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iPhone 7 screen brightness

I went to two AT&T stores and one Verizon store today to compare my iPhone to the displays. In all cases the store display models were way brighter.

Right: my IPhone 7 Plus 64GB black AT&T
Left: Verizon model iPhone 7 plus black

As you can see, both are set to max brightness and both have auto brightness turned off.
There is a real issue with mine.
I have tried restoring all settings, restoring the phone (DFU), toggled the display zoom, and performed hard resets all without seeing any corrections.
 

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Fwiw, I just got my 7p yesterday from the group that was stuck in China. My phone shipped from the factory on Tuesday, and my 7p is brighter than my 6s.
 
MarkKG said:
I went to two AT&T stores and one Verizon store today to compare my iPhone to the displays. In all cases the store display models were way brighter.

Right: my IPhone 7 Plus 64GB black AT&T
Left: Verizon model iPhone 7 plus black

As you can see, both are set to max brightness and both have auto brightness turned off.
There is a real issue with mine.
I have tried restoring all settings, restoring the phone (DFU), toggled the display zoom, and performed hard resets all without seeing any corrections.
Click to expand...

No kidding. I don't know that it's inherently a bad thing, but if it bothers you, take it in. For me, I wish my phone was always dimmer than it is, with very few exceptions.
 
MarkKG said:
I went to two AT&T stores and one Verizon store today to compare my iPhone to the displays. In all cases the store display models were way brighter.

Right: my IPhone 7 Plus 64GB black AT&T
Left: Verizon model iPhone 7 plus black

As you can see, both are set to max brightness and both have auto brightness turned off.
There is a real issue with mine.
I have tried restoring all settings, restoring the phone (DFU), toggled the display zoom, and performed hard resets all without seeing any corrections.
Click to expand...

Returning and replacing a defective/subpar smartphone can be such a hassle --especially when the one you want is in short supply. I hope that you have better luck with your replacement unit.
 
Well I went to the Apple Store on Thursday, checked my 7 against the display models as well as my 6, the display models were noticeably brighter than my 7 and more like my 6 but still more yellow than my 6. So I returned the 7. Had a lady tell me at first I couldn't return it to the store as I bought it online with the Apple Store app and would have to post it back to them, I knew that was nonsense and fortunately she realised that too.

I got a 6s instead and put the £200 saving towards a Watch. I'm dropping a little bit of speed (hardly noticeable for most tasks), bit better camera, and the 256GB over the 128GB but the screen on the 6s is miles better than the 7, brighter, whiter and the phone doesn't over heat and dim it even more and as I'm going to be getting next years iPhone anyway as long as they don't screw that one up I'm ok with this. I needed a new phone now so I feel with the mess that the 7 is not just with its screen this was the right choice for me this year.
 
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LondonCatFan said:
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.
Click to expand...
I think it's working in the background. Indexing for Spotlight, scanning all your photos, etc. It's clear that the 7 dims to prevent overheating, so give it a week or so to finish up background tasks and then see if it's still dimming. I think the 7 will always do that when the processor is working hard though - maybe it's a result of the waterproofing changing the heat dynamics.
 
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I'm going to suggest something: on my iPhone 7 it seemed to be okay at first, brightness-wise - then for several hours it was dim. That was while it was downloading a heckuva lot of photo data, as well as indexing that data, scanning all 16,000 photos for facial recognition for the new People album. Later on, the dimness went away. I wonder if some of the issue is a temporary dimming initially invoked by the system while it's doing a lot of processing. Just a thought.
 
unobtainium said:
I think it's working in the background. Indexing for Spotlight, scanning all your photos, etc. It's clear that the 7 dims to prevent overheating, so give it a week or so to finish up background tasks and then see if it's still dimming. I think the 7 will always do that when the processor is working hard though - maybe it's a result of the waterproofing changing the heat dynamics.
Click to expand...


I think your right. In the days since it's not dimmed any since that first day, and I've used it a lot. Phone is working great now.
 
MarkKG said:
I went to two AT&T stores and one Verizon store today to compare my iPhone to the displays. In all cases the store display models were way brighter.

Right: my IPhone 7 Plus 64GB black AT&T
Left: Verizon model iPhone 7 plus black

As you can see, both are set to max brightness and both have auto brightness turned off.
There is a real issue with mine.
I have tried restoring all settings, restoring the phone (DFU), toggled the display zoom, and performed hard resets all without seeing any corrections.
Click to expand...

