Yes, it seems like most people favor the 14 over the 14 pro. But I’ve had a similar experience to you. My first pro not great. Regular 14 good at first, then terrible nausea and dizziness. Second pro much better.
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
Fingers crossed for you! The 14 Pro Max screen also felt good to me in store. It's really just the 14 Pro this year that's immediately off putting to my eyes for some reason. The rest fall into the suspect camp where I need time to know for sure. I don't know what it is about the 14 Pro that makes it so harsh to me. The way you described looking at the 14 Plus is what happens to me with the 14 Pro, haha. But not the Pro Max. This really is starting to feel like when I was a kid trying on 100 different shoes to find the ones that fit my weird, wide feet, haha.
YES! So know what you mean.
Also, after the 14 Plus bothered me, I literally left the store, walked around outside for about five minutes, came back and played on the 14 PM for a bit, and no problem. To me, that's telling.
Do you have any thoughts on why the first pro was not great but the second one is better?
Well it could've been a few things, but the first pro had a much whiter and bright screen.
The second pro screen seems warmer.
Does not seem as harsh and I don't have to fight it as much with reducing white point much and things like that
When I had my 14 Pro and I was testing it next to my friend's 14, the screen on the 14 Pro was considerably cooler than the 14. So much so that the 14 Pro with True Tone enabled was close to the 14 without. I didn't think much of it at the time but it was noticeable. Glad your warmer Pro screen is working out well! I can tell the 14 Plus screen is on the warmer side and I prefer that.
It's kinda amazing. Thinking about how there are variations in the screens and that your second phone experience was varied in a way that was better for you. You probably get to appreciate that more than others would. In a way, that's cool.
Yes that was a surprise. It's still not a completely symptom-free phone though. Then again, my 11 would bother me sometimes mildly. My return window has about four more days. Going to perseverate until the last minute.
It's kind of like shoes. Sometimes you need to try on two or three pairs of the same model and one will just fit just right. Too bad you couldn't do that with phones and try out three of the same model and pick the one that really seem to relax your eyes.
Just because you like a demo model doesn't mean that the one you're going to get in the box is going to look the same.
I kind of envy less sensitive people who can just say "looks good to me".
I hear you. Whatever you decide I hope that it feels like the best choice for you.
Long time lurker on this thread and have loved hearing everyone's experience, so I finally decided to share mine:
I've been an Android (Pixel) user since the beginning but have always thought about switching to iOS for many different reasons.
Two years ago I decided to buy a used iPhone 11 Pro and play around with it to see if I liked iOS or I wanted to stick with Android. This is when I learned about PWM issues first hand as I'd never had a problem with phones before, though not many I've owned were OLEDs.
Right out the box were headaches and almost a sinus pressure-like feeling. I could tell right off the bat that there was just something different about this phone's screen aside from resolution and brightness. Sent it right back, did some research online and came across this forum and learned about PWM issues.
Fast forward to last week, and again I've been feeling the itch to switch since the battery on my phone is struggling. Ordered a used iPhone 12 Pro Max, set it up with WP to 65%, attention off, dark mode, True Tone Off(and On) and for a few minutes was ok. But after playing around for about an hour on Youtube and with different apps I started feeling dizzy and like I couldn't focus. Headache and sinus pressure was back. Putting it down and walking away I still felt hazy and like my head wasn't right.
Went to sleep, woke up all better, and went back to my (OLED) Pixel 5 the next day, no issues. It might sounds dumb but the screen almost feels soothing? Tried the iPhone again the following day, same deal, looking like it's going back.
Really looking like the only option at this point would be an SE if I really wanted iOS. I know the 11 is LCD but part of me still thinks that while it is definitely a PWM issue, FaceID is contributing somehow. But definitely positive to hear that some people are having varying success with different 14 models. Might have to give it another try!
I've been an Android (Pixel) user since the beginning but have always thought about switching to iOS for many different reasons.
Two years ago I decided to buy a used iPhone 11 Pro and play around with it to see if I liked iOS or I wanted to stick with Android. This is when I learned about PWM issues first hand as I'd never had a problem with phones before, though not many I've owned were OLEDs.
Right out the box were headaches and almost a sinus pressure-like feeling. I could tell right off the bat that there was just something different about this phone's screen aside from resolution and brightness. Sent it right back, did some research online and came across this forum and learned about PWM issues.
Fast forward to last week, and again I've been feeling the itch to switch since the battery on my phone is struggling. Ordered a used iPhone 12 Pro Max, set it up with WP to 65%, attention off, dark mode, True Tone Off(and On) and for a few minutes was ok. But after playing around for about an hour on Youtube and with different apps I started feeling dizzy and like I couldn't focus. Headache and sinus pressure was back. Putting it down and walking away I still felt hazy and like my head wasn't right.
Went to sleep, woke up all better, and went back to my (OLED) Pixel 5 the next day, no issues. It might sounds dumb but the screen almost feels soothing? Tried the iPhone again the following day, same deal, looking like it's going back.
