Retina Display MacBook Pro eye problem and strain

I find that I can look at LCD screens longer. This problem probably isn't unique to Retina screens but they most likely accentuate the problem since all Retina screens are LED screens on top of high in pixel density. To conclude my findings so far:

1. Lowering ambient light helps (especially by avoiding light sources directly in front of the screen that contribute to glare).

2. LCD screens help (Samsung Syncmaster S24C750P in my case).

3. Kindle Paperwhite helps. I can look at for four to five hours straight without eye fatigue.

4. Rest every hour for 10 minutes and do some eye exercises can delay the onset of fatigue by an hour or two.

I find that in my case eye strain is especially bad in the morning. This probably has to do with ambient light being too bright. For people with severe cases of eye strain I recommend a dual screen setup and set your external LCD screen as default and only use the Retina on you MBP when absolutely necessary. Try not to look at computer screens the first thing in the morning. Look outside for a good 30 minutes before turning on your computer.

Hi,

I too have no problems with regular LCD screens.

I can look at an LCD screen all day long without any eye discomfort.

In my experience, TN LED screens are bad, and high-resolution IPS LED screens are worse.

But I can't look at either for more than a few minutes.

It helps a little if I run the f.lux program, but not enough.

But I find that I can look at LED screens comfortably if I wear blue light blocking amber colored glasses.

But I don't really want to wear those glasses every time I use the computer.

So I will just have to keep using my old LCD monitors.

This is sad. I would like to use the new high-resolution IPS LED monitors, but I just can't look at them.

I have given up.

Not even amber-colored glasses work.

Not even AOC's anti-blue light monitor works.

I tried using the AOC monitor with amber-colored glasses on. It worked for a few days, but not any more.

Now my eyes feel like they're getting beaten with a stick..

I have also started experiencing double-vision, and my eyesight has deteriorated markedly.

I will stop looking at LED monitors immediately.

Hopefully my eyes will recover.

From now on, I will stick with CCFL-backlit LCD monitors as long as I can, and look at LED/AMOLED screens as little as possible..

Hi Everyone,

I just bought a new macbook pro w/ retina display 15" running Yosemite, and I was experiencing the same extreme eye strain that everyone here has mentioned. I kept fiddling with the display settings to see what might help and I made a discovery. When you go to system preferences and select "displays" and then select "color" you have the option to select "sRGB IEC61966-2.1". Now when I selected it I didn't notice any difference in the screen immediately, but my eye strain was significantly reduced while reading text on my web-browser. I thought I was imagining it so I had my roommate switch between both the standard "Color LCD" option and the sRGB option without telling me which he had chosen and although the screen looked exactly the same, I could tell when he selected sRGB within 15 seconds simply because of the reduced eye strain while reading text on my browser. Even he could tell the difference. I have to test this over a few more days to be sure it completely eliminates the eye strain problem (I just discovered this tonight) but please try this and let me know if it helps!

Best,

Hello,

Once I moved to LA I did two major things, purchased a 15" MBP Retina Display and moved to a new home to finish my B.S. in engineering. Right away I noticed an eye floater beginning to develop and now after 14 weeks, I am pretty sure the MBP Retina Display is the result of this eye floater. I used the computer very regular since most of my readings were on eBooks.In the pass month I seen the doctor and the optometrist as a result of the eye floaters, but they could not determine the issue. I switched back to a 5 year old laptop and my eyes are improving. After taking an upper division ethics class, I think the lack of public awareness on this issue is a violation of engineering code of ethics. Going to speak with my friends lawyer and see what course of action I should take.

I bought a new monitor that is flicker free (no pulse width modulation) and use it with my macbook pro retina. You can find lists of which models are flicker free online. A lot of brands have them. I don't know if it's the fact that it's a new monitor or flicker free, but my eyes feel a little better using it.

For me, this problem is HUGE! I got an iMac 27" retina display thinking it would be the best choice for my eyes, and after 5 months, I can hardly stand to be in front of the thing. At first I thought I was just working too hard, but, no. When I use my 2012 laptop I can work as long as I like. With my retina display desk top, I get intense eye strain, eye pain, headache that last hours after I quit. Have lowered the brightness, and now lowering it even more to less than 50%. Bought anti-glare, blue blocking computer eye glasses for $75. About to go to Apple and make some noise. It hurts!

Ben,

I am sorry to hear of this happening to you. It is uncomfortable as all get out when this happens to me. However , although this has happened with other computers It has not occured at all with my rMBP.

Prior to this laptop I suffered with a list of eye issues daily from 2006-2014. Dry Eye, watery eyes, itchy eyes, floaters-Had floaters with use of all other computers of the past actually starting in 2006 when I got my first computer going , desktop, and ran it with a CRT monitor. Flashes, strain ect...

Until I came across this thread I hadn't actually thought about my eye issues at all since Sept 2014, which is the last time I remember having any. I bought the Mac beginning of August, and my normal eye reactions to using a computer persisted for about a month. Then I never thought about it again. I have been symptom free for nearly 1.5 years now and I turned 40 4 months ago. For the first time in my life I am at ease using technology. This goes for all the technology in my house, Iphone 6, iphone 5, ipad air retina, ipad mini retina. I cant even look at my husbands 2 year old Thinkpad It hurts to even do 1 thing on it, really I just dont . I can't.

This is my list.

2006-2009 Homemade Computer Windows Variety 25" CRT monitor Viewsonic

2009-2010 Toshiba 17" Laptop LCD screen

2010-2014 Thinkpad T60p laptop LCD screen running Linux.

