iPhone 12 OLED Screen Issue

I also have this problem. I have exchanged my 12 Pro Max and the new phone has same problem. Screen flickering while it should be black, disturbing while watching videos in a dark room. Very dissatisfied that Apple would release a product that has such a great defect. This is a very expensive device that should be free from said OLED screen defects. I don’t know what to do at the moment but wait for a software update. I hope that fixes it or else what?

@ShrEddi:

So tell me, if it is a feature, why apple dont say it to us? and how you explain, that there are iphones from the 12 series, which does not have this flickering, not even when the iphone boots up?

Same problem with mine (iPhone 12 blue, 128 GB). I noticed this glitch instantly and it’s definitely not minor.

When booting up the phone that weird green/grey glow is really annoying. Are we really sure they are working on a software fix? How long is it going to take? Quite frankly I refuse to keep it as it is, it sounds like the screen is faulty and there won’t be any fix. Call me impatient or whatever but I’m seriously considering returning it or asking for a replacement.

What’s holding be back from doing it is that they run out of stock and I don’t wanna wait for too long. I called Apple Support and they said we aren’t even allowed to ask for a replacement for the time being as they are working hard on a software fix. I don’t trust them, you guys are saying the problem is still there even after installing the beta versions of 14.2 and 14.3.

Are they gonna roll out a minor software update meanwhile? Who knows.

It’s less obvious with beta 14.3 but still there. I restored my phone and while on Apple screen the screen didn’t flicker green not even one time. The moment software was installed and phone rebooted, on the Apple logo screen you can see the flickering. That’s why I think it’s software related. Might be something really hard to fix since Apple it’s taking so long. My phone doesn’t have it that bad and it’s just noticeable in a complete dark room.

thats unacceptable from Apple , I watch a review for their new XDR monitor and it’s not that great per reviewer when compared with the Sony reference monitor. But it’s Apple and can price any piece of garbage by stamping it with Apple logo.

What’s bothering me the most is that not all of the iPhone 12s have this issue, and they are all running the same OS version. How is it possible that the glitch is there just for a few “unfortunate” units? I asked a friend of mine who got hers last week. She didn’t notice anything at all and hers seems to be working just fine!

Mine and my brother’s (both ordered last week online and unboxed brand new on the 24th of November) are detective.

Sounds like the first batch was faulty to me and Apple is trying to hold off servicing the glitchy OLED panels as they are convinced a software patch can fix the problem to some extent, but to me they are beating around the bush! Personal opinion... they should run a replacement program soon.

There is no evidence of this, so far all iPhones 12 pro and max. All those who have bought a second or more new phone have not yet been able to show a comparison video where one of them does not have the problem with the same controls. Picture is not enough, you can take the picture at the moment when the display is in full black.

My guess is because, while the people here and on other forums like Mac rumors are loudly speaking out, the vast majority of people don't actually notice it. The minute apple says something official, it would get the attention of everyone.

Also I'm fairly certain that all iphone 12s do this. The people who say they don't have it probably just aren't testing properly or are not understanding what they are trying to test. For example I still see large amounts of responses every time this is brought up trying to explain how the flickering is PWM, meaning they clearly didn't read or take the time to understand the complaints.

The only thing holds me to say it’s a hardware issue , is that when I reinstalled the iOS it sat on the Apple logo screen for about 10 min and never flicker once. The moment the iOS was done and phone rebooted I could see the green flickering screen prior booting into the iOS. Who knows how apple designed this phone? They tend to do things like battery gate issue, to prolong the hardware ....

The thing is: if you were right (and it technically could be a software-related issue), how do you explain some models don’t flicker at all or display that odd grey-green tint in the dark? They are all running the same version of iOS. I think something hardware wise is interfering. When the phone is “bare” with no iOS installed, maybe it has to load less and the processor doesn’t work intensively. When iOS kicks in and the chip has to handle more tasks, there we are back!

I don't know whether a hardware error or a software error, but the pros and max have the lightening / flickering black more or less. I don't care whether Apple can manage it via sw or start an exchange program.

My 12 pro Max does it but I only notice it during the tests. In real use I have not noticed it at all. If it is hardware and Apple offers a replacement there is no way in **** I would swap out even if they paid me. Im a power user and even with backup/restore I finally have all my accounts and passwords reentered after 2 week. its just not worth trouble for a phone I will trade in in about 11 months and don't even notice the issue.

Personally I still think they all do it.

But if it is in fact only some, it is possible there could be different models of the display controller (a seperately part from the display panel itself) interacting with iOS. There could also be different versions of display controller firmware. But whatever it is, it clearly works properly when sent data from the cmos during startup, then only shows the glow/flicker after iOS takes over. So it has to be a software issue of some sort. If it was really a faulty display panel or display controller, it would always show the glow even during startup or during a restore.

Now whether the glitch is in iOS itself, or the firmware of the display controller somehow misinterpretating the signals coming from iOS. Who knows? But either is fixable. If you can't patch the display controller firmware, you can always figure out how to tweakthe OS to send "improper" signals which end up displaying properly after said miscommunication. That may be what's going on, considering its taking so long to fix.

But personally I still think this was done on purpose as way to mitigate smearing, and they just need to give people who view in the dark a setting to disable this "feature"

[Edited for Grammer/spelling]

It’s legit and accurate as a description but my point is: why should I wait for that long if I can have a replacement unit straight away?

We have no official evidence it’s a software-related issue, although it’s very likely. Imagine if Apple gave up after the nth unsuccessful attempt and decided to start a replacement program in two months: we’d only waste a lot of time.