iPhone 12 OLED Screen Issue

Looks like the mini that i have has no issue with black levels. It is completely dark. It is on iOS 14.1. My iPhone 12 Pro is on iOS 14.2 has the issue. Posted both screen capture:

iPhone 12 mini (<100% brightness, iOS 14.1)

iPhone 12 Pro (<100% brightness, iOS 14.2)

I will update mini to iOS 14.2, see if the issue will be same as the Pro. Reporting here shortly.

I'd ask anyone who writes here and has the problem of getting in touch with Apple Support themselves. I've now called support for some time, made some different diagnoses, sent pictures and videos to the employee, and gave an exact problem description.

I also told him the various forums and he said that only from the people who are discussing here can't derive much, unfortunately, and best everyone who has the problem gets in touch with Apple individually. (I‘m from Germany by the way)

So I had a call back from Apple today and they have confirmed they are aware of the issue and are currently investigating as they have had many reports about it, at the moment they are unsure if its fixable in software or if they will need to launch an Apple Service Program he was also aware that the Mini and Pro Max also suffered when I mentioned it.

He did assure me they would not dodge the issue and to keep an eye on the usual places for updates or to contact them again if I had any questions.

Hello,

I have the same issue on the iPhone 12 Pro 256Gb graphite, bought in October / Germany, delivered on November, 5th.

I compared it to the 11 Pro of my dad an my old Xs, which my mum is using now - both iPhones have perfect black in Videos and Photos no matter which brigthness - the OLEDs are working right.

On the 12 Pro it is only working perfect over 90 percent screen brightness which I never use in dark situations. Below it needs two to four seconds for switching to a complete dark display which is really annoying - under around 20-30 percent screen brightness there is no chance to avoid the grey glow.

I'm disappointed.

It looks there are at least two different kind of 12-problems: "Green glow" and "Green tint". Green glow goes along with flickering and brightness settings observed vertically viewing. Some expressions can be manipulated changing the screen parameters While Green tint is always there and can not be manipulated by the settings: In vertical viewing position visible as yellowish tint due to pixel color mixing effect and upon screen tilting the green pixels instantly dominate. May be others can confirm these findings which might help to figure our the root(s).

Ups.. That sounds like both " "Green glow" and "Green tint" do also occur together in one 12PM? In another chat I´ve read that black color is modulated with 218Hz in order to display grey values and the 60Hz might interfere at brightnesses below max. The green tint seems to be permanent and not affected by any screen settings like max brightness. In vertical view the green portion could be diluted by adding other colors but upon tilting the phone the screen gets really green. All the reported recent OLED display issues are "Green". Human eyes have max sensitivity at 550nm. Therefore, more green will help boosting the impression of high brightness values. In other words, it could be assumed that the green portion has been increased on purpose in order to achieve high brightness values without scarifying the battery life time (smaller battery size than 11PM) too much. Not so smart, I think. But when I read the professional screen test reports and nothing is reported herein about any green display issue I wonder what´s going on and whether the tested phones have been hand-picked and pre-tested to get nice test results published? I have returned my first phone and hope the new one will be o.k.. Delivery is announced for mid Dec. Hopefully all that will end up positively.

I have the same issue on my iPhone 12 running IOS 14.2(then) and 14.2.1(no); had the same issue on both IOS versions. It became apparent when watching video on YouTube. I noticed the side flicker when my brightness was below 80% brightness. At first I called my roommate who has and iPhone XS running IOS 13.X.X. We compared screen and it seem he did not had the same issue. I then compared my screen along another friend who had an iPhone 12 Pro Max and he experienced the same flickering/non true black problem. I also notice that if you are watching YouTube or Netflix and raise your volume you get a sim while outline in low brightness. Lastly, I contacted Apple and they told me the issue was software and that it would be fix in the upcoming software updates. Thus, I’m waiting to see at which version OS the problem gets resolved.

