by its rivals. ... deliver a wider color gamut for brighter and more vibrant images, and greater clarity.
I compared an XR and the Max side by side a few weeks back and I couldn’t see enough of a difference that would make me want to pay more for OLED at this point. The screen on my 8+ is crisp and bright enough for me to be honest and I don’t think I’m missing out. Until prices for this technology in Apples hands comes down a lot, I won’t be giving it a second thought when upgrading going forward.
Yeah, and I can't think of another Company that actually makes you pay a premium for OLED, and at least a full HD display. Motorola has $250 phones that have both. They aren't anywhere near as good as iPhones or more premium Android phones, but still. I'm not a fan of their business model. Back in the Steve Jobs days, we had one iPhone and one iPad. Now they separate the iPhones and iPads into separate tiers. It's a bit of a fun sucker in a way, IMHO.
It’s fairly simple in my mind, in that Apple is being charged out the wazoo by Samsung for the OLED panels and they are asking the customer to foot most of that bill. Again, that business strategy seems to be working so I can’t fault them, and at least they are delivering the best that OLED has to offer.
I think initially when the X price was revealed, most assumed that the new Face ID tech was to blame for the high price, but the XR has certainly proved that wrong.
And the real kicker is, Apple isn’t even taking advantage of OLED’s best feature by implementing a true black dark mode for efficiency, but again, I think that’s due to black smear issues in low-light situations.
I have owned both the XS and XR for weeks and compared them exhaustively.. as many here likely know.
The XS does have better blacks.. and the visible diffferce is less than 10% IMO. Yes, my eyes have been checked. I read text at very small settings. I have zoomed the display to compare text and images.
XS and XR each have their own ‘look’ as OLED does look slightly closer to the glass if this makes sense.. but noticing this IMO takes a serious level of effort or OCD. It is not anything anyone using the device in a normal way will notice.
The text between the two are within 5% of clarity IMO.There are times I am looking as much as I can and see no difference. There are times when I see the XR or XS being better.
This is why I was so torn on the decision between the two. I started XS for several weeks and then went XR a few weeks ago. I also tested an XR while I had the XS.
No disrespect meant but anyone saying there are glaring differences or the OLED blows the LCD away.. just aren’t right IMO. They are insanely close.
What did it for me was the color temp and color shift. My wife’s X was/is horribly yellow most of the time when I see/use it. I am glad I skipped the X.
However, the XS had a much more pleasing color.. but also had color shift. If I am editing photos on the XS I will see different results if I am holding the phone at 45° versus flat on a table. I knew I was giving up a tad bit of blacks but I don’t think it’s anymore than I woiuld be giving up by using a quality monitor such as the MPB or iMac.
To each their own.. as both are amazing displays.. you pretty much have to pick your poison. If you want those black blacks.. you have to live with pink/yellow/blue shift. If you don’t want the shift.. know your blacks will be slightly less black than the OLED.
FWIW, i still prefer the size of the XS. The XR is slightly large for my taste.. but that is also a poison I am pickng for ridiculous battery life.
Is the current business strategy working? It may have worked on you or I, but I could argue we aren't the majority of buyers. The strategy worked in Q1 of 2018 where the X supposedly had the highest worldwide sales of any smartphone, but there have been many reports of sluggish sales. Many are questioning the current business model, as indicative of all the tech reports, and then the aftermath of threads here.
[doublepost=1545423210][/doublepost]
The amount of shifting depends on the quality control. With the XS Max, I had minimal shifting (though the Face ID module started to go out). Unfortunately, the panels aren't consistent.
I wouldn't say "blow away", but the differences depend on who is viewing. "Insanely close" wouldn't be an accurate statement either for everyone. The price difference however, changes things up quite a bit on the value and worth of spending $250+ for the more expensive models. The differences may be more apparent with the HDR and Dolby Vision support, when/if utilized.PBz said:
Last edited:
IMO, one is a 9 and one is a 9.5.
The color shift on my XS wasn’t ‘bad’ but it was consistently there. I could count on seeing a different tone based on angle.
Yes, watching HDR Dolby Vision video would be better on XS/XSM
I mean, media and forum users alike have been questioning Apple’s business model and decisions to no end for years, yet this year they were the first company to hit a trillion. I question some of the decisions sure, but I don’t think they’ve shown any definitive signs of a failing business model.
[doublepost=1545424299][/doublepost]
How many folks are really, truly doing this anyways though? I definitely understand it as a selling point, but it’s actual usefulness is largely overblown imo. I’d bet 99.9% of us will go to the larger screen if we really truly care about the Dolby Vision experience.
Cryates said:
I don't see it being overblown or even mentioned too often. It's just that the display differences have been mentioned that they are less marginal in use for this technology. Video has been very popular on mobile devices going back to the old iPods with low res screens. Steve Jobs mentioned how he underestimated the popularity of video on iPods in an old D3 Conference.
It's very hard to compare a television to a mobile device and the convenience it offers. I'd say that difference alone doesn't warrant a $250+ price gap over the XR with an LCD display, of course.
