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Well, I just received my 12 Mini after upgrading from an iPhone 7. Right away I can tell something wasn't right. My eyes were straining and I have a slight headache. I was thinking it was the larger screen after looking at my 7 for so long. Ugh...I hope this isn't going to be an ongoing issue.

How does the 12 Mini compare to the regular 12 & 12 Pro?
According to data provided in another thread, the 12 Mini had much worse flicker at lower brightness levels than the 12 and 12 Pro had.... but at 50% and above, they are pretty similar.
 
Yep, same concern I have about moving to it from my 11.... I just hate the bulk, and as we discussed, that large screen. Depending on how it goes with the Mini here in the next couple of days, I might consider the SE2020, though.... to me that size was perfect (I never got a chance to use the SE1 or the previous iPhones, I was a late adopter at the time the 6s came out). Add to it, I prefer touchID to faceID.... so it seems an attractive "side grade" if the Mini does not work out.

So you talk about a 4" screen- I assume you have the SE 1. Any issues at all with the size on it- reading text, etc?
2016 SE has been great so far.
I truly adore this device, and one handed use is nice.
I found a bit hard to not make mistakes when using that tiny keyboard, but got used to it quite fast. Only issue comes when browsing, since some websites can’t display all stuff in such a small screen, but not a big deal. It must be a pain to play games in that screen, also.

When I got regular 12, I thought that it’d be easier to read, but putting both phones one next to another, font size was almost the same! Sure you can augment it and keep a good amount of text in screen in a 6,1” one, but it wasn’t “easier” to read.
Also, old SE colours looked cold, “better” and more “coherent” than in new 12, which had like a yellowish tint and a warmer palette or whatever it is.

My experience with OLED screens is limited as you can see and biased since was unpleasant. Only thing was remarkable was the sharpness and grainy text and images, and the quality of the pictures.
 
According to data provided in another thread, the 12 Mini had much worse flicker at lower brightness levels than the 12 and 12 Pro had.... but at 50% and above, they are pretty similar.
I was watching a review and noticed that it looked like the 12 Mini had a ton of flicker. I’m coming from an 11 Pro and I used that for a year with no trouble so I’m hoping that the 12 Mini will work out for me. If not it seems like the 12 should be fine.
 
I was watching a review and noticed that it looked like the 12 Mini had a ton of flicker. I’m coming from an 11 Pro and I used that for a year with no trouble so I’m hoping that the 12 Mini will work out for me. If not it seems like the 12 should be fine.
if you were okay with the 11 Pro, then the chances of everything being okay with the Mini are pretty high.
 
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if you were okay with the 11 Pro, then the chances of everything being okay with the Mini are pretty high.
Yes that’s what I’m hoping for. If anyone is interested, my settings for the 11 Pro were as follows:

Reduce white point: On, 70%
Reduce motion: On
Increase Contrast: On
Require attention for FaceID: Off
Attention aware features: Off

Increase contrast seemed to help me a lot on the 11 Pro so I’d recommend trying that before returning. That’s in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Increase Contrast.
 
Yes that’s what I’m hoping for. If anyone is interested, my settings for the 11 Pro were as follows:

Reduce white point: On, 70%
Reduce motion: On
Increase Contrast: On
Require attention for FaceID: Off
Attention aware features: Off

Increase contrast seemed to help me a lot on the 11 Pro so I’d recommend trying that before returning. That’s in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Increase Contrast.
Thanks! What brightness level did you use?
 
Well after a few hours on the 12 Pro Max early signs have me feeling hopeful that I may be able to use this year's iPhones. I can definitely feel some light strain on back of my eyeballs, especially if I use the phone then look at my iMac while working. My eyes are very slightly blurred but I'm wearing contact lenses so there maybe some clash. At least I'm not getting heavy eyes and a headache after 10mins!

It's been a long working week staring at my computer screen for 8hrs+ a day and I'm tired so will give a good trial over the weekend.

That said I'm not sticking with the Pro Max as it's too boxy and heavy for any comfort in hand so will switch out to a standard 12 (think I want a lighter phone with the aluminium rails). It is a stunning piece of hardware but just too much phone for me on first impressions.
 
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has anyone tried watching HDR video with bright scenes such as ones from Virtual Japan on YouTube?

I found the channel as they had some sample videos of iPhone pro max dolby vision. If I watch them or any HDR videos with bright contrasty scenes they seem quite hard on eyes.

It looks like screen somehow adjusts when HDR video starts and I was wondering whether it affects PWM.
 
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Hi guys! Unfortunately, I have to pass on some negative news, as some of you may find it useful.

Today the start of sales of 12 Pro Max and 12 Mini began, demo samples appeared in stores, and I measured them with the same device. Results below:

Brightness level - pulsation coefficient (may be better translation from Russian is flicker index)

Iphone 12 Pro Max:
1. 100% - 6.5%
2. 75% - 7.4%
3. 50% - 8.9%
4. 25% - 58.1%
5. 0% - 31.3%

Iphone 12 Mini:
1. 100% - 7.1%
2. 75% - 7.8%
3. 50% - 9.1%
4. 25% - 42.1%
5. 0% - 27.8%

I do not know what the reason is, that the supplier of these screens is not LG, but Samsung or BOE, or something else, for a fact there is a fact - at brightness levels below 50% Max and Mini flicker much more than 12 and 12 Pro. The only positive is that their flicker at these brightness levels is still less than the XS Max, so I still hope some of you are okay with these phones. I originally planned to buy the Max, but now it seems I will only consider the 12 Pro.

