Nausea dizziness

My Apple iphone & computer are making me sick too.

It's a new thing called Cybersickness & Apple needs to address it.

• My symptoms include: Nausea
• Eye strain
• Difficulty concentrating
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• General discomfort
• Fatigue
• Drowsiness
• Disorientation
• Apathy

Hi, I've been having this same issue since about 2014 so not only tied to OLED. I noticed it first when Macbook got retina screens. I spent time with developers and the tech support team at Apple as I returned some very expensive machines and they were curious why. They put a few on the call because they were excited that I was 'one of those users'. I'm one of the users that can't watch first person video games or AR tools or watch real estate 3D home tours too fast without getting sick. I'm using the last of the non-Retina Macairs from 2015 while keeping a 2011 and 2012 Macbook alive!

The phone issue is getting more urgent for me though. I've been keeping a 5S alive but it will soon not work on the network anymore. I did a lot of research and thought the iPhone 11 might work for me -- I tried today and no luck. I was quite sick with in 5 minutes of using it. It is the carsickness others describe but it might also be a sinus/ear migraine.

Anyway, I just wanted to reassure that it isn't just you, it isn't in your head, and it isn't just Apple's products. I'll keep hunting for the answer for me!

What iPhone do you have?

If it’s an iPhone X, XS, 11 Pro, 12, 12 Mini or 12 Pro, you could be suffering from the PWM (pulse-width modulation) system their OLED displays use to regulate brightness.

Basically the OLED pixels on iPhones flicker on and off very quickly, and the lower the brightness the faster the pixels flicker. This is how OLED iPhones regulate their screens’ brightness.

Now, this flickering is far too fast to see with the human eye, however some people (approx 1/10) can actually feel nauseous after extended use, you could be one of them.

From what I’ve read, Apple lessened this affect on the iPhone 11 Pro’s last year, however I don’t have any data on the newer models.

If this is in fact the issue, you may want to consider replacing the phone with an LCD model like the SE, XR or 11 as their screens are perfectly still.

I’ve noticed this as well and just put the two together. I just got an iPhone 12 pro max two weeks ago and I’ve been suffering from something like vertigo. Today I noticed when I was on my phone (I had not felt dizzy or nauseated for hours) I suddenly felt REALLY dizzy. I was actually holding my phone horizontally and reading it from there to not feel dizzy while looking at it. As soon as I put it down, I’m fine. I pulled out my old IPhone X and tried to see if it was just me and nope, No dizziness at all. I tried adjusting the motion and white point as well as brightness etc. but it didn’t help. I also noticed a slight warp effect when I turn it side to side. The same is on my husbands phone. Definitely going to return this because I can’t use it without getting dizzy.

Omg this has happened to me too I got the iPhone 12 pro and started with dizziness and fuzzy in the head yes I’m on my phone ALOT I WENT TO er got a cat scan showed nothing went to a different er for another cat scan they found nothing put my SIM card in my old phone and it’s gone what in the **** is this ????

I've been feeling the same way as many of you for quite some time. I noticed that the dizziness started happening within a week of purchasing the phone. I thought it was work related stress and kept working through it. I eventually went to the doctor to get a physical. He mentioned that it could be a mild case of Meniere's Disease and that he couldn't do much about it aside from exercises that he "prescribed". I made a follow-up appointment with my eye doctor as well. She prescribed computer glasses yet I'm still feeling the same.

Going to try switching out phones and hope that this takes care of the dizziness. I haven't felt like myself in a longtime!

I have had my iphone 12 pro for a bit over a week and Ive felt ill while using it. So much Ive stopped using it. I thought it was a bug or something. My shoulders are hurting as well as my stomach having issues. I thought maybe the extra weight was causing my shoulders. I wondered if the 5g can also be causing issues.

