Is there any reason why the 13 or 13 Pro Max should be any different to the 13 Pro. I'm sending the 13 Pro back as I can't get on with it.
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.
Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up
- Thread starter Kitkad
- WikiPost WikiPost
- Start date
-
- Tags
- eye strain xs max
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
They all have a different pwm rate, that makes the difference probably, besides that the screens are all slightly different in some ways, other resolution, other ppi etc..
iPhone 13 might have a slightly higher PWM rate. It also uses a different OLED panel technology.
Iphone 13 nearly worked for me unlike every OLED iphone since the X. No eye strain or headaches, but I did feel some motion sickness which at worst caused me to feel a little queasy and I was burping alot. It was enough of a discomfort/annoyance to not consider keeping the phone. It's very possible you might not have any of these issues especially as the standard 13 has the highest PWM of any iphone.
As much as I’m enjoying the size of iPhone 13 Mini I definitely do still get light migraines with the display brightness at 38% as it is now under bright lighting. I’ve also already run the battery down to 50% after fully charging it about four hours ago.
I’d be curious to possibly try iPhone 13 if someone can confirm that the PWM rate is at 610Hz as reported if the Mini doesn’t work for me.
Last edited:
Dang sorry.
I’ll get screen on time of about 2.5 to 3 hours for 50% battery use on average. (Attached two screenshots of the extremes of low and high)
Mini is definitely not the kind of phone you take with you on a long day away from a charger taking photos and phone calls all day :/ if I were to go to a national park, I would definitely bring a battery pack.
Attachments
I am trying the 2nd 13pro after i had bad luck with the 13 and previous 13pro that gave me nausia and headache after 5 min of usage. I must say i feel the headache again but not that bad.
Any tips to be able get used to it more easy? 60hz, auto brightness off?
Any tips to be able get used to it more easy? 60hz, auto brightness off?
I’ve been leaving auto-brightness on.
What I’ve been finding is that the 60Hz mode at under 15% brightness works best for me while indoors. I just sat down with a light behind me and my eyes felt the brightness change to 24%. I may try testing leaving auto-brightness off and keeping the display dim, but then of course it becomes too dim for all scenarios. What’s odd is that once my eyes adjust to a specific brightness level it usually becomes more comfortable. Consistency in PWM rate and amplitude could go a long way — it’s too bad we don’t have anyone on here with a Radex this generation measuring amplitudes so we have more data to go off of. We shouldn’t have to jump through these hoops, but it is finally getting better after four generations.
I could have given iPhone 13 Pro more of a chance since my luck with iPhone 13 Mini has been comparatively better, but it turns out I’m liking the Mini more anyway. I also find that switching between iPhone 13 and a LCD iPhone muddies the water a bit. In that regard I think we do get used to having flicker so switching back and forth creates more of an issue. I stopped using the Pro after only a few days so I switched back to iPhone SE a few times whereas this time I powered it down completely and am seriously considering sending it in as a trade-in.
Oddly I’m experiencing much more of an issue with migraines and tension headaches today as opposed to the past week I’ve been using iPhone 13 Mini. The difference may be since the majority of my phone usage so far has been at a lower brightness level unless I’m out when I’m barely using the phone. I’ve also been having quite a bit of coffee and exercising when tends to mitigate migraines.
I’m genuinely curious about something. I see the word ‘migraine’ tossed around a lot in this thread. As a person who used to suffer from migraines, the only relief was to take medicine, lay down, turn off all the lights, and pray I could sleep it off. Are those of you stating you’re experiencing migraines truly experiencing one? Not in a million lifetimes could I fathom looking at a phone even a single additional time after it caused me a legit migraine, let alone repeat buying, testing, returning, etc.
It causes Aura like symptoms in me. Pain in the back of the eye, irritability, pressure on the right side of my head, etc. I’ve never let it get far enough to actually trigger a headache.
Migraine to me means pain or throbbing behind the eyes. Whether it’s technically part of a tension headache is another matter.