Sure, a large screen would offer the best "Dolby Vision experience", though it doesn't fit in our pockets or go with us everywhere. You aren't the first person to jump to TV's at the mention of a comparison but we are comparing mobile to mobile displays. The fact that the LCD iPhones lack HDR and Dolby Vision support though does bring about the display contrast difference. Whether the average consumer cares or not is completely a different story, but it doesn't give any conclusion on the quality differences, 99% or not.
I haven't stated they have a failing business model, that would really be jumping the gun. They test the market sales response, but they already have responded. Their business model isn't static. We don't have all the figures yet, but it's basically a pretty well known fact that iPhones sales have slowed. It's a concern especially given a new release + the holiday season.
"Apple's warning on iPhone sales was warranted. According to LikeFolio data, the holiday season could come up significantly short of historical sales levels."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andysw...-slow-start-this-holiday-season/#4edb55ad5294
"Alongside falling numbers in the supply chain, Apple is cutting the wholesale cost of the iPhone in Japan. By offering larger subsidies, the hope must be that carriers will put more effort into selling the newer handset thanks to the larger margins."
-------
Angelo Zino (an analyst from CFRA) mentioned that the slowdown is largely due to rising prices as well as the fact that people are holding onto older models relative to previous cycles.
Couple his comments with iOS 12 speeding up older devices going back to the 5S and smartphone technology plateauing, upgrades are becoming less and less justifiable.
Last edited:
I like OLED. The lighting just looks good. I don’t if that makes sense. But the glow, is just nice.
Apple’s OLED panels are manufactured by Samsung for the record. Consumers don’t say “Wow, Apple’s OLED panels pale in comparison to the competition”, they can barely tell the difference between LCD and OLED as it is. Additionally, Apple’s OLED panels are ‘fairly good’, and yes, I have observed the competition, and I wouldn’t say the competition is _that_ Drastic of a difference over Apple, they are all very close.
Cell phones are used in a variety of circumstances. Situations where there is direct sunlight, or glare in your eyes or other situations where viewing the screen is difficult, my guess is, it's difficult to tell the difference between lcd and oled. However, in a more optimum viewing situation, comparison of oled vs lcd may yield more of a difference.
Each tech has it's own set of pros and cons.
And while I now have the max, I can't say I'm anywhere close to an oled snob.
I agree for TV. But I have never understood why someone would "waste" watching a movie on their phone. If I watch a movie, I want to see it on a screen that is at least 20" or more. Or I'd rather wait to watch the movie. I suppose I might consider watching a movie on an iPad if I was just down and out or something but on a phone? I've never understood why people do this.
On an airplane, mass transit etc where content is downloaded? See people watching movies, shows etc.
Depends.
There is of course personal preference, differences in visual acuity, PWM sensitivity and budget / buyer bias to consider, but setting all those aside, all of the iPhone XRs I've seen so far have had off-axis color shifting (reddish tint) which the iPhone 7 Plus I used for two years did not exhibit (it just got a bit dimmer off-axis). Same deal with all of the iPhone X, XS and XS Max phones I've seen so far - including the Max I'm using now - except it's a blueish tint.
Partially for this reason but mostly because I was concerned about PWM sensitivity the iPhone 8 Plus was a contender when I was considering my next phone. The 8 Plus units I checked appeared to have a similar, wonderful LCD display as the 7 Plus did, something I would have picked over the XR's. But since I don't appear to be so sensitive to PWM that I couldn't use the XS Max normally I went with that instead, and will live with the off-axis color shift. Maybe in two years' time display tech has improved in this regard.
There is of course personal preference, differences in visual acuity, PWM sensitivity and budget / buyer bias to consider, but setting all those aside, all of the iPhone XRs I've seen so far have had off-axis color shifting (reddish tint) which the iPhone 7 Plus I used for two years did not exhibit (it just got a bit dimmer off-axis). Same deal with all of the iPhone X, XS and XS Max phones I've seen so far - including the Max I'm using now - except it's a blueish tint.
Partially for this reason but mostly because I was concerned about PWM sensitivity the iPhone 8 Plus was a contender when I was considering my next phone. The 8 Plus units I checked appeared to have a similar, wonderful LCD display as the 7 Plus did, something I would have picked over the XR's. But since I don't appear to be so sensitive to PWM that I couldn't use the XS Max normally I went with that instead, and will live with the off-axis color shift. Maybe in two years' time display tech has improved in this regard.
This is my whole point I already iterated, general consumers can’t tell the difference. And they likely don’t care to know the differences in their purchasing decision. Apple’s marketing gears exactly what they want the consumer to see, [I.e-New form factor, Face ID, Animoji, new colors, ect]
I think a lot of people including myself couldn’t give a toss whether our iPhones have LCD or OLED as long as it doesn’t cost a grand. The fact I have to study the screen to even tell the difference means it’ll likely be a pain free transition just as long as I’m not affected by the screen flicker.
Yeah ProMotion really is something special. Don’t think it’s coming to OLED anytime soon though