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Moved to XR from X/XS/XS Max due to Eye Strain. Do you still have eye strain on the XR?

  • No, believe the no-PWM from the LCD screen solved my issue

    Votes: 109 34.9%
  • Yes, still have eye strain.

    Votes: 44 14.1%
  • Yes, still have eye strain. However, the strain stopped once I covered the 'Notch' FaceID

    Votes: 9 2.9%
  • No, you guys are crazy!

    Votes: 150 48.1%

  • Total voters
    312
Think I found something helpful for those of us affected:
Try turning off display zoom and see if that helps. It may seem counterintuitive since it makes content smaller, but I've had minimal eye strain once I turned zoom off. I don't know if it's placebo or what, but it's very noticeably better.
interesting. anyone know how apple does the display zoom? I guess it is non-native scaling so there must be interpolation going on which could cause issues to some
 
interesting. anyone know how apple does the display zoom? I guess it is non-native scaling so there must be interpolation going on which could cause issues to some

This is getting so innocuous now.

Any screen will give you eye strain if you stare at it too long especially a small bright one.
 
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Why is the font smaller on the XR's bigger screen? Can't it be enlarged?

I'm getting eye strain but I believe its due to the fact that on the thinner phone the text is much smaller than I'm used to. Reading the web is much easier for me on an older 5.3 inch phone due to font size being bigger.
 
Not sure if its earlier in this thread or a different one but someone put an interesting comment about the scaling that is used and something like the iphone XR uses 2x scaling and the XS and XS max 3x. The way things end up means the XR actually has smaller fonts than the XS models, and with display zoom the XR is only slightly bigger than XS on normal. Kind of why I ended up with the XS max as the XR would be too small font size for me (given that not every app obeys dynamic font)
[doublepost=1541770146][/doublepost]I think the XR font size is the same size as the 6, 7, 8 models
 
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Interesting... I might prefer an XS for the larger text but worried about battery life... and of course the extra $250.

Not sure if its earlier in this thread or a different one but someone put an interesting comment about the scaling that is used and something like the iphone XR uses 2x scaling and the XS and XS max 3x. The way things end up means the XR actually has smaller fonts than the XS models, and with display zoom the XR is only slightly bigger than XS on normal. Kind of why I ended up with the XS max as the XR would be too small font size for me (given that not every app obeys dynamic font)
[doublepost=1541770146][/doublepost]I think the XR font size is the same size as the 6, 7, 8 models
 
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Damn, the eye strain is back today even after switching to the Standard zoom mode. Today is the end of my return period, but I'm going to keep the XR and keep testing just for my own curiosity.

For anyone who has been experiencing eye issues with the XR: how are you doing with the phone now? Has your strain gotten any better or worse? For me, it's gotten worse. I can barely use the phone for 30 seconds without feeling eye strain (I swear, it's almost like a placebo effect or something). If I can't figure this out, I'll just give the XR to my brother and swap to an 8+ or something.
 
Damn, the eye strain is back today even after switching to the Standard zoom mode. Today is the end of my return period, but I'm going to keep the XR and keep testing just for my own curiosity.

For anyone who has been experiencing eye issues with the XR: how are you doing with the phone now? Has your strain gotten any better or worse? For me, it's gotten worse. I can barely use the phone for 30 seconds without feeling eye strain (I swear, it's almost like a placebo effect or something). If I can't figure this out, I'll just give the XR to my brother and swap to an 8+ or something.

Just return it. I did the same mistake with the X. I thought I just keep it around, and once every month or so I would turn it on, get eye-strain and headaches and move back to 8. Still have it around with less than 200hours of use. Waste of money.
 
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Just return it. I did the same mistake with the X. I thought I just keep it around, and once every month or so I would turn it on, get eye-strain and headaches and move back to 8. Still have it around with less than 200hours of use. Waste of money.
Don't get me wrong, normally, I absolutely would return it but my brother was going to buy one anyway. I'm going to keep testing for a week or so and then just trade him for his phone.

Eye strain on the X makes since because PWM is a testable, confirmed issue for a decent amount of people, therefore I'd have no reason to test it. The strain from the XR makes ZERO sense, that's why I want to keep testing. If I at least knew why this screen was causing issues, I'd be satisfied and just switch to a Plus and be done with it.
 
Don't get me wrong, normally, I absolutely would return it but my brother was going to buy one anyway. I'm going to keep testing for a week or so and then just trade him for his phone.

Eye strain on the X makes since because PWM is a testable, confirmed issue for a decent amount of people, therefore I'd have no reason to test it. The strain from the XR makes ZERO sense, that's why I want to keep testing. If I at least knew why this screen was causing issues, I'd be satisfied and just switch to a Plus and be done with it.

Did you tape over Face ID to eliminate that as a cause?

Have you tried turning off True Tone?

Have you had an eye test lately to see if you have any underlying issues?
 
