Choppy / stuttering video playback on iPhone 12 Pro Max since iOS 14.5.1

This has been happening on my brand new 12 mini - while streaming Netflix or anything else, quick transitions get choppy. Turning off “follow focus” seems to have eliminated the stutter on my mini. For this fix, go to Accessibility settings> zoom> turn off follow focus.

Hi everybody,

I've been having the same issue since iOS 14, many months after my initial purchase of my iPhone 12. No change since updating to the latest version of iOS15. Turning off auto brightness didn't help but for some reason turning the Picture in Picture setting OFF. Worked for me. No longer do I have choppy video playback in any of my apps (Disney, prime, Netflix, YouTube etc). Hope this works for most of you...

Since updating iOS recently the problem came back for me. But Accessibility, Display & Text Size, switch off Auto-Brightness, fixed it.

(or I can just go back to watching video on an iPhone 6, which doesn’t have this problem, which is pretty tragic really.)

Disabling Auto-brightness fixed the issue on my iPhone 12 Pro (running iOS 14.6)

However I need the Auto-brightness turned On, so hopefully Apple comes out with a fix soon

I am also having the same issue on any video app. I have tried resetting all settings. Looks like auto brightness turning off works in this case. But this is such a bummer from Apple. I hope they will fix this soon.

i had the problem too, seems like auto brightness was the issue. Thanks

Go to settings > accessibility and turn off auto brightness. Also, Apple needs a permanent fix. It sucks turning off auto brightness.

iOS 15.3.1 solved this issue. There is no lag in video playback. I am happy with my 12mini 🥺❤️

Hello nhojmselkcip,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. We understand that video playback stutters in multiple apps on your iPhone, but the issue doesn't happen on your other devices connected to the same network. We're here for you.

For this concern, we suggest following steps 1-3 here: If an app on your iPhone or iPad stops responding, closes unexpectedly, or won’t open. Closing, then reopening the apps, restarting your iPhone, and checking for app updates may resolve the issue.

Additionally, consider whether apps are slow to respond with other usage, such as when exploring the web or playing games. This support article offers some tips if your iOS device is slow or freezes:

About iOS performance on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

We hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

Based on my research and knowledge, the auto brightness is causing the inconvenience, turning it off would help in some cases, however can’t grantee that it will resolve the problem for all the newer models. Apple could fix it in the next software update hopefully.

Did you turn off the auto brightness under Settings > Accessibility? When I first tried to turn off auto brightness, I went to Settings> Brightness and it didn't work. When I turned it off under Accessibility, it worked.

I faced the same issue. Turning off auto brightness did work but need a concrete solution for this ASAP. Apple, hope you are reading this.

My issue finally stopped after 15.0.1 i uninstalled messenger and reinstalled and its gone, for now!

I had the same glitching when streaming music and turning off the screen brightness settings did the trick. Thank you sorry much.