iPad Air iPad Air 5 eye strain

[varezhka]

Sorry for yet another eye strain related thread, but we all have different eyes and I’m trying to figure out what’s causing eye strain on mine.

My latest iPad Air 5 (which I was hoping to partially replace my 12 inch MacBook) is giving me eye strain after a less than an hour of use.

It’s not something I’ve seen with my MacBook, iPad mini 4, or my iPhone 13 mini.

Motion effects in the accessibility features are disabled, and I’ve tried tweaking brightness to little effect.

What might be the source of my issues?

 

[0128672]

It's hard to say what might be the source of your issue, but it would be helpful to know about other iPad display settings in addition to the two you mentioned, such as True Tone, Night Shift, Auto Brightness, Dark/Light Mode, and text size.

On my Air 5 with sensitive eyes, the settings I use are brightness no more than halfway (unless playing a dark game), True Tone off, Night Shift sunrise to sunset, Auto Brightness off, Light mode only, and a medium text size. I also rely on the Accessibility feature Reduce White Point, which I added to the Control Center for easy toggling.

 

[varezhka]

Thank you for your suggestions!
For most part my settings matched what I had on my iPhone 13 mini with True Tone on, Night Shift sunrise to sunset, manual brightness usually 40% or less, and Light mode only. I did try changing True Tone, Light/Dark mode, and Reduce White Point (@default 80%) but it didn't seem to make too much difference.

Obviously because there's a difference between OLED and LCD displays, I can see why I would have different result between iPhone and iPad. However, I'm not sure if this is something I'd have to worry about for other Apple devices as well. (whether other iPads or newer MacBooks)

 

[jm31828]

Thank you for your suggestions!
For most part my settings matched what I had on my iPhone 13 mini with True Tone on, Night Shift sunrise to sunset, manual brightness usually 40% or less, and Light mode only. I did try changing True Tone, Light/Dark mode, and Reduce White Point (@default 80%) but it didn't seem to make too much difference.

Obviously because there's a difference between OLED and LCD displays, I can see why I would have different result between iPhone and iPad. However, I'm not sure if this is something I'd have to worry about for other Apple devices as well. (whether other iPads or newer MacBooks)

How did things go for you- did the eye strain improve?
I know some people have an adjustment period where their eyes are not that comfortable with a new display for a week or two, then they ease into being more comfortable. Did that happen with you?

And to your question- the iPad Air does not have PWM screen flicker like OLED phone screens do (which can cause eye strain and headaches), but it's possible it has temporal dithering- where different colors flash at a very fast rate on the screen to simulate more colors than the display can truly show at once- and a small subset of people are sensitive to that.
But as noted, no confirmation on whether or not the Air 5 has this or not.

 

[RoadWarrior56]

As somebody who has previously submitted an iPad "eyestrain" post, and after reading this post, I have determined that everybody's eyes are different as to how an iPad screen reacts with their eyes, and that it is probably impossible to sell a perfect screen for everybody, at least at affordable prices. I ordered an iPad Mini 6 at its 2021 launch, and had intended to replace my iPad Mini 5 with it. Upon receipt of the Mini 6, I had immediate eyestrain and headaches, and I never had that problem with the previous generation Mini. After 3 days of trying to adapt, I had to return the Mini 6 and keep the Mini 5. to this day, every time I handle a display-model Mini 6, I have the same eyestrain viewing it. 2 months ago, I bought an Air 5, and unlike the Mini 6, I have no trouble viewing it over long periods. The display is great to my eyes, go figure. I absolutely love the Air, and also kept the Mini 5 as a secondary device. Now I just read about eyestrain from an Air 5 in this post, and it does not surprise me at all.

 

[BigMcGuire]

As someone who doesn’t suffer from eye strain, but I do use iPads heavily, I can tell you what heavily impacts headaches when using iPads is sure to keep iPads as eye level as possible. If I have the iPad resting on my lap - I find I get a pretty good headache after a little bit. If I have the iPad propped up on a body pillow and eye level - I can read for hours. This usually prevents headaches when using my iPad. May or may not be related or helpful but thought I’d mention what works for me.

 

[varezhka]

How did things go for you- did the eye strain improve?
I know some people have an adjustment period where their eyes are not that comfortable with a new display for a week or two, then they ease into being more comfortable. Did that happen with you?

And to your question- the iPad Air does not have PWM screen flicker like OLED phone screens do (which can cause eye strain and headaches), but it's possible it has temporal dithering- where different colors flash at a very fast rate on the screen to simulate more colors than the display can truly show at once- and a small subset of people are sensitive to that.
But as noted, no confirmation on whether or not the Air 5 has this or not.

Yes and no. For the iPad Air, I gave up after two weeks of terrible eye strain and headache and returned it.

Unfortunately a little later my MacBook died on me and I ended up with an M1 MacBook Air. Same eyestrain as the iPad Air, but since I didn't really have an alternative (right on a two months business trip) I decided to stick with it.

