Other Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up

[now i see it]

I wonder, had anybody here from old iPhone users (the very first iPhones) remember dealing with any sorts of eye strain or issues?

Way back - I was given old iPad 2. 1080p LCD.
That low resolution screen gave me wicked eyestrain. I couldn't use it after a while.Had to get rid of it.
So low res screens can definitely mess up the eyes too.

 

[Lotus2]

I have just decided to hold onto my SE3. The last time I tried a newer iPhone I experienced nausea and dizziness. My SE3 is on iOS 18 and I am holding it there. Not updating to iOS 26. I did read that some people prefer an earlier operating system. Earlier than iOS 18.
I did go to the Verizon store and looked at the Air iPhone. I personally loved the light blue one. It felt good in the hands. Hard to describe, but, the newer iPhones do not have rounded sides. They really bother me. And I do not use a case. But, the Air was comfortable to hold.
I am nearsighted and I think that helps me with using a smaller iPhone and I have small hands.
I guess I am lucky to be able to use the iPhone SE3.
They have an iPhone SE 2022. New at qvc.com
Only 64 GB. Red and midnight.
A little pricey.
But, new and hard to find now.
Very limited stock, by the way.
SE 2020 at hsn, also new.

 

[jimmy_uk]

Zollotech’s review of the Air is interesting as he like me first realised he had this issue with PWM when he had an iPhone X. He seems so far to be ok with the Air but he’s only just started using it.

He has been fine with the OLED iPhones for quite sometime now, so I don’t think he has a high sensitivity like most of us.

 

[AshX]

I wonder, had anybody here from old iPhone users (the very first iPhones) remember dealing with any sorts of eye strain or issues?

Screens were tiny in comparison, fonts were more legible, there was much less white color (pure #ffffff) in UI elements, OS was skeuomorphic. I can remember my iOS homescreen full off apps being so hypnotizing on iOS 6 that I could stare at it for literally no reason for “hours”. Ever since iOS 7 I found myself having to squint more, disliking general looks of it, as well as getting eye strain on later iterations (like iOS 13 that was pre-installed on my 11 Pro).

And recently I guess I’ve reached a “plateau” (lol) when I saw iOS 26: eye strain in 1 minute of use and active switching between apps, as I would usually do.

Maybe most of our strain actually comes from UI that we still didn’t get used to? If Apple offered better UI, beautiful UI like back in the days maybe it could have been a whole different experience

View attachment 2554740

I have an iPhone 5 on iOS 9 that still works. I did a test with a Carson Microflip microscope and 240 fps slow motion and saw this on a gray image I had downloaded a decade ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Temporal_Noise/s/5SxASfR1yn

I don’t know if it’s dithering, FRC, pixel walk, or whatever. But it’s not fun to look at. Also have an iPhone 3GS but I need an old charger cable for it to see if it still works and is comfortable.

 

[Lotus2]

I used the older iPhones. I loved my 5C in yellow. I had a small white one before that. My personal favorite was the 8 plus. Loved that phone!
Then I started having problems when the OLED screens came along.
I had NO problems at all with the earlier iPhones.
The only phone I have had since the 8 plus is the SE 3. No problems with that. I can use it for long periods of time. No issues. The only problem is battery life.
I did try the newer iPhones, always had to return them.
I did really like the Air today in light blue. Just afraid the screen would bother me.

 

[!!!]

It does turn off PWM.
The Pulse Width is equal at all brightness levels when that setting is on. Thus the Pulse Width is not being Modulated. It's a fixed Pulse Width.

I think people here have been using PWM as a general term for the screen flickering, while for Apple it likely specifically means changing the width of the pulses (as is in the name).

There's presumably a group of us who is sensitive to any kind of screen flickering, and another group who may feel okay with certain kinds of PWM, in this case if they are fine with the 17s and the setting on, then they're likely okay with flicker, as long as the flicker doesn't change.

Doesn't help that people are okay with different models where there isn't supposed to be a change, likely due to panel lottery nonsense.

Screens were tiny in comparison, fonts were more legible, there was much less white color (pure #ffffff) in UI elements, OS was skeuomorphic. I can remember my iOS homescreen full off apps being so hypnotizing on iOS 6 that I could stare at it for literally no reason for “hours”. Ever since iOS 7 I found myself having to squint more, disliking general looks of it, as well as getting eye strain on later iterations (like iOS 13 that was pre-installed on my 11 Pro).

I've found myself being a bit less comfortable with new UIs, especially the all white background. It's always made it harder to read text when the screen was so bright around it.

 

[AshX]

I think people here have been using PWM as a general term for the screen flickering, while for Apple it likely specifically means changing the width of the pulses (as is in the name).

There's presumably a group of us who is sensitive to any kind of screen flickering, and another group who may feel okay with certain kinds of PWM, in this case if they are fine with the 17s and the setting on, then they're likely okay with flicker, as long as the flicker doesn't change.

Doesn't help that people are okay with different models where there isn't supposed to be a change, likely due to panel lottery nonsense.

I've found myself being a bit less comfortable with new UIs, especially the all white background. It's always made it harder to read text when the screen was so bright around it.

There’s a lot of nuance here. When most talk about PWM they’re talking about the mechanism of backlight intensity regulation in comparison to DC dimming which is very stable and does not flicker.

General flicker sensitivity can include forms of dithering like spatial, temporal, spatiotemporal, and then frame rate control which Apple uses on all their 8-bit screens to emulate 10-bit. Only the Pro Display XDR is true 10-bit - everything else for laptops, desktops, monitors, and most iPads are 8-bit+FRC.

I am one of the more severely affected users here, yet I can use my 2021 iPhone 13 because it has a very stable modulation and a high frequency by comparison. I can only use it on iOS 15 because later versions utilize more dithering which is occurring at approximately 15Hz (4 dither frames per 60Hz refresh cycle). That 15Hz is horrific for anyone with a neurological sensitivity like myself.

So yeah, it’s complex. And it’s only worsened the past 5-7 years, hence this thread.

 

[orange23]

So I couldnt cancel my iPhone 17 order anymore. Since it was here I opended and tried it anyway. What a nice phone! It feels very good in the hand. And heavier and premium than the iPhone 16. The slightly larger screen makes also very nice impression. However.. I immediately feel that PWM is bad. When i try to take a video to capture it i see very black thick lines. I haven't played enough with it. But i will probably return it. And it is weird that when you enable the toggle "Disable Pulse Width Modulation" and "Reduce White Point" can not be active both at the same time...

Back to my old iPhone 11

PMW and RWP are the same effect I believe, that's why u can't enable at the same time. Apple keeps playing with our group with misleading features and continuous arrogance.

I never buy into the lottery screen story. Apple is superior at quality control, that means if one screen doesn't work, the rest won't be much different.

Eventually it might be your little psychology overwrite your eyes stress with self-convincing dilution; and as time goes, if you hold on the new screen, your eye health deteriorates much faster.

 

[dannyh5319]

I’ve been seeing a lot of reports on Reddit on how the 17 air works better than the pro series for modulation.

 

[orange23]

iPhone needs a CA Prop 65 warning:

"This device is known by the state of California to potentially cause eye strain, severe headaches, nausea, vertigo, heart arrhythmia and seizures"

Would anyone in their right mind buy a product that had a warning like that?
Of course not - yet all those warnings are absolutely true.

This is my favorite post in this thread.