Retina Display MacBook Pro eye problem and strain

Dear Ben, and all the others that have noticed, like I did, eye problems after starting using retina display.

I was thrilled by the idea of using a screen that was so sharp to make me forget about pixels.

Unfortunately I was used to a high resolution Mac. My previous mac was a 15' with high res screen of 1680x1200.

This is why I coudn't fit all the things I needed in the "best for retina" resolution of 1440x900 (times 2).

Things looked nice and crisp, but too big for the way I am used to work.

This is why I started using a non native resolution of 1620x1200.

It actually means that the graphic card uses a space of 3840x2400 and squeezes it into the resolution of 2880x1800 of the physical display. This makes everything unsharp, like using non native resolution on normal screens, wich I always hated because it looks horrible.

In the retina display the pixels are so small that the unsharpness is almost unnoaticeable.

In the long run I realized that watching unsharp images made my eyes very tired.

I never had eye problems. I am 43, but never wore glasses. After 3/4 months of retina display with "wrong" settings, I was almost sure I was getting old, and that my sight was about to get bad, for good.

Few weeks ago I switched to native resolution "best for retina" and solved the problem!!!

I am not suffering from tyred eyes any more. My sight is perfect as before.

I decided that I will use an extra monitor at the office to get the space I need, and I love the sharpness of everything on retina display.

I am not sure whether other people in this forum have the same story. I hope this may help some.

I think Apple should find a different way of changing the size of things on screen in a different way than just squeesing more pixels in a smaller physical monitor. Giving possibility to control the size of all graphic things.

Best regards

Matteo

I find the Retina display to cause less eye strain personally. Working on a MBP, I turn off automatic brightness adjustment and set the level pretty low (in the lowest 25% of the brightness settings usually).

I strongly recommend f.lux also (it's free). It adjusts the colour of your monitor for night/evening use (matching it to the lighting in your house). If you try f.lux, and then turn it off at night, you'll see the difference. Using the computer at night without f.lux is very harsh on your eyes!

I am new to Mac, and find the screen a little too glossy as well and reflective, it would be helpful to have the choice when buying matt or gloss.

Obviously I am not the best user as only one day old on the mac, though to me it seems that some of the infomation is all very in the middle of the screen (despite zooming which looses sharpness) especially when viewing email normally via the browswer.

When using email via the browser, I do not like this hover over the email and another slides open, the screen is so big why not just display normally like windows? surely then eye would have to move across the page more often, as to staying focused in one position.

Perhaps there is way to alter the settings, new on mac so likely I don't know the in and outs.

To me it makes sense to keep you eye moving, and as to focusing close I understand one is meant to look away frequently to something further away.

I would imagine a similar issue is like when using a mouse and not moving the hand - arm much, can cause some problems.

My old DELL screen although not as crisp in definition as this mac screen, I think it may have been easier to just look at, after all do all the objects look this glossy when looking around a room, and some are sharp some are not depends of what surface of the item is like.

I wonder if do some people react differently to the gloss or matt screens, if they already where glasses are they more likely to have problems, a small side lamp on.

I am pleased to read other peoples comments on this, though I have to say it seems like an ongoing problems for some time.

Apple are probably successful due to many of these people being users of mac etc for years.

I hope they hear some sense, as really I am not finding this encouraging.

I will attend my first lesson this week at the apple shop and and see what the say about this, and see what I can learn.

I will say I bought my apple at John Lewis and currenlty they offer a Guarantee for 2 years on a lot of computers and on Apple 3 years, it would be nice is apple matched that.

Maybe a research project need to undertaken if not done so already in regards to matt or gloss screens and before and after eye examinations.

I've just bought a MacBook Pro Retina 15" and my eyes have hurt since I started using it. I didn't have this problem with my iMac. I am extremely glare sensitive, in general, since having my eyes lasered a couple of years ago. Thanks to someone else's suggestion I have installed f.lux and that made an immediate difference. However, my eyes still feel like they're straining to focus. What a bummer, since the reason I got this machine was to enjoy beautiful graphics, and now I feel like I'm going blind. Yes, I've been to an optometrist – my vision is fine. I don't think I'd recommend this product to a friend.

Does this problem still occur if you increase the font size in apps you use? I find the best for me is quite large font sizes (using things like NoSquint for Firefox, increased font sizes in Mail, etc), and making sure the brightness on the screen is not out of touch with the environment around me. I think you should be able to look from the monitor to the environment around and not really notice much lighting difference. Best way to do this is by turning off automatic brightness so you can adjust manually.

Hey there. Thanks for your suggestion. I'd tried turning down the brightness manually and increasing the size of the display but still had aching eyes. For today, my eyes feel a lot better after downloading f.lux. I'm hoping that has solved the problem.

