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The.Glorious.Son

macrumors 68000
Sep 28, 2015
1,721
3,642
Chicago, IL
I honestly think the brightness symbol is a nod to PWM. This would also mean that iPhone 13 would feature improvements and not just iPhone 13 Pro models with their LTPO OLED’s, although those are the best best for anyone who suffers from sensitivity.
My assumption would be that the new display engine, along with the brightness symbol, would correlate to the new native NITS brightness that is achieved.
 

tallsean

macrumors newbie
Sep 22, 2021
4
4
I've preferred Apple products for over 10 years, but am being forced to switch due to PWM. I use an iPhone XR with no issues, but the iPhone 12 gives me migraines. I use a 2015 MacBook Pro with no issues, but the current MacBooks give me migraines. Please, Apple, find ways to eliminate PWM from your devices!!
 

TDDM

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2017
490
634
KA

Looks like PWM is still present on the 13. Remains to be seen if the implementation is any better eye strain wise though.

?
 
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daedalus1115

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2021
13
11
The 13 pro is causing me migraine-like issues for me coming from an X, which I still have and experience no problems with. It's night and day. I got a 12 pro to see if it did the same, and that's doing the same thing to me. I don't know if it's PWM issue or what, but it's not fun.

I'd describe it as: dull headache behind my eyes that comes on pretty quickly when using the phone. It progresses into dizziness, nausea and just general feeling like garbage. I tried changing every setting I could think of (limit frame rate, reduce motion, true tone, white point, brightness, etc.- can't seem to work around it.

X is 100% fine.

Anyone else having this experience? Really, really sucks. Not really sure what to do about it. I just got my vision checked, going to go to a doc. But it's so weird that X is fine.
 
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now i see it

macrumors G4
Jan 2, 2002
11,257
24,289
Get rid of the phone. You’ve already diagnosed the problem. No need to waste time & money on a doctor. You want to be prescribed pills? (That won’t work)
 

daedalus1115

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2021
13
11
I fear I will have to return the 13 Pro.

The 13 Pro's display is Samsung, right? I wonder if the LG display on the 13 is any different, even though on paper it should be the same. I wish I could find easily to try.
 

dan98

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2013
203
343
The 13 pro is causing me migraine-like issues for me coming from an X, which I still have and experience no problems with. It's night and day. I got a 12 pro to see if it did the same, and that's doing the same thing to me. I don't know if it's PWM issue or what, but it's not fun.

I'd describe it as: dull headache behind my eyes that comes on pretty quickly when using the phone. It progresses into dizziness, nausea and just general feeling like garbage. I tried changing every setting I could think of (limit frame rate, reduce motion, true tone, white point, brightness, etc.- can't seem to work around it.

X is 100% fine.

Anyone else having this experience? Really, really sucks. Not really sure what to do about it. I just got my vision checked, going to go to a doc. But it's so weird that X is fine.
The Doctor won't be able to help you (he probably won't have any idea what you're talking about unless he's a vestibular specialist) - you have a sensitivity to PWM on the 13 Pro which is messing with your balance / ocular system. If you ignore the symptoms, you might possibly go on to cause more permanent damage.

It sucks, and Apple have evidently no interest in addressing the problem, but at least there are older phones which don't use this technology.
 
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RobinYerbank

Cancelled
Sep 16, 2021
119
422
I fear I will have to return the 13 Pro.

The 13 Pro's display is Samsung, right? I wonder if the LG display on the 13 is any different, even though on paper it should be the same. I wish I could find easily to try.
The 13 pro is causing me migraine-like issues for me coming from an X, which I still have and experience no problems with. It's night and day. I got a 12 pro to see if it did the same, and that's doing the same thing to me. I don't know if it's PWM issue or what, but it's not fun.

I'd describe it as: dull headache behind my eyes that comes on pretty quickly when using the phone. It progresses into dizziness, nausea and just general feeling like garbage. I tried changing every setting I could think of (limit frame rate, reduce motion, true tone, white point, brightness, etc.- can't seem to work around it.

X is 100% fine.

Anyone else having this experience? Really, really sucks. Not really sure what to do about it. I just got my vision checked, going to go to a doc. But it's so weird that X is fine.

I've tried the 13 Pro Max and 13, having come from a 12 Pro Max that caused me no issues (I think).

The Pro Max gave me the worst eye strain I've ever experienced. The 13 made me feel nauseous and is the first phone to ever to do that to me. I've still got the 13 and am sending it back to Apple, tried it again last night to be sure and it made me feel ill for the rest of the night. Really awful!

I've resorted to going back to the 12 Pro Max (wish I'd never sold it). Luckily, my network provider still has some in stock and I've got one arriving tomorrow. I'm going to monitor how I get on with it now that I'm aware of the potential issues, but I'm expecting it to be fine based on past experience. We'll see.

If I notice eye strain or headaches with the 12 Pro Max (which I might've been getting before without realising), I'm just going to keep using the 11 I've got right now.
 
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daedalus1115

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2021
13
11
The Doctor won't be able to help you (he probably won't have any idea what you're talking about unless he's a vestibular specialist) - you have a sensitivity to PWM on the 13 Pro which is messing with your balance / ocular system. If you ignore the symptoms, you might possibly go on to cause more permanent damage.