If you pay close attention and hide the display with your arm, thus "artificially" creating a dark environment around the screen area, you are able to see this issue. Before talking to the technician I compared mine to the demo unit and the difference was blatant even with plenty of light in the room. I only covered both screens with my arm and the result was there: pure blacks for the demo unit, low-quality green flashing OLED panel (mine).

Also, I asked a friend of mine to check hers before heading to the Apple store. We did the exact same test in the exact same pitch black room and I can confirm hers didn't have any issue at all.

Anyway mine had a green tint that would flash when playing videos with black backgrounds in complete darkness.

True. I found the best way to really test the demo units and your phone while being at the store is to power off and power on the demo unit, if you look closely and see a flicker in the display then it obviously has the fault. I tested two demo units in different stores the same way and they had the fault because also my phone did the same lol(flicker).

Now I don’t know if I should replace mine or not, because I have read the comments here, and replacements still result in having the same issue. And personally, I don’t feel like wanting to go through backup processes, just to end with the same issue of no true blacks under certain brightness levels.

Thats a good point, if Apple took this issue seriously they would say something by now as it’s been over a month now since 4th November.

Maybe we all just need to start returning iPhone 12’s and then buy a new one and return again and buy a new one again.

Maybe If they suddenly have much more returns than they usually have they will start thinking seriously about this issue and say something.

It’s definitely broken screens across all iPhone 12’s.

I think I’ll just get one only to return it next day. I’m getting really annoyed now with waiting, Apple might never acknowledge this issue...

Hello from Germany.

I bought my iPhone 12 Pro in November. It has the same problem. It is best seen in a room that is completely dark when the device is booting. At first, only the apple logo is white, otherwise everything is pure black. Shortly before the boot process is over, the black changes to gray / green. Then the homescreen follows. 

BUT: I switched to the iPhone 12 Pro Max yesterday. What can I say? The black stays black. A YouTube test video also showed this. Both devices have iOS 14.2.1 installed. Is it a hardware error after all? The iPhone 12 Pro Max was produced in mid-November.

(Sorry for my bad English)

Had similar issue with my 12 pro max.

but it is really wired one, and after latest update (14.2.1) I have the next situation:

• if you put brightness to 100% black works like a charm (just shutting down the black pixels).
• if you put it in between 30% -99% you can see the glowing for the first few seconds, but then something happens, and black pixels shut down, after that it looks just like when you have brightness to 100%
• if you put the brightness below 30% you can see the glowing, your black looks like a gray, or just black with a lit background light. Though, if you open some video with black background, you will notice some change in the brightness after 2-3 sec, but it will not go fully black (will not shut down pixels).

Tested it with the “black mirror” intro from Netflix.

not sure why do they have that problem, but it really looks like a software thing. Also it does raise a question, why it works perfectly with 100% brightness 🤔

as we noted too when brightness is at 100% the issue cannot be reproduced , that 's why i'm quite confident that it's a software issue and not hardware otherwise this should happen when brightness is at 100%... let us just wait until January 8 and if no fix will be here i'll return it and order a new one...

I bet you do lol. Open YouTube and search for pure black screen. Set the brightness around 90% and play the video in a complete dark room (no light at all) After all cursors disappear from the screen you’ll notice how your screen flashes green!!!

All Iphone 12 have a more yellowish display this year compared to the iPhone X i stil have , but in fact it's more true to real colors than the bluish iPhone X i have, the issue is that we do not like these yellowish tint , but did you know that now my 12 pro max has a blue tint like my X ? cos you can go to accessibility and change the White point balance and the screen color with precise sliders for each color.

and you have to do it once and never touch it again.... so it's a shame you returned it just for that.

i have a gray flick when ion the pitch black i prefer to wait till like the 5th of january and see if they fix it and ask for a refund then buy a new one.. cos to me it's software cos the issue cannot be reproduce or never appears when brightness is at max level.