Here's my story. I got an iPad mini retina display for Christmas several weeks ago. I was SOOO excited. After just a few days my eyes began to feel funny, like they were bouncing around in my head. I couldn't focus on anything well and had this dull headache going on pretty much all the time. I chalked it up to getting used to a new screen technology, but it didn't go away. It kept getting worse to the point where after using the mini for even a short period of time it would be hours before my eyes would straighten back up. The only way I could hasten it was to lie down and close them for an hour or so.

So then, for the next several weeks I experimented with various approaches including less time, lower or higher brightness, wearing amber glasses, etc. Nothing elevated the discomfort. It just kept getting worse. Finally in desperation I consulted with my Mac IT guy husband. I loved my mini but was really getting concerned that I was doing some permanent damage to my eyes. That's when we found this and other forums discussing the very same issues.

At this point, barely a month after having it, we have decided that for whatever reason, I simply cannot use the retina display. None of my other screens, my MacBook Pro, old iPad, or Kindle, all non-retina display, give me any issues. I don't know...wish someone could explain it sufficiently, but the explanation suggesting the pixilation makes the most sense right now to what is going on.

We will attempt to return the retina display and go back to the regular screen, but honestly, whether we can return or not, I simply can't use it.

Have you tried using F.Lux, as the above suggestions? I also found the screen to be too harsh, but F.Lux pretty much fixes the problem (I have it set for 4300k daytime, 3200k at night). You do need to disable it occasionally (like, the night setting makes watching video too dark), but I really like the Retina display, now.

Apple discontinued its matte finished displays forcing users to deal with glare.

Eye-strain, which leads debilitating ocular issues, is not good for anybody. For the visually impaired the Macbook Pro Retina display is unusable.

Apple does not care about the segment of the population with visual impairments.

I'm experiencing the same issues too. I've tried the suggestions from others, but nothing seems to work.

Got my MBP Retina 15" last July 2013 and having problems ever since. Previously I had an iMac for 5 years with no eye issues. Now that i've switched to a laptop with a retina screen, i'm having constant eye problems. I also connected my MBPR to a Thunderbolt display and there is no improvement. As a marketing person, I'm on the computer 8-10-12 hours a day and need a sharp screen for graphic design work.

Even though I'm near sighted, I've had 2 eye exams and the doctor just said my eyes are fine (only dry from staring at a computer all day). I'm near sighted, but fit feels like my eyes can't focus on the pixelated fonts, even though the display is set for Retina. How can you tell if it is gloss or matt Retina screen? (my screen looks more like a matt finish....not sharp pixels or images).

I've contacted Apple support and recalibrated my display settings, but no luck. They said the only option is to go Apple Genius bar to visually show them how fuzzy the screen is. Seems that the newer Retina MBP screens are sharper in the store. I'm wondering if they changed the Retina screens since the 2013 model?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

I have had my eye problems since August 2013, a few months after purchasing the MBP Retina. I have been to an optometrist, an opthalmologist, and a retina specialist. Am planning to have a second opinion from another retina specialist. They say my problem starts where the optic nerve comes through the retina. Most likely will need surgery. Never had the problem at all until I got this computer and developed the eye strain you all are mentioning. I would not recommend the MBP Retina to anyone. I truly do believe it is what caused all my problems.

I did not return it as it was past the return time, I believe. I have done everything possible to lower the lighting and basically undo the retina advantage. Since I have done that, things with my eyes have not gotten worse, but they have gotten no better either. The docs pretty much feel that I should have surgery, though what I need does not always have the best results. For the time being, I am just tolerating it. As for the computer, I have the intensity and lighting turned so low that there is little eye strain anymore, but it's irritating I paid for this and now have had to undo it all. I've never seen anything like this, and the Apple people seem not to care.

FYI -- I did find there was a class action lawsuit against Apple in CA...about a defective retina LG screen:

http://9to5mac.com/2013/03/14/retina-macbook-pro-customer-launches-class-action- lawsuit-against-apple-over-alleged-lg-display-flaw/#vanilla-comments

Hello all,

I too have the Retina MacBook pro, I too have eye problems but have had for a while now, before i bought the Retina pro in January, I dont know if the pro has made my eyes worse, Its hard to say really, What i can suggest though is a pair of glasses with an Anti glare coating, I have had mine a while and my optician says they do help with the glare from computer screens, I have turned down my brightness as suggested on here but im not sure if i should stay with Best for Retina or the Scaled resolution.

Oh boy, I didn't know others had the same problem. I think this is likely a big deal. I've had my iPad Air for about a year now and each time I use it to read for an hour or so my vision is oddly blurry when I look away. It takes a while to clear up, maybe 10-15 minutes. I've tried all sorts of light settings but nothing seems to help. Before this I had the original iPad-1 for years and never had this problem. Even now when I use it I have no problem. I think there is a fundamental issue with retina-level displays and the human eye. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Not sure what I will do. I always thought is was a temporary inconvenience but some of you seem to suggest it has had longer term and more severe effects. I was looking into the f.lux solution, but apparently I would need to jail break my iPad to use it, and I am loathe to do that.