Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.

Are you experiencing this issue?


  • Total voters
    1,929
Notebookcheck list the 13 pro max on the PWM ranking and interestingly they measured a pwm frequency of around 240 Hz:

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max2778x1284OLED238.1

I more and more consider to try the 13 pro after i had no luck with the 13 pro max. It lucks like the smaller pro could again have the better implementation of pwm. I have the 13 pro already try 2x in the store for 15-20 min and i doesn't seems that the display really bother my eyes. I think it could be worth to try it. I had today the pixel 6 pro in the hands and it looks like it is also worse like the s21 ultra. Only 6-10 min are enough for me to feel eye strain. Compared to this the 13 pro max works better for me. It seems like apple has the best pwm implementation on LTPO Displays this year. Maybe with xiaomi mi 11 series.
 
Notebookcheck list the 13 pro max on the PWM ranking and interestingly they measured a pwm frequency of around 240 Hz:

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max2778x1284OLED238.1

This doesn't make any sense to me. I can see that they have iPhone 13 mini measured at 510.2 Hz as well.
It seems to me that there are three alternatives that would explain the results
1) Apple is using some implementation that makes it difficult to measure PWM.
2) Different panel manufacturers.
3) These figures aren't correct.

Something that Notebookcheck hasn't explained in detail with the 13 series is how the PWM frequency changes at different brightness levels, rather than just being a static number.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimmy_uk
Notebookcheck list the 13 pro max on the PWM ranking and interestingly they measured a pwm frequency of around 240 Hz:

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max2778x1284OLED238.1

I more and more consider to try the 13 pro after i had no luck with the 13 pro max. It lucks like the smaller pro could again have the better implementation of pwm. I have the 13 pro already try 2x in the store for 15-20 min and i doesn't seems that the display really bother my eyes. I think it could be worth to try it. I had today the pixel 6 pro in the hands and it looks like it is also worse like the s21 ultra. Only 6-10 min are enough for me to feel eye strain. Compared to this the 13 pro max works better for me. It seems like apple has the best pwm implementation on LTPO Displays this year. Maybe with xiaomi mi 11 series.
For some reason Notebook Check is listing multiple PWM frequencies and they don’t make sense. I find it hard to believe that there is such a variance on the various models in the 13 series.

603FE4D1-8DD6-460E-8857-C153A6AB1F27.jpeg
3A3B985F-CE12-4E5D-8D27-63FE8E2E7323.jpeg
 
My eyes feel a lot better today! The 12 Pro Max was definitely better than the 13 and 13 Pro Max, but I’m certain it was still causing me eye strain.

I work in a room with pretty awful fluorescent lighting (something I’m gonna have looked at soon), so I figured it was related to that. However, I can sit in the same room with far less trouble when I’m using the 11 and not the 12 Pro Max.

I also had another look at that Slow Mo Guys video and I think I can see the reason why the 13 is so much worse for me: you can see the dark bars are much thicker and darker on the 13 Pro versus the 12 Pro. That’s gotta be the higher modulation, right? The bars are basically pure black, whereas they’re more like grey on the 12 Pro.

So while all OLED PWM is hard on my eyes, the 13 Pro is particularly bad due to the intensity of the flickering, despite it being much faster.

And whatever the standard 13 is doing is enough to give me motion sickness! I’d be interested in seeing a slow mo of that as well.
 
View attachment 1874508

Look what you made me do… ???

I’m willing to try all of these freaking phones. ??‍♀️ There’s so much variation between them and our eyes/brains that all we can do is try them ourselves.
Haha, yes!

I kind of wish they went with a darker pink, so it would really scream PINK! Like the 5c pink/coral
 

Attachments

  • 8E2C806B-9CE1-4A3E-B115-A11A2D90045F.jpeg
    8E2C806B-9CE1-4A3E-B115-A11A2D90045F.jpeg
    695.7 KB · Views: 65
  • Like
Reactions: Tmacc47
Haha, yes!

I kind of wish they went with a darker pink, so it would really scream PINK! Like the 5c pink/coral
Yeah, the colours are quite muted this year, but the pink is still really beautiful and girly! Could have been a bit more saturated (like the 6s Rose Gold), but I love it.

I've mentioned before that I'm trying to treat my phone as more of a tool, rather than an all-day distraction. I was curious about the 12 mini as it matches that philosophy, but was too worried about battery life to try it. The 13 mini seems quite a bit better, plus the mini benefits from the smaller notch the most. The pocketability (especially for women's pockets and bags) and one-handed ease of use do appeal to me.

So what the heck, I'll give it a try! I've tried almost every other iPhone at this point. ? I just need to try it without expecting to use it like a Max. And I hope the smaller (and different) display might be better for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JM
I found that if I have a smaller phone- I look at it much less frequently than when I’m using my big phone (because I don’t particularly like looking at or using the small phone). They’re both the same speed and run the same OS but there’s really no attraction to me using the smaller phone.