It sucks, and Apple have evidently no interest in addressing the problem, but at least there are older phones which don't use this technology.
If PWM is the culprit, I'd expect to have PWM issues on my X, on my iPad pro 12.9" 3rd gen, or 11" my inch iPad pro as well, which are all (I think) Samsung OLED as well. All are fine for me at any brightness level.

You're probably right that the doc won't be helpful.

The symptoms go away after a day of no use (I do experience a "PWM hangover"). It's probably wise to listen to my body and pushing through the symptoms could be a bad idea, but has anyone tried? Maybe it's possible to get used to it.
 

dan98

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2013
203
343
If PWM is the culprit, I'd expect to have PWM issues on my X, on my iPad pro 12.9" 3rd gen, or 11" my inch iPad pro as well, which are all (I think) Samsung OLED as well. All are fine for me at any brightness level.

You're probably right that the doc won't be helpful.

The symptoms go away after a day of no use (I do experience a "PWM hangover"). It's probably wise to listen to my body and pushing through the symptoms could be a bad idea, but has anyone tried? Maybe it's possible to get used to it.
Not all PWM is the same - different people seem to have sensitivities for certain frequencies and intensities.
I 'pushed through' on one old LED laptop which had PWM - in the end it worked by little and often..but the symptoms on these new OLED devices are far worse, and I have had more permanent symptoms.

Anyway up to you, that's just my advice *shrug*
 

daedalus1115

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2021
13
11
Not all PWM is the same - different people seem to have sensitivities for certain frequencies and intensities.
I 'pushed through' on one old LED laptop which had PWM - in the end it worked by little and often..but the symptoms on these new OLED devices are far worse, and I have had more permanent symptoms.

Anyway up to you, that's just my advice *shrug*
Would you mind please elaborating on the permanent symptoms you have?
 

Tmacc47

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2018
144
75
Ohio
The Doctor won't be able to help you (he probably won't have any idea what you're talking about unless he's a vestibular specialist) - you have a sensitivity to PWM on the 13 Pro which is messing with your balance / ocular system. If you ignore the symptoms, you might possibly go on to cause more permanent damage.

It sucks, and Apple have evidently no interest in addressing the problem, but at least there are older phones which don't use this technology.
Honestly, this is one of the many reasons why I ordered an iPhone 11. I've been on Android the past couple years, so I think the 11 will be a great way to dive back into iOS.
 

daedalus1115

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2021
13
11
Update: I have been able to pretty much move past my issues on the 13 pro. I'm mostly able to use the phone normally now, sometimes a very slight headache. I am not sure if my body just eventually adjusted to the screen, or other factors changed, or a combination. I'm not sure if the issue was truly PWM, or some other issue(s). I was definitely getting very uncomfortable burning behind eyes/migraine symptoms on the 13 pro initially, as well as on the 12 pro and 13. X was fine.

Over the last few weeks I tried gradually push my discomfort daily by using 13 Pro to just expose my body with the intent to hopefully create adjustment. When it went beyond mild discomfort, I backed off and went back to my old phone until I felt OK. I don't know if this was medically wise and I don't necessarily recommend it, but I tried it. I also made some other changes, such as cutting way back on caffeine and trying to reduce stress/anxiety.

Anyway, just wanted to share my update, as I would have liked to have seen such an update from others before when deciding how to proceed myself in this situation.
 

jm31828

macrumors 65816
Sep 28, 2015
1,394
896
Bothell, Washington
Check here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...s-and-or-nausea-with-iphone-11.2209358/page-6

Temporal dithering (FRC – Frame Rate Control)
FRC (Frame Rate Control) or temporal dithering, as explored by Lagom, describes rapid alternation between a very slightly lighter and very slightly darker variant of a given shade. This is done where the shade itself can’t be displayed, for example if the monitor does not have the necessary bit-depth to display that shade. The GPU may also add its own dithering stage, so even if a monitor is free from dithering (e.g. ‘true 8-bit’ rather than 6-bit + 2-bit FRC) there may be some dithering visible. It is therefore very difficult to achieve a viewing experience entirely free from dithering, but it’s certainly minimised if the monitor itself doesn’t use dithering. This can be thought of as a form of flickering, although it is very different to the flickering you get from PWM whereby there are extreme brightness changes of the entire backlight. This is a minute luminance change that affects certain shades, so most users will not find this problematic even if they are sensitive to PWM usage. Some users still take issue with dithering usage and prefer that it is taken out of the equation, or at least minimised.
Sorry to revive an old thread/post, but is there any way for us to find out for sure if temporal dithering is used on Apple LCD phones such as the SE models? Some of the diagnostic apps out there show that the SE has a 24 bit display- would that mean it can handle the high number of colors without any dithering, or is it calling it 24 bit because it uses dithering to achieve those colors?
 

jm31828

macrumors 65816
Sep 28, 2015
1,394
896
Bothell, Washington
The bit depth claimed is perceived. If temporal dithering creates ‘billions’ of colors, that’s the claimed bit depth of the display.
Temporal dithering isn’t something Apple wants to talk about, same with PWM.
Ok, thanks- that is what I was suspecting.
Are OLED displays able to naturally display more colors than LCD, with no need for temporal dithering? I was just curious if Apple OLED displays- though they have PWM bothering some people- may not have temporal dithering, which could be a benefit for those who may be sensitive to that but not the PWM flicker?
I ask because I know that Notebookcheck verified the 14 Pro does not have temporal dithering, so I was thinking that may apply to the 13 series as well, or maybe all other oled phones- but of course have not found any testing to verify that.
 
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