I think home lighting do play a role if they are flickering LED’s.
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Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up
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I’ve been happily using my 13 Pro for just over a week now. Even sent off my 11 last week, so I’m committed.
No eye strain issues at all. Completely expected, since I previously worked my way through every new model and found the 13 Pro to be the only one without issues for me.
For anyone who didn’t follow my journey through iPhone insanity, in summary:
It’s well established that all of our experiences are unique to some degree. I feel very lucky that I found a new model that works for me and will be very careful with my next upgrade, whenever it’ll be in the next few years. I definitely won’t be changing phone again for a while…
I’m really enjoying the 13 Pro and feel it’s the best balance between size and features. The mini is very cool, but too small for me. The Max is amazing for videos and games, and the battery life is bonkers, but it’s too big and heavy to be practical for me. It’s a relief to be back on the 13 Pro’s size after previously using the 12 Pro Max and 11. This is all ignoring the complexity added by PWM, of course.
I also got lucky and got one without any uniformity or tint issues, as that seems to be a particularly common issue this year.
Anyway, I thought I’d post what will likely be my final update for this iPhone season. I will continue to monitor this thread and will chip in with the discussion from time to time.
Good luck to anyone still searching for a new iPhone and thanks to everyone who’s shared their experiences and thoughts!
No eye strain issues at all. Completely expected, since I previously worked my way through every new model and found the 13 Pro to be the only one without issues for me.
For anyone who didn’t follow my journey through iPhone insanity, in summary:
- 13 and 13 mini: consistently gave me nausea after around 10 minutes. I even tried two 13s.
- 13 Pro Max: severe eye strain, itchiness, redness etc. I could feel it within minutes of use and my eyes were a wreck after trying to use the phone for a week.
- 13 Pro: bizarrely, no problems at all.
It’s well established that all of our experiences are unique to some degree. I feel very lucky that I found a new model that works for me and will be very careful with my next upgrade, whenever it’ll be in the next few years. I definitely won’t be changing phone again for a while…
I’m really enjoying the 13 Pro and feel it’s the best balance between size and features. The mini is very cool, but too small for me. The Max is amazing for videos and games, and the battery life is bonkers, but it’s too big and heavy to be practical for me. It’s a relief to be back on the 13 Pro’s size after previously using the 12 Pro Max and 11. This is all ignoring the complexity added by PWM, of course.
I also got lucky and got one without any uniformity or tint issues, as that seems to be a particularly common issue this year.
Anyway, I thought I’d post what will likely be my final update for this iPhone season. I will continue to monitor this thread and will chip in with the discussion from time to time.
Good luck to anyone still searching for a new iPhone and thanks to everyone who’s shared their experiences and thoughts!
I have a question for the guys here
Some people have success with iPhone 13 pro because it has had 480 hz
From this logic wouldn’t the iPhone 13 be even better as it has 609 hz for the guys who suffer with pwm?
Also what confused me how are some ppl saying iPhone 13 is hurting their eyes yet the the iPhone 11 Pro was fine? When that has worse pwm?
Could it be different oled panels?
Some people have success with iPhone 13 pro because it has had 480 hz
From this logic wouldn’t the iPhone 13 be even better as it has 609 hz for the guys who suffer with pwm?
Also what confused me how are some ppl saying iPhone 13 is hurting their eyes yet the the iPhone 11 Pro was fine? When that has worse pwm?
Could it be different oled panels?
Clearly it’s not just PWM frequency that’s causing all these problems. There’s other factors too that we don’t know about. Right now it’s still voodoo.
I’ll betcha Apple doesn’t know why either, that’s why they keep churning this crap out year after year.
I’ll betcha Apple doesn’t know why either, that’s why they keep churning this crap out year after year.
There definitely are other factors.
I'm more of the opinion that Apple does know quite a bit about this issue, because they keep changing the frequency and other factors about the displays every year. It clearly doesn't affect enough % of their customers to be worth sacrificing colour uniformity/accuracy and having every tech journalist talking about PWM by enabling something like a DC Dimming mode in Accessibility settings or something like some Chinese phone manufacturers have previously done (OnePlus/Huawei etc). Doing this would set off widespread clickbait article questioning of the safety of iPhone displays and be negative for PR/customer relations in my opinion, it would become massive news overnight.
Apple have kept an LCD model of the iPhone available throughout the entire history of OLED iPhones. This serves 2 purposes, there is an extra price and device size tier covered by the iPhone lineup, and users who cannot use OLED phones are able to get involved in the ecosystem and enjoy using the latest iOS with years of software support to come to their LCD iPhone. If you buy an iPhone 11 today you are still going to get longer software support than 90% of Android smartphones available at the same time.
I make the effort to try each new years' Pro phone, just to see if I can use it and I have yet to try out the 13 Pro.
I am currently an iPhone 11 user and my eyes plus my wallet are very comfortable indeed with the phone I have purchased. I acknowledge that the new Pro phones are better than mine in a number of ways, but I'm not going to spend my life overly concerned about my situation when I am able to use something that's still pretty good!
@RobinYerbank
It's your fault that I ordered the iPhone 13 Pro again.
In the first test, I actually tolerated it well for 14 days. Then I really had problems,
but I just doubt whether it was the iPhone 13 Pro. I will now extensively test it one last time.
What madness, but I would like to switch.?
It's your fault that I ordered the iPhone 13 Pro again.
