Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[badger1212]

Back on my 7 Plus 😑

I'm not settling for 11 or SE 2022 so I'm researching Android options but it's looks just as big a lottery but with harder options to return if it doesn't work out. For example: Samsungs online store has the worst customer service ratings on Trustpilot when things go wrong or refunds are required. I don't trust posting a £1000+ phone with couriers anyway.

All out of options this year.

Mate, every year I go through this phone lottery. I’ve never had an issue returning a Samsung or Google phone and getting a full refund. Amazon are also good at refunding too and John Lewis. I think I may try out the s22 plus and the Pixel 7 pro. Only problem is the 14 day return window for my 14 ends on the reveal day for the new Pixels. I figure though if I can set up a refund for the 14 then I have another 2 weeks to actually send it back buying me another 2 weeks 😀. It is a pain swapping phones over though.

My latest 14 update is still only minor symptoms but symptoms nonetheless. But changing over to Android will be a big pain.

 

[Chrispy]

I had some time to briefly play around with an iPhone 14 today (thanks to my very patient friend, haha) so I took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed some video of it next to the 14 Pro and XR. I recorded at various shutter speeds ranging from 1/200 to 1/2,000 with interesting results. Both 14 and 14 Pro clearly have PWM as we already knew, but it does show they are different in how they handle it. I also included a brief clip of the 14 vs 14 Pro in slow motion and it confirms what others found. No PWM registers in 240 fps slow motion video on the 14 Pro.

It's clear why everyone is having a different response to the two phones. I personally found the 14 to be MUCH easier on my eyes compared to the 14 Pro. No focusing issues or any immediate eye strain was registered with the regular 14 but my time with it was brief. The 14 Pro is just so clearly rough on my eyes that I can tell right away. Looking at the flicker that is very clearly there on the standard 14, perhaps it's just at a frequency I'm less sensitive to. Anyways, enough rambling. Here's the video:

 

[john g.]

I had some time to briefly play around with an iPhone 14 today (thanks to my very patient friend, haha) so I took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed some video of it next to the 14 Pro and XR. I recorded at various shutter speeds ranging from 1/200 to 1/2,000 with interesting results. Both 14 and 14 Pro clearly have PWM as we already knew, but it does show they are different in how they handle it. I also included a brief clip of the 14 vs 14 Pro in slow motion and it confirms what others found. No PWM registers in 240 fps slow motion video on the 14 Pro.

It's clear why everyone is having a different response to the two phones. I personally found the 14 to be MUCH easier on my eyes compared to the 14 Pro. No focusing issues or any immediate eye strain was registered with the regular 14 but my time with it was brief. The 14 Pro is just so clearly rough on my eyes that I can tell right away. Looking at the flicker that is very clearly there on the standard 14, perhaps it's just at a frequency I'm less sensitive to. Anyways, enough rambling. Here's the video:

Thank you for doing that. It's very interesting, but I'm not sure what conclusion to draw from it other than LCD rules!

 

[Chrispy]

Thank you for doing that. It's very interesting, but I'm not sure what conclusion to draw from it other than LCD rules!

If anything I have more questions after playing with them and recording the video, haha. I always took LCD for granted when it was all we had, but now I see it for the champ it really is!

 

[sorgo †]

I had some time to briefly play around with an iPhone 14 today (thanks to my very patient friend, haha) so I took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed some video of it next to the 14 Pro and XR. I recorded at various shutter speeds ranging from 1/200 to 1/2,000 with interesting results. Both 14 and 14 Pro clearly have PWM as we already knew, but it does show they are different in how they handle it. I also included a brief clip of the 14 vs 14 Pro in slow motion and it confirms what others found. No PWM registers in 240 fps slow motion video on the 14 Pro.

It's clear why everyone is having a different response to the two phones. I personally found the 14 to be MUCH easier on my eyes compared to the 14 Pro. No focusing issues or any immediate eye strain was registered with the regular 14 but my time with it was brief. The 14 Pro is just so clearly rough on my eyes that I can tell right away. Looking at the flicker that is very clearly there on the standard 14, perhaps it's just at a frequency I'm less sensitive to. Anyways, enough rambling. Here's the video:

Very nice work, thank you. Makes me feel all the more confident in my decision to move away from Apple’s OLED entirely.

…Except for the Watch.

 

[Chrispy]

I wish I could just have a 6-8 Plus with new internals. Those were the best screens. I don’t know if they did any of that dithering nonsense on them.

The only issues I had with those phones was terrible call quality. Otherwise I’d still be using them.

Me too! That was my favorite design and screen by far. I still miss my 8 Plus. The only two things making me want to upgrade are the better modem used in the newer phones (vs the XR) and I would like to be able to have Outlook open without my phone slowing to a crawl. If I could have an A15 in the 8 Plus body, I would upgrade immediately and shut my mouth for the next four years, haha.

