Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

vd8601

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2016
18
25
Call me crazy but I start to think my Phone is fine.
I have put them under a strong light again and suddenly the 7 feels brighter !?
I dont know if my eyes or my brain is playing games with me, but I really thought the 7 was a bit brighter that time.
After using it 2 hours I start to get used to the warmer tone and in comparison, the 6 really starts to look blueish.
Also, the guys from displaymate said the 6/6s is too blue and the whitepoint is not accurate.
The 7 is the far superior display according to them.. but you never know if they are paid by apple to write that.

Whatever, im keeping it. If my friends get their 7's i will compare again. If i see a major difference I still can exchange, keep in mind we all have 1 year warranty.

Another option, maybe its really a software issue with the brand new ios10, wich means it can be patched.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
Hopefully it's software.

Starting to doubt that but I was hopeful. But then again I have not seen an acceptable one in the wild yet so maybe.

If there are good ones, then it is back to playing the exchange game and we all know that has happened in the past.
 

MistrSynistr

macrumors 68000
May 15, 2014
1,721
2,135
I put my 7 up against my 6s at full brightness when I first got it and the screens were nearly identical in tone/color and brightness. I got on these forums and browsed a bunch of threads and started looking at my 7 and "seeing" a yellow tint to it, almost like I was brainwashed into it.

So I pulled out my 6s before I sent it off for trade in again and re-did the test and they are still the same, the more blue'ish tone/same brightness. Weird. I wonder if others are getting this effect.
 

netnative

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2013
433
320
Puerto Rico, USA
Today I took a look at an iPhone 7 Plus on display at an AT&T retail store. I put my iPhone 6s Plus next to it and noticed that the 7 Plus was dimmer than my 6s Plus with the brightness settings of both devices set at the maximum level. After reading this long thread I am confused by the incongruous and contradictory information. Moreover, I was left with the thought that Apple may have deceived us. If users slide the brightness control all the way to the right they should get the display's maximum brightness. And, if a display is significantly brighter than another users must be able to see that it is truly brighter in "real life" rather than in a lab. It should be that simple. Between the dimmer display and the many reports of hissing, buzzing and/or crackling noises presumably originating from the processor, I am no longer enthusiastic with the forthcoming delivery of the iPhone 7 Plus that I pre-ordered.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ABC5S

njcyx6649250

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2016
61
16
Is there any way I can force my screen to show its maximum brightness? I tried some bulb even my nexus's flash light, but not good enough. I tried to use this phone outdoor today, but it still didn't show the "out-of-range brightness". lol
 
Last edited:

bmac4

Suspended
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
4,885
1,877
Atlanta Ga
Is the iPhone 6/6s ever too dark, away from ambient light? I don't think it is. Full brightness on my 6 is blinding indoors.

If it's 25% brighter when it needs to be, that's what matters.

Think about it. If the screen was instead 25% brighter all of the time, all that would be different is that your default brightness would need to be 25% lower all of the time.

Maybe Apple has restricted the brightness increase because of battery life, or to ensure that the backlight does not run down its life excessively. We're not engineers.

Apple designs features like this to be used in the real world. Not for people like us to compare a 7 with a 6s side by side, indoors, and whine, when it's perfectly readable.
I am not suggesting the phone be 25% brighter all the time, that ridiculous. Nor am I here to whine about a perfectly readable phone. If the phone is dimmer then my iPhone 6s indoors, then I think there is an issue. The 6s was very comfortable to look at, and was never too bright in doors. Now the 7 being dimmer starts to become an issue. Not to say it's unreadable, but it's definitely not ideal. This should not be the case, and I don't call that whining.

Now on to the fact that the phone will only getting brighter then previous iPhones outdoors. That is all well and good if that is the case, but that was not my experience outside. It seemed to be the same or a little dimmer. What would constitute an ideal situation for it to get brighter? That seems kind of ridiculous for someone to have just the right sunlight for the phone to get to be brighter.
 

md_lieber

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2016
3
15
Is the iPhone 6/6s ever too dark, away from ambient light? I don't think it is. Full brightness on my 6 is blinding indoors.

If it's 25% brighter when it needs to be, that's what matters.

Think about it. If the screen was instead 25% brighter all of the time, all that would be different is that your default brightness would need to be 25% lower all of the time.

Maybe Apple has restricted the brightness increase because of battery life, or to ensure that the backlight does not run down its life excessively. We're not engineers.

