Sidebar Sidebar
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

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
    1,931
Early report from me: whats different from previous years is I could use the 14 Pro for hours without feeling like my eyes where strained or gritty, the first for a Pro OLED iphone. Also no involuntary burping from motion sickness like the standard 13 gave me. Sadly and sickeningly, I have woken to a terrible migraine.

The back of my eye balls feel like they are being gripped and poked at the same time. Behind my eyes and in the right hemisphere of my brain I feel like someone is punching me and the skull pressure is intense. I also have a deep sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Waking like this leaves me feeling like I haven't slept. I've taken medication to help but I will feel rough for the rest of the day, I have been here before....FFS!

Now the standard dilemmas:
• Do I wait a day and try again to rule out other factors?
• Do I write off the 14 Pro and open the standard 14?
• Do I give up, return phones and never buy OLED iphone again?

Naturally I don't want to feel this rough again, but I'm also desperate to get a new phone and having waited another year, full of anticipation, I have 2 phones in hand. 😵‍💫 5 years of this is soul destroying, and I feel stupid and depressed for saying this as it's just a phone.....(Yay to over sharing).
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: cgolca, !!!, Mr.Simple and 5 others
jimmy_uk said:
Early report from me: whats different from previous years is I could use the 14 Pro for hours without feeling like my eyes where strained or gritty, the first for a Pro OLED iphone. Also no involuntary burping from motion sickness like the standard 13 gave me. Sadly and sickeningly, I have woken to a terrible migraine.

The back of my eye balls feel like they are being gripped and poked at the same time. Behind my eyes and in the right hemisphere of my brain I feel like someone is punching me and the skull pressure is intense. I also have a deep sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Waking like this leaves me feeling like I haven't slept. I've taken medication to help but I will feel rough for the rest of the day, I have been here before....FFS!

Now the standard dilemmas:
• Do I wait a day and try again to rule out other factors?
• Do I write off the 14 Pro and open the standard 14?
• Do I give up, return phones and never buy OLED iphone again?

Naturally I don't want to feel this rough again, but I'm also desperate to get a new phone and having waited another year, full of anticipation, I have 2 phones in hand. 😵‍💫 5 years of this is soul destroying, and I feel stupid and depressed for saying this as it's just a phone.....(Yay to over sharing).
Click to expand...
Please give us a report on the normal 14 too. Please!
 
@jimmy_uk

If your eyes don't hurt after hours of use, that's progress. Light motion sickness should subside over time. I know many where the problems got better with the iPhone 13 Pro after longer use. Apparently, the brain can get used to it after a while. So I wouldn't give up just yet.
 
jimmy_uk said:
Early report from me: whats different from previous years is I could use the 14 Pro for hours without feeling like my eyes where strained or gritty, the first for a Pro OLED iphone. Also no involuntary burping from motion sickness like the standard 13 gave me. Sadly and sickeningly, I have woken to a terrible migraine.

The back of my eye balls feel like they are being gripped and poked at the same time. Behind my eyes and in the right hemisphere of my brain I feel like someone is punching me and the skull pressure is intense. I also have a deep sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Waking like this leaves me feeling like I haven't slept. I've taken medication to help but I will feel rough for the rest of the day, I have been here before....FFS!

Now the standard dilemmas:
• Do I wait a day and try again to rule out other factors?
• Do I write off the 14 Pro and open the standard 14?
• Do I give up, return phones and never buy OLED iphone again?

Naturally I don't want to feel this rough again, but I'm also desperate to get a new phone and having waited another year, full of anticipation, I have 2 phones in hand. 😵‍💫 5 years of this is soul destroying, and I feel stupid and depressed for saying this as it's just a phone.....(Yay to over sharing).
Click to expand...
I would send it back, apple is supposedly coming out with a lcd iPhone SE 6.1 in march, I’m going to wait for it, if they don’t come out with it, buying a 12 or 13 and putting an lcd on it maybe a solution
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJTaurus and GlenK
jimmy_uk said:
Early report from me: whats different from previous years is I could use the 14 Pro for hours without feeling like my eyes where strained or gritty, the first for a Pro OLED iphone. Also no involuntary burping from motion sickness like the standard 13 gave me. Sadly and sickeningly, I have woken to a terrible migraine.

The back of my eye balls feel like they are being gripped and poked at the same time. Behind my eyes and in the right hemisphere of my brain I feel like someone is punching me and the skull pressure is intense. I also have a deep sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Waking like this leaves me feeling like I haven't slept. I've taken medication to help but I will feel rough for the rest of the day, I have been here before....FFS!

Now the standard dilemmas:
• Do I wait a day and try again to rule out other factors?
• Do I write off the 14 Pro and open the standard 14?
• Do I give up, return phones and never buy OLED iphone again?

