I am sort of in the same boat. I have had 3 16 Pro Max's all with some sort of issue out of the box. I have another on order but tempted just to cancel and stick with the 15 PM one more year. I don't have time to be playing this phone lottery as it sounds like production wise its still hit or miss.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Screen brightness on 16 Pro/Max [MERGED]
- Thread starter mfrank29
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yeah that sounds like the best choice, my friend is doing the same.
I mentioned the bad displays to one of the employees at the Apple Store who asked me if I needed help and his response was "They look fine to me." even tho I held my 16 Pro with a good display next to the busted screen of the demo unit and tilted both around side by side and it was so clearly visible, like night and day and the employee still couldn't see anything wrong. Most people don't care as long as it looks fine straight on.
Or that's the directive they got old by Apple Store corporate if someone asks, lol
I don’t think it’s that
They aren’t paid enough to care as retail employees and probably genuinely don’t see it under the fantastic deceptive in store lighting
Even if they did they’re not gonna swap out all retail demos
The average person picks up the device and is immediately impressed just by virtue of being another iPhone lol … imo
They aren’t paid enough to care as retail employees and probably genuinely don’t see it under the fantastic deceptive in store lighting
Even if they did they’re not gonna swap out all retail demos
The average person picks up the device and is immediately impressed just by virtue of being another iPhone lol … imo
Got a bit of a green tint at certain angles, but could that be my Belkin UG2 screen protector? It looks like some rainbow effect, so now not sure what the shift is actually from.
Last edited:
It isn't all bad news with the LG panel. My most recent photos I posted above are from Samsung G9N panel, looked perfect but typed too soon. Terrible red blotch at bottom right of screen reared its ugly head when using the phone in night mode with TT on.
Tried again yesterday and did thorough testing this time. The panel on this one is GH3 which is LG. Very uniform, no issues with any tint at low brightness w/ TT and night shift on, and minimal off axis shift. There are good LG panels out there, it's just pure lottery. Took two photos initially at an angle and not head on, just did one.
Tried again yesterday and did thorough testing this time. The panel on this one is GH3 which is LG. Very uniform, no issues with any tint at low brightness w/ TT and night shift on, and minimal off axis shift. There are good LG panels out there, it's just pure lottery. Took two photos initially at an angle and not head on, just did one.
The 16PM has been my worst so far in terms of bad luck. I think this is #5, lost track. Used it in almost pure darkness while in bed last night, TT on and night shift on at various intervals. Dark grays look good too and there's no green tint at dim brightness. When I opened the box and then 3uTools yesterday and saw the LG serial I cringed, but it worked out. Only took 6 weeks and 5 attempts but it's over finally 😂🙂.
Under extreme close scrutiny my lower 25% of screen exhibits something like this also. But definitely not this extreme where it’s visible via a photo . Having experienced pink tints on iPhone screens in the past I’m completely aware of them and super sensitive to them. Mines so negligible and didn’t bother me to warrant a replacement. Since I’ve seen worse examples in the past. I’ve sat in dark rooms often comparing my 16PM with friends under various brightness levels. Both Samsung panels, very minimal differences to them.
Last edited:
Under what lighting conditions did you come to the conclusion that it’s perfect panel ? I can always find a fault in a OLED panel in the Apple Store ain’t one of them places 😂
I agree. I got mine yesterday and is GH3 and the screen is perfect and uniform. In fact it's way better and brighter than my other one which was pretty Dull (G9N panel), which I did return 5 minutes ago.
I have a weekend road trip starting Friday and I’m so tempted to try to get a good display 16 pro max for the battery life on this trip, but with my lottery odds I’m pretty sure I’ll get a busted display and will have to deal with returning it. lol
An update on this ^:
After using it in bed last night I can confirm it is in fact perfect looking to me down to 1 nit (min brightness on this series phone). I’m so happy. No tint towards the top, just... nothing!!! Plus that horrid green tint on the old 14 AND 12 Pro Max is nowhere to be seen, even with True Tone turned on and Night Shift set to max.
I think I’m in love... 😝
We have another LG winner. That's great to hear. The LG that I got a couple of attempts ago had the worst and most intense blue shift I'd ever seen on any phone. That was an insta-return, I didn't even set the phone up or log in with my iCloud account.
It's worth a try! Out of the 5 or so that I've tried I only got one screen (the LG mentioned just now) that was absolute trash. The others most normal people wouldn't notice anything and they could be considered passable. Not by my standards of course, but my point is you really have a low chance of getting an absolutely trash screen. I'm talking terrible off-axis shift, instant shift when slightly tilting the phone, uniformity issues that are magnified significantly at low brightness w/ TT and NS enabled, or dead pixels.
Thanks for the encouragement but I went thru six 16 Pros until I found a good display. Not sure it’s worth the hassle for a 16 Pro Max but maybe I’ll get some drinks later and stumble into an Apple Store and do an impulse buy and test my luck haha
Congrats, it looks identical to my own GH3. I did not win Samsung's panels lottery this year: both G9P and a G9N had some grade of uniformity issues (either horizontal or vertical) and the units have been returned.
Don’t worry screen issues always creep up on our type of eyes. 😉
Last edited:
I used the phone a lot last night and there's no uniformity issue with TT or NS, which as you know quickly points out the ugly. This sits at the top in terms of panel quality among the phones I've had over the past few years and I'm shocked its LG.
The last time I had a good LG panel was way back when the oldest rMBP launched with Samsung and LG screens and it was a lottery back then. I think at the time LG was the "preferred" screen but I may be wrong. I remember @thadoggfather from back then, that's how long this crap has gone on 😂. I'll need to grab a coffee and look at my ancient post history for that one 😂.
*Edit- found it, April 2015! 😂😂😂
Last edited:
Yeah funny you mention the MBP, although not in 2015. The MacBook Pro 13 with touchbar I had with the M1 chip had a nasty screen. I accidentally came across the photos in my gallery. Right side was pink left side purple hahah. Glad I didn’t keep it. Remember that wallpaper with the trees some used as a test card hahahaha
Attachments
Got my replacement in the post today and it’s the same G9N panel as above. Million miles better than the LG panel I sent back so very pleased
Watch out for the red hue at 1/4 or 1/3 of the screen with TT and NS enabled, that happened to me as I said earlier on my panel that I thought was perfect. Fingers crossed!