Apple designs features like this to be used in the real world. Not for people like us to compare a 7 with a 6s side by side, indoors, and whine, when it's perfectly readable.

I think you're pretty confused. Imagine you decide to upgrade your car, and a key factor in your decision to get a particular model is that they advertise 30MPG fuel economy. "That's great!" you think, it'll be better than the 20MPG you get in your current car. You buy it, start driving around, and realize it actually only gets 15MPG.

You post your experiences on the internet to try and learn if this is common, or maybe there's something wrong with your particular car. Then, people that get confused easily post things like "I don't need 30MPG, as long as it gets me to work and back home, that's what matters. Chevy designs cars for the real world, not for people like us to compare with car A".

It's great that you don't care if you're getting a product that meets the manufacture's claims, but that doesn't mean people who are frustrated that they *didn't* receive a product that meets the manufacture's claims are wrong.

I trust the DisplayMate review and I'm sure they got a screen that can get brighter than their reference phone (6s, I think?). But there appears to be quite a few people here who have phones that aren't, and we're all justifiably trying to understand why that is.
 
Last edited:

schlaufox

macrumors regular
Jun 18, 2013
154
69
I think you're pretty confused. Imagine you decide to upgrade your car, and a key factor in your decision to get a particular model is that they advertise 30MPG fuel economy. "That's great!" you think, it'll be better than the 20MPG you get in your current car. You buy it, start driving around, and realize it actually only gets 15MPG.

You post your experiences on the internet to try and learn if this is common, or maybe there's something wrong with your particular car. Then, people that get confused easily post things like "I don't need 30MPG, as long as it gets me to work and back home, that's what matters. Chevy designs cars for the real world, not for people like us to compare with car A".

It's great that you don't care if you're getting a product that meets the manufacture's claims, but that doesn't mean people who are frustrated that they *didn't* receive a product that meets the manufacture's claims are wrong.

I trust the DisplayMate review and I'm sure they got a screen that can get brighter than their reference phone (6s, I think?). But there appears to be quite a few people here who have phones that aren't, and we're all justifiably trying to understand why that is.

That's a terrible analogy.

In your analogy, Chevy is flat out lying in its marketing. The car doesn't ever get 30MPG.

Apple is not lying – as the DisplayMate shootout shows, the display is 25% brighter.

The contention here is that the display is not 25% brighter all of the time. It is 25% brighter when Apple has decided it needs to be: in bright ambient light.

This is why comparing the screen brightness of a 6 to a 7 indoors, and remarking that the 7 is not 25% brighter, is unhelpful.

DisplayMate also showed that in non-bright ambient light conditions, the screen brightness of the 7 and 6 are the same. I'm not getting a worse MPG than my old car.

As I remarked before:

If the screen was instead 25% brighter all of the time, all that would be different is that your default brightness would need to be 25% lower all of the time.

Unless someone has a faulty iPhone that doesn't conform to any of that, and I'm sure they exist, this really should be the end of this issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jabingla2810

bmac4

Suspended
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
4,885
1,877
Atlanta Ga
That's a terrible analogy.

In your analogy, Chevy is flat out lying in its marketing. The car doesn't ever get 30MPG.

Apple is not lying – as the DisplayMate shootout shows, the display is 25% brighter.

The contention here is that the display is not 25% brighter all of the time. It is 25% brighter when Apple has decided it needs to be: in bright ambient light.

This is why comparing the screen brightness of a 6 to a 7 indoors, and remarking that the 7 is not 25% brighter, is unhelpful.

DisplayMate also showed that in non-bright ambient light conditions, the screen brightness of the 7 and 6 are the same. I'm not getting a worse MPG than my old car.

As I remarked before:



Unless someone has a faulty iPhone that doesn't conform to any of that, and I'm sure they exist, this really should be the end of this issue.
I like how you make absolutes on this topic. You decided that if the 6 and 7 are the same indoors and the 7 gets 25% brighter in bright sunlight then everything is fine. I have already stated that was not my experience outside either, and there are times indoors the phone is not as bright as the 6. Just because you don't think the 7 should be brighter indoor does not mean this issue should be closed. Most people expected a much different result when they heard 25% brighter. I can tell you that my series 2 Ceramic AW is brighter then my 1st gen indoors. That was my expectation when I brought the watch after hearing the key note. Neither the watch nor the phone was said to only get brighter in direct bright sunlight and be exactly the same indoors. Yet that is what we have gotten with the iPhone 7. To me that is worth getting frustrated about.
 

