Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[Abiyork]

The closest I've seen a medical professional potentially understand a medical cause of "this issue" was informed speculation that it *may* be related to photosensitive epilepsy. But that is it's own can of worms.

If this issue has taught me anything it's that from a technical perspective, an issue will have to get "bad enough" and reach critical mass before manufacturers potentially do something about it. There was some thinking in the distant past that Apple was being more conservative in delaying the introduction of OLED displays in their products to potentially do something to mitigate the flicker problems, but I certainly remember the iPhone X like it was yesterday. I think Apple has done certain changes from generation to generation to potentially alter this issue, but I wouldn't call them an outright solution.

(Sorry for repeating my story for those who read it earlier but its relevant to the discussion)

My PWM issue resulted in a strange headache, almost like electric shock and sunburn feel to my head. I stopped using the Iphone 12 pro when I realised it was maybe related (2 weeks in) and it subsided a little but was still there.

Many doctors appointments later I paid to see a private headache neurologist who diagnosed me with NDPH (New Daily Persistent Headache) and luckily he eventually found a drug that works somewhat.

4 years later and I live through the pain, although heavily suppressed with my prescription drugs.

My Neurologist was very intrigued by my story, he knew of headaches resulting from exposure to some modern technology and he attends events worldwide to speak on new findings and treatments etc.

There are experts out there who are aware of this trigger, and there are new findings for treating these rare issues (such as botox and gammacore machines, both of which are new to when I was first diagnosed)

It may still be early in the journey for the result of PWM to be seen and recognised nut it is coming, albeit too late to help us right now.

 

[techtechtech]

(Sorry for repeating my story for those who read it earlier but its relevant to the discussion)

My PWM issue resulted in a strange headache, almost like electric shock and sunburn feel to my head. I stopped using the Iphone 12 pro when I realised it was maybe related (2 weeks in) and it subsided a little but was still there.

Many doctors appointments later I paid to see a private headache neurologist who diagnosed me with NDPH (New Daily Persistent Headache) and luckily he eventually found a drug that works somewhat.

4 years later and I live through the pain, although heavily suppressed with my prescription drugs.

My Neurologist was very intrigued by my story, he knew of headaches resulting from exposure to some modern technology and he attends events worldwide to speak on new findings and treatments etc.

There are experts out there who are aware of this trigger, and there are new findings for treating these rare issues (such as botox and gammacore machines, both of which are new to when I was first diagnosed)

It may still be early in the journey for the result of PWM to be seen and recognised nut it is coming, albeit too late to help us right now.

Appreciate you sharing this story, sad to hear but important for people to be made more aware of this. Fortunately my symtpoms do subside within a day or two, it takes me just a few seconds with an OLED phone to suffer the effects though. My initial response to the OLED Oneplus One phone many years ago was vertigo so bad I had to crawl accross the floor to my desk!

I think it is incredibly poor that Apple and other manufacturers are not taking steps to erradicate PWM.

Sorry to hear how this has comprimised your health, sincerely hope you can at some point return to some sort of normality regarding this. 🙏

 

[techtechtech]

Disappointed to hear about the new MacBooks. I was thinking about picking one up. Various iPhones give me problems. I believe it was the iPhone 12 Pro Max that introduced me to PWM. iPhone 13,14,15s was fine. iPhone 16 is by far the worst for me. I felt sick immediate after opening it up.

Interested to know what phones you used before the 12 Pro Max, I came from 8 Plus and went to the 11 Pro, couldn't even look at it for a few seconds without feeling pressure, nausea etc. Have switched to a standard 11 since and of course this is fine. Really not sure what to try next, interesting you find the 13,14 and 15 fine, makes me think it could be worth me trying one of those.

 

[gigapocket1]

Interested to know what phones you used before the 12 Pro Max, I came from 8 Plus and went to the 11 Pro, couldn't even look at it for a few seconds without feeling pressure, nausea etc. Have switched to a standard 11 since and of course this is fine. Really not sure what to try next, interesting you find the 13,14 and 15 fine, makes me think it could be worth me trying one of those.

