Severe eye pain and headaches caused by iPhone 11 Pro Max

maggi4546 wrote:

I respectfully disagree with you. I have exact same issue with my 11 pro max & it is an iphone issue. I had similar issue with xs max as well. I have downgraded to iphone 8 plus.

Before you project your opinions on someone, think - pause & think - that the complaints might be valid. Because it is apple, doesn't mean it is error proof.

You can disagree all you like. That won't alter reality.

No one said the complaints aren't "valid".

The problem, however is not the phone. It is being triggered by the use of the phone, but the phone is not the root cause of the problem. Just like strobe lights do not cause epilepsy, but may trigger epileptic seizures.

Note 10 plus and 11 Pro Max use the same display technology, generally, and have extremely similar operating specifications, including brightness range and flicker cycle handling.

Have you considered other factors including but not limited to sudden increase in phone usage setting up an ecosystem transition? Asthenopia is primarily caused by vision distortion, correction errors, holding the same shallow focal length for a long time, and flicker rate.

The only two relevant considerations above are focal length and flicker, but PWM dimming is used in note 10 and even LCD displays well before OLED displays.

I hope you are able to isolate the cause of your sensitivity so you may avoid it. I am simply highly dubious the cause is specific to the iPhone.

Take care.

“Pulse-Width Modulation” is a way manufacturers use to adjust the display's brightness. They lower the brightness, the more aggressive it flickers. Imagine when your pupil is fully open ...at night in dark all around.

That is exactly when - and I remember the moment - I had stingy tears running through my hair laying in bed.

I started having burning sensations as eyes were becoming puffy by the day (this is when I bought the iPhone X back then).

People claiming it’s totally not the iPhone’s fault, are using some great mental gymnastics to protect their favorite piece of technology.

YES, that is not an eyes problem, regardless if some people can live with it. It is a fault in technology. Healthy eyes may withstand it but should not be exposed to a screen that affects well over 10% of people.

“Several studied claim that about 10% of people experience discomfort when viewing PWM displays (while the rest are either completely okay or with some very mild discomfort). Some people suffer very badly and the flickering may result in other health issues.”

I had to upgrade to the 11 only, not the pro.

I don’t know what I’ll do if they ditch LCD completely... I will hold onto this one for the decade if I need to.

If you've suddenly developed severe eye problems, rather than wasting your time pestering Apple customer service folks, none of whom are ophthalmologists, call your eye doctor. Get medical advice from medical professionals, not iPhone technical support staff.

And how would we know you've sought medical attention unless you say you did? It's possible OLED technology and your eyes aren't good friends. That doesn't mean iPhone is defective. It may just mean iPhone with OLED isn't the best option for you. Apple does sell other phones with LCD screens, such as iPhone 11 (not Pro or Pro Max), which may be a better option for you.

there is no fix that I’ve heard of. I tried both the 11 and 11 pro with every setting possible and blue screen glasses. My reaction was instantaneous so I just bought an earlier phone. There is a be iphone coming out in March SE 2 that may be better.

I respectfully disagree with you. I have exact same issue with my 11 pro max & it is an iphone issue. I had similar issue with xs max as well. I have downgraded to iphone 8 plus.

Before you project your opinions on someone, think - pause & think - that the complaints might be valid. Because it is apple, doesn't mean it is error proof.

You need to ask those questions of your doctor.

You're apparently sensitive to the refresh rate of the OLED screen, or something similar.

This is a technical forum.

Your eyes did not "magically" become "alright" when you stopped using the device, you simply stopped exposing yourself to whatever effect you happen to be sensitive to.

You do not have a technical problem, you have a medical problem.

If the iPhone gives you problems, then don't use it.

Actually, there was a post from someone many months ago, who found she was very sensitive to IR (Infrared) light. Turning off FaceID would turn off the IR camera, which likely is helping you.

acyborg wrote:

That's what I felt in the beginning too. However, if the problem was with me due to a medical condition, then please explain why after I stopped using the 11 Pro Max and a night later my eyes "magically" became alright? I continue to use the iPhone 8 Plus (I believe the 8 plus has an LCD screen)which causes no issues at all. Extended usage of my Note 10 plus also did not cause any issues at all.

Regardless of what you may think the cause is, severe eye pain and headaches are medical problems. Sudden, severe headaches can a symptom of very serious medical issues such as brain tumors. Assuming you know the cause because of something you read on the internet is risking your health and possibly your life.

Go see your doctor.

I have called Apple a hundred times in the last two days to get responses from different reps with all different years of experience with Apple. Not one Apple rep claims they have ever heard of this issue. Which I would believe if the 11 pro was released recently (iPhone X and other oled phones previous to 11 pro have oled but the display specs are lower so they dont cause this eye and headache problem) but the 11 pro has been released for 6 months now, and all of them I am confident have heard of the problem there just isn’t any solution to it besides reducing the white tone, putting on a blue light screen protector and using blue glasses that filters out the blue color from the iphones screen. Yet none of these solutions that I have found out for myself solves the isssue 100 percent.

So I did some further research on this.

Solution-

I know people upgrade from the iPhone 8 to the 11 pro for Face ID and other key features that the x didn’t have. However I turned my Face ID off, and instantly my headache started to go away, my head started to feel better.

if you try this and it works please reply. Or if you found this useful, and have more information please comment as I bought this phone to use Face ID.

No, there isn't. FaceID requires the IR camera. You may be one of those rare people who is hyper-sensitive to IR light. It's not very common, but it certainly does exist in some people. Most people are completely immune to IR light. You just aren't one of them. You'll have to keep it off and use a passcode (which we managed to use for years) to open your phone.