Naturally I don't want to feel this rough again, but I'm also desperate to get a new phone and having waited another year, full of anticipation, I have 2 phones in hand. 😵‍💫 5 years of this is soul destroying, and I feel stupid and depressed for saying this as it's just a phone.....(Yay to over sharing).
Click to expand...
I feel your pain! The 13Pro did something similar to me. I set it up Friday afternoon and used it the rest of the day, then all day Saturday and I felt great, no headache, no eye strain, no nothing!! I was beside myself with excitement!!

Then mid day Sunday it began and by Monday morning I thought I was going to go the ER.. That time it took a few days for the headache and other symptoms to go away. It is amazing how they seem to be different in how and when they affect me.

I'm waiting for that bigger SE that someone just mentioned!! This is REALLY ANNOYING!!!
 
  • Sad
Reactions: jimmy_uk
DJTaurus said:
I am of the few people that even promotion feels weird to me. Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Promotion on the smaller screen of a phone is unusual to me. The movement is so fluid it's seems unnatural if that makes sense? It takes a minute for my brain to compute.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJTaurus
jimmy_uk said:
Early report from me: whats different from previous years is I could use the 14 Pro for hours without feeling like my eyes where strained or gritty, the first for a Pro OLED iphone. Also no involuntary burping from motion sickness like the standard 13 gave me. Sadly and sickeningly, I have woken to a terrible migraine.

The back of my eye balls feel like they are being gripped and poked at the same time. Behind my eyes and in the right hemisphere of my brain I feel like someone is punching me and the skull pressure is intense. I also have a deep sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Waking like this leaves me feeling like I haven't slept. I've taken medication to help but I will feel rough for the rest of the day, I have been here before....FFS!

Now the standard dilemmas:
• Do I wait a day and try again to rule out other factors?
• Do I write off the 14 Pro and open the standard 14?
• Do I give up, return phones and never buy OLED iphone again?

Naturally I don't want to feel this rough again, but I'm also desperate to get a new phone and having waited another year, full of anticipation, I have 2 phones in hand. 😵‍💫 5 years of this is soul destroying, and I feel stupid and depressed for saying this as it's just a phone.....(Yay to over sharing).
Click to expand...
I’m right there with you but not with as bad of a migraine as you yet. I just don’t know what to do though. This 14PM is leaps and bounds above the iPhone 11 which was getting so slow and the camera was terrible compared to modern standards… but using the iPhone X for like a year was absolutely terrible and the amount of money I spent on doctor’s appts, prescriptions, and random crap on Amazon in vain attempts of comfort was ridiculous.

I’ll give it a few more days…. But why TF can’t Apple come out with an LCD 14PM. I don’t want a crappy SE. I want an awesome phone with a screen that doesn’t cause physical pain. 😕
 
  • Like
  • Sad
  • Love
Reactions: frito1224, GlenK, happy orchard and 1 other person
jimmy_uk said:
Promotion on the smaller screen of a phone is unusual to me. The movement is so fluid it's seems unnatural if that makes sense? It takes a minute for my brain to compute.
Click to expand...
Exactly my friend. You described it so well. It looks so unnatural. All these years my best experience was 13 mini….. i should have given it more time cause the symptoms were not so huge and irritating. The funny thing with 13 pro was that it was pain free the first 2 days and then it was by far the WORST….. even worse than 12. Back then we didn’t know anything about PWM so i owned both X and XS with a full year….. i remember having an all day feeling of tiredness on my eyes….. with XS it was even worse because it also gave me blurry eyesight. If 14 won’t work i ll stay with 11 one more year hoping for a bigger LCD SE. Otherwise i am screwed. I don’t think 11 will last one more year. I don’t care about photos but those 4G reception and WiFi speeds are killing us.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimmy_uk and 5105973
@jimmy_uk Sorry to hear you woke up in that condition.

I am picking up the iPhone 14 (base) today. It apparently has the highest PWM frequency of any iPhone to date at 1040 Hz. It also does not use ProMotion, which may actually help some folks. I'll report back on my findings.