It’s still there, although in retrospect it’s significantly subdued compared to iPhone 12 Pro Max and a dramatic improvement over iPhone X.
I’ve been considering whether it’s worth keeping this phone with light tension headaches. My number one rationale for upgrading from this point going forward will be PWM improvements, and I’ll probably end up back on the upgrade cycle if I do go ahead and keep this unless I like the size too much to want a larger version of iPhone 14.
Side note: if Apple were to discontinue the Mini size they should re-consider it once battery technology allows for 10+ hours of screen on time. The main complaint against the Mini is battery life, otherwise tech enthusiasts seem to love it. It’s a comparatively more interesting phone than a standard iPhone 13 with all of the same technology, which is one reason I’d probably enjoy keeping the Mini.
Yeah, NO kidding. I remember fondly on my iphone 5c running ios 7 getting ten hours of usage on a charge. 10%.... every one hour of usage.
Though back then, the screen on and background activity was all lumped together. Still though... ios draws a lot of power these days.
Ok I follow you now. It sounds like we interpret the word differently but are experiencing the same symptoms. What a pure frustrating experience.
The bad news is that it’s like a switch flipped for me today and my PWM symptoms are becoming more prominent. It’s most concerning when the tension headaches recur later on after I’ve put the phone down and I get throbbing behind my eye while doing a completely unrelated activity.
Scratch that - I’m enjoying iPhone 13 Mini too much to write it off just yet. Apple is nailing their modern phone design. The throbbing behind my eye is a fraction of the frequency or intensity I experienced with iPhone X.
The 11 and it’s chonky pixel lettering ? I noticed that right away last year moving from 12 mini to the 11.
I can’t figugre out who makes the 13 mini screens, but I suspect that they aren’t as good as last year. Or, if multiple vendors, then one of the vendors is worse than the others on crispness: the screen seems a little bit fuzzy, while I also can see the micro pixels.
Migraine for me starts with visual aura, starts with just some zebra stripes in my peripheral vision that increases more and more until I cannot see $%@$, and I have to take a heavy dose painkiller before that aura disappears, because as soon as it disappears (after approx. 30 minutes), the pain sets in, and once it's there, painkillers don't do much anymore. I basically have 30 minutes to treat it and if I don't, I'm out for the day. Headache is different. No auras, and pain that can easily be treated. My dad and my sister have the same issues. I had ONE migraine since I got the phone (2 weeks now), and I am not sure it was caused by the phone. My migraines are triggered by a) flickering lights, b) major stressful situations, c) eating soy, and are usually appearing 18-24 hours after a triggering event.
This is disgusting that Apple has let this issue continue for 4 years without addressing it at all. Not to mention Macrumors REFUSES to even acknowledge the issue.
Same here, I was fine for a while why I had the 13 mini for 3 weeks or so but last two days I had pain in the back of my head - the same pain when I had the X. I found at that time the headaches occured, when I had the X, was travelling to the UK during xmas - one assumes the phone brightness goes down due to the dark winters. In Singapore, where I currently work it's not an issue though the last few days have been dull and overcast but it has been dull and overcast for a few days earlier in Dec. The only thing that has changed recently is the release of iOS 15.2. Don't know if that has changed the auto brightness or the PWM. I hope this is not the case as I don't want to go back to the SE. Maybe I should reset the settings perhaps.
That’s interesting if an iOS update tweaked display in some way. Interesting as in: I wish they didn’t do that.
What we’ve learned is that iOS updates don’t change the PWM.
The 60Hz mode at low brightness levels seems to be the most effective oddly. 510Hz during the day causes me similar, subdued PWM symptoms. I’m currently experimenting with leaving the brightness at ~ 3% using Brightness Shortcuts. Apparently if you use an app such as Dimmer the brightness defaults back to 100%, which I was probably experimenting with earlier, or rather the last-known iOS brightness level.
Last edited: