Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[dstow]

Yes, I keep RWP at 60-80% mostly; I change it at odd moments but can leave it at some setting in that range for days.

Auto-brightness is ON. Again, there are odd times when I adjust it myself. Mostly when it's dark and my brain remembers the PWM is (supposedly?) lower then, so I bump it up to around 50%.

Often use dark mode inside when I'll be looking at normally white-screen-dominant backgrounds.

I try not to use it as much in dim rooms when it's the only light since that seems to bother me still a bit. That's fine because I have iPads and other tech to use.

Outside, I love it. No problems.

(For subjective reference, I wasn't able to use an X at all, used an XS for a few months, 11PM for a few months more, and then 12PM for a while. Eventually somewhere around the 5-8-month mark, I just got tired of the screens and returned to the 11's LCD. So I've done better as the flicker has seemed to be less with more recent iterations. I have a hard time with flicker bicycle lights and strobe effects in movies, more so after too many surfing concussions. I say all that to help you gauge with your experience.)

With all of that said, I think if I'd not purchased this 14PM this last time (my fifth phone in this buying season), I would have been happy with my 11. Maybe happier.

It is ridiculous we have to use these work-arounds

I would definitely give the 4 Pro Max a go, but it was the fact the amplitude seemed worse on the Pro series across the board - at least according to notebook check

Buying another iPhone 11 just seems counter-productive, but suffering with headache's and eye-strain for another 9 months seems needlessly masochistic

 

[dstow]

I assume you're outside their return window?

Just recently went through the process of trading in with Apple in store; they'll give you any gap between the trade in value and the value of the items you buy as an Apple gift card.

Christmas return window - Jan 8th 2023

I did ask Apple support who did say it's up to the store to decide to give you the trade in credit back to your card but likely a gift card.

Wouldn't be an issue if Apple still sold the 11, but the fact I'd have to go and buy another one from a 3rd party retailer the Apple gift card is a reduntant.

 

[happy orchard]

A thought…

Maybe it’s a good sign we’ve not seen the 11 on the refurb store in a while. I’ve noticed the filter for it is gone while 11P and 11PM are still options. I’m going to be hopeful and think that means that Apple is bringing back that model in an SE form. 🤞🏻

 

[dstow]

I wouldn't hold my breathe for the new SE, OLED is becoming more and more ubiquitous and will likely be featured in the SE 2023, it's no longer a flagship only incentive anymore, Apple seemingly want to move away from LCD as much of the smartphone industry has.

I might have to try the 14PM, if I'm going to be forced to suffer until the 15, it may as well be with all the bells and whistles despite the discomfort at times.

The iPhone 11 was a workhorse, but compared to the 14 Plus - the battery, camera, cellular it's just outclassed. The irony of a 2019 LCD now being a desired feature amongst us.

 

[Gargamelus]

It's so frustrating.. other manufacturers do it.. why is Apple lagging behind.?.? it's that simple.. dc dimming 2000hz and low amplitude . and the problem is solved.!!!!

 

[MICHAELSD]

It's so frustrating.. other manufacturers do it.. why is Apple lagging behind.?.? it's that simple.. dc dimming 2000hz and low amplitude . and the problem is solved.!!!!

In theory it sounds like that would be the case, but the 14” MacBook Pro has 14,880Hz and low amplitudes yet still somehow bothers my PWM sensitivity.

Increasing the brightness to six bars or more does help to an extent, but doesn’t completely eliminate the issue. I’ve even tried apps like Iris to control white point separately, and it’s not a solution.

Similarly, raising the brightness slightly on iPhone 14 seems to help but still doesn’t prevent tension headaches. That’s mostly been relegated back in its box until I’m able to return it.

 

[Gargamelus]

In theory it sounds like that would be the case, but the 14” MacBook Pro has 14,880Hz and low amplitudes yet still somehow bothers my PWM sensitivity.

Increasing the brightness to six bars or more does help to an extent, but doesn’t completely eliminate the issue. I’ve even tried apps like Iris to control white point separately, and it’s not a solution.

Similarly, raising the brightness slightly on iPhone 14 seems to help but still doesn’t prevent tension headaches. That’s mostly been relegated back in its box until I’m able to return it.

Please don't get me wrong, but it's very rare for someone to be sensitive to such a high frequency. we are all a minority here anyway. and you are probably again a minority among the pwm sensitive.
2000hz with dc dimming should be enough for most people.. i tested at least 20 oled phones. and Xiaomi pwm control is the best. exemplary.

 

[dimitricook]

Ok this has been mentioned before but I’ll mention it again:

I have both an iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.The 8 Plus is on ios 14 and it’s OK enough, my iPhone 8 was on ios 15 and it was tolerable but bugged my eyes after a while. Mostly because of the lower resolution screen.

Since my iPhone 8 is intended as my test mule and carrying device that I don’t really care about, I decided to update it to ios 16.2 today - because I don’t really care if it gets nailed by the update.

Guess what? It did. There’s something really messed up with ios 16. After playing with the iPhone 8 on iOS 16 for a few minutes, checking settings & stuff, the usual house keeping chores, I started getting that disoriented feeling and feeling of unease. Experiencing a weird mental yuckiness. No headache or eyestrain but something definitely was messed up with the display.
I put it down and started using my 8 Plus on iOS 14 and everything was fine.

As others have mentioned- there’s something messed up with iOS 16. My iPhone 8 now is kinda unusable.
Temporal Dithering?
The colors on the screen look different than they did before. More saturated.

I do have the exact same! But i had the exact same when i try´d the previous SE and 11. They both gave me this feeling that the 8 give me after a 15.xx update some time ago. Before that i was able to use the 8 for hours and hours with no issue, now is can´t use it at all...

 

[iCantSee]

Hi everyone, been a while since I checked this thread. My XR is slow as hell these days. What's the latest? What's my best bet to try from the new line up? Has anyone was previously sensitive had any success? Thanks!

 

[now i see it]

Regular 14 or 14 Plus seem to cause a little less agony. iPhone 11 LCD is the best bet if OLED screens give you grief.

 

[iCantSee]

Regular 14 or 14 Plus seem to cause a little less agony. iPhone 11 LCD is the best bet if OLED screens give you grief.

Thank you. I remember trying the 14 plus in the store and thought it seemed better than the 13 line up. Just such a headache to buy one phone and then have to return it etc.

 

[now i see it]

Just such a headache to buy one phone and then have to return it etc.

Not if you buy it online at the Apple Store.

• Buy it.
• FedEx/UPS delivers it
• You try it out for a few days
• If you want to return it, start a return request online (easy)
• They send you a return shipping label
• Drop off at a FedEx or UPS or arrange for a pickup at your home
• Done

 

[techtechtech]

Finally got to use my 11 and as predicted/experienced by others, no problem using it at all, defaults for auto brightness, true tone etc. Switching back to the 11 Pro and immediate feeling of discomfort sadly, so annoying.

 

[jimmy_uk]

Finally got to use my 11 and as predicted/experienced by others, no problem using it at all, defaults for auto brightness, true tone etc. Switching back to the 11 Pro and immediate feeling of discomfort sadly, so annoying.

I'm genuinely surprised how much I'm enjoying the 11. Of course, coming from my 7 Plus, iOS feels new again as I'm running the latest version and it's all swiped based interface. Having an all screen design is new to me and the feel in hand is perfect.

When I've tried to use an 11 in the past I found there was a shimmer/glare I didn't like and my eyes felt a little irritated. I'm not experiencing this at all now but I have got attention aware off. It could be down to screen lottery or there is a small glimmer of hope in me that I'm getting used to a different type of display. Can't say I'm ready to jump to an OLED iPhone again (not right now anyway) but I would like to try a miniLED 12.9" as I felt that shimmer effect with that as well at the time of owning one briefly.

 

[iCantSee]

Not if you buy it online at the Apple Store.

