iPhone 16 Pro Max Screen brightness on 16 Pro/Max [MERGED]

[SumYoungGai]

An interesting thing—The Desert Titanium that arrived today has a Samsung screen (G9N). It has a warmer tone but is perfect, with no rainbow colors when tilted. This only confirms the theory that every display is different. Interestingly, the back of the phone has a slightly different shade than the one from the launch day.

How about gray uniformity/pink tinting?

 

[thatJohann]

An interesting thing—The Desert Titanium that arrived today has a Samsung screen (G9N). It has a warmer tone but is perfect, with no rainbow colors when tilted. This only confirms the theory that every display is different. Interestingly, the back of the phone has a slightly different shade than the one from the launch day.

Pro Max or Pro?

 

[gingol]

All the units are Pro Max. The screen on my wife’s phone, which arrived yesterday (G9N), has a warmer tint but is slightly more contrasty than the one I kept for myself, which I took over from her (GH3H). The GH3H in this particular unit is excellent, with exceptionally cool colors that I prefer and that are quite rare to come by. The G9N, being warmer, displays grays differently, but when not directly compared to the GH3H side by side, it looks very good.

I’m attaching photos, though unfortunately, they don’t accurately represent the differences—you really need to assess it with the human eye. If I were to nitpick, the GH3H unit has a slightly warmer tint at the very bottom, but that’s really being overly critical.

In summary, the display type doesn’t matter at all—each unit is different, and it’s a complete lottery which one you’ll get. In theory, G9N panels are considered the best, yet I previously received a unit that displayed rainbow colors at the slightest tilt, something that neither of the two current units—now staying with us—exhibit at all. There’s nothing left to do but accept this reality or keep exchanging them until you get the perfect one.

 

[BorisDG]

it is not conspiracy I think it is not strange for manufactureres to sell the best units with launch day as mostly those are the people the the highest expectations however it is may not be actually correct
what I think happened is that apple did not inform samsung with the new display sizes soon enough so they could not cover all the order hence the 80% LG share from what I saw
another thing to mention is the less time available made them rush the panels hence the poor panel quality of samsung
which compaired to a device from 2 years ago 14 pro max is night and day
I sold the 16 pro max and got the S25 Ultra
the display is uniform but has color shift on severe tilt but I am much happier with it than the 16 Pro Max which I felt like the same as the 14 pro max I had with a downgraded display I could not accept

I can't validate that to 100%. My sister got her 16 Pro day 1 with LG GVC and it's bad with brightness and tinting. I got my 16 Pro also in first week and it has Samsung G9P just like my 14 Pro. Fantastic screen.

In theory, G9N panels are considered the best,

That was never the case.

 

[Fred Zed]

I almost earned a PhD in replacing the iPhone 16 Pro Max this year, and here are my observations. I went through 10 units. The Samsung screens this year are not great at all. Every single screen is different from the other, as if Apple has no quality control whatsoever. Even the LG screens of the same type can differ when placed next to each other. My wife has an iPhone from launch day, and its screen is excellent (GH3H). After many replacements, I finally received a device with a GVCH screen today, and I’m going to keep it. It’s not perfect either, but it’s satisfactory.

It’s a complete lottery, and it’s sad that Apple can’t seem to produce a device with consistently good quality. Moreover, all the demo units I’ve seen in various electronics stores have perfect screens — when compared to my replacements, it’s like night and day. What’s more, with each replacement, I kept getting devices that had defects right out of the box, like blemishes on the frame or fingerprints. It’s unacceptable. And all of these were purchased through Apple’s official store.

So, I wish you patience and perseverance in the search for the perfect replacement unit.

Yeah the QC sucks. 12 and 13 pro max all had deep scratches on the stainless steel frames at the time for me. 16PM not perfect but acceptable screen and frame blemish wise.

 

[MartinX2]

How about gray uniformity/pink tinting?

I have never seen 100% uniformity in dark gray, low light situation. Always some red tint in different parts of the screen.

 

[SumYoungGai]

I have never seen 100% uniformity in dark gray, low light situation. Always some red tint in different parts of the screen.

I actually got a unicorn G9N 16 Pro Max with no red tint a couple months ago but the camera autofocus was totally messed up so I had to return it. I also noticed the horizontal banding at low light so there’s really no perfect display like you said

 

[BorisDG]

I also noticed the horizontal banding at low light so there’s really no perfect display like you said

It's so weird that most people see this, but I don't have it.

 

[applefanb0y]

So I got a 16PM today. I immediately felt like something was off with the screen slightly. The top half of the screen feels slightly cooler compared to the bottom. This is with true tone on. With it off, its almost 100% even.

To check if you have an issue - I am mostly asking to see if this is normal for 16P/PM screens - just do the following:

1. Turn on light mode in settings. Ensure true tone is on.
2. Goto safari. Turn of favorites frequently visited etc. So a new window show basically be white. Tap the address bar so the keyboard pops up.
3. Now just turn the phone into landscape orientation. The grey area of the keyboard above the mic and the grey area aboev the emoji icon - are they the same shade?

Test 2 - for those who use linkedin, just open the app in light mode and turn phone into landscape orientation. The area to the left of posts is different shade than the area to the right.

I guess I am secretly hoping this is how it is on most devices to some extent so I dont have to play the exchange lottery.

 

[thatJohann]

So I got a 16PM today. I immediately felt like something was off with the screen slightly. The top half of the screen feels slightly cooler compared to the bottom. This is with true tone on. With it off, its almost 100% even.

To check if you have an issue - I am mostly asking to see if this is normal for 16P/PM screens - just do the following:

1. Turn on light mode in settings. Ensure true tone is on.
2. Goto safari. Turn of favorites frequently visited etc. So a new window show basically be white. Tap the address bar so the keyboard pops up.
3. Now just turn the phone into landscape orientation. The grey area of the keyboard above the mic and the grey area aboev the emoji icon - are they the same shade?

Test 2 - for those who use linkedin, just open the app in light mode and turn phone into landscape orientation. The area to the left of posts is different shade than the area to the right.

I guess I am secretly hoping this is how it is on most devices to some extent so I dont have to play the exchange lottery.

Sorry my friend. It’s supposed to be even on a good panel. It’s a lottery like you say, so I’d suggest exchanging it until you get one you like. Or at least one that doesn’t bother you. Took me multiple attempts until I got a good display on my 16 Plus. They’re out there hiding.

 

[applefanb0y]

Sorry my friend. It’s supposed to be even on a good panel. It’s a lottery like you say, so I’d suggest exchanging it until you get one you like. Or at least one that doesn’t bother you. Took me multiple attempts until I got a good display on my 16 Plus. They’re out there hiding.

I looked at two more phones on display in the store and both are exactly like that. I ended up switching to s25 ultra for this cycle of my tech journey lol

There are unfortunately no exchanges or returns for such 'trivial' issues in my country without a fight.