Anyone notice a difference in the white balance of the pro in comparison to the iphone 6 or 6 plus. My 6plus is definetly a "cooler" white balance, while the pro is pinkish by comparison. This can be seen when comparing white screens on full brightness. Mine is consistent across the ipad, which for many can an issue to find in apple products if your sensistive to such things (some people have the white balance shift across the screen-most common in apple products is towards a yellowish tint)
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Pro white balance
- Thread starter JPizzzle
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It's certainly warmer than other Apple displays. I actually like it as it is somewhat better calibrated than my Air2 which I find to be too blue.
Not being able to calibrate the white point is a major issue, I would have liked to be able to match it with my computer displays.
Not being able to calibrate the white point is a major issue, I would have liked to be able to match it with my computer displays.
There are color shifts across the entire range of Apple devices, and often across the individual screens of some of those devices.
You are comparing your own iPad Pro to your own iPhone, and your observations are only relevant to those samples of those devices.
Neither you nor anyone else have a meaningful way to compare "the" iPad Pro to "the" iPhone 6. There is no "the". There is "an" iPad...yours. There is "an" iPhone...yours.
The only thing you can say with absolute certainty when comparing an iPad screen to an iPhone screen is that the iPad's screen is larger.
You are comparing your own iPad Pro to your own iPhone, and your observations are only relevant to those samples of those devices.
Neither you nor anyone else have a meaningful way to compare "the" iPad Pro to "the" iPhone 6. There is no "the". There is "an" iPad...yours. There is "an" iPhone...yours.
The only thing you can say with absolute certainty when comparing an iPad screen to an iPhone screen is that the iPad's screen is larger.
This is absolutely true. My launch day iPhone 5 came all scuffed up (was that scuffgate?). Apple rushed a replacement to me and let me keep the current phone until it arrived. I set the new phone up and went to go wipe the old phone when I realized the wallpaper looked totally different. It was night and day. It wasn't just a different color temperature, but the new screen was dull and washed out. There are always small variances in screens, but don't forget that Apple is so big that they often have multiple suppliers.
I ended up keeping the scuffed phone, as the color was ridiculously better than the replacement. I chose function over aesthetics. That's the same phone that had a recalled battery that would just shut off and then a broken power button that was also recalled. Man, my iPhone 5 experience sucked! I got mad after the power button and second recall. Switched to Android. Bought a Pebble.
Today I have an iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, so yeah, I came crawling back.
I have seen 3 iPad Pros and they all have a slight pinkish tint when holding up a bluish white phone screen next to it. But if you don't have any other screens on to compare, it looks simply white. This Is not very surprising as from what I can see Apple are making little effort to develop a "standard" across their products. But it is also worth mentioning that even expensive Eizo models need calibrating and they aren't that close to a D65 calibration out of the box! I think the concept that a screen can be made to be "right" and "consistent" is just not possible at any economic level. The iPad Pros seem to be warmer than the iPhones from my own experience to-date.
Okay so I took some pictures of my display. There's definitely a color tint, although I'm color blind so I can't place the color, but it's there. Brightness is my bigger concern. Here's 3 pics of my display at 0% brightness, 50%, and 100%, respectively. I think it's pretty bad backlight uniformity myself, albeit relatively subtle. You think it's worth ordering a different iPad? I think it is darker around the edges, particularly on the left/top of the device by the camera.
Pics were taken in dark room with iPhone 4S directly above display about 2 feet.
Pics were taken in dark room with iPhone 4S directly above display about 2 feet.
Maybe I'm not as discerning as I thought I was, but I see nothing terribly wrong with this screen.
It is tinted slightly warm, but I don't consider it a deal breaker -- it seems to be consistent throughout the screen. I also don't really see major spotlighting or backlight issues.
It is tinted slightly warm, but I don't consider it a deal breaker -- it seems to be consistent throughout the screen. I also don't really see major spotlighting or backlight issues.
I wouldn't go comparing color tints in video reviews!
I'm a cinematographer. I could white balance my camera with two competing gray cards and get 2 different results. Even the same exact gray card can change as it ages. Then you've got different cameras themselves that can differ, even if both are balanced to the same gray. Then you've got post production.
There's just nothing exact about photographing displays and viewing them on other displays.
On a separate note, I've seen a lot of people say that the iPad Pro is slightly warmer than they are used to. This may be a very GOOD thing. Apple displays almost always run too cold, as it makes whites look whiter. I think that is intentional. I also wouldn't be surprised if the iPad Pro is intentionally warmer, as that would put it closer to the target of 65k. It's always a shock when I'm staring at my iPhone and look up at my color calibrated monitors. They look SO warm in comparison.
I read a display test on the Pro a few weeks back... It came back as still running colder than 65k, but I believe it was less cool than the iPhone.
I'm a cinematographer. I could white balance my camera with two competing gray cards and get 2 different results. Even the same exact gray card can change as it ages. Then you've got different cameras themselves that can differ, even if both are balanced to the same gray. Then you've got post production.
There's just nothing exact about photographing displays and viewing them on other displays.
On a separate note, I've seen a lot of people say that the iPad Pro is slightly warmer than they are used to. This may be a very GOOD thing. Apple displays almost always run too cold, as it makes whites look whiter. I think that is intentional. I also wouldn't be surprised if the iPad Pro is intentionally warmer, as that would put it closer to the target of 65k. It's always a shock when I'm staring at my iPhone and look up at my color calibrated monitors. They look SO warm in comparison.
I read a display test on the Pro a few weeks back... It came back as still running colder than 65k, but I believe it was less cool than the iPhone.
