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In an internal document obtained by MacRumors, Apple has acknowledged an issue with some iPhone 12 displays exhibiting flickering, a green or gray glow, or other unintended lighting variations under some conditions.

iphone-12-green-glow.jpg

In the document, shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, Apple says that it is aware of customer reports related to this issue and is investigating. Apple has advised technicians to avoid servicing affected iPhones, at least for now, and instead inform customers that they should keep their iPhone up to date with the latest iOS version. This guidance suggests that Apple may be confident that it can fix the issue in a future software update.

A similar green tinted display issue affected some iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max models, and Apple was able to fix it in iOS 13.6.1.

There have been complaints about this new issue in the MacRumors forums and Apple Support Communities since shortly after iPhone 12 models launched. The issue can affect the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Based on customer reports, the issue appears to occur when the display brightness is set to around 90% or lower. Many users are experiencing the issue on iOS 14.1, iOS 14.2, and seemingly even the first two iOS 14.3 betas. The flickering or glowing is not always persistent, disappearing after a short time for some customers.

If and when the issue is addressed, or we learn more, we'll update this article accordingly.

Article Link: Apple Investigating Display Issues With iPhone 12 Models, Including Flickering and Green/Gray Glow
 
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macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,100
19,598
I had a similar problem with my iPhone 4, but it put a big green spot in the middle of all my photos. Here is a G5 and original iPad. Apple sure loves green!
 

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44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
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Article quote:

Apple has advised technicians to avoid servicing affected iPhones, at least for now, and instead inform customers that they should keep their iPhone up to date with the latest iOS version. This guidance suggests that Apple may be confident that it can fix the issue in a future software update.”

^ This is a lot more reassuring that it can possibly be patched through a software update versus actually having to exchange or send the phone in for repair.
 

goonie4life9

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2010
684
1,451
Given how a similar issue occurred later in iOS 13 development, it makes me wonder if Apple updated their display driver or how iOS manages color (e.g., True Tone, backlight, etc.) and used a similar version of the updated settings in early builds of iOS 14.
 
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Merman123

macrumors member
Nov 18, 2020
34
48
People are saying this would take care of the yellow tint but I’m not so sure. I have perfect deep blacks on my 12 Pro Max but also have a super yellow tinted screen. I’m on my 6th day with the phone and it’s still awful to look at.
 
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ecschwarz

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2010
1,433
354
I bought an unlocked phone, and just put the sim in from my 11. My cell service was almost non-existent until I got a 5G sim card. Was not aware that was going to be an issue.
What carrier are you on? For many, you can just move your SIM over with no problems, but others have rolled out updated SIM cards for 5G service. Perhaps the one you were using previously was a few generations behind?
 
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XXPP

Suspended
Jun 30, 2019
541
1,042
I have had this problem with Microsoft lumia. Microsoft service said it’s normal. :)
 

klasma

macrumors 603
Jun 8, 2017
5,035
13,814
Does this include the yellow tint issue?
Judging from the article, this is only about the raised blacks issue, which indeed seems to be a software bug.

For the yellow tint it seems less likely to simply be a software issue.
 

sean02

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2019
328
443
I saw the issue during the dark nowhere near as bad as bad as the 11 pro I could barely see it
 
Nov 6, 2020
56
152
Is it me or has this release been unusually problematic? Compared to the near flawless release of the 11 series last year it's kind of disappointing.

So glad I'm skipping this year.
You're a victim of rosy retrospection bias, which is when we recall the past as being better than it was (yes it's a legit type of bias). Each release has some issues but they've all been relatively minor, though they seem huge at the time.

Remember Bendgate? Less than 25 people actually reported bent iPhones to Apple. And yet it made national news because forums like this one make issues seem far larger than they are.

Apple ships millions of new iPhones at release. Even if a huge group of people had this issue, say 10,000, that's still not even single digit percentages of the folks that purchased.
 
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