Really looking like the only option at this point would be an SE if I really wanted iOS. I know the 11 is LCD but part of me still thinks that while it is definitely a PWM issue, FaceID is contributing somehow. But definitely positive to hear that some people are having varying success with different 14 models. Might have to give it another try!
I find turning off attention aware features resolves that. I’d rather tap the screen if I’m reading than have an infrared beam flashing in my eyes all the time. Unlocking the phone doesn’t seem to cause issues for me like attention aware did.
Which would explain why doing that did lessen the symptoms slightly but not enough for me to want to keep it.
Here is one additional aside that I have found interesting. Much of my testing of any of these phones have been done in my house, specifically my living room.
You may recall that I tried the 240 FPS slow-motion video test of lights in my living room and they all flicker like crazy. I've been contemplating replacing them.
Well, I've noticed that my iPhone 14 Pro gives me way less trouble outside and less trouble at work. I have a whole bunch of fluorescencants at work and out of a whole bank of them only one that is considerably warmer that flickers.
So what I'm trying to say is my living room is flicker hell, and outside or work is way better.
The screen is so reflective especially in dark mode that I wonder if part of my problem is the flickering lights environment and that that might be something for me to focus on.
Probably a good idea nonetheless.
Just thought it might be valuable information for some of you
Edit: It occurs to me that I haven't really noticed it until now because I have mostly been working at home this whole past month!
You may recall that I tried the 240 FPS slow-motion video test of lights in my living room and they all flicker like crazy. I've been contemplating replacing them.
Well, I've noticed that my iPhone 14 Pro gives me way less trouble outside and less trouble at work. I have a whole bunch of fluorescencants at work and out of a whole bank of them only one that is considerably warmer that flickers.
So what I'm trying to say is my living room is flicker hell, and outside or work is way better.
The screen is so reflective especially in dark mode that I wonder if part of my problem is the flickering lights environment and that that might be something for me to focus on.
Probably a good idea nonetheless.
Just thought it might be valuable information for some of you
Edit: It occurs to me that I haven't really noticed it until now because I have mostly been working at home this whole past month!
Last edited:
Once I noticed the primary above cabinet light strips in my kitchen, that also provide light to the family room, were a flicker nightmare, I got a new dimmer that eliminated the flicker. I don't know if it was contributing to my issues but I'm sure it wasn't helping. I can only imagine my eyes dealing with the frequency of the LED strips mixed with the PWM from the phone screen wasn't great. And I know it sounds crazy, but the light does seem more chill ever since I fixed the PWM with the new dimmer.
My experiences with the 11P and 12PM were not good, but they got better with the 13PM and 14PM -- so that's at least one data point for you.
Sorry you've had unpleasant experiences, but hopefully you find a device that works.
Whoa. That's an interesting thought! That makes a lot of sense. When I can see the fan blades flicker on my phone's (black unlit) screen, it bothers me. Makes sense that other lights and other environmental factors would affect it. Also, I've had crazy good success outside...and less success at the gym where they use lights that I like to turn off if I can. So, I like this idea. It could be a good angle to improve things for us. Good thinking @john g.
Even if my lighting theory doesn't end up helping the phone situation directly [though I think it might] the quality of life improvement could be good. I've already taken slow motion videos of all the lights at work and I'm gonna identify the ones that are the culprits. I think it's two.
And the living room, it's getting a lighting makeover!
And the living room, it's getting a lighting makeover!
Please let us know what lights you find that work well. Especially if you find smart lights that work with Apple HomeKit.
Sure thing.
All of this still doesn't excuse Apples piss poor implementation of OLED screens.
By all accounts LCD screens and some other manufacturerers OLED screens would work fine.
So even though I'm going to rectify my lighting situation, Apple needs to work on their screens big time!
Waveform Lighting sells bulbs that aren't stupid expensive that I can confirm are flicker free. Be careful tho, not all of them can be dimmed. They also sell everything you could want to go wild with LED strips, but that starts getting spendy. I can confirm their flicker free dimmer does work if you do already have some strips installed with a cheap dimmer.
I have a few of my lamps on Philips Hue smart plugs simply because those work flawlessly with HomeKit thanks to the Hue Hub. The Hue bulbs flicker (newer ones at a higher frequency so harder to pick up on video), so I just use the hub for the smart plugs now. I also have a few Lutron Caseta smart dimmer switches, and those also use a hub that works perfectly with HomeKit. They sell a wireless smart lighting dimmer plug that works with the Caseta hub specifically for controlling and dimming lamps. It's a lot of workarounds to avoid "smart bulbs" but hey, this solution allows me to use whatever bulbs I want and still control them with HomeKit. The LED strips were the last to be changed out to flicker free and I'm happy to have that done now as well!
Thank you for that! That gives me hope! Were the 13PM and the 14PM the same for you or was one better than the other? No symptoms at all?My experiences with the 11P and 12PM were not good, but they got better with the 13PM and 14PM -- so that's at least one data point for you.
Sorry you've had unpleasant experiences, but hopefully you find a device that works.