• Buy it.
• FedEx/UPS delivers it
• You try it out for a few days
• If you want to return it, start a return request online (easy)
• They send you a return shipping label
• Drop off at a FedEx or UPS or arrange for a pickup at your home
• Done

Thanks - good pts. Going to do this. The mistake I made with the 13 was I activated the new one. It literally took me 6 hours of sitting at the apple store and also a trip to the ATT store to fix it. All with the employees wondering why I would ever want to return to the XR haha. (and with an awful headache!)

 

[DJTaurus]

Those who haven’t got any issues with 14 pro max have you also tried 14 pro ?

 

[techtechtech]

I'm genuinely surprised how much I'm enjoying the 11. Of course, coming from my 7 Plus, iOS feels new again as I'm running the latest version and it's all swiped based interface. Having an all screen design is new to me and the feel in hand is perfect.

When I've tried to use an 11 in the past I found there was a shimmer/glare I didn't like and my eyes felt a little irritated. I'm not experiencing this at all now but I have got attention aware off. It could be down to screen lottery or there is a small glimmer of hope in me that I'm getting used to a different type of display. Can't say I'm ready to jump to an OLED iPhone again (not right now anyway) but I would like to try a miniLED 12.9" as I felt that shimmer effect with that as well at the time of owning one briefly.

Similar experience for me, been on the 8 series until the 11 and 11 Pro, the 11 is a touch to big for my liking, 11 Pro is better in that respect. Of course, switching to the 8 you realise just how slim and light those phones were!

My 8 and 8 Plus combined with the 11 should see me through, hopefully until something comes out which doesn't have the PWM type issues. Face ID is also convenient, yes there are times when I miss the touch ID, not that many though.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Returned iPhone 14. That was the least amount of time I’ve ever spent on an OLED iPhone.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Please don't get me wrong, but it's very rare for someone to be sensitive to such a high frequency. we are all a minority here anyway. and you are probably again a minority among the pwm sensitive.
2000hz with dc dimming should be enough for most people.. i tested at least 20 oled phones. and Xiaomi pwm control is the best. exemplary.

Puzzlingly there are devices I can use with PWM that cause no issues whatsoever. For whatever reason Apple’s products are the only ones that cause such intense PWM sensitivity, although I’m not optimistic about any AMOLED smartphone display. There’s probably some truth to the theory that using displays that cause PWM sensitivity can lead to greater PWM sensitivity in the future.

 

[majkom]

If notebookcheck is correct and ip14 regular is using pwm at 60hz freq, that seems terribly risky to me, as (if what I read is correct and I did understood it properly) 60Hz flicker is upper borderline for epilepsy starter…
Currently I am using ip13 mini with no issues, been thinking about buying 14/14 plus but due to these very low freqs a skipped 14 line… Pro seems to be ok to me, but too expensive these days

 

[Leindt]

Apple may cancel the 2024 iPhone SE

https://twitter.com/x/status/1605392468945408001

 

[Proteinaceous]

Ugh…recent news does not bode well for my future with Apple:

Samsung Prioritizing Development of OLED Displays for Rumored 2024 iPad Pro

Samsung is prioritizing the development of OLED displays that Apple plans to use in upcoming iPad models, according to a report today by The Elec. ...

www.macrumors.com

Kuo: Apple to Cancel or Postpone 2024 iPhone SE 4

Apple will cancel or postpone mass production for the planned 2024 iPhone SE 4, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a series of tweets. Kuo said...

www.macrumors.com

 

[MICHAELSD]

Apple needs to quietly admit internally that this is an issue and fix it.

 

[YautjaDutch]

Hello everyone, I've been following this forum closely for a long time because I also have problems with the PWM. I decided to do a test to buy a 12 pro and have a compatible lcd screen installed by a professional. I tried the phone on Tuesday and it's been 2 days now that I have a severe headache, I wonder if this LCD has temporal dithering, how do I know?

 

[Mastrociambella]

I’m afraid I’ve made a huge mistake installing iPadOS 15.7.2
I installed it today thinking it was just security update, after reverting from iOS 16 before (temporal dithering), but I’m feeling odd eye tiredness right now.
Did these mother****ers introduce temporal dithering in a minor update for previous major release too?