Please share your experience if someone buys Max or Mini.
Thanks for this. Oddly enough I did notice when I stared at an 11 Pro Max in the store that I got eye strain much quicker than the 11 Pro even though I only looked at both for a matter of seconds, so maybe the flicker coefficient was worse on the Max model last generation as well.

I think I’m going to follow my instinct to purchase an iPhone 12 once I’m ready. Since those are available for next day delivery I don’t have to worry about placing an order today, but if I was ordering a Pro I would have already placed an order with the expectation to receive it relatively soon since those dates are pushing December.

I went to Target today and planned on checking if they had all of the iPhone 12 models on display but ultimately switched my order to Drive Up since Covid cases are peaking in my town and there have been a few recent instances of employees at that store testing positive.
 
has anyone tried watching HDR video with bright scenes such as ones from Virtual Japan on YouTube?

I found the channel as they had some sample videos of iPhone pro max dolby vision. If I watch them or any HDR videos with bright contrasty scenes they seem quite hard on eyes.

It looks like screen somehow adjusts when HDR video starts and I was wondering whether it affects PWM.
It could be interesting to take a slo-mo video of an iPhone 12 playing HDR content to check if it still has recordable flicker at the brightest points. Not really helpful for everyday use, but it would show that it is possible for the display to be on without it.
 
Thx for your report.

So sad that the mini is so bad :(

My Mini arrived yesterday. But it's still sealed and I think of returning it without opening. Don't wanna go through all this headache stuff again - so will use my (big) 11 for another year :(
 
Thx for your report.

So sad that the mini is so bad :(

My Mini arrived yesterday. But it's still sealed and I think of returning it without opening. Don't wanna go through all this headache stuff again - so will use my (big) 11 for another year :(
I have an scheduled appointment in an Apple store to test 12 mini in about an hour, and I think I’m skipping because 12 was so harmful I still have eye soreness (5 days later!)
Life goes on and that’s 1st world problems, but still sad about all this PWM stuff.

I just wanted a compact smartphone with top technology so bad... :(
 
I've been following the threads on iPhone and PWM to create this comment.

Since I was sensitive to the PWM on the iPhone XS Max, I jumped to the iPhone 11 when that launched last year.

I was able to play around with all four iPhones this morning. Since PWM was the one thing ensuring I might not upgrade this year, my inclination was to record slo-mo on about:blank at 0% brightness, 50% brightness, and 100% brightness.

My observations:
  • iPhone 12 mini had the most flickering out of the four - and it was by a noticeable amount.
  • iPhone 12 and 12 Pro were one and the same. When playing around at 50% or higher, there seemed to be no difference with PWM. The flickering got worse once you dropped below that threshold and kept getting closer to 0%.
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max followed a similar trajectory where 50% or higher didn't alter the amount of flickering. What is important is that the device had the least amount of flickering out of the four - and it was noticeable right away from just pointing my iPhone 11's camera at the device. To ensure I wasn't going crazy, I brought other people over to verify that I wasn't losing my mind.
Now the iPhone 12 Pro Max still uses PWM and it still flickers - but it seemed like a decent enough improvement from from what I noticed with the 12 mini, 12, and 12 Pro.

Since I also had a OnePlus 7T on me, which has a PWM of 357 MHz per Notebookcheck, I compared it to the iPhone 12 Pro Max specifically.

Man - if only Apple used DC Dimming on these devices.

At 50% or higher brightness on the OnePlus 7T, using either PWM or DC Dimming, the iPhone 12 Pro Max had a similar amount of flickering. Once you dropped below 50%, OnePlus 7T's use of DC Dimming ran circles around the iPhone 12 Pro Max's use of PWM. On the other hand - OnePlus 7T's use of PWM at 50% or less was on par to the iPhone 12 Pro Max's use of PWM.

It seems if you need a new iPhone, but have issues with PWM; the iPhone 12 Pro Max might be the way to go. The only downside is you have a physically larger and noticeably heavier device.

I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max on me, so I'm going to test it out over the next few days to see if I encounter the same issues I did with my XS Max.
Thanks for this mini review! Interesting!
It is possible that this is quite individual, but while testing the 12 Pro Max in a few minutes I felt a eye strain and headache begin to approach, quite typical for OLED unfortunately.

Please share your experience of using 12 Pro Max in a few days or when you can draw quite definite conclusions.
 
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Well, I guess the mini is a no go for me. The day after getting mini I woke up to a splitting headache behind my sensitive eye. It has never been this bad with the X and the only part of my routine that changed in the past day is my phone.
 
Well, I guess the mini is a no go for me. The day after getting mini I woke up to a splitting headache behind my sensitive eye. It has never been this bad with the X and the only part of my routine that changed in the past day is my phone.
Did you guys have problems with PWM in the past?
 
Did you guys have problems with PWM in the past?

Not that I can attribute directly to a phone, but I've been having eye problems since around the same time as I switched from an SE. The most I could claim is that the X was preventing me from healing. Right now I'm being treated for... basically eye strain problems, and as of this morning (the day after I got the 12 mini) it's worse than I can ever remember it being.
 
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