As a reminder -- I know it is obvious to many -- these phones should only be used with the highest brightness setting (within the top 80% of the brightness scale) otherwise you will encounter the lower PWM frequencies and have a much greater chance at not feeling well as a result of PWM.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JM, DJTaurus, happy orchard and 2 others
DJTaurus said:
Exactly my friend. You described it so well. It looks so unnatural. All these years my best experience was 13 mini….. i should have given it more time cause the symptoms were not so huge and irritating. The funny thing with 13 pro was that it was pain free the first 2 days and then it was by far the WORST….. even worse than 12. Back then we didn’t know anything about PWM so i owned both X and XS with a full year….. i remember having an all day feeling of tiredness on my eyes….. with XS it was even worse because it also gave me blurry eyesight. If 14 won’t work i ll stay with 11 one more year hoping for a bigger LCD SE. Otherwise i am screwed. I don’t think 11 will last one more year. I don’t care about photos but those 4G reception and WiFi speeds are killing us.
Click to expand...
I would not get too caught up on 5G. 5G, so far, has been a painful experience for me. It has been very inconsistent in terms of availability and speed. I have also seen frequent dropped calls -- this never happened with my non-5G iPhones. I'm in a major metro area with Verizon for service.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JM
frito1224 said:
I would send it back, apple is supposedly coming out with a lcd iPhone SE 6.1 in march, I’m going to wait for it, if they don’t come out with it, buying a 12 or 13 and putting an lcd on it maybe a solution
Click to expand...
This maybe an option but rumours point to an XR design for the SE 2023 and I'm no fan of the 828p display for such a large display, text looks fuzzy for me. If they gave us an 8 plus 2023 I'd be over the moon!
 
  • Like
Reactions: !!!, Chrispy, JM and 3 others
jimmy_uk said:
Early report from me: whats different from previous years is I could use the 14 Pro for hours without feeling like my eyes where strained or gritty, the first for a Pro OLED iphone. Also no involuntary burping from motion sickness like the standard 13 gave me. Sadly and sickeningly, I have woken to a terrible migraine.

The back of my eye balls feel like they are being gripped and poked at the same time. Behind my eyes and in the right hemisphere of my brain I feel like someone is punching me and the skull pressure is intense. I also have a deep sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Waking like this leaves me feeling like I haven't slept. I've taken medication to help but I will feel rough for the rest of the day, I have been here before....FFS!

Now the standard dilemmas:
• Do I wait a day and try again to rule out other factors?
• Do I write off the 14 Pro and open the standard 14?
• Do I give up, return phones and never buy OLED iphone again?

Naturally I don't want to feel this rough again, but I'm also desperate to get a new phone and having waited another year, full of anticipation, I have 2 phones in hand. 😵‍💫 5 years of this is soul destroying, and I feel stupid and depressed for saying this as it's just a phone.....(Yay to over sharing).
Click to expand...
Oh no! I’m so sorry. Feel better soon! Yeah I know that feeling. I got that from my 12 mini. I persisted in using it sparingly due to the portability and adjusted to it.

13 Pro permanently unadjusted me to it.

I’ve got a weird situation going on with all of these displays:

When I got my Nintendo Switch a couple of years ago and started playing Animal Crossing like a maniac I developed a white flicker in the peripheral vision of my right eye.

Then I got an SE2 and it got worse. It went away for awhile and then I got the XR and then an 11 and the SE3 and have been using LCD heavily since last December. The white flicker came back. My eye doctor has found nothing at all wrong with my eyes.

It’s hard to get an appointment with neurologists in my area right now so I haven’t been able to inquire about this. I was worried maybe it’s a pituitary tumor. However, since going to OLED yesterday the flicker has retreated. It’s not fully gone but it’s better.

I’m not sure LCD caused this. And I don’t know why it’s just in one eye and not both. Only a neurologist may be able to answer that and I hope I can get an appointment eventually. The wait for a non emergency appointment are currently pretty far out in advance.

Anyway, LCD may not be without issues for me, too. Sigh.

My nearsightedness always seems to improve on OLED. Like I can remove my glasses and see in focus for awhile!

Unfortunately most of the time I pay with a migraine of some kind. It won’t always be a headache. I had no pain on an 11 Pro but the year that I had that phone I fell a lot. I fell down the stairs twice. That’s why my family gifted me the SE2. I tried discussing my sudden accident prone nature with my doctor as I showed him my blackened shin and he just rolled his eyes at me and said “You’re really clumsy.” Anyway, after I got rid of the 11 Pro, I stopped falling down and bumping into things.

This all is so freaking weird! I wonder if medical researchers will ever make any kind of study on the effects of these displays on our eyes and brains, so someday we can understand all this weird stuff some of us are noticing. I hope corporations aren’t suppressing any research. It’s kind of creepy the silence given to the subject outside of discussions like this one.
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: Annv, JM, happy orchard and 1 other person
kerplunknet said:
According to this: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ye4y1y7Rs

iPhone 14: 1040 Hz
iPhone 14 Pro: 880 Hz
iPhone 14 Pro Max: 480 Hz

I can also tell you that when I did my Pulsation app test in the Apple Store, iPhone 14 performed better than iPhone 14 Pro.
Click to expand...
The bilibili video is getting shared on another sites now but it’s doesn’t seem scientific nor does it look to be properly translated, so I’m not sure we should put alot of trust in these numbers. 🤷‍♂️
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 5105973, BigMcGuire, AJAAY and 1 other person
kerplunknet said:
@jimmy_uk Sorry to hear you woke up in that condition.