I used the x, 11 Pro Max with no problem.. 12 Pro Max, 16 Pro Max, and 1 other that I can't think of right now I couldn't use. No problems with the 15 Pro Max

 

[techtechtech]

I used the x, 11 Pro Max with no problem.. 12 Pro Max, 16 Pro Max, and 1 other that I can't think of right now I couldn't use. No problems with the 15 Pro Max

Appreciated, I wonder if the 11 Pro Max differs from the 11 Pro, the latter just triggers my issues immediately. Totally bizarre how some people get triggered by the complete opposite models. Case of testing models for conclusive outcome.

 

[Abiyork]

Appreciated, I wonder if the 11 Pro Max differs from the 11 Pro, the latter just triggers my issues immediately. Totally bizarre how some people get triggered by the complete opposite models. Case of testing models for conclusive outcome.

And crazy that prior to my headache story above I used an Iphone X for 2.5 years without any issues.

 

[techtechtech]

And crazy that prior to my headache story above I used an Iphone X for 2.5 years without any issues.

There often seems very little logic to this problem, no doubt about that. Seems polar opposites with regards models between different people also! one person fine with an X and not with 11 Pro, others total reverse.

 

[now i see it]

I think a lot of people could use the iPhone X in the beginning because it was the first OLED iPhone ever and their nervous system hadn't been thrashed yet by staring at flickering OLED screens.
But as time went by, they became sensitive to the insane OLED flickering - and couldn't tolerate it anymore - and by then new models of iPhones replaced the X.
Thats one theory anyway.

Betcha the PWM sensitive today who say they could use an iPhone X without problems back in the day, would find the X unbearable if they looked at one now.

 

[jtl_]

I think a lot of people could use the iPhone X in the beginning because it was the first OLED iPhone ever and their nervous system hadn't been thrashed yet by staring at flickering OLED screens.
But as time went by, they became sensitive to the insane OLED flickering - and couldn't tolerate it anymore - and by then new models of iPhones replaced the X.
Thats one theory anyway.

Betcha the PWM sensitive today who say they could use an iPhone X without problems back in the day, would find the X unbearable if they looked at one now.

I think I heard of someone who was hospitalized(!) from having a photosensitive seizure triggered by an iPhone X.

In light of that a study comparing the modulation of newer OLED iPhones and other devices as well (e.g using an oscilloscope and fancy math) might be interesting.

 

[GlenK]

Sorry to see that but maybe that's what it's going to take for Apple to get off their asses and fix this!!!

 

[Abiyork]

Sorry to see that but maybe that's what it's going to take for Apple to get off their asses and fix this!!!

We need someone high profile, not just any commoner like us lot.

Maybe we can club together and pay for a famous actor and try and bring down the Apple empire 🤣

 

[jimmy_uk]

Apple isn't trying to fix the world and make it better. They are a corporation - Profit is the Core Objective. Everything after that is just image.

 

[jrajpaul]

I am currently using an iPhone 11 as my main device and a 16 plus for photography and mild usage. The idea was to try and get used to oled over time. I recently updated the 16 plus to iOS 26 and I’ve noticed that I can use the 16 plus for several hours without too much issues. Has anyone had the same experience. Maybe apple has changed something on iOS 26.

 

[du57in]

I am currently using an iPhone 11 as my main device and a 16 plus for photography and mild usage. The idea was to try and get used to oled over time. I recently updated the 16 plus to iOS 26 and I’ve noticed that I can use the 16 plus for several hours without too much issues. Has anyone had the same experience. Maybe apple has changed something on iOS 26.

I have a 13 and an OPPLE. I will post some before and after tonight.

 

[du57in]

So I did tests on iOS 18.1, 18.5 and 26 beta. All with a 13. There is no difference at all, according to an OPPLE IV.

I can post screen shots if anyone is truly interested, but there’s really no difference.