MistrSynistr

macrumors 68000
May 15, 2014
1,721
2,135
As I said before, if you got a "blue tint" model screen 7, the brightness on it and the 6s side by side are identical.

I haven't tried it on auto in sunlight.
 

njcyx6649250

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2016
61
16
As I said before, if you got a "blue tint" model screen 7, the brightness on it and the 6s side by side are identical.

I haven't tried it on auto in sunlight.

Hmm. My screen is like "blue tint", not yellowish at all. But it is not as bright as my 6s. I tried under sunlight (auto brightness), still not bright enough. I could barely see in when I used as gps in my car. No issue for my 6s. Anyway I have an appointment this evening, I will keep you posted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bmac4

frankie_figs

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2016
2
5
Miami, FL
So I've been watching this forum very closely (and the Yellow-Gate forum) since I picked up my iPhone 7 on launch day and thought I'd create an account to post my experience in hopes that it helps a bit.

I noticed my iPhone 7 was dimmer/slightly yellow when I was setting it up at home, but thought I'd give it the weekend. I was comparing my 7 to my 6, but since they have different screen types I knew it wasn't an equal comparison. I got to work yesterday and compared my 7 to a coworker's and mine was definitely dimmer than theirs and 2 other co workers around us also commented "Why is this one dimmer?" while pointing to mine. That was my first validation something was definitely up with mine and it wasn't just me.

I went to the Apple store yesterday and compared mine to the floor models and I was still seeing some dimming on mine and a slight yellow tint that was definitely not the warmer tone. I grabbed an Apple Store rep and showed her and she said she could see it too. She then proceeded to show it to 2 other Geniuses and both acknowledged seeing a difference. Fast forward 20 minutes to getting a new replacement phone out of the box and comparing it to my old one and there was definitely a difference in brightness and yellow tint.

So overall, there was certainly something wrong with my original 7 and I wasn't going crazy. So there are certainly screens out there that are faulty for either the yellowing, brightness issue, or both. I believe mine was suffering from both.
 
Last edited:

netnative

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2013
433
320
Puerto Rico, USA
Does anyone have reliable information as to whether Apple is using more than one supplier for the displays on the iPhone 7 Plus? That could explain the widely different experiences shared in this thread. Or perhaps it is matter of "variable component differences that are the normal outcome of the manufacturing process" (something Apple might state?). I would like to know which is it.
 

njcyx6649250

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2016
61
16
Ok here is my update. I checked several iphone 7 & 7 plus in the store. Turn the brightness to the maximum then compare with my unit. Actually my screen is not so bad. Their brightness levels are very similar. So I decide to keep this phone and see if apple will release any update firmware or not.

If your screen is very yellowish, probably you need to exchange it.
 

rawlus

macrumors 6502
Mar 3, 2009
308
159
Boston
How it looks is subjective not objective. It is how your brain processes the relative relationship between one thing and another. You can put shades of red and blue next to each other and depending on the shades used, the blue can look warmer than the red. They're not exactly optical illusions but it is to some degree... the phone has to be evaluated as it stands in its own, because you don't use the phone comparing it to another phone, and just visually comparing is a subjective test, not an objective one. This goes to color theory and science.

I tend not to use my phone at the brightest setting one because it's usually too bright for most conditions and two because the brightest setting is the most battery consuming.

Different people have different needs, but the spec wars that bring no practical benefit in actual use seem to me a bit of worry about nothing. I mean, is the ambition to make each generation of phone successively brighter? Is that the goal that we are all seeking? More and more brightness? To what end?
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
Pretty obvious the iPhone 7 is what it is and if you are looking for a software update for brightness, forget it. We would have heard something by now.

Proceed accordingly for this and the more yellowish display, if you are fine with it than by all means keep it if you feel there is enough to warrant your upgrade.

I have not seen any iPhone 7s at any Apple, BB, or carrier stores on display in my area that are showing anything different from mine to tell the truth. That being a more yellowish and a less bright display than the ip 6s. Therefore an exchange probably is not going to make a difference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bmac4

LondonCatFan

macrumors newbie
Oct 11, 2011
19
1
Just got my new phone today. Restored it from iCloud and everything looked great. After 5 minutes the screen suddenly dimmed. I checked my brightness settings and everything was still correct, but the brightness approximately 50% dimmer. After a hard restart the screen was bright again. However, after 15-20 minutes it dimmed again. It has continued to go in and out like that all day. I have a Genius appointment Monday to have the phone looked at, and possibly replaced.
 

