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Apple recently invited CNET's Patrick Holland to tour its specialized laboratories in Cupertino where company engineers test and calibrate the iPhone 16's audio and video capabilities.

anechoic-chamber-cnet.jpeg

Holland's visit centered on a long wave anechoic chamber, where walls, ceiling, and floor are covered with foam wedges to eliminate echoes. The facility is used for testing the iPhone 16's four microphones, which despite their small size, are engineered to deliver professional-grade audio quality.
"The iPhone is such a ubiquitous recording device and gets used in so many different environments that we want to make sure that we're able to capture the memory that our users are trying to capture in the truest form," explained Ruchir Dave, senior director of acoustics engineering at Apple.

"The approach we took was to go after both quality as well as utility. And as part of that, we developed a novel microphone component that allows us to deliver some of the best acoustic performance in a phone product," said Dave. "At the same time, [we] developed a feature like Audio Mix that gives users the flexibility to be able to capture different sounds and gives you that creative freedom in the edit to adjust it how you like."
The testing process Apple uses includes a sophisticated array of speakers that play chimes while the iPhone rotates, creating a spherical sound profile. This data forms the foundation for features like spatial audio and Audio Mix, which allows users to adjust recorded audio to simulate different microphone types. In separate soundproof studios, Apple conducts comparative playback tests with multiple testers to ensure consistent audio quality.
The tour's highlight was a theater-sized video verification lab, where Apple engineers calibrate display performance across various lighting conditions. The facility features a massive screen that simulates how videos appear on iPhone displays, whether viewed in dark rooms, offices, or bright sunlight. For all the details, check out the full writeup over at CNET.

Article Link: Apple Opens Doors to Its iPhone Audio and Video Testing Chambers
 
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It is very interesting. Wonder what their testing is for overheating when filiking or taking an extended photo session
 
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Very interesting to read about it. A lot of testing and work is going on behind the scenes before the final model/version of each device is shipped out. Good to know about this.
 
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"professionally calibrated"

"dolby theatre for perceptual video matching"

Yet the 16 pro screens are poorly
calibrated and too yellow

So when you say iPhone 16 Pro screens are poorly calibrated, you mean "some people have experienced" and not that it is an anything other than a minor issue for literally a handful out the millions. Nice one!

"It seems only a small batch is affected by the warmer-than-usual color reproduction issue"
 
We really need bigger image sensor and 8K video recording for the iPhone 17 Pros main camera system.
Who cares about 8K at this point ?
"professionally calibrated"

"dolby theatre for perceptual video matching"

Yet the 16 pro screens are poorly
calibrated and too yellow

Nice try. The issue affects a very limited number of customers out of millions and millions of units sold
iPhone 16 display is reviewed as one of the very best on the market
 
So when you say iPhone 16 Pro screens are poorly calibrated, you mean "some people have experienced" and not that it is an anything other than a minor issue for literally a handful out the millions. Nice one!

"It seems only a small batch is affected by the warmer-than-usual color reproduction issue"

Who cares about 8K at this point ?

Nice try. The issue affects a very limited number of customers out of millions and millions of units sold
iPhone 16 display is reviewed as one of the very best on the market
nope, it affects all units since iphone 12. some to a much greater degree than others.

go to any apple store and compare the iphone screen to the apple studio display or pro display XDR 6K reference monitor, true tone off of course.

see for yourself...

both studio display and pro display xdr have the DCI "Digital Cinema" P3 mode which is equivalent to the dolby theatre mentioned in the video.

if the above test doesnt match perceptually, aka look the same, then apple is misleading consumers with these ads
 
Again, it is not true. There are a lot of reviews and technical analysis about iPhone display and they are top notch.
A batch of poorly calibrated units is another thing…
nope,

the "technical reviews" dont cover perceptual matching with dolby cinema

As in the video

and many of the technical reviews mention yellow hue, as per DXOmark since iphone 12.

"As for the drawbacks, like the other iPhones we’ve tested for display (namely the 12 Pro and the 11 Pro Max), the color cast of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is strongly yellow — something that can be seen in all tested conditions and in video as well as still imagery — and this impacted the score. Our engineers also found the brightness levels a bit dim, especially in low-light situations, and the blue light filter adds a strong orange cast and a dimness that impacts readability."