This post may be old but I just had to comment. For those saying if you use a Samsung phone you will have the same problem, well this is not true. The technology Samsung uses in their Super Amoled Screens are somewhat different. I have an IPHONE 12 Pro Max and a Samsung Note 20 Ultra and the Note 20 doesn't hurt my eyes. I actually have to switch from the IPhone to my Samsung when the iPhone starts hurting my eyes too bad. Actually I bought the Samsung because I figured the iPhone would hurt my eyes.

Your taking your time here to share your story with us will not in any way get to the management at Apple, they aren't here. And encouraging others to post here won't help. You have to go here -> https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

Since this is worse for you when scrolling you might want to try the Reduce Motion setting and see if that helps. If it doesn't your only recourse as far as phones is to buy one that does not have an OLED screen. This is not an Apple thing, if you buy an LG phone with an OLED screen you will have the same issue. In fact Samsung makes some of the iPhone OLED screens. And I strongly encourage you to quickly take your Mini to a visit with your doctor as this, and problems with 3D movies/glasses, can be a symptom of certain diseases.

The good new is that computer technology is moving towards miniLED for screens which may not trigger whatever is causing this. But make sure you try the screen before you buy it, hopefully by that time we will be out of the pandemic and you can do that.

Thanks Tekla 2.

Very comprehensive article.

At this point, I am wondering what are the best practices to mitigate the nauseating affect if you cannot eliminate screen exposure.

• Dimmer brightness?
• Higher or lower refresh rates?

I know that my 27 inch 2019 iMac does not give me this problem. But I am suspecting my 13 inch 2021 MacBook Pro, my 12.9 inch iPad Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro.

Its hard to tell what is causing the issue.

It isn't just iPhones and Apple does not make OLED screens. They and other makers have tried to minimize this but if you are one of the people that has the issue it is best to avoid OLED screens of any kind (including TVs) and 3D movies. Anyone having this should really make an appointment with their doctor as these symptoms can also be related to brain damage and rare vision diseases.

Made an account just so I could leave messages about this. I've had my 12 mini for two days and since the first night of using it I felt a strain headache across the top of my forehead/sides of head and dizziness, the only way to describe it is like slight motion sickness.

For me, it is worse when I'm scrolling on text or instagram for example, as it scrolls up it makes me feel dizzy, like motion sickness like when you come off a ride. I've come straight from an iPhone6 to this so not sure if it's the longer screen dimensions and it will take getting used to, it feels like it's scrolling too quickly for my eyes and my eyes can't get from the top of the screen back to the middle again in time.. I've had iPhones since the first one and never had an issue before.

I normally hold my phone quite close, imagine sitting down, my phone would be parallel to my chest. If I hold this 12 mini there, it strains and pulls my eyes, and feels almost fisheye looking, I have to hold it further away, parallel to my hips almost.

I've changed white/brightness, turned off face ID etc, didn't make much difference.

I'm writing this on my laptop as I've lost any desire to even use this phone, it irritates me just being around it, unless that's subconsciously at the amount I paid for it. Not impressed. Very much considering getting an SE2 or an 11 that still have LED screens, honestly miss my 6 after this.

Anyone reading this who hasn't left a comment, I urge you to so they get more feedback on it and hopefully do something about it.

This is happening to a lot of people.

It is something with the screens. I upgraded my iMac to the latest version and I stopped getting nauseaous.

But starting in about November/Dec after upgrading to Big Sur I was getting so sick after sitting at it for even 10 minutes.

Buying blue light glasses could help. Blue light is the addicting but extremely-bad-for-you light that any sort of screen gives off. If you wear glasses, most eyewear places allow you to get blue light protection in your glasses at your next appointment. This isn’t guaranteed but it can give me headaches and make me feel bad as well. Just a suggestion.

ItzYaBoiAsh wrote:

Buying blue light glasses could help. Blue light is the addicting but extremely-bad-for-you light that any sort of screen gives off.

This is complete nonsense. Blue light is not "addicting" and the amount of blue light from consumer electronics is not harmful.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/will-blue-light-from-electronic-devices-increase-my-risk-of-macular-degeneration-and-blindness-2019040816365

Blue light glasses are just a scam.