Eye strain when using iPhone 12 pro

I can totally understand your situation Leila.

Got the iphone 12 replaced with SE2 and it is perfect since then. Also using iphone 8 plus. No issues whatsoever. Apple needs to seriously consider how to fix this horrible flickering topic of Oled screens. Until this issue is reaolved, all the current generation & upcoming Oled Iphones are worthless for lot of people.

Exactly Zybn... I’m forced to use my old iphone 8 plus because I couldn’t upgrade from iphone X due to pwm induced screen flickering.

Surprisingly even the iPad pro 2018 and ipad 4 didnt work out for me. And they are not Oled screen devices. I returned both of these too.

Actually after using ipad pro 2018 (or 2019 I dont know exactly) my eyes were hurting so bad that I had to go to an eye specialist in the peak Corona lockdown and the steroid eye drop treatment lasted ~6 weeks. At that point I was not aware that this might have been the result of using new ipad pro. It took 2 months of usage of ipad pro to get me into eye emergency clinic.

Luckily during my treatment I read about pwm on Apple devices and realised what could bave happened. I immediately stopped using my ipad pro along with the steroid treatment - result - the eyes were good again.. no redness/pain or vision problems

Some months later I gathered courage again and ordered ipad air 4 but after using it for 1 day my eyes were again blood shot red with extreme pain. Therefore ipad air 4 returned immediately. And this is the LCD screen mind you.

Apparently this problem is present in macbooks after 2017 releases.

It is quite weird that Apple is allowing these flickering displays still after so many forums discussing and complaining about them.

the only Apple mobile device I could use from 2020 was iphone SE2. Old Lcd IPS technology.... no strain on the eyes like my iphone 8 plus and ipad Air1... btw I could use these devices for as long as possible without any issues ( few weeks back I watched 2 back to back movies on ipad air 1 without break in a fairly dark room - no issues whatsoever)

To sun it up - in all probability I have to move out of iOS to Android to upgrade in near future.

on some website there was a number mentioned that up to 10% people are having serious issues with pwm flickering. And I don’t know how many thousands or millions of apple product users suffering without knowing what is happening to their eyes.... total disaster

Unfortunately the iPhone 12 device may impact some users like myself. I tried tweaking settings however nothing works.

You may want to try other devices that don’t cause issues, I have tried other non Apple OLED devises that are current in market with no issues.

Rather than stick with the 12, I chose to return the device and buy an 11 which I have no issues with, most likely due to the difference in screen technology

Hi,

I have the same problem with my 12 mini. After few minutes of use I feel very uncomfortable. I feel eye stain, headache and dizziness. IPhones with OLED are real trash because they use cheap OLED regulation (PWM) with flickering. A lot of people have this issue from times when iPhone X came out.

Made an account just so I could leave this message. 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'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.

Hello, i do suffer from this problem too. I gave my girlfriend an iPhone 12 Mini as a present and i noticed screen flickering in the very first second we turned it on. I'm maybe a highly sensitive person, also noticing the rainbow-effect on one-chip-beamers or PWM-Flickern in LED lighting. The OLED-Screens of iPhone 12 seems to be pulse-width-modulated with 240 Hz. This is by far to a too low frequency. It should be at least around a Kilohertz oder higher to make the PWM-Flickering disappear.

I would love to buy a new iPhone (mini) for me also, but as long as the screen is so bad, i have to keep my iPhone SE (1st).

Thank you for reading

Florian

Same exact problem! I changed the setting for “reduce white point” and it’s much better.. but I am not impressed : (

Hi, unfortunately, the only solution for me that works was to return iPhone 12 and buy iPhone 11 with LCD.

Use Night Shift on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

It's actually awkward how apple completely ignores health and safety issues and doesn't even provide guidance to loyal apple users... I have been using apple products since the Machintosh classic and when I upgraded from my old iphone SE to the 12 mini I experienced severe dizziness and blurry vision. It took me 3 weeks to realise the 12 mini was the root cause of my issues. I called apple to discuss the matter and whether they would help me to find other iphone with different screen technology and apple support reiterated the same thing up to management level "we can't comment on that". I ended up selling the 12 mini and getting a SE2 and so far everything is good.

I see many people using iphones with oled screens without problem so we are probably only a small percentage but still apple shouldn't let us alone. I also see iphone 12 users with yellow screens so some people probably has issues but changing the white point so that white becomes yellow solves it.

Other thing to note is how the iphone now comes with this night mode that turns in automatically by default. In this mode black is used instead of white so that people don't reduce brightness at night which may further aggravate health issues. BASICALLY APPLE KNOWS ABOUT THIS and created some walk around to make it tolerable. The auto adjust whiteness is another example.

The most strange thing is that my wife has the iphone XS Max which has an oled screen and it doesn't cause me any issues. So there is more to the matter than just oled / non oled.

Definitely new regulations are needed.

Hello people...i have same problem with my 11 pro...

I can't focus on writing, the pictures, I feel a pressure in my head and my eyes start to sting and I feel dizzy after a few minutes of use ... at 11 pro / XS of my friends I don't have the same symptoms ... it seems that only some batches have this problem ... i guess it depends on the company that produces the displays (LG, Sharp or Samsung), ... I will go with it under warranty until I finally solve something. I can't afford an expensive phone without using it

I tried iPhone 12 mini for 3-4 weeks and had to go back to using my old phone because of the same problem. It caused so much strain and dizziness. I tried adjusting the setting, brightness, reduced motion, bigger font. Nothing worked. It felt like the screen itself was always 'moving', it's the best way I can describe it. I thought with a few weeks of use my eyes might get adjusted, but no. And my eyes are fine, recently checked! Not worth my eyes, I'm hoping Apple figures something out.

Had the iPhone 12 for about 2 days, it caused the worst eye strain I’ve ever had. Returned the phone and got an 11, which I have no issues with. Skip the iPhone 12 and wait for the 13.

See a doctor.

Same here. Have been using an iPhone 12 for about a week. 5 min of use is enough for me to feel discomfort in my eyes. More time of using gets me headache and tiredness. I'm planning to return the phone back to the store but it's quite a problem in my country.