 
Maybe we should draw a line under this. I think you have exaggerated this problem with a few people further than was probably intended. Maybe you took it down a rabbit hole, not expecting anyone to even question you? I don't know the motivations, but you are wrong as far as I can see.

nope,

the "technical reviews" dont cover perceptual matching with dolby cinema

As in the video

and many of the technical reviews mention yellow hue, as per DXOmark since iphone 12.

"As for the drawbacks, like the other iPhones we’ve tested for display (namely the 12 Pro and the 11 Pro Max), the color cast of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is strongly yellow — something that can be seen in all tested conditions and in video as well as still imagery — and this impacted the score. Our engineers also found the brightness levels a bit dim, especially in low-light situations, and the blue light filter adds a strong orange cast and a dimness that impacts readability."

The example you shared of DXOMarks review on the 4 year old iPhone 12 and an apparent yellow tint was fair, but where is it said in any review for iPhones since then that you promised is the case? I note you said "many". Again, you're not talking about malfunctions, you’re talking about a mass event of yellow screens.

To quote DXOMark for the iPhone 16 Pro series.
They of course note an orange cast on the iPhone 16 (non Pro versions) when True Tone is turned on, but that’s always to be expected with True Tone.

nope, it affects all units since iphone 12. some to a much greater degree than others.
See above. Where is there any evidence of this?

go to any apple store and compare the iphone screen to the apple studio display or pro display XDR 6K reference monitor, true tone off of course.

see for yourself...

both studio display and pro display xdr have the DCI "Digital Cinema" P3 mode which is equivalent to the dolby theatre mentioned in the video.

With regard to the video, The reviewer simply says they do "perceptual testing" to "try and match" what they see in cinema. Further, a P3-65 or P3-D60 on the monitors with a specific white point is used to reference particular controlled environments, which the iPhones do not, or ever claimed to have, as far as I know. See reference modes here.

if the above test doesnt match perceptually, aka look the same, then apple is misleading consumers with these ads

The iPhone is advertised as Super Retina XDR Display (pixel density and technology), and it is in the P3 Gamut, which is a colour space not a claim of accuracy. There is specifically NO white point references advertised for the iPhones.

I can't even find any advertisements that claims any accuracy of colour for the iPhone 16. They even acknowledge, based on the characteristics of OLED (which is not limited to Apple btw).

If you look at an OLED display off-angle, you may notice slight shifts in colour and hue.

So how is this misleading?

So a couple of clarifying questions based on your assertions.
  • Where are all or even some of these "many" technical reports of yellow/orange hues that occur when the True Tone is turned off?
  • Where do Apple claim accuracy of the P3 Gamut on an iPhone?
  • Where have they mislead consumers with advertising?
As far as I am aware, they work, by and large exactly as they are supposed to, and any issues are the exception, rather than the rule and should be returned as malfunctioning. But as this is definitely a small and non-significant occurrence, I formally call BS on your claims of this occurring as much as you say it is.
 
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Maybe we should draw a line under this. I think you have exaggerated this problem with a few people further than was probably intended. Maybe you took it down a rabbit hole, not expecting anyone to even question you? I don't know the motivations, but you are wrong as far as I can see.


The example you shared of DXOMarks review on the 4 year old iPhone 12 and an apparent yellow tint was fair, but where is it said in any review for iPhones since then that you promised is the case? I note you said "many". Again, you're not talking about malfunctions, you’re talking about a mass event of yellow screens.

To quote DXOMark for the iPhone 16 Pro series.
They of course note an orange cast on the iPhone 16 (non Pro versions) when True Tone is turned on, but that’s always to be expected with True Tone.


See above. Where is there any evidence of this?



With regard to the video, The reviewer simply says they do "perceptual testing" to "try and match" what they see in cinema. Further, a P3-65 or P3-D60 on the monitors with a specific white point is used to reference particular controlled environments, which the iPhones do not, or ever claimed to have, as far as I know. See reference modes here.



The iPhone is advertised as Super Retina XDR Display (pixel density and technology), and it is in the P3 Gamut, which is a colour space not a claim of accuracy. There is specifically NO white point references advertised for the iPhones.

I can't even find any advertisements that claims any accuracy of colour for the iPhone 16. They even acknowledge, based on the characteristics of OLED (which is not limited to Apple btw).

If you look at an OLED display off-angle, you may notice slight shifts in colour and hue.

So how is this misleading?

