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ctjack

macrumors 68000
Mar 8, 2020
1,565
1,575
Well Apple obviosly could do that. Remember Mac Air news? When installing windows, it actually gets brighter and equal to Macbook Pro 13. Well one of the selling points of MBP13 is the 100 nits increased brightness over the Air. So Apple limited the brightness for well known reasons.

Remember Apple telling that it has no access to your devices? Well when Apple stores were robbed, all of the Iphone/macs were blocked(even though it was new in the box models so no icloud) and message appeared to return the item to the store until the police were not called.

Apple obviously has wide and long reach hands - store models can be brighter for sure to attract people. But obviously, that bright mode run in the store is not safe for casual people - people will complain about "burned OLED panels" in their iphones.
 
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Hamsterhjulet

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 1, 2015
331
331
Denmark
Well Apple obviosly could do that. Remember Mac Air news? When installing windows, it actually gets brighter and equal to Macbook Pro 13. Well one of the selling points of MBP13 is the 100 nits increased brightness over the Air. So Apple limited the brightness for well known reasons.

Remember Apple telling that it has no access to your devices? Well when Apple stores were robbed, all of the Iphone/macs were blocked(even though it was new in the box models so no icloud) and message appeared to return the item to the store until the police were not called.

Apple obviously has wide and long reach hands - store models can be brighter for sure to attract people. But obviously, that bright mode run in the store is not safe for casual people - people will complain about "burned OLED panels" in their iphones.
I don’t care if my device can’t reach same brightness as store models if they are running special software to reach it. I was just wondering if my iPhone was defective.
Sounds like a plausible explanation, Apple don’t care about burn-in on store models. They’ll just change them when needed.
 
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sonstar

Suspended
Sep 13, 2021
643
577
They probably put the ones with brighter screens in the stores, straight from factory and tested
 

coso

macrumors 65816
Feb 9, 2012
1,063
647
In store they don't put brighter screens or special units, nor they run special software (they just have a tuned iOS demo install which is refreshed each day, with demo emails, demo photos etc). Demo units screens were actually slightly faulty like mine (darker on the right side, which also means warmer when displaying dark grey content at minimum brightness on the right side, a "defect" clearly visibile in the screen uniformity thread. I'm fine with it as they're all like this basically). They're just put at 100% brightness with auto brightness off and night shift off. As I already said, I tried this in store. Try a different store if you can, maybe the demo units will be slightly darker than yours this time. Also if you just switch off auto brightness it takes some seconds for the brightness to actually go all the way up, try moving your slider a couple times. Yes, I know maximum brightness is only reached with AB on, but only if you put a flashlight on the sensor, or in the sunlight, not indoors. Indoors only auto brightness off will let you reach the maximum brightness that iOS allows you
 

Luckyk94

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2021
1
0
I had the same issue with my 13 pro max. Saw the difference in brightness and had the apple expert wipe my phone to see if the brightness changes with default settings. Nothing changed so I returned it and got a new 13 pro max to find out it still had less brightness than the in-store model. Either I got a defective iPhone both the times or it's just that the store models are configured to have more brightness. Did you change it and notice a difference or decide to keep it?
 

coso

macrumors 65816
Feb 9, 2012
1,063
647
I had the same issue with my 13 pro max. Saw the difference in brightness and had the apple expert wipe my phone to see if the brightness changes with default settings. Nothing changed so I returned it and got a new 13 pro max to find out it still had less brightness than the in-store model. Either I got a defective iPhone both the times or it's just that the store models are configured to have more brightness. Did you change it and notice a difference or decide to keep it?
Did you disable auto brightness in accessibility before comparing?
 

Ricardo97

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2022
5
0
5BD4BB9F-C6C9-415E-8D32-85FA9E15632D.png
So this has happened to me as well, bought the Pro Max 13, days later Watching a film noticed dark scenes were extremely dark, Some scenes were just too dark you could not see anything, later I compared with my Xiaomi mi 11t pro (350€) and the 11t pro was quite brighter I was shocked, I went to a store and noticed the brightness in store models were 50% more intensive, checked in other stores and same. They provided me a new one after waiting a full week and same issue, but after reading this forum I disabled auto brightness and got even more surprised because brightness goes down even with it having it off.

However, I also noticed that it also happens the other way around, the minimum brightness is also higher on store.

Note: both phones had the identical settings, checked by shops assistants.
0D0A7063-592D-49B6-B4D1-B0D2B7925BE5.png
 

Adarna

Suspended
Jan 1, 2015
685
429
I've been using my iPhone 13 Pro Max for a couple of weeks and I love it. I hadn't seen the phone in real life before ordering, so for fun I went by an Apple Store to see the new Sierra Blue in real life (bought the Silver). I immediately noticed that the store model was much brighter than my phone. I compared them side by side and the difference was very noticeable. Checked settings on both phones and they were setup identically.

That made me wonder. Since the phones in stores runs a "demo" version of iOS, do Apple somehow "unlock" the brightness to go up to the 1000 nits at all times to make the screen look brighter then it really is in day to day use? Hopefully any of you have been working in an Apple Store or anything like it and have some insider knowledge.
HDTVs in AV stores have a setting specific for stores.