The screen has since gotten brighter but not as bright as the store displays. Took mine to apple and the Genius Bar rep agreed the color and brightness on my phone was not as good as the display models. Their testing software showed no issues.
They offered me a loaner phone and for me to come back in when a replacement phone for mine is available. Or options2- My best course is to call apple support so they can ship me a replacement and return the defective phone. At least this way I still have my 7 and no loaner phone to setup
 
Gr81MB said:
Yeah i agree ill see how it is in the next few days! let me know what they say though i am curious!!!! send me a message if you can! :)
Click to expand...


My phone still hasn't had any problems since that first day. The guy I spoke to today thought the phone dimming the screen due to overheating. He thought the first time phone setup and all the sorting the phone was doing in the background was the culprit.
 
I'm having issues to the point that I can't navigate using Waze at any point when sunlight is directly on the device (including the whole face, not just part of it, to make sure it triggers the auto brightness). I tried looking at the device outside of the car in full sunlight as well and it's simply not bright enough. I compared with my partner's iPhone 6 Plus and mine is a tad dimmer at full brightness, not significantly.. at least when compared side by side in doors in the evening (tonight), but in real life usage it's unusable in bright conditions. I typically don't crank up brightness so I wouldn't have even noticed but not being able to see the map while driving is unacceptable for me.

If I exchange now at a store would I be getting a refurbished unit or is it too early for that? Have you guys been exchanging and has the brightness situation improved with other units?
 
Ok so I've not read through all of the pages so this will likely have been mentioned already, but what the hey.

It's worth bearing in mind that the iPhone 7 will only get to its maximum achievable brightness when automatic brightness is enabled.
Even turning the slider all the way up manually does not get it to its maximum brightness. Using manual adjustment the screen can achieve around 600nits. However with automatic brightness enabled it can peak at just over 700nits.
 
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seajewel said:
I'm having issues to the point that I can't navigate using Waze at any point when sunlight is directly on the device (including the whole face, not just part of it, to make sure it triggers the auto brightness). I tried looking at the device outside of the car in full sunlight as well and it's simply not bright enough. I compared with my partner's iPhone 6 Plus and mine is a tad dimmer at full brightness, not significantly.. at least when compared side by side in doors in the evening (tonight), but in real life usage it's unusable in bright conditions. I typically don't crank up brightness so I wouldn't have even noticed but not being able to see the map while driving is unacceptable for me.

If I exchange now at a store would I be getting a refurbished unit or is it too early for that? Have you guys been exchanging and has the brightness situation improved with other units?
Click to expand...
You can see from the pics mine was dim too. Took 3 days but I'm happy with it now. The screen is much brighter now.
 
mke23e said:
I had the same issue yesterday. I was using my 7+ at the pool, temperature outside was mid 80s. The phone felt hot to the touch and the screen became VERY dim. I could barely see anything. I have used all my previous iphones in the same manner and temperature and have never had a problem. Something is definitely not right here. Going to make an appt at the apple store.
Click to expand...


Same thing happened to me- I was using waze and it was plugged in and all the sudden went to the "temperature" setting. My car was at 70 degrees and I had been using the Waze app for less than 10 minutes...making an appointment asap. Also- my iPhone 7 gets NO service anywhere.. they really need to get this software figured out.
 
Im curious coz my auto brightness seems not working...
It should automatically adjusting when there is a change of light..
I need to manually go to brightness settings and toggle the auto brightness button again for it to work..
Is it a bug?
 
AZRob said:
I'm going to suggest something: on my iPhone 7 it seemed to be okay at first, brightness-wise - then for several hours it was dim. That was while it was downloading a heckuva lot of photo data, as well as indexing that data, scanning all 16,000 photos for facial recognition for the new People album. Later on, the dimness went away. I wonder if some of the issue is a temporary dimming initially invoked by the system while it's doing a lot of processing. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Having said what I said ( above), there is also another factor which I believe is what lot you're getting the phone from. Example: my first iPhone which I got from the Apple store came out dimmer and "redder"than expected. The color I could compensate for but not the dimness. I returned it to the store and got another one and that one was better but it still started out dim and needed Color correcting.
Because Verizon had a better deal, I returned my phone to the Apple store and bought two phones online from Verizon. Both phones arrived in perfect color and brightness configuration. I never had to change a thing although there was some temporary dimness during the early heavy processing.
Conclusion: Different phones can come in from different sources and appear differently at first. If your phone is still unsatisfactory after a week, return it and get another. Sooner or later you will get one that is OK.
 
First post here and wanted to share and add to this thread.

So I bought 2 iPhone 7, both matte black. And the screen on both are sooooooo yellow.