As I mentioned in my last post, you can't judge anything on a video unless both iPads are in the same video set to the same brightness, side by side. Even then you could only judge the difference between the two but not the true color, as that will be influenced by everything in the chain of making the video and then the display you are viewing the video on.
Without even playing these two videos, you can see the hand in the top video is pinkish/purple/sickly and the woman's skin in the bottom video is golden and nice. I'd wager that the top person's skin isn't that sickly in real life and that the bottom person's isn't that nice... So you're most likely seeing a lot of differences unrelated to the iPad.
Voice of reason and knowledge here. I would add that sometimes cameras can pick up things that human eyes do not.
I was at Apple store this Wednesday and saw a table full of iPads, and they were all blue-tinged. Actually the iPad Pro was bluer than the Air 2 and mini 4, which might have to do with the backlight needing to light up a larger surface. On a bright side (no pun intended), it has the same anti-reflection technology that the new iPad mini has, so the colors are vivid and viewing angles are fantastic.
But it is sad that Apple is now behind the competition when it comes to color accuracy, and even sadder that it appears to be a deliberate decision. (e.g. shared by all iPads and iPhones) Those who have trained eyes can easily tell apart the difference between iPads' screens and, say, Surface 4 Pro's screen. Samsung and Google also have surpassed Apple in display calibration in their flagship devices. Apple appear to have succumbed to showroom appeal with their i-Devices' displays.
Then again it is hard to blame them seeing how people decry "yellow screen defect" for their Nexus 5X/6P and demand replacements for a perfectly calibrated sRGB display.
Last edited:
Voice of reason and knowledge here. I would add that sometimes cameras can pick up things that human eyes do not.
I was at Apple store this Wednesday and saw a table full of iPads, and they were all blue-tinged. Actually the iPad Pro was bluer than the Air 2 and mini 4, which might have to do with the backlight needing to light up a larger surface. On a bright side (no pun intended), it has the same anti-reflection technology that the new iPad mini has, so the colors are vivid and viewing angles are fantastic.
But it is sad that Apple is now behind the competition when it comes to color accuracy, and even sadder that it appears to be a deliberate decision. (e.g. shared by all iPads and iPhones) Those who have trained eyes can easily tell apart the difference between iPads' screens and, say, Surface 4 Pro's screen. Samsung and Google also have surpassed Apple in display calibration in their flagship devices. Apple appear to have succumbed to showroom appeal with their i-Devices' displays.
Then again it is hard to blame them seeing how people decry "yellow screen defect" for their Nexus 5X/6P and demand replacements for a perfectly calibrated sRGB display.
Yep... I have a Surface Pro 4. The screen is just spectacular. First screen I've not needed to calibrate with my Spyder... Which is great considering software calibration is definitely not perfect.
That said, when I switched to Android for awhile... My Galaxy Note (forget which version) was just terribly oversaturated. Switched to the HTC M8 and that had really bad gamma that washed things out. Went back to the iPhone. I'm sure there are much better screens now, at least I mostly know what I'm getting with the iPhone... Good gamma and color, with a blue white point.
I was saying a similar thing in the headphone jack rumor thread. Sound quality of the iPhone's DAC isn't perfect, but it is damn good. Color is the same.
I keep wishing for less gimmicky upgrades and for Apple to say "high resolution sound support with a 20% more powerful amp" and "factory calibrated color".
I remember the video explaining how high tech cameras were used to cut the iPhone 5's glass plates to size. Surely they could do factory color calibration.
Sound/color aren't sexy upgrades... But they are a part of everything you can do on the device! If either of those had been upgraded on the 6S, I'd have upgraded my 6 in a second. Force Touch wasn't enough for me.
It's really hard to tell. It looks like the centre of the screen is brighter and with a different tint, but I suspect that this is something introduced by the camera rather than the iPad. To eliminate this it is better to sit the iPad against a wall, and create some distance between camera and iPad. And then crop the picture afterwards. If I concentrate on the perimeters then it looks like the typical warmer (towards red) tint that I have seen on most iPad pros, but fairly uniform.....but the centre is a distraction at the moment
Well that is certainly better although it still looks a bit brighter in the middle, although nowhere near as much. So perhaps your iPad is a bit darker towards the edges? What do you see in reality here? In terms of colour uniformity it is towards the warmer side but I don't see any variations that scare me. Yes it is not perfect, but it is what I would call within tolerance. Is it bothering you?
By the way, I posted a screenshot of mine in the "Yellow" thread. Did you see it? It isn't perfect either.
In person, if I'm facing the middle of the screen the area around it looks to be a different tint. However, if I move my head, the next area looks as the middle did and then the middle is a little darker. I think this is called "fall off" or "drop off" but can't recall exactly. I'm debating whether to swap for another....
I have read all these posts and I have two questions.
1. Why are you so concerned about a difference in white balance? To the ordinary person, it is all subjective.
2 If you are concerned about white balance for professional (or fussy personal ) reasons, then pick a device (be it a smartphone/tablet/computer) and calibrate it for white balance. it the others are not equivalent, so what, use your reference device. Personally, as much as I like an iPhone or iPad, I would use a properly calibrated computer for white balance.
1. Why are you so concerned about a difference in white balance? To the ordinary person, it is all subjective.
2 If you are concerned about white balance for professional (or fussy personal ) reasons, then pick a device (be it a smartphone/tablet/computer) and calibrate it for white balance. it the others are not equivalent, so what, use your reference device. Personally, as much as I like an iPhone or iPad, I would use a properly calibrated computer for white balance.