As such any Apple device may have something similar.

As these devices plugged in then power consumption isnt such a big deal

I find it weird that people are treasure hunting for Apple's mistakes. Do they want to be interviewed for the next batterygate?
 
Last edited:

jagolden

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2002
1,587
1,502
The differences may be settings related. You might want to check out if auto brightness is set or night shift mode or even true tone. I have auto turned off and true tone on. I adjust the brightness manually because I like the control and being old school being used to using battery saving changes though today's devices don't necessarily need it.
I believe the AB when used in a blindingly bright Apple Store is going to make the screen look different than when AB is used in real life locations.

Personally I find AB to be a pain. Much prefer manually setting the brightness. I run my 11 Pro Max at about 37% brightness.
 

Ricardo97

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2022
5
0
I had the same issue with my 13 pro max. Saw the difference in brightness and had the apple expert wipe my phone to see if the brightness changes with default settings. Nothing changed so I returned it and got a new 13 pro max to find out it still had less brightness than the in-store model. Either I got a defective iPhone both the times or it's just that the store models are configured to have more brightness. Did you change it and notice a difference or decide to keep it?
what did you end up doing?
 

Ricardo97

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2022
5
0
HDTVs in AV stores have a setting specific for stores.

As such any Apple device may have something similar.

As these devices plugged in then power consumption isnt such a big deal

I find it weird that people are treasure hunting for Apple's mistakes. Do they want to be interviewed for the next batterygate?
Literally I was not able to see some parts of a movie and this had never happened to me with Xiaomi, Samsung or Huawei, And those phones were around 300-400 euros, I paid 1379€ for the Pro Max so of course I expect to have a screen better than a 4 years old 350€ phone. One of pro 13 max features was the screen.
 

Adarna

Suspended
Jan 1, 2015
685
429
Literally I was not able to see some parts of a movie and this had never happened to me with Xiaomi, Samsung or Huawei, And those phones were around 300-400 euros, I paid 1379€ for the Pro Max so of course I expect to have a screen better than a 4 years old 350€ phone. One of pro 13 max features was the screen.

Go to Apple Store and have them compare your iPhone to their demo units.

13 Pro Max OLED can go really bright for HDR content. They're cap'd for everything else.
 

Ricardo97

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2022
5
0
Go to Apple Store and have them compare your iPhone to their demo units.

13 Pro Max OLED can go really bright for HDR content. They're cap'd for everything else.
Yeah but the movie was on HDR (tested on Netflix and Disney+)
 

Adarna

Suspended
Jan 1, 2015
685
429
Yeah but the movie was on HDR (tested on Netflix and Disney+)
Perhaps its a feature and not a bug?

Make the comparison and ask the manager to make a judgement call.

Time better spent than posting it on Macrumorrs
 

Ricardo97

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2022
5
0
Perhaps its a feature and not a bug?

Make the comparison and ask the manager to make a judgement call.

Time better spent than posting it on Macrumorrs
I already contacted support and they have created a case, but decided to share here too because some people had the same issue, note they already gave me a new one yet the issue persists.
 

Macismyname

macrumors newbie
Mar 14, 2022
1
1
Have you tried turning off reducing white point in accessibility/display and text size settings? My phone came with this setting on...
 
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LFC2020

macrumors P6
Apr 4, 2020
16,874
38,038
Wouldn’t bother getting a replacement, tested mine out in store on the same brightness settings at 100% brightness.

Auto brightness, PeeTone off.

Mixed bag, mine was dimmer and brighter than some of the models on display.
 

TheRealAlex

macrumors 68030
Sep 2, 2015
2,988
2,255
Checked the store phone and AB was on. Turned off on both phones and the store model somehow still managed to stay brighter.

The phone should be able to reach higher brightness with AB on though. If you turn it off it caps out before reaching 1000 nits. It's been like that in quite a while on iPhone.
I’ve noticed this everywhere as well. My only thought is to get an attorney onboard because My suspicion is that Apple gets cherry picked brighter display units to retailers as store displays to dupe the public.
 

LFC2020

macrumors P6
Apr 4, 2020
16,874
38,038
I’ve noticed this everywhere as well. My only thought is to get an attorney onboard because My suspicion is that Apple gets cherry picked brighter display units to retailers as store displays to dupe the public.

Nope, like I said before ?

Wouldn’t bother getting a replacement, tested mine out in store on the same brightness settings at 100% brightness.

Auto brightness, PeeTone off.

Mixed bag, mine was dimmer and brighter than some of the models on display.

Luck of the draw in the end.
 
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coso

macrumors 65816
Feb 9, 2012
1,063
647
The store ones are the same as the others, they don't have time to cherry pick. Mine was brighter than a demo unit, for example. It's just a lottery, as most things in electronics. If they would toss less than perfect iPhones they would cost 3000$ a pop, minimum. No iPhone is perfect. Maybe one with a beautiful screen will have sub par battery life, like mine.
 

LFC2020

macrumors P6
Apr 4, 2020
16,874
38,038
Yep. Sometimes mine appears dim. All good
I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t be bothered anymore, as long as the screen doesn’t have a severe defect, I’m keeping it.

Wait till BOE enters the party next year, boy oh boy. 😅🤣
 
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