I am picking up the iPhone 14 (base) today. It apparently has the highest PWM frequency of any iPhone to date at 1040 Hz. It also does not use ProMotion, which may actually help some folks. I'll report back on my findings.

As a reminder -- I know it is obvious to many -- these phones should only be used with the highest brightness setting (within the top 80% of the brightness scale) otherwise you will encounter the lower PWM frequencies and have a much greater chance at not feeling well as a result of PWM.
Click to expand...
Really curious to hear about your experience with the regular 14 🤞🏻
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5105973
Little question about miniLED. Can you tell me which apple products right now use that tech?

I ask because I didn’t like the screen on the M1 iPad Pro. Wasn’t as bad as the recent phones, but it didn’t feel good, so I returned it and bought a 2020 iPP.

I’m mostly good with my M1 MBA, but it’s not as comfortable as my iP11.

It’s just that every time someone says I can’t wait for miniLED, I kinda cringe. Like man that just might be bad to bad.
 
Last edited:
Also, I just started using this phone this morning. I’m fresh right, but I’m experiencing something that I wonder if others have:

It’s like a tension or uncomfortable vibration in my neck and chest, all the way down to my intestines. My neck feels tight. It’s not pain exactly, but like all my tissue is squeezing in a trembling, uncomfortable way. ...…?

Does anybody else have that???
 
Last edited:
  • Wow
Reactions: JM
Early report from me: whats different from previous years is I could use the 14 Pro for hours without feeling like my eyes where strained or gritty, the first for a Pro OLED iphone. Also no involuntary burping from motion sickness like the standard 13 gave me. Sadly and sickeningly, I have woken to a terrible migraine.

That sounded so great—until the end, especially because what’s worse than a migraine is thinking you were feeling good with the phone and then getting a migraine. :(



The back of my eye balls feel like they are being gripped and poked at the same time. Behind my eyes and in the right hemisphere of my brain I feel like someone is punching me and the skull pressure is intense. I also have a deep sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Waking like this leaves me feeling like I haven't slept. I've taken medication to help but I will feel rough for the rest of the day, I have been here before….FFS!

That sounds so awful (and unfortunately familiar to some of us). I’m sorry you’re feeling this way.


Now the standard dilemmas:

  • Do I wait a day and try again to rule out other factors?
I vote yes, give it time. (Also because I’m doing the same for myself.) The past week was a lot of anticipation. Yesterday was a big day—personally I think I felt more anxious than eager. As you likely know, migraines can be triggered by so many reasons, so as far as experimenting goes, yes, give it more time to try to eliminate confounding variables.

  • Do I write off the 14 Pro and open the standard 14?
I hear you, but I don’t even really want to debate this. I want the 14PM for the bigger screen, the telephoto, the ProMotion, the Dynamic Island, and, yes, that pretty silver band. If I’m going to settle, I’d much rather use the rounded, still-lovely-to-me 11 than some less-bad-for-me boxy OLED screen in a 14. I don’t suggest you do exactly that, but that you figure out what you’re “I’d rather…” situation looks like. What’s your second best if the 14P/PM doesn’t work for you?

  • Do I give up, return phones and never buy OLED iphone again?
Man, I am so close to this, too. Freakin’ Lucy works at Apple!


Naturally I don't want to feel this rough again, but I'm also desperate to get a new phone and having waited another year, full of anticipation, I have 2 phones in hand. 😵‍💫 5 years of this is soul destroying, and I feel stupid and depressed for saying this as it's just a phone.....(Yay to over sharing).

This above is why I’m really writing out all of this in a reply. Think many of us feel the exact same way that you just described. I think it’s why we coming back here: so we see that it’s not just us.

OMG I just realized, this thread is a grief group. Wow.

I’ve been to too many of those in my life. That’s what this is. Wow.

My point, @jimmy_uk, is that some of us appreciate what you describe as oversharing. It’s understandable that you feel stupid and depressed (especially on a forum where people are generally just enjoying the heck out of their new phones or railing about how the 14PM isn’t any better than the 13PM they kept or sold—and only wander into this thread to say ‘Whaaaat, have you had your eyes checked?’ The gall.) So yes, it’s understandable, but please know that for some of us, we feel what you feel.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: 5105973, JM and jimmy_uk
I’m noticing some headaches and additional eye strain today. My immediate thoughts are that the contrast seems to be off compared to my 13PM. Like my brain is struggling to read the writing on a page.

Not sure what to make of it yet. Here are the two phones side by side with max brightness (AB off) and True Tone off.
 

Attachments

  • 2E643AD3-6BB6-413F-9388-82E5A846A70E.jpeg
    2E643AD3-6BB6-413F-9388-82E5A846A70E.jpeg
    353.1 KB · Views: 97
  • Like
Reactions: 5105973 and DJTaurus
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back