So a couple of clarifying questions based on your assertions.
  • Where are all or even some of these "many" technical reports of yellow/orange hues that occur when the True Tone is turned off?
  • Where do Apple claim accuracy of the P3 Gamut on an iPhone?
  • Where have they mislead consumers with advertising?
As far as I am aware, they work, by and large exactly as they are supposed to, and any issues are the exception, rather than the rule and should be returned as malfunctioning. But as this is definitely a small and non-significant occurrence, I formally call BS on your claims of this occurring as much as you say it is.

there is 31 pages of complaint about 16 pro display right here on macrumors. and 300+ pages in the old iphone 12 thread


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/screen-brightness-on-16-pro-max-merged.2436942/

Screenshot From 2025-01-04 16-40-52.png


I already returned 6 iPhones pros (4 regular size and two max), 4 of them were G9Ps, and all were pretty bad. All had in common: the lower part of the panel had a red tint und was less bright than the rest of the panel AND the bad uniformity got worse when turning on True Tone or night shift. I really tried to keep one of them but every time i look at the screen the tint was so obvious.
Yep, the yellow tint is annoying me and reminds me of smartphones in 2017 when it was all the rage to have horrible yellow tint on bad panels.

I think the Pixel 2 XL got slaughtered for it.
So this very site was wrong about them using the new Samsung M14 that Pixel 9 is using, which also gifted Pixel 9 the award for best display in 2024.

Hate the yellow tint, hate that it's dimmer than my 15 and HATE that everything about the 16 seems like a rush job, last minute phone cobbled together with AI promises because camera button gimmick is useless and they know it.

again if you dont think its yellow, just go to the apple store and look for yourself, compare XDR reference monitor P3 mode with iphone 16 pro or any oled iphone.

If apple claims they are doing perceptual matching like in the video then they are misleading customers because it's far from perceptually matched; perceptual matching means white point.

the original thread with over 330 pages. I dont see how this is BS as you claim, you can go debate/debunk them.

 
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there is 31 pages of complaint about 16 pro display right here on macrumors. and 300+ pages in the old iphone 12 thread

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/screen-brightness-on-16-pro-max-merged.2436942/

again if you dont think its yellow, just go to the apple store and look for yourself, compare XDR reference monitor P3 mode with iphone 16 pro or any oled iphone.

If apple claims they are doing perceptual matching like in the video then they are misleading customers because it's far from perceptually matched; perceptual matching means white point.

the original thread with over 330 pages. I dont see how this is BS as you claim, you can go debate/debunk them.

Yeah. Non-Issue. I don’t care that a 4 year old phone had issues, we're talking about the 16. Bit as you say, 330 pages on the iPhone 12 and only 31 on the iPhone 16 Pro. So there has been a 90% improvement from the 12-16…. Or are you going to submit that people on MacRumors (which has grown in user base over 4 years) are whinging less? I'm gunna refute that.
 
Yeah. Non-Issue. I don’t care that a 4 year old phone had issues, we're talking about the 16. Bit as you say, 330 pages on the iPhone 12 and only 31 on the iPhone 16 Pro. So there has been a 90% improvement from the 12-16…. Or are you going to submit that people on MacRumors (which has grown in user base over 4 years) are whinging less? I'm gunna refute that.
The macrumors thread is for all iphones starting with 12, you obviously did not read it

the oled issue also affects tandem oled ipad pro M4. You can google it

eg


IMG_6057.jpeg



IMG_6056.jpeg



anyone can see there is an issue, even casual consumers
 
Okay, I concede. Near non-issue.


What is Reference Mode?​

Reference Mode is a display mode for professional content creation workflows, like color grading, editing, and content review, where accurate colors and consistent image quality are critical.

In the May 7th keynote for OLED Ipad Pro

at 22:00

the oled ipad pro M4 is connected directly to the studio display in a demo for "reference mode" and working across two displays.

Perceptual matching with the studio display at industry standard D65 is being shown here.

In reality there are no ipad pros M4 oled that matches with the studio display while in reference mode on both devices. Ive been to 5 apple stores and many third party retailers and confirmed by the apple geniuses who work there. If would can find two ipad pros M4 that match with each other and a studio display, i will erase all my comments.

studio displays, macbook pros, imacs all match within its own model and each other. same with lcd ipad pros of the past.

Only oled ipad pros are far off even within its own model, and matching with studio display is out of the question. Same goes for iphone 16 pros advertised for professional video use, "shot on 16 pro" campaign, industry standard video BT709 gamut and D65 white point is implied.


IMG_6072.png

 
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