 

[sorgo †]

Me too! That was my favorite design and screen by far. I still miss my 8 Plus. The only two things making me want to upgrade are the better modem used in the newer phones (vs the XR) and I would like to be able to have Outlook open without my phone slowing to a crawl. If I could have an A15 in the 8 Plus body, I would upgrade immediately and shut my mouth for the next four years, haha.

I did genuinely love my 8 Plus’ display, but the scaling thing was a bit weird.

Screen size and resolution: The iPhone 8 has a 4.7-inch 1334×750 screen, and the 8 Plus has a 5.5-inch 1920×1080 display. The 8 Plus is actually displaying a 2208×1242 image and scaling it to 1080p, which may impact performance in some scenarios. However, this distinction is generally not visible to the naked eye.

If they could bring it back while remedying that one anomaly and updating some other internals, I’d be game.

 

[5105973]

I had some time to briefly play around with an iPhone 14 today (thanks to my very patient friend, haha) so I took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed some video of it next to the 14 Pro and XR. I recorded at various shutter speeds ranging from 1/200 to 1/2,000 with interesting results. Both 14 and 14 Pro clearly have PWM as we already knew, but it does show they are different in how they handle it. I also included a brief clip of the 14 vs 14 Pro in slow motion and it confirms what others found. No PWM registers in 240 fps slow motion video on the 14 Pro.

It's clear why everyone is having a different response to the two phones. I personally found the 14 to be MUCH easier on my eyes compared to the 14 Pro. No focusing issues or any immediate eye strain was registered with the regular 14 but my time with it was brief. The 14 Pro is just so clearly rough on my eyes that I can tell right away. Looking at the flicker that is very clearly there on the standard 14, perhaps it's just at a frequency I'm less sensitive to. Anyways, enough rambling. Here's the video:

Lol I can never watch these videos. The flicker in the videos triggers migraines! But I appreciate your effort in making this.

 

[5105973]

For those of you talking about wanting the cameras of the newer models vs iPhone SE or iPhone 11, well the zooms ARE nice.

But I went out to dinner last night and my husband and I tried to take photos of decor and lighting in the beautiful restaurant with our 14 Pro Maxes. We both were so frustrated because the cameras have such aggressive processing that it really took away from the ambiance. Everything was so intense looking, not exactly oversharpened. Maybe over focused or something? It’s hard to describe. But a lot of the golden lighting was just removed by the algorithms.

There are things these cameras do that are really good but they’re not the end all be all. I tried every photo style and I tried pro raw. It didn’t really take away this “stripped” look. Next time I want to take my SE or 11 and see if it does the same thing. Unfortunately I don’t have the same lighting in my house to test with.

Maybe I just need to work more with the settings. I’m not sure yet what kind of manual controls I have.

 

[sorgo †]

Happy quarter-thousand pages, everyone! I am forever grateful for this little community and the gift it has been ever since the iPhone XS first assaulted my eyes 😍

Thank you all, seriously! The greater Apple community is only better because of your honesty and compassion. Long live LCD!

 

[Proteinaceous]

MacBook Air M2 was very, very nice and I'm tempted but have read some posts regarding dithering issues on this laptop (while it shouldn't have PWM apparently).

FWIW, I had to return my M2 air because it was giving me headaches. The effect was much more mild than the OLED phones, but it was definitely an issue. I had no problems if I used an external display…but that kind of defeats the purpose of a laptop. I‘ve never really had an issue with an LCD screen before so not sure what was going on there.

 

[happy orchard]

Me too! That was my favorite design and screen by far. I still miss my 8 Plus. The only two things making me want to upgrade are the better modem used in the newer phones (vs the XR) and I would like to be able to have Outlook open without my phone slowing to a crawl. If I could have an A15 in the 8 Plus body, I would upgrade immediately and shut my mouth for the next four years, haha.

Yes! Me too! Think @GrumpyMom mentioned this too. I would so buy an 8+ model with new internals. Mostly to have my pretty white phone back. And the awesome screen dimensions. And freakin telephoto lens. And how it was light yet big? Gosh that was a good phone. Wish they’d bring that back.

@jimmy_uk is probably cringing at the thought of continuing to look at that physical model.

 

[happy orchard]

Lol I can never watch these videos. The flicker in the videos triggers migraines! But I appreciate your effort in making this.

Me too. That’s why I appreciate the captions or responses for the videos.

 

[Chrispy]

We're the same people who can spot LED holiday lights from a mile away. My neighbor just put up some Halloween lights and I can tell immediately they are LED as they flicker away in my peripheral vision out the window. Each Christmas, the problem gets worse as I cling onto my old school mini incandescent bulbs just as I will be clinging to my XR, haha.

