iPhone 12 pro max keeps dimming

I know there are various fixes; for me on my iPhone12 when the screen dims (when it gets hot/in bringer sunlight) I just go to accessibility/display & text size/classic invert… I keep toggling back and forth here and the brightness comes back … YMMV but it works for me. Best of luck all!

This is a design / IOS issue which Apple acknowledges. Changing all of the settings recommended here in this thread will not permanently fix the issue. I have the same problem with my iPhone 12 Pro Max and resolve it by a forced reboot. Apple also has issues with their Air Pod Pros which are causing tinnitus (persistent high pitch ringing in the ears) for many users - it happened to me after 3 days using them - but was able to return the iPods for a full refund, and my hearing is OK now and back to normal, though for some it isn't and may be a permanent disability. There is a separate thread on this issue.

I had the same issue this morning. Screen dimmed by itself and audio stopped few times, pretty annoying. Tried everything as mentioned, didn’t work at all. I then realised my screen is quite greasy, wipe it off n problems solved! Guess the screen needs no grease to stay normal.

The product seems to have a design flow which prevents it to cool down the heat produced by activities properly handled by other devices.

To try the fixes and solutions mentioned online and here, i have selected 2 set of “normal” activities and tested the non-effects of the fixes:

• outside picture session
• fly with dgi drone

both got the same results with every tests.

The only improvements identified allowing additional minutes of normal behavior but not fixing anythings are :

• using the phone without case
• removing the protection glass
• External cooling

all of it are not acceptable. Can we imagine Canon claiming you cant have a protection lense ?

Try replacing your iPhone case. It might help. I was having the same problem, I don’t know if is just me but I think that fixed it. For the record I had a heavy duty case before now I have a simple silicone case

This happens to me constantly, I’ve made sure all of the settings are not doing this automatically. But still have issues with it. I noticed that it’s only when I’m trying to watch a video or do some thing that is taking up a lot of battery on my phone, and my phone will get very hot to the touch. Once I let it cool down the brightness goes back to normal. Apple needs to do something about this, because it’s really frustrating.

Here are all the reasons the screen will dim:

• If the phone’s internal temperature approaches a safe limit the screen will dim, because it is the hottest hardware in the phone - note that this is the internal temperature, not the ambient temperature outside the phone
• The screen will dim a few seconds before the phone locks, as a warning
• If you have Attention Aware Features enabled the screen will dim when you aren’t looking directly at it (setting in Face ID & Passcode, duplicated in Settings/Accessibility/Face ID & Attention
• If you have Settings/Accessibility/Display & Text Size/Auto-Brightness enabled the screen will dim when the ambient light level drops, and also if your case covers the ambient light sensor near the top
• If the phone is broken

The accessibility features that you mention are NEVER the default; someone had to turn them on, or if you got a used phone and it wasn’t properly reset the previous owner enabled those features.

And from your comments about the Developer menu, that is only accessible if you jailbroke your phone or the previous owner jailbroke it. And from all of the experience you describe I strongly suspect that the phone IS jailbroken.

Same problem here, been through all the settings and turned off. They sent me new phone because the old one failed 2 tests at bestbuy, screen and camera. New phone, 4 days now and is doing the same thing. Seems to happen most when in direct sunlight. It is 78 out right now, so not excessively hot out. Only thing that works is placing my phone in front of my ac vent in my car to cool it down. Been a loyal customer since the beginning and am seriously considering switching if they dont make something right at the genius bar appointment I have next week. This 12max pro is the worst IPhone ever.

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but still a commmon problem.

The problem is heat 100% as the phone gets hotter due to both apps and sun heat the screen will dim.

simple solution, but your self a silicon based case. Silicon is specifically used to conduct heat away from the phone, most cases insulate the phone so the only surface for the heat to escape is the screen.

You will find the phone screen will dim so much makes is unusable.

a simple test take it out of the case, you will feel the heat hold the phone from the bottom and notice the screen return to normal as the heat conducts into the air .

hope this helps .

no, nothing improves through the updates... i discovered the problem on my 12 pro max summer 2021. bought it winter and then was not any issue... summer 2022 and i dont use my phone at all when its too sunny etc etc.. not even for pictures, its just not possible to see anything on the screen. under sun is just impossible to use this device. beside the sun, while gaming i have the same issue you describe. phone heats up and then bye bye brightness.

there is a critical overheating issue on this line up and i think on 13 as well, if i remember correctly from talks around. the only way to respond to this since apple dont give a penny is to keep the phone for as longer as possible. not 14 and probably not even 15. 1500$ (512GB bought in Norway) for a phone that has so big issues is almost a crime. i would gladly change to any other device but i hate android...and blackberry is not around anymore so no any real options out there. just keep this junk until has paid off at least the capital invested...

I have the iPhone 12 Pro & it’s constantly dimming the screen on its own when I am using it longer than 10 minutes at a time. I just went into settings & then battery & then battery health and charging & then at the bottom turned off “Clean Energy Charging”. Turn that off. It made my screen dim back up immediately & stayed bright.

Going under::… Settings, Battery, Battery Health & Charging, Turn OFF ‘Clean Energy Charging’. Doing this will fix iPhone screen dimming for good. This also fixes iPhone’s back getting hot. This 100% fixes everything. Keep in mind, having a thick case on your phone is WHAT causes screens to dim & the back getting hot. My screen would dim so dark, it practically blacked out. The back of my phone used to get so hot, I could barley touch it. But this fixed it 100%. Try it, wait a few days, comment back and let me know how it worked for you.

The same problem on my phone. My screen is more constructive it dims by itself to several levels before staying almost too dim to use. I tried all the tips everyone has posted to no avail. I also notice that the manual brightness control has no effect on the level at all.

As part of my troubleshooting, I have discovered that forcing the phone off and then turning it back on clears the issue and the screen goes back to the set brightness level.

I am continuing my troubleshooting.

Go under accessibility and display and text size and there is a auto dim at the bottom. Make sure that is turned off too.

Turn off true tone.