Did you tape over Face ID to eliminate that as a cause?

Have you tried turning off True Tone?

Have you had an eye test lately to see if you have any underlying issues?
Yep, I've tried turning Attention Aware features off, Face ID itself off, and covering the notch. No difference. Same with True Tone, I've experimented with that as well as Night Shift, white balance, etc.

As for an eye test, I absolutely would go in for one, except that I literally have zero issues with any other screen (Besides PWM-based ones). My desktop mac, iPad Pro, TV, other old iPhones, etc all are fine. It's just the XR screen, and I'm really curious to figure out why. The only thing keeping me from 100% thinking that's a placebo effect is that others on here have had the exact same symptoms.
 
Just return it (well, in your case keep it because your brother needs one anyway).
Had my eyes tested a few times after the issues with my X started (docter, 2 opticians, and eye docter in hospital).
Nothing wrong with my eyes.

Guess some people are just unlucky : )
 
Has anyone seen an eye doctor and had the eye doctor examine your eyes while using a phone that causes symptoms? I’m curious if anything stands out differently there. Doubt this would be possible unless you had a really cool eye doctor though. It would also probably be extremely expensive as it would require more of their time.
 
Yep, I've tried turning Attention Aware features off, Face ID itself off, and covering the notch. No difference. Same with True Tone, I've experimented with that as well as Night Shift, white balance, etc.

As for an eye test, I absolutely would go in for one, except that I literally have zero issues with any other screen (Besides PWM-based ones). My desktop mac, iPad Pro, TV, other old iPhones, etc all are fine. It's just the XR screen, and I'm really curious to figure out why. The only thing keeping me from 100% thinking that's a placebo effect is that others on here have had the exact same symptoms.

So that would imply that it isn’t Face ID?

The XR screen is the brightest iphone screen , could it be that?
 
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I had the same issue with it getting to the point just looking at it for a few seconds and the eye strain started. Returned it two days ago and all headaches and eye strain are gone. Went back to using 8+.

I tried everything except taping the notch. If that's what it required I simply didn't want the phone. This is very unfortunate but no pain is wonderful!!! Now I have serious doubts about future iPhones and if I'll ever be able to use them again after this 8+ finally dies. The 8+ is however a wonder phone, so at this point, it's not like I'm giving up much.
 
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I have now had mine for two weeks and I'm happy to say that eye strain has gotten better. For me it was probably just lack of sleep and insane initial usage time that caused issues. I've had the same thing happen with devices I normally tolerate in the past. It's still like text in Safari to be larger though.

Interestingly enough, I feel more strain from my 2018 iPad than I did with my iPad Air 1st gen. Maybe it's something Apple has been doing lately that's different from before.
 
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This is getting so innocuous now.

Any screen will give you eye strain if you stare at it too long especially a small bright one.

Mate, love your post, but not quite sure innocuous is the word you were looking for!

Damn, the eye strain is back today even after switching to the Standard zoom mode. Today is the end of my return period, but I'm going to keep the XR and keep testing just for my own curiosity.

For anyone who has been experiencing eye issues with the XR: how are you doing with the phone now? Has your strain gotten any better or worse? For me, it's gotten worse. I can barely use the phone for 30 seconds without feeling eye strain (I swear, it's almost like a placebo effect or something). If I can't figure this out, I'll just give the XR to my brother and swap to an 8+ or something.

This is quite a problem. You either need to return the phone or go and check other XRs and see if you experience the same thing.

It's possible you've talked yourself into as well. Doesn't matter though as it affects you and therefore a problem. No matter the reason, it needs to be dealt with.
 
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Damn, the eye strain is back today even after switching to the Standard zoom mode. Today is the end of my return period, but I'm going to keep the XR and keep testing just for my own curiosity.

For anyone who has been experiencing eye issues with the XR: how are you doing with the phone now? Has your strain gotten any better or worse? For me, it's gotten worse. I can barely use the phone for 30 seconds without feeling eye strain (I swear, it's almost like a placebo effect or something). If I can't figure this out, I'll just give the XR to my brother and swap to an 8+ or something.

I remember trying X last year. It got worse every time I use it. After using for few days I could not even look at it for 1 second without eyestrain. Then I had to return.
 
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I had the same issue with it getting to the point just looking at it for a few seconds and the eye strain started. Returned it two days ago and all headaches and eye strain are gone. Went back to using 8+.

I tried everything except taping the notch. If that's what it required I simply didn't want the phone. This is very unfortunate but no pain is wonderful!!! Now I have serious doubts about future iPhones and if I'll ever be able to use them again after this 8+ finally dies. The 8+ is however a wonder phone, so at this point, it's not like I'm giving up much.
I’m going to pick up a 8+ today and hang onto it for as long as I can. I’ve never done that with an iPhone before, I usually buy them with every intention of upgrading the next year. Once it reaches its end of life, I’ll see what is available at that time but it could be my last iPhone.
 
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