 

[john g.]

Dammit! I just did some slow Mo video in my living room. Almost all my lights are flickering like nobody’s business. 🙁

 

[john g.]

The searching begins.

Flicker Free LED Lighting | Waveform Lighting

Is flicker in your LED lights causing you headaches and discomfort? Learn more about Waveform Lighting's flicker free technology.

www.waveformlighting.com

 

[sorgo †]

The searching begins.

Flicker Free LED Lighting | Waveform Lighting

Is flicker in your LED lights causing you headaches and discomfort? Learn more about Waveform Lighting's flicker free technology.

www.waveformlighting.com

I’m not sure one needs something so fancy. I went over basically all the lights I use earlier this evening—all are LED bulbs installed sometime, and by someone, before I moved in (apartment). The only one that had flicker was actually one of my personal lamps, a cheap Ikea table lamp with a proprietary bulb I keep at my bedside.

All the others are probably GE or something mundane like that.

 

[john g.]

I’m not sure one needs something so fancy. I went over basically all the lights I use earlier this evening—all are LED bulbs installed sometime, and by someone, before I moved in (apartment). The only one that had flicker was actually one of my personal lamps, a cheap Ikea table lamp with a proprietary bulb I keep at my bedside.

All the others are probably GE or something mundane like that.

If you have a particular brand or model that you recommend, I’d love to hear it. I’m not gonna get all manic about it and replace every bulb in my house, but I am going to look harder when I need to replace bulbs.

 

[nStyle]

FWIW, I had to return my M2 air because it was giving me headaches. The effect was much more mild than the OLED phones, but it was definitely an issue. I had no problems if I used an external display…but that kind of defeats the purpose of a laptop. I‘ve never really had an issue with an LCD screen before so not sure what was going on there.

I had problems with the M1, had to sell it

 

[happy orchard]

Dammit! I just did some slow Mo video in my living room. Almost all my lights are flickering like nobody’s business. 🙁

I feel your pain. I live in California, and they don’t let us buy incandescent bulbs anymore. It’s so hard to find bulbs that don’t flicker. Think it’s technology trying to get us to act like farmers and wake and sleep with the sun. …Though I haven’t figured out why.

Share if you find a good solution.

 

[jm31828]

Does anyone out there find 13 pro east on the eyes but have trouble with the 14 pro? Or is the consensus really that if someone is good with the 13 pro (or even 12 pro) that the 14 pro would be just fine?

 

[Evilxardas]

I don't think I suffer from PWM, but every time I pickup my SE 2022 after using my 13 for a few days, it just feels like a relief. It's been like that for me since day 1 of OLED screens years ago. LCD's always just "feel" better to my eyes. So maybe I'm on the PWM "spectrum", it just doesn't cause me headaches? Don't know... but I just wish OEMs wouldn't ignore LCD going forward. I know OLED allows for more space inside the phone, but you'll never convince me they provide any benefit (especially battery) besides that. 🤷‍♂️

Same iOS? 16 also on your SE 2022?

 

[PwmMen]

Yes I'm a little crazy. I ordered an iPhone 14 Pro Max today. It is available to tomorrow. I've tested the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14, and I want to stick with my iPhone 12 Pro. But somehow I thought it might be worth testing the iPhone 14 Pro. I'm curious how I tolerate it. I tolerated the 14 and 14 Pro relatively well.

 

[Skwermo]

I returned my iphone 14 pro due to nausea. Eye comfort was ok, it just felt “off”.
I have had issues with PWM in the past so because the symptoms were different I thought it might be due to promotion.

I just went into an apple store. Both ipad pros are absolutely fine, no naisea or eyestrain. But ad soon as I even looked at the iphone 14 i felt nauseous.

So my new working theory is that high frequency PWM gives me nausea while low frequency PWM gives me eye strain. And extremely high PWM (on mini LED) in the ipad pro 12.9 and mbp 14 m1 is totally fine.

 

[sorgo †]

I returned my iphone 14 pro due to nausea. Eye comfort was ok, it just felt “off”.
I have had issues with PWM in the past so because the symptoms were different I thought it might be due to promotion.

I just went into an apple store. Both ipad pros are absolutely fine, no naisea or eyestrain. But ad soon as I even looked at the iphone 14 i felt nauseous.

So my new working theory is that high frequency PWM gives me nausea while low frequency PWM gives me eye strain. And extremely high PWM (on mini LED) in the ipad pro 12.9 and mbp 14 m1 is totally fine.

Interesting…I’m fine with the mini LED 12.9 as well. So what are you moving to from the Pro? SE/11/XR?