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Anybody getting eye strain on M1 MacBook Air?

F

flowave

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 17, 2014
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I am starting to get some eye strain while using M1 MacBook Air.
Can anybody confirm if is flicker-free or not?
It's either flicker or the blueness is giving me eyestrain.
 
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prism said:
Ouch, pwm?
Click to expand...
I think so, I just checked with slow motion cam on the iPhone and I see it flickering ever so slightly.
It seems pulsing very unnoticeably than other screens I have seen.
The screen also looks glaring when I look at it. It's very tiring.
 
flowave said:
I am starting to get some eye strain while using M1 MacBook Air.
Can anybody confirm if is flicker-free or not?
It's either flicker or the blueness is giving me eyestrain.
Click to expand...

I was about to ask a similar question, but with a different source of concern... yes I am getting eyestrain using my M1 MacBook Air, but it got worse for me when I attached it to a 4k external monitor. Everything is so bleeding sharp and flat, I am starting to think its not a hardware issue, but UI issue.. i.e. today is the first day I started using Big Sur. How about anyone else, does Big Sur cause you eyestrain? I have held back putting it on any of my intel Macs, I guess that's the way to test the theory.
 
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Yes, I am having the same eye strain issue! Just received the new MBA M1 yesterday and not long after using it noticed a significant amount of eye fatigue. Also feeling as though my eyes need to refocus often when looking around different areas of the screen and graphics. I placed my early 2020 MBA with Catalina side by side and the previous model actually appears to have a better picture.

There is something going on here. Not sure if it is hardware our this new Big Sur UI. I have adjusted many display settings from brightness, True Tone, to graphics pallet and there is still something about this machine/software combo that is hard on the eyes.
 
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HDRider1982 said:
Yes, I am having the same eye strain issue! Just received the new MBA M1 yesterday and not long after using it noticed a significant amount of eye fatigue. Also feeling as though my eyes need to refocus often when looking around different areas of the screen and graphics. I placed my early 2020 MBA with Catalina side by side and the previous model actually appears to have a better picture.

There is something going on here. Not sure if it is hardware our this new Big Sur UI. I have adjusted many display settings from brightness, True Tone, to graphics pallet and there is still something about this machine/software combo that is hard on the eyes.
Click to expand...
I have disabled True Tone and Nightshift and it's much better. Let me know if this helps you. Also, I have changed the default red background to black.
 
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Can anyone confirm please whether Apple silicon M1 Macbook is eyestrain free or not?
The intel chip based system is giving heavy eyestrain.
 
mydevicedefineme said:
hii flowave
has the eyestrain problem gone now??
Regards
Click to expand...
It has. I think it was due to Big Sur red background.

I am pretty sensitive to PWM monitors and I think it's due to the monitor itself rather than Intel chip system.

So far it's been going well. Truetone is on, and Nightshift is off.

Blue light blocking glasses also really helps you minimize fatigue from the screens too. Get it from amazon. I wear it all day and I can watch screens all day.
 
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No.

But, the default background for the M1/Big Sur with the red waves is pretty NOT good. I wouldn't have signed off on that one for the default. Maybe they promised the decision to an intern and had to 'go with it.' [Shoulder Shrug]
 
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I was also experiencing eye strain after going from 2020 Intel MBA to M1 MBA — I think it triggered a migraine.

I switched the Big Sur wallpaper (terrible) to Catalina wallpaper and that seems to have helped a lot.
 
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teecuptech said:
Curious about this eye strain conversation. Is it mainly the wallpaper causing it, or is it also still noticed while in apps.?
Click to expand...
It's hard to say. It could be because it's a brand-new computer with a new OS, and I'm focusing more on the details than I normally do. But the vivid, contrasting colors in the default Big Sur wallpaper was definitely uncomfortable.

FWIW, I use TrueTone and Night Shift on all my devices and the brightness is almost always below 50%. All of those things help me with eye strain.
 
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I am courious if the eye strain is with the clear theme or both clear and dark. First think I had do is to change the spectacular but poor eyes friendly, original wallpaper of Big Sur, with a more dark one, and it helps a lot in my case. The tones of the theme of Catalina or Mojave, on two other mac that I have, are more pleasant to me eyes and does not causing this strain.
 
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Yes, I was hoping that there would be something different about the M1 macs now that intel drivers are not a part of the graphics equation. Unfortunately, still have the same issue.

I had the same eye strain with 16" macbook pro, recent 13" macbook pro, 2020 macbook air, recent 15" macbook pros.

Did not have eye strain with 2019 macbook air, and my old 2015 macbook pro 13. My thought is it's an issue with dithering used to achieve the p3 color gamut. Both of these use full srgb but not p3 displays.

Do not get eyestrain with any of the recent LCD iphones..
 
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-Shock- said:
Yes, I was hoping that there would be something different about the M1 macs now that intel drivers are not a part of the graphics equation. Unfortunately, still have the same issue.