August 2014 rMBP 13" OSX

About a month after I started using the mac, I became symptom free and remain so to this day.

I noticed alot of people are complaining of this issue while they are still new to making the change over, and since it is so easy to just work on a retina screen mac, is it not plausible that it may be the change that triggers the symptoms people are having because they are moving to a screen that does not demand so much out of their brain to keep it straight that the brain is therefore throws into an adjustment period which bring to the surface the symptoms that the brain has been suppressing.

Just a thought, I was aware of my symptoms the whole time I used my other computers and noticed all the crap that came with it in my field of vision. Also, another thing since I went rMBP, I have not had to go to my chiro but 2X since then, which I believe is also connected to the computer strain I had going before.

Just a thought.

Hello all

I have had exactly the same problems most of the people are describing in this forum. Since I bought my Macbook Pro Retina in october 2015, my eyes never were the same. Terrible strain, headaches, pain, unbearable sensitiveness to light. I've had to give up using the incredible machine I was so happy to have acquired, but haven't recovered a relaxed vision yet.

I've consulted various eye doctors, optometrists, changed my glasses, put amber filters on lenses and screens.

I have been an Apple client for many years now and think Apple should take these issues people are expressing very seriously.

It's become obvious that many people all over the world cannot work with Retina screens and experience serious eye damage.

Please Apple, give us an answer.

Ditto here. Been using a Macbook Pro 13" w/ Retina display for a couple of years now. During that time I've noticed my night vision get considerably worse, and sometimes my eyes hurt/ache after working for more than an hour or two on my MBP. Been since checked for the typical eye issues by my optometrist at my annual checkup (cataracts, glaucoma, etc.) and nothing unusual was found. The issues seem to fade when I don't use it for a few days and/or use an external monitor (various non-Retina displays). It occurred to me that the biggest variable in my day to day life with regards to vision was this laptop, and here I am...

MBP displays definitely seem to be particularly brutal in terms of blue light, so I'm wondering if that could be a culprit. I'm not sold on the whole "blue light is harmful" thing, but something's sure up. I'm seriously considering abandoning MBPs (and perhaps all 2K Apple displays) over this.

Also, to Capitalkid: you're over simplifying all the factors involved with LCD/LED displays. There's more to it than image clarity. Flicker, frequency, wavelength, etc....things that are undetectable in casual use...can all play a huge part in eye strain.

Justmeyes, I have a mid 2012 MacAir and a 15" MacBook Pro (2014) with Retina. I hadn't used the MacAir in awhile and I am finding it causes a lot of eyestrain, much more than the retina display. I also have difficulty with my iPad Mini. I want to upgrade to either the MacbookAir (11") or the MacBook but I can't decide which display would be easiest on my eyes. I don't live near a store so I can't compare the two. Are you saying that you found the new MacBook with retina display to be easier on your eyes than earlier models?

Hey guys. I've been a internet developer for over 13 years now and never had any issues with my eyes. I always used 24-25 inch matte screens + owned a 15 inch matte notebook.

1 month ago I decided to switch to a 2015 Macbook Pro Retina 15'. What a poor decision on my part 😟

I've started to notice huge eye pain. Now I can't focus clearly on objects at dusk/night time.

It just feels like that I'm starting to loose my sight.

I was always against Apple products all my life and now, when I decided to switch to one, it fired back at me.

Lowering the resolution, lowering the brightness didn't help.

I would not recommend anyone to switch to a Macbook Pro.

hix. I 'm having problems about my eyes when I bought a new MacBook Air 1 month ago . I do not understand why the best PC in the world give it back then . Previously I used each dell PC and work at many times with this computers but wasn't so. Now how I can do for my eyes ???? 😟😟

This really is the best explanation of the problem I've read.

It really makes sense to me in the light of what I have felt.

I struggled a long time ever since I used Macbook Pro computers, unable to fix the problem for quite a while.

I believe it has damaged my eyes.

First thing that had bothered me : the reflection of the light in the metallic shell of the Mac and the metallic keys with the letters grey-whitish. My eyes would work harder as I typed to see the letters so badly defined.

After I figured it out, I covered all metallic surfaces with colored adhesive plastic (it didn't look bad at all!).

I also bought black letter stickers (white letters on a black background) for computers, and that really helped too.

That was a few years ago, and when my Macbook Pro died on me, I gave up on Apple for a while for financial reasons, and used an Asus computer, and had absolutely no eye strain the way I did with Macbook Pros.

Then just recently I got a new Macbook Pro, very happy to get into Mac again, but realized that the retina screen just annoyed me incredibly, and almost instantly!

I found this link and your post, and the question of the focus really makes sense.

I haven't bought a screen protector yet, but I tried an emergency solution : I simply laid a kitchen plastic film on the screen, roughly enough so that I can see wrinkles here and there catch the light, and it actually stopped the eye strain!

So I'm totally convinced that the problem is about focus.

Now I'll have to find a nice screen like you describe, with tiny imperfections on the surface so that the eyes have something to know at what distance to focus, and so that I can enjoy the beautiful Mac display.

Anyway, thanks for your contribution, it was really helpful to me!

Same here. I've noticed my eyes get extremely tired whenever I use my MacBook Pro. I always adjust the bright level and even use an application that turns the display into yellowish tone, thinking blue light from the screen would cause the eye strain. But my eyes are just way too tired regardless of those efforts. I've recently figured out the hard truth: a 12 years old, old school LCD monitor delivers much comfortable display. I'm using the old monitor connected to the MacBook for reading PDF documents these days.