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Purple lines/ fades on iPhone 12 Pro

When im watching a video such as in the music app and double tap to zoom in full screen theres a purple fade that appears in the transition. There are also purple lines being left on the screen when scrolling through settings in dark mode. I have just reset the phone to factory settings and the problem is still occurring.

iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 14

Posted on Dec 8, 2020 8:34 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 28, 2020 2:05 PM

After asking around it seems like everyone I know with a 12 is having this issue. Hopefully we’ll get a software fix but if not maybe they’ll have a program like they did for the defective butterfly keyboards.

32 replies

Apr 22, 2021 9:15 PM in response to Adamj0827

This is due to the OLED display. The pure dark background reflects pixels being turned off, when you scroll to areas brighter than pure black those pixels turn back on but due to the speed limitations of the OLED display, pixels simply can’t turn on fast enough causing those purple lines.


In other words, this is totally fine and it’s not an iOS problem, simply the display’s limitation. Hope that helps!

Jul 27, 2021 4:03 AM in response to amartya3546

Hey, sorry just hopped back to check this thread


On light mode (white backgrounds, Home Screen, web, basically anything that is not pure dark and is being moved fast) it doesn’t happen because every pixel is lit. This minimizes the effect because everything has a brightness value. Those pixels are already on. Also, do a quick search online… Apple has two manufacturers for the 12 series and one of their displays suffers from green tint.


https://www.gizchina.com/2020/11/19/iphone-12-green-screen-check-if-your-device-is-susceptible-to-this-issue/


Nonetheless, I’m Light Mode everything (or mostly everything) is lit therefore reducing the effect since no individual pixels have to turn back on in a fraction of a second and the coverage area is greater than the actual artifact and the display is already fully lit.


Idk if it made sense, I hope it sorta did. But check the article, also do some more general OLED display searches online, it’s very common

Dec 20, 2020 4:48 PM in response to Adamj0827

I had this problem on iPhone 12pro so I sent it back for refund and bought the pro Max and the same issue I think it may be a device wide thing on ever device as it’s off to have same problem on 2 devices I contacted apple they did nothing except told me to get a refund so now I’m stuck with a phone with purple lines in dark mode it’s so off putting they said it is likely fixed with an update but don’t hold me on that one

Dec 23, 2020 10:48 PM in response to Adamj0827

I have the same issue. I bought an iPhone 12 pro max which is having this issue. Went to apple got it replaced and i am still having the same issue. It seems to be happening on the grey colour only (the colour in settings). I think all users have the same issue but they don't notice it, because when the phone is at lower brightness or bright environments it's hard to see. This issue is in dark mode mostly. And actually if you have a black background and yo are in a moderately dark area, if you place your hand on the sensor and remove it you will see the same colour on all of that screen. Especially when you are on the keypad.

Jul 5, 2021 7:36 AM in response to dylcheng

Its Not iphone Problem actually , its nit about the display also … this Smearing effects in dark mode happens in Whole lot of devices with oled display not only just iPhones …. Its how the oled display works … i even got to try it on apple store display devices , they all have this effect in dark mode …. No matter how much you change the display it will be there ….. maybe they can tweak it a bit with software ….

Jul 6, 2021 8:19 AM in response to dylcheng

I have a 12 mini and this is so annoying! It seems like many other people are experiencing the same issue with the purple blur on the displays of iphone 12 series and its more obvious when using true tone,night shift and night mode alltoghether. I'm guessing maybe many people are ignoring this or havent noticed yet.

Jul 27, 2021 4:16 AM in response to AlvarengaJason

Extra Info: also this effect is more visible if you have a pure dark background and the subject on the screen is a dark grey. For example, the settings app.


the main background in dark mode is #00000 (Pure Black) which in an OLED screen reflects pixels being completely turned off and the table options are #1C1C1C (Dark Grey a.k.a “Nero”) this is when the purple lines become more effect while scrolling.

Purple lines/ fades on iPhone 12 Pro

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