Eye strain/pain headaches with MacBook Pro 14 2023

I am writing to you today to express my disappointment with the recent purchase of a MacBook Pro 14 2023, which I ordered online in Paris and brought to Turkiye where I currently reside. Within just 20-30 minutes of use, I noticed that it is difficult for me to focus on any text or picture. Furthermore, my eyes quickly became strained and stressed, leading to a feeling of discomfort, as if there was sand in my eyes. The discomfort only worsened over time, and I suffered from a strong headache that made it impossible for me to read a book, watch TV or just sit with eyes opened.

I have been working with computers all my life, and I have never experienced anything like this before. I have owned CRT monitors, Sony Vaio, Lenovo X1 Carbon, and have never felt any discomfort, even when working long hours during hackathons. I have done some research on this issue and found that I am not alone, as many people have complained about similar problems with the new MacBook displays. Some even created a petition on change.org, highlighting the issue.

I have tried various solutions such as scaling, True Tone, Night Shift, etc., but nothing has helped me. Also I tried third party apps like Flux app, BetterDisplay, Switchresx with no effect. I think that such a device worth 3100 euros should work well just out of the box, without third party apps or running terminal commands that I do not understand. Whenever I work with the MacBook, I get strained eyes, a headache, and my day is ruined. I am kind of scared for my health. After 1-2 days pause my eyes get better. When I work on my old Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon - everything is OK.

I have read on the internet that these issues could be related to the new modern retina displays with technologies such as PWM and dithering. These technologies aim to offer more realistic colors (10 bit), but they are causing discomfort and health issues for some users like me. As a MacBook Pro user, my primary use of the device is for coding and web surfing, and I do not require advanced display features such as photography or video making.

Therefore, I would like to request your professional advice on how to disable these new modern technologies to have a simple and less colorful display that would not cause any discomfort. I have tried experimenting with various settings, but this has only worsened my symptoms, and I am afraid to continue doing so. I need a simple and proven set of instructions that will help me address this issue without harming my health.

Considering the fact that I am not the only one experiencing this issue, I am wondering if it would be possible to get in touch with the Apple engineering team to investigate and potentially find a solution. It could be related to dithering, PWM, or some other factor, but I am willing to test any recommendation they may have and provide feedback on the results. I believe this could be of great benefit to many MacBook users who are struggling with eye strain, and could also prompt Apple to release a settings update or fix to address the issue.

According to some user reports, using the old MacBook display preset called "sRGB" is better for the eyes. However, if I choose this preset in the display settings, I am unable to adjust the brightness as it is blocked on Mac OS Ventura. Currently, the only presets that allow brightness adjustment are "Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits)" and "Apple Display (P3-500 nits)". Is there a way to adjust the brightness on other presets in OS Ventura?

To summarize the previous discussion and suggestions found on the internet, I have the following questions:

- Is it feasible to disable temporal dithering on Mac OS Ventura?

- Can PWM be disabled?

- Is it possible to adjust the brightness on display presets besides "Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits)" and "Apple Display (P3-500 nits)"?

- Can the color depth be reduced in Mac OS Ventura?

- Are there any tests to verify if the above changes have been disabled or not?

- Do you have any additional advice to help resolve this issue?

When I contacted the technical support and after-sales department, they advised me to return the MacBook to an Apple Store. However, since I bought it in Paris, France, and currently reside in Turkey, it poses a logistical challenge for me to comply with their suggestion.

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