WhiteHawk

macrumors 6502a
Feb 16, 2008
595
369
I think the people that want max brightness are the same ones who complain about short battery life.
One is good, the other is bad, you really don't have a valid point there, it's a bit of a trade off sure, but the screen looks the best at max so why wouldn't you want that? If you're ok with a screen that looks worse for a bit more battery fine, but some people want the image on their expensive purchase to look as good as possible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bmac4

orangemartini

macrumors newbie
Sep 22, 2016
1
0
I got my 7 plus yesterday and immediately noticed it was dimmer than my 6 plus in a side by side comparison, but it's the next morning and the brightness is the same. Took them both outside in bright sunlight, and the brightness looks the same, but the 7 is easier to read. Weird. Regarding the color, the whites are pinker on the 6 and yellower on the 7 by comparison. I remember everyone having a cow when the galaxy 6 came out, same thing. They made the display more color accurate, with a more accurate white point. The result is a display that doesn't seem to pop as much. Personally, I always found the whites too pink on iphones. So to me this is an improvement. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But brightness is not. I was concerned at first which is what brought me here, but the issue has resolved itself
 

netnative

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2013
433
320
Puerto Rico, USA
Here are photos of two different Black iPhone 7 Plus on display at my local Best Buy. Both were manufactured in Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory (F2).

191106116c9257cfaa814959cc0ed1e5.jpg


2d0105863f68d9dbb8deac782efea5f8.jpg


I perceived them to be brighter than the photos show.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
16,144
17,057
Here are photos of two different Black iPhone 7 Plus on display at my local Best Buy. Both were manufactured in Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory (F2).

191106116c9257cfaa814959cc0ed1e5.jpg


2d0105863f68d9dbb8deac782efea5f8.jpg


I perceived them to be brighter than the photos show.

Those look similar to mine, my regular 7
 
Last edited:

Paul830

macrumors newbie
Jul 26, 2011
21
7
Ok, that fine if you want to return it. Mine seems to be doing pretty good now. Starting to get use to it.


I was using my iPhone 7plus in the car today. It was charging and running waze (nav program). The outside temp. was 81 and air was on in the car. The iPhone 7 plus overheated and turned off giving overheating message. Before powering off the display got progressively darker until the phone completely powered down. I held the phone near the AC vent and it did finally "cool off" I have used every other iPhone in this same manner and have never had one power down due to overheating. The outside temp wasn't even that hot 81F. The phone did recover however I am somewhat concerned because I use my iPhones everyday for navigation in the car. I really can't have a phone that powered down at moderate temperature. I have an apt. with Apple tomorrow. Will let you know what they have to say.
Just got back from the Apple store. The phone heated up again while using WAZE and charging in the car. Outside temp. was 83F. Phone screen dimmed so dark that I was unable to see anything tried to close the app. but the screen touch was unresponsive. The screen remained dark for about 10 minutes...lucky I was at Apple and they were able to see how dark it had become. They ran diagnostics on the phone and did see that the heat sensor had triggered. They had no explanation for what was happening. They seem to feel that the phone is operating normally... I've never had any other iPhone perform like that. Bottom line, they are ordering a one time warranty replacement under my apple care. If it continues to happen they will try a software reload.
 

ZEEN0j

macrumors 68000
Sep 29, 2014
1,569
721
Call me crazy but I start to think my Phone is fine.
I have put them under a strong light again and suddenly the 7 feels brighter !?
I dont know if my eyes or my brain is playing games with me, but I really thought the 7 was a bit brighter that time.
After using it 2 hours I start to get used to the warmer tone and in comparison, the 6 really starts to look blueish.
Also, the guys from displaymate said the 6/6s is too blue and the whitepoint is not accurate.
The 7 is the far superior display according to them.. but you never know if they are paid by apple to write that.

Whatever, im keeping it. If my friends get their 7's i will compare again. If i see a major difference I still can exchange, keep in mind we all have 1 year warranty.

Another option, maybe its really a software issue with the brand new ios10, wich means it can be patched.

As people have already probably mentioned. A properly calibrated display is warmer (more yellow). And as you said, your eyes will eventually adjust. Not to say some people might actually have a legit issue where the screen is more yellow than it should be for whatever reason. Only thing to do is compare at an apple store.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.