zoosh2 wrote:
• yegor78 - I'm having the exact same trouble with a new 2021 MBP 16" and am totally baffled by this given my lack of trouble with other Apple displays.
Per screen size, I used a 16" MacBook Pro from 2015-2020. No eye trouble.
•
Per screen type, I've used an iPad Pro 12.9" w/ "Liquid Retina XDR display" about two years. No eye trouble. I'm using it along with the new MacBook. My eyes still feel fine with the iPad Pro, sore and strained with the MacBook.
I've set the monitor present to P3-500 nits and reduced the screen resolution to the smallest preset, to scale the fonts larger, to no avail.
I assume there's some significant difference between the MacBook and iPad Pro displays, though they use the same technology.
If I can't figure it out within the next few days, I'll have to return the MacBook.
I believe there are two differences between the 14"/16" MacBook Pro displays, and other recent Apple Retina displays (such as those on the 13" M1/M2 MacBook Airs, the 27" 5K Apple Studio Display, and 27" 5K iMacs).
The first is that the 14"/16" MacBook Pro screens have higher PPIs than the other Retina dispays. This means that at the default/ideal 2:1 Retina setting, you get more workspace, but text strings and objects are physically smaller. If the physical size of text causes eyestrain, you can compensate by setting the Displays "resolution" one notch towards Larger Text.
The other, less obvious cause, is the use of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to implement the screen brightness control. PWM brightness controls work by turning the backlight on and off (flickering the backlight) many times per second. The flickering rate is usually too high for people to consciously notice, even if they are staring right at the screen, looking for it. But some people are sensitive to low PWM flicker rates, and if the flicker rate is too low, they'll get eyestrain and headaches from using a display – and maybe never even have thought cross their mind that there is flickering or that it is the cause of their misery.
Most computer and monitor manufacturers don't include PWM information in their technical specifications, and most review sites don't test for PWM, either. One site that does is NotebookCheck (www.notebookcheck.net).
NotebookCheck – 14" Apple MacBook Pro (2023) review
If you scroll down to the section titled "Display – Mini LED panel at 120 Hz", and look in the table, in the row for PWM Frequency, you'll see some interesting data points.
- The 13" M2 MacBook Pro has a PWM frequency of "117,780?" Hz.
- The 14" M2 Pro MacBook Pro has a PWM frequency of "14,880" Hz.
Although they say that "The frequency of 14880 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering," they also say that "Flickering occurs even at high brightness settings and may have an effect on the user during everyday use."
The 14"/16" MBP screens are superior to the MacBook Air and 13" MacBook Pro ones in that they have mini-LED backlighting which lets them potentially offer greater dynamic range when playing HDR content. But it looks like in this one respect (suitability for someone who is very sensitive to PWM), the 13"/15" Air and 13" MBP screens might be better.