In the first test, I actually tolerated it well for 14 days. Then I really had problems,
but I just doubt whether it was the iPhone 13 Pro. I will now extensively test it one last time.
What madness, but I would like to switch.?
@RobinYerbank I am curious how the 13pro felt? did it took time to get used to the screen or was it just very different from the other 13pro you had and the other 13's that caused discomfort?
I only try the 13 and 13 pro but both give me extreme discomfort after some useage. I am wondering if it is worth the try to test the 13min and 13pro again (might have another screen module)
The 13 Pro is awesome, so I hope it works out for you! All the hassle I went through is in the past now, it was worth it for me.
Both 13 Pro I’ve used have been exactly the same: zero symptoms. It feels like an LCD to me, to the extent that I often forget I’ve even had issues with OLED at all.
I think the supposed problems I had with the last one were in my head and really just me finding an excuse to return it. I regretted getting the 512GB and that particular unit had some unfortunate cosmetic defects, and the display wasn’t as good in terms of uniformity.
I doubt I’ll ever understand why each model is so different for me. I feel like the 13 mini and 13 didn’t give me eye strain and only made me feel nauseous, although I was never able to use them long enough to be sure.
The 13 Pro Max felt similar to the 12 Pro Max in that my eyes would feel dry and itchy after a while (but it was much more intense with the 13 Pro Max). It never made me feel nauseous, however.
Using my new 13 Pro now, I can’t help but wonder if my memories of the other phones are wrong or if I’m losing my mind! But then I stop to recollect all the time I spent testing and returning the other phones and how horrible the journey was. And my boyfriend watched me go through the whole thing, so it must have really happened! ?
Cool! very good that you found out that the 13pro works for you. I am still in the phase of testing the regular 13, but i think to send it back today because like you i don't get headache or migrane from the regular 13 but nausia and almost the need to vomit
WTF is this screen doing...It’s a form of motion sickness just like sea sickness. The eyes are doing one thing (constantly trying to adapt to the chaos of the flickering screen) while the body and inner ears are still.
Subconsciously, those who are getting hammered by PWM to the point that it makes them sick, are rapidly moving their eyes in microscopic movements trying to adapt to the horrible screen.
If you filmed your eyeballs close up in macro mode with a medical eye scanning device while you used an OLED iPhone, you be appalled to see what your eyes are actually doing trying to look at the display. Likely microscopic REM.
hello everyone, I'm from Germany and I thought at first I'm crazy because I've never had any problems before because of it. I had before the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro which has an oled display and 120hz. I have had no problems at all with this phone. Now I have the Iphone 13 pro and after a short time I get eye pain and headaches. And I don't understand why some oled displays don't cause problems and some do? The Iphone 13pro has more PWM than the Xiaomi and I read the less PWM the phone has the more likely you get headaches. Could it also be due to the VRR of the Iphone? Because the heart rate of the iphone is not constant? Do you think it will help if I try the Iphone 13Pro Max?
Sorry to read your having issues with the 13 Pro - welcome to the club ?
It's not just PWM - it's the screen design/arrangement, the display controller, software etc. This is why there is no rule or list for OLED phones that are OK to use for everyone.
The only test is for you to personally try the phone your interested in.
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so i have now switched back to my xiaomi redmi note 10 pro and now it seems to me that i also get discomfort from it, which i never had before. Can this be or am I crazy now? And could also be possible that I would not respond to another iPhone 13 Pro because each display is slightly different even from the same model
That’s the thing about eye strain. It strains the eyes and they become weaker and the muscles become more sensitive to use. Just like over straining any muscle.
There is a remedy of sorts though. Stop using anything that gives you eye strain for a month or so to give the eyes some time to recover and get stronger.
There is a remedy of sorts though. Stop using anything that gives you eye strain for a month or so to give the eyes some time to recover and get stronger.
Sigh. OLED has been a total misstep for a mobile device as small as a phone. Sure there are battery gains, but at the cost of our longterm eye health. ??
Well, this is stupid. I ordered my iPhone 13 on October 25th. I'll be finally getting it sometime this week. And of course, because I ordered it in October, it isn't covered by the Holiday Return Policy as I had hoped it would be, even THOUGH it's only going to be delivered now. Well, just my luck. Now I only have 14 days to find out if it works for me or not. Good grief.
As much as it's annoying to not have current return window (are you sure about that?), you'll need way less than 14 days to understand if it gives your eyes issues or not
I knew within an hour of using the Phone 13 Pro I ordered it was making me unwell, and that was before I knew any of this was even a thing. I started the return process 3 days later, but really after 1 day I knew it wasn't going to work out. I really don't think you will need 14 days to know if you're ok with the phone or not. If in doubt, send it back. Too much money to spend on something which you'll potentially be stuck with for a long time to come.
I got my 13 pro a couple of days ago and have been using it alongside my 11 which I've kept just in case I can't tolerate the 13 pro. The X is the last OLED iphone I owned and I had to return it due to eye strain and migraines. Last night was the first night of heavy use of the 13 pro and I did feel greater strain using it. I woke up today with a terrible headache that felt as if it was behind my eyes. I also had what felt like motion sickness. I'm going to have a break for a day or so and move back to my 11 then try again with the 13 Pro but for now I'm disappointed as it's a great phone and it seems Apple have stopped using LCD screens now. Weirdly I have used OLED Androids without the same effects.