 

[jrajpaul]

I used the 16 for the weekend without much pain and decided to reset it and transfer data from my 11 and make it my primary device. It’s bothering me after the reset. Serious discomfort. I’m not sure what changed when I did the reset.

 

[ocean10]

I used the 16 for the weekend without much pain and decided to reset it and transfer data from my 11 and make it my primary device. It’s bothering me after the reset. Serious discomfort. I’m not sure what changed when I did the reset.

Every time I see something like this it gives me at least some hope that there is some software setting that can be changed to help us even on the more modern OLED phones.

I can't use anything beyond 16.1.1 on my LCD Apple devices (currently an SE3 and an original iPad Pro). Also can't use recent updates of iOS 15 on older devices like the iPhone 7. I emailed Apple Accessibility last year trying to explain which versions worked/didn't work. They did reply and say they'd share with the team but unfortunately never heard anything else.

 

[ocean10]

And crazy that prior to my headache story above I used an Iphone X for 2.5 years without any issues.

This is all so frustrating. Unboxing the iPhone X was the first time I realized I had this problem. Almost went to the emergency room that day before I realized all my symptoms started when I turned on the phone. I think I found the beginnings of this thread on that day.

 

[pwm away]

New Fairphone 6 released: Fairphone 6

According to the tech specs:

• 6.31 inch Full HD LTPO P-OLED
• 1116x2484 resolution, 431ppi
• 10-120 Hz refresh rate, PWM and DC dimming
• 240 Hz touch screen sample rate
• 1400 nits peak brightness (800 nits typical brightness)
• 1.07 billion colors
• 1.000.000:1 contrast ratio
• Corning™ Gorilla Glass 7i, 0.7mm, fully laminated, oleophobic coating
• 20:9 aspect ratio

No further details though.

 

[Abiyork]

New Fairphone 6 released: Fairphone 6

According to the tech specs:



No further details though.

"Try risk-free for 14 days" is good to know too.

 

[jrajpaul]

Today I went for an eye test and the optometrist used a technique called cyclopegic refraction. She instilled drops in my eyes which paralyzes the eye muscles and then tested after 30 mins. The drops are still working now 6 hours later as I have blurred vision up close. Here’s the interesting thing - I have zero headache or neck pain when using the iPhone 16.

What this proves is that the oled screen causes eye muscle hyperactivity which leads to the symptoms that we experience. We need to find a way to get our eye muscles to relax when viewing oled. Low dose atropine eye drops may be an option. physiotherapy to strengthen eye muscles. I am not giving up this time. I am going to persist for 1 month with the iPhone 16 and hopefully in the end, my symptoms will go away completely.

 

[ocean10]

Today I went for an eye test and the optometrist used a technique called cyclopegic refraction. She instilled drops in my eyes which paralyzes the eye muscles and then tested after 30 mins. The drops are still working now 6 hours later as I have blurred vision up close. Here’s the interesting thing - I have zero headache or neck pain when using the iPhone 16.

What this proves is that the oled screen causes eye muscle hyperactivity which leads to the symptoms that we experience. We need to find a way to get our eye muscles to relax when viewing oled. Low dose atropine eye drops may be an option. physiotherapy to strengthen eye muscles. I am not giving up this time. I am going to persist for 1 month with the iPhone 16 and hopefully in the end, my symptoms will go away completely.

Chiming in here that I recently discovered this for myself as well. Had my eyes dilated at an exam and when checking out the person had her iPhone on the desk and I glanced at it and realized something was "different". Went back in the office and tried all my coworker's OLED iPhones and I could use them with no discomfort (typically I get pretty much immediate strong symptoms). It was amazing.

I talked to my ophthalmologist and we've been experimenting with atropine. It absolutely works for looking at phones/screens but I haven't found a dose diluted enough to give me the relief from screens without the other side effects of having your eyes dilated.

There is a thread on Reddit I found where people with eye floaters are being treated with low dose atropine. There is a Dr. on there who seems to know a lot about the dosing so I was thinking of reaching out to him.