So for those of you trying to cut back on obsessive iPhone usage or iPhone addiction - using a small phone can help a lot in that regard because they just aren’t as nice to look at or use.
 
I found that if I have a smaller phone- I look at it much less frequently than when I’m using my big phone (because I don’t particularly like looking at or using the small phone). They’re both the same speed and run the same OS but there’s really no attraction to me using the smaller phone.

So for those of you trying to cut back on obsessive iPhone usage or iPhone addiction - using a small phone can help a lot in that regard because they just aren’t as nice to look at or use.
Apple’s new philosophy straight from the horse’s mouth (Cook) is that people should be using their phones less ?
 
  • Like
Reactions: RobinYerbank
Apple’s new philosophy straight from the horse’s mouth (Cook) is that people should be using their phones less ?
“We think you’ll LOVE what we have to show you today…. Just not too much, we don’t want you to love it TOO much. But not to little. We want you to LOVE it just the right amount, and we think you will too.” ?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: RobinYerbank
Did you guys see that?
Yes! That makes sense though. It's gotta be dirt cheap for them to produce a single camera XR body... and everybody loves their fat bricks these days, so it makes sense.

As for me.... I am currently testing a 13mini out....

*oh I really don’t like this large brick phone 11 ? the mini is so nice.
 
Last edited:
@thejadedmonkey I finally did it! I finally got a 13 mini to try. The Apple Store had a local pickup today, so that was a surprise, and I thought "what the hell, it's worked for some people".

Anyways, so, testing the 13mini out. Initial impression after about 10-15 minutes of use with the screen on looking at settings, camera use, safari, etc.: I don't have any back of the eye pain like I did with the 12mini. After setting the phone aside to type this, it's been about 15 minutes after looking at the screen, and I have some "I'm tired, my eyes hurt" things.... you know "dry eyes".... but it's also late and I'm tired and I'm coming down off a pint from a few hours ago (cause I'm a lightweight).

Here's the difference, though: I am wearing corrective lenses that have blue light filter now, while I did not have these glasses when I had the 12 mini last year. (I know, I know blue light filter does jack, but I'm just reporting everything in case you have thoughts.) The corrective lenses might be helping my one eye pick up some of the struggle to focus on the screen, while I only had one eye doing all the work last year.

I will check back in here, after using it a bit more tomorrow.

It is definitely not my main driver yet though. I don't have a case and I want to make sure I can still return it! This baby stays inside! haha

**also, I should mention that the 11 also gives me issues with a different sort of eye fatigue if I don't have my corrective lens glasses in. So whatever the Apple screens do to be pretty, they give my eyes a workout.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: now i see it
After a few days with the XS I decided to switch back to the 11. The XS didn't bother me like before but the 11 is still more comfortable on my eyes all around. And while I didn't mind the smaller form factor I still think this 6.1 screen size is the sweet spot for me with my large hands.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JM
Yes! That makes sense though. It's gotta be dirt cheap for them to produce a single camera XR body... and everybody loves their fat bricks these days, so it makes sense.

As for me.... I am currently testing a 13mini out....

*oh I really don’t like this large brick phone 11 ? the mini is so nice.
The 13 Mini will have better battery life then the 11.
 
  • Love
Reactions: JM
The 13 Mini will have better battery life then the 11.
I saw a YouTube video battery drain video that said as much, as well!

I’d be thrilled if the battery usage matches the expectation. With what I did today the battery setting says it used around 40%-45% for 1hr 48minutes of Screen On; and 29 minutes of Screen Off.

So about four hours of SOT for 100% usage (extrapolated)? Not bad. I’ll see what it’s like the next few days.
 
As for PWM report today:

I have 2 hours of SOT. Most of the day I did not have my glasses on. I’d say 25% of the time I had my glasses on (I really wanted to give my eyes hell by not wearing glasses 🤣)

So no back of eye pain like I had with the 12 mini. I have a dry eye sensation, and it’s honestly just as bothersome as looking at the 11 without glasses. I don’t have any lasting headaches or nausea (though I didn’t with the 12 mini either, so that’s a moot point).

With the reports of those of you getting used to the 12 last year and it became manageable, that’s how I feel with the 13. I don’t have any major concerns right now… and feel like I'm doomed to just have cellphones that will give me discomfort no matter what I do (because even the SE2020 and the 11 LCD give me eye fatigue and “discomfort”).

So im leaning towards keeping this 13 mini? I still have the two weeks to decide, though. (Man this small size is nice!)

And lesson to be learned: you really won’t know how it affects you until you try.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.