I had the same eye strain with 16" macbook pro, recent 13" macbook pro, 2020 macbook air, recent 15" macbook pros.

Did not have eye strain with 2019 macbook air, and my old 2015 macbook pro 13. My thought is it's an issue with dithering used to achieve the p3 color gamut. Both of these use full srgb but not p3 displays.

Do not get eyestrain with any of the recent LCD iphones..
Click to expand...
This is the crucial thing. We need guys - you and me - who had eye strain using retina screen. I have a non-retina macbook air, no issues. It's getting slower, so I really wanted to switch - twice - but retina kills my eyes. Not to mention OLED iphones... So yes, there are several people out there with this sensitivity and one of those guys needs to check M1. Due to pandemic, all the stores are closed, I couldn't check it out, but I will when it's available.

Btw. my experience: Eye strains, head ache, eye ache, actually it seems, I'm unable to focus because everything is so smooth on the screen, too much details. When I check a website with white background and black text on it and look around, I can see the text in front of me. Burn in feeling. Weird, however my eyes are completely fine, and my wife has the same issues. So too many cases out there not to be true :D

Did you have a chance to check the screen so far? I would be surprised if the intel graph. is the bad guy in this setup. Let us know man, let's figure it out before any investment.
 
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brobee727 said:
This is the crucial thing. We need guys - you and me - who had eye strain using retina screen. I have a non-retina macbook air, no issues. It's getting slower, so I really wanted to switch - twice - but retina kills my eyes. Not to mention OLED iphones... So yes, there are several people out there with this sensitivity and one of those guys needs to check M1. Due to pandemic, all the stores are closed, I couldn't check it out, but I will when it's available.

Btw. my experience: Eye strains, head ache, eye ache, actually it seems, I'm unable to focus because everything is so smooth on the screen, too much details. When I check a website with white background and black text on it and look around, I can see the text in front of me. Burn in feeling. Weird, however my eyes are completely fine, and my wife has the same issues. So too many cases out there not to be true :D

Did you have a chance to check the screen so far? I would be surprised if the intel graph. is the bad guy in this setup. Let us know man, let's figure it out before any investment.
Click to expand...
eye strain is not due to retina screen.
its due to dithering.
 
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mydevicedefineme said:
eye strain is not due to retina screen.
its due to dithering.
Click to expand...
I made it simpler. I need a mac. A mac has retina screen. Issue is retina screen, I do not care what and why. 2015 Macbook air non-retina doesn't have dithering issue? only Retina screen? So what is the issue? Retina. LOL. Let's focus on the problem, technical details doesn't solve the issue and my headache.
 
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I have just ordered Macbook Air M1 ... It will be delivered in 6-7 days so I still have time to Cancel it.
I use Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus with no issues and ipad air(2013, ik it's old) with no issues
I just bought a Lenovo IdeaPad s540 which I am unable to use, I cannot even look at it for 5-10 mins. I gave that to my brother. He has no issues using it
I am from India and here there's a NO REFUND Policy. Further I cannot see them in stores right now.
With my past history, I only had trouble using the Lenovo Laptop, which I guess was of inferior quality(still it costed 1000 USD), before that I never had any troubles even using screens 10-12 hrs a day
What do u guys think, will the MacBook be fine for me.(PS: Again.. I cannot return it.. so if it doesn't it's a waste of 1300 USD)
Thanks!
 
Shitzz said:
I have just ordered Macbook Air M1 ... It will be delivered in 6-7 days so I still have time to Cancel it.
I use Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus with no issues and ipad air(2013, ik it's old) with no issues
I just bought a Lenovo IdeaPad s540 which I am unable to use, I cannot even look at it for 5-10 mins. I gave that to my brother. He has no issues using it
I am from India and here there's a NO REFUND Policy. Further I cannot see them in stores right now.
With my past history, I only had trouble using the Lenovo Laptop, which I guess was of inferior quality(still it costed 1000 USD), before that I never had any troubles even using screens 10-12 hrs a day
What do u guys think, will the MacBook be fine for me.(PS: Again.. I cannot return it.. so if it doesn't it's a waste of 1300 USD)
Thanks!
Click to expand...
No refund policy in india? It's weird... Honestly I cannot say anything because I can stand galaxy Note Oled displays due to PWM flickering. I think, the best thing what you can do is to find a latest non-M1, or M1 macbook and check the screen. Btw, it's strange, you can handle the OLED, but not the lenovo ideapad screens. Based on my research, all the forum members have one common thing: If somebody feels headache and eye strain due to OLED, most of the time, they are unable to handle retina screens. I'm not blaming retina screens, just this is what it is and I wanna help. I returned 3 macbook pro, different years + 1 macbook pro from my workplace. as a notebook, I was unable to use it, just with 1080p external monitor... Shitzz, let us know, how things work!
 
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