Check the photo I posted. The left is my iPhone 7, and the right phone is my iPhone 6S.

It's not even a contest on who wins. My 6S feels 3 times brighter than both my 7 that I bought. And both the 7 that I bought have yellow screens.

I went to the Apple Store to return them since I was still within the 14 days, and they took it back. But before doing so, I showed them the issues, and what surprised me the most was that I had about 5 genius guys and technicians and other Apple employees gather around me and were taking notes about the yellow screen and low brightness issue because I didn't just have 1 phone with those problems, I had 2. Then they started comparing some phones in the Apple Store on display and every single iPhone 7 and Plus had a yellow screen and lower brightness except for 2 iPhone 7 and 1 7plus.... how shocking and crazy is that?!

I didn't have time to stay and exchange the phones when I had gone to the Apple Store a few days ago, so I just returned them, because this time when I go again to buy I'm not leaving the store until I have an iPhone 7 that has no yellow screen and has a brighter screen than my 6S. I will be bringing cash when I go in today or tomorrow when I have time just in case if I have to continuously buy and return if I don't get the perfect one. What's frustrating is that I can't believe I have to even do all this hassle... all iPhones should be the same.

I hope apple addresses these issues soon.

I will keep y'all updated once I go back to the Apple Store sometime this week when I get a chance.
image.jpeg
 
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Mr. Dominant said:
First post here and wanted to share and add to this thread.

So I bought 2 iPhone 7, both matte black. And the screen on both are sooooooo yellow.

Check the photo I posted. The left is my iPhone 7, and the right phone is my iPhone 6S.

It's not even a contest on who wins. My 6S feels 3 times brighter than both my 7 that I bought. And both the 7 that I bought have yellow screens.

I went to the Apple Store to return them since I was still within the 14 days, and they took it back. But before doing so, I showed them the issues, and what surprised me the most was that I had about 5 genius guys and technicians and other Apple employees gather around me and were taking notes about the yellow screen and low brightness issue because I didn't just have 1 phone with those problems, I had 2. Then they started comparing some phones in the Apple Store on display and every single iPhone 7 and Plus had a yellow screen and lower brightness except for 2 iPhone 7 and 1 7plus.... how shocking and crazy is that?!

I didn't have time to stay and exchange the phones when I had gone to the Apple Store a few days ago, so I just returned them, because this time when I go again to buy I'm not leaving the store until I have an iPhone 7 that has no yellow screen and has a brighter screen than my 6S. I will be bringing cash when I go in today or tomorrow when I have time just in case if I have to continuously buy and return if I don't get the perfect one. What's frustrating is that I can't believe I have to even do all this hassle... all iPhones should be the same.

I hope apple addresses these issues soon.

I will keep y'all updated once I go back to the Apple Store sometime this week when I get a chance.View attachment 664981
Click to expand...


Yep, same experience for me, to be honest mate you'll be lucky to get a good one, if you don't get one in the first two or three phones they bring out to you to check they'll probably say they can't give you anymore. But you never know so hope it works out for you.

Personally the 7 just has too many issues with the yellow, dim screen being just the start, got the Apple Store to give me a 6s instead to replace my old 6 and got a Watch with the extra money, and very happy with that choice, enjoying the Watch and the screen in the 6s is miles better than the 7 and even brighter and with a more accurate colour than the 6 even was which itself is miles better than the 7 I had or even the ones on display in the store.
 
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Stevessvt said:
This may shed some light on what could be going on....
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10685/the-iphone-7-and-iphone-7-plus-review/2
Click to expand...


So basically they purposely missed an important bit of information in the Keynote and on the website that the screen is only brighter when in bright light to make us think that's the brightness it is capable of normally and only then when using auto brightness switched on which has never worked correctly for me on any iOS device even after calibration and even when it's used it doesn't even get 25% brighter, only 13%.

On top of that many iPhone 7's have a dimmer yellow screen when in normal light levels, these testers are just getting lucky.
 
My wife's iPhone 7 Plus is pretty. Warmer/more yellow for sure but it bad.

My first iPhone 7 Plus was ok but not nearly as bright as my 6 Plus or even the models in store. It also had an issue where people couldn't hear me. Returned it.

This second iPhone 7 Plus is even less bright and more yellow. :(. Not talking about when it dims when restoring either. It will be returned too.

Mine have been the Qualcomm versions. Wife's is Intel. Doubt that has anything but I'm getting annoyed at how dim these 7 Plus models are...I also prefer the cooler/blue of the 6 Plus.
 
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