Long story short, my eyes did adjust to the new display over time but not completely. I still can't use it for an extended period like I can with my old MacBook or my iPhone, but no longer a splitting headache. No difference with M2 Air when I tried my friend's, so I think I'll just need to live with it.

Interesting to hear RoadWarrior56 had an exactly opposite experience. I guess all of our eyes really are made different from each other.

 

[jm31828]

Yes and no. For the iPad Air, I gave up after two weeks of terrible eye strain and headache and returned it.

Unfortunately a little later my MacBook died on me and I ended up with an M1 MacBook Air. Same eyestrain as the iPad Air, but since I didn't really have an alternative (right on a two months business trip) I decided to stick with it.

Long story short, my eyes did adjust to the new display over time but not completely. I still can't use it for an extended period like I can with my old MacBook or my iPhone, but no longer a splitting headache. No difference with M2 Air when I tried my friend's, so I think I'll just need to live with it.

Interesting to hear RoadWarrior56 had an exactly opposite experience. I guess all of our eyes really are made different from each other.

Sorry to hear that about the iPad, but glad things improved at least somewhat for you on the MacBook.

I have an iPhone 13 mini like you do, and don’t have issues with it, either.

Like you- to a lesser degree- I think the Air 5 bothers me a bit, too. I played with one on several occasions in the store- and it’s not bad, but I just get a bit of a dry/burning/watery eye sensation when using it.

I then tried out the 10th gen ipad and it was gentle on my eyes- no issues at all.

I believe this for me is because the Air has the wide p3 color gamut, which it achieves with temporal dithering as noted in my previous comment.
The 10th gen does not have the wide p3 color- is listed as sRGB- and this means it doesn’t need to resort to using temporal dithering- proven by the testing for this that Notebookcheck did in their review of the device.

I had ordered the Air 5 on sale for $499 and hadn’t opened it yet, was going to do so at Christmas. After all of this testing I did, I picked up the 10th gen at Costco for $389- also haven’t opened it yet.
My plan was to decide before opening either which I will keep and which I will return.

The 10th gen is great and the display looks just as good as the Air in my opinion… it also seems equally as fast in the testing I did in store- but I really would like the Air because of the 8 gb of ram- making it more future proof.

The effect is not nearly as bad as what you have described- and I keep thinking I may just adjust after a short while- but I think I might just go with the 10 to play it safe with the device I know won’t be a problem.

 

[varezhka]

Sorry to hear that about the iPad, but glad things improved at least somewhat for you on the MacBook.

I have an iPhone 13 mini like you do, and don’t have issues with it, either.

Like you- to a lesser degree- I think the Air 5 bothers me a bit, too. I played with one on several occasions in the store- and it’s not bad, but I just get a bit of a dry/burning/watery eye sensation when using it.

I then tried out the 10th gen ipad and it was gentle on my eyes- no issues at all.

I believe this for me is because the Air has the wide p3 color gamut, which it achieves with temporal dithering as noted in my previous comment.
The 10th gen does not have the wide p3 color- is listed as sRGB- and this means it doesn’t need to resort to using temporal dithering- proven by the testing for this that Notebookcheck did in their review of the device.

I had ordered the Air 5 on sale for $499 and hadn’t opened it yet, was going to do so at Christmas. After all of this testing I did, I picked up the 10th gen at Costco for $389- also haven’t opened it yet.
My plan was to decide before opening either which I will keep and which I will return.

The 10th gen is great and the display looks just as good as the Air in my opinion… it also seems equally as fast in the testing I did in store- but I really would like the Air because of the 8 gb of ram- making it more future proof.

The effect is not nearly as bad as what you have described- and I keep thinking I may just adjust after a short while- but I think I might just go with the 10 to play it safe with the device I know won’t be a problem.

Yeah, not sure at this point if it was just my eyes getting used to the display or one of the many adjustments I've made to the display settings. Probably both, as lowering screen brightness and adjusting the color profile seemed to have helped. And the default wallpaper, seemingly designed to accentuate the dynamic colors, was terrible for my eyes.

I'm very glad to hear the iPad 10 was good for your eyes. I think I may need to go check it out myself.
If it solves my last issue with Air 5, it'll definitely be a buy for me.

 

[jm31828]

Yeah, not sure at this point if it was just my eyes getting used to the display or one of the many adjustments I've made to the display settings. Probably both, as lowering screen brightness and adjusting the color profile seemed to have helped. And the default wallpaper, seemingly designed to accentuate the dynamic colors, was terrible for my eyes.

I'm very glad to hear the iPad 10 was good for your eyes. I think I may need to go check it out myself.
If it solves my last issue with Air 5, it'll definitely be a buy for me.

Yes, on your last comment- that’s why I’m seeing the iPad 10 as such a good device, really just based on eye comfort. Lol

But I’m all seriousness, as noted I found no difference in performance between this and the air 5 when using them side by side in the store.

I bought both, haven’t opened either yet snd am debating which to go ahead and return… I could see if I adjust to the air- which definitely is superior with the 8gb Ram- or play it safe snd return the air… will have to decide soon, but as noted am leaning towards keeping the ten for guaranteed eye comfort.