Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.

Are you experiencing this issue?


  • Total voters
    1,919

1369281

Cancelled
Oct 8, 2006
836
1,886
For anyone testing PWM on the iPhone XR, just swipe down from the top right corner of the screen and film a slo-mo video (with a separate iPhone, obviously) as you gradually reduce the brightness. I would try brightness at 100%, 80%, 50%, 25%, and 0%.
 
Last edited:

decder

macrumors member
Aug 11, 2017
40
27
Disappointed that all of these reviews are content to singing OLED’s praises in comparison with LCD and there is no word on PWM.
 
  • Like
Reactions: user1234

stafil

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2017
425
297
From Nilay Patel on twitter:

"Just checked and there is no flicker"

Have a look at the Verge review, even if there is no flicker, the display still seems to manifest some of the OLED traits, off-axis hue shift, so a headache free experience is still not guaranteed. After all we are not 100% that the eye-strain/headaches are from the flickering(Samsung uses the same flickering and there are not headache problems)
 

user1234

macrumors 6502a
Mar 3, 2009
854
683
Sweden
We have no idea how he tested. He doesn’t seem too reputable in my opinion. I look forward to notebookcheck’s review.

How soon do they usually publish? I was going to measure myself but I need to redesign my testing circuit with stronger amplification so...
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
We have no idea how he tested. He doesn’t seem too reputable in my opinion. I look forward to notebookcheck’s review.
He replied to this:

"Thank you very much, we really appreciate it. Basically, you just use another phone to record the XR screen in slow motion while the XR is at 100%, 50%, and then 0% brightness. Here's an example: youtu.be/YuDA_WKDSdY. Again, thanks for the help "

Assuming he followed the instructions, we have our answer.

Also, he's the editor-in-chief of The Verge, what makes you say he's not reputable?
 

1369281

Cancelled
Oct 8, 2006
836
1,886
How soon do they usually publish? I was going to measure myself but I need to redesign my testing circuit with stronger amplification so...
I'm not sure, but they published the initial XS and XS Max results within a day or two.

He replied to this:

"Thank you very much, we really appreciate it. Basically, you just use another phone to record the XR screen in slow motion while the XR is at 100%, 50%, and then 0% brightness. Here's an example: youtu.be/YuDA_WKDSdY. Again, thanks for the help "

Assuming he followed the instructions, we have our answer.

Also, he's the editor-in-chief of The Verge, what makes you say he's not reputable?
Reputable may not have been the word to use, but his response was not convincing IMO.
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA
Reputable may not have been the word to use, but his response was not convincing IMO.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still very cautiously optimistic, but his response seemed fine imo. The slo-mo method is really easy to do, I can't imagine how he would've done it incorrectly.

Either way, two more days until we know for 100% certain. After reading the reviews, I'm really hyped for the XR, that battery life is gonna be awesome.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1369281

1369281

Cancelled
Oct 8, 2006
836
1,886
Same here. I'll be picking up an iPhone XR tomorrow in the early afternoon. But before I do, I'm going to do a test with the showroom model, which is going to be there for sure. :)
It's hard to test at an Apple Store (or Best Buy) because the fluorescent overhead lights use PWM and will introduce flicker into your slo-mo video. At Best Buy, the cord is long enough so you can bring the iPhone underneath the table to do your business, but I don't think that's the case at an Apple Store.
 

ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
May 25, 2010
2,948
763
Good news: from what I can see, there's no PWM at max brightness. Working on getting another video at lower brightness levels soon.



Edit: Confirmed, no PWM! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

For the love of God, please drag it to 0% haha

This looks very promising, so happy it appears to not have PWM!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1369281

Chele

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2003
371
644
Illinois
This is the best news!! Thank you TDDM for pursuing this and getting the answers for us! I went ahead and pre-ordered on Friday all the while crossing my fingers that this one didn't have PWM! And now I'm super excited for tomorrow! I just hope that my issues with the Max really were from PWM and not something else that this phone also has. Time will tell but for now..it's looking good! Can't wait to see my white XR tomorrow!
 

user1234

macrumors 6502a
Mar 3, 2009
854
683
Sweden
That video looks promising, but I won’t be confident that it’s PWM free until I see actual measurements at multiple brightness levels. So far so good though
 

ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
May 25, 2010
2,948
763
The guy that made these videos is from MacRumors and he did an AMA on Reddit.
 
Last edited:

stafil

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2017
425
297
Another
Good news: from what I can see, there's no PWM at max brightness. Working on getting another video at lower brightness levels soon.



Edit: Confirmed, no PWM! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D



Yay!!! Fingers crossed hoping for a headache free experience!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.