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amputpepet

Suspended
Original poster
Oct 9, 2021
10
9
My sister and me both got the iPhone 13 Pro Max. I can use her phone all day without any problem, but my phone cause me uncomfortable to use it even though it is the same model and brightness. I think my phone display is defect?
 
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Update for now. My sister can use my phone without any problem. But she need to use it for 3 day to confirm before swap with mine.
 
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That’s interesting. I was going to suggest that you might be sensitive to PWM, but if you can use your sisters phone without issue, it’s unlikely that. I hope you can figure out a solution.
 
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Try turning off the ProMotion. Some people get headaches/dizziness from it.
Settings-Accessibility-Motion-Limit Frame Rate-toggle on.
 
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That’s interesting. I was going to suggest that you might be sensitive to PWM, but if you can use your sisters phone without issue, it’s unlikely that. I hope you can figure out a solution.
Not sure about this PWM stuff. Today I tried my colleague iPhone 13 (non pro), I feel headache by just using it for 5 min only. Worse than my iPhone 13 Pro Max. Previously iPhone 11 (non pro), iPhone 7 Plus never have such issue on me.
 
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Not sure about this PWM stuff. Today I tried my colleague iPhone 13 (non pro), I feel headache by just using it for 5 min only. Worse than my iPhone 13 Pro Max. Previously iPhone 11 (non pro), iPhone 7 Plus never have such issue on me.

This seems PWM sensitivity, PWM is the most common way to control oled brightness (display turns on and off super fast to get dimmer), frequency is a big part of it (and iPhone 13 pros have good frequency, better than normal 13s), but there is modulation too, and this is not so good on Pros this year.
I think I get eye soreness using them too (just tried in store so far, I’m waiting to find one to purchase, test, and return if needed), I had to sell an iPhone XS back in the day for the same reason.
It’s really strange that you can use your sister’s device, actually…
 
Hey i am really happy for you that you can use your sisters phone.
To help me and other on the forum better understand what might be the difference here could you please give us some info about both phones.

Color options, storage, ios version, do you see a noticable difference like tone of the display yellow or blueish?
 
I had 2 different iPhone 13 Pro Max’s. One caused headaches/dizziness and the other didn’t. The one that caused the issues had more of a yellow display tint. Also after closely examining the displays I noticed the one that caused the symptoms had this weird light refraction through the Ceramic Shield which made it more difficult for my eyes to focus. I think a lot of these problems are caused by the Ceramic Shield. There are variations in the manufacturing process of the Ceramic Shield which causes light to refract differently through some. Most don’t notice this but people with sensitive eyes do.
 
@cgolca can you describe the refraction in more detail? Do you, by chance, have a photo of the refraction vs. not?

I have been struggling big time with my 13 pro. I tried a 12 pro and 13- similar issues. Wondering if it's worth taking a shot on a different 13 pro to see if I luck out and have no issues, like you did with your Max.
 
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I had to give up on the 13 Pro. I’m back on an iPhone XR after all these years. My original XR I had when they were released had a much harsher backlighting. So did my SE2 which I had to get rid of. This one is softer and just works with my eyes. So even though it’s only 64 gb and literally dropped free on my doorstep by AT&T, I’m hugging it like a stuffed bear and using the heck out of it.
 
Update: I have been able to pretty much move past my issues on the 13 pro. I'm mostly able to use the phone normally now, sometimes a very slight headache. I am not sure if my body just eventually adjusted to the screen, or other factors changed, or a combination. I'm not sure if the issue was truly PWM, or some other issue(s). I was definitely getting very uncomfortable burning behind eyes/migraine symptoms on the 13 pro initially, as well as on the 12 pro and 13. X was fine.

Over the last few weeks I tried gradually push my discomfort daily by using 13 Pro to just expose my body with the intent to hopefully create adjustment. When it went beyond mild discomfort, I backed off and went back to my old phone until I felt OK. I don't know if this was medically wise and I don't necessarily recommend it, but I tried it. I also made some other changes, such as cutting way back on caffeine and trying to reduce stress/anxiety.

Anyway, just wanted to share my update, as I would have liked to have seen such an update from others before when deciding how to proceed myself in this situation.
 
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@cgolca can you describe the refraction in more detail? Do you, by chance, have a photo of the refraction vs. not?

I have been struggling big time with my 13 pro. I tried a 12 pro and 13- similar issues. Wondering if it's worth taking a shot on a different 13 pro to see if I luck out and have no issues, like you did with your Max.
The best way I’d describe it is like wearing a pair of glasses with just the slightest wrong prescription. Or looking through glass that slightly distorts what’s behind making it difficult for your eyes to focus.
 
I upgraded from the Xr to the 12 mini and I have similar issues in dark environments. I think it has to do with the PWM and OLED display.

I noticed there's more "glow" to the screen vs LCD when the screen is dimmed.

Its making me want to go back to LCD but apple only offers it on a few models without 5g ?
Hopefully they release a newer SE with FHD LCD soon.
 
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I’m getting worried about whether having an infrared light shined on our faces for hours on end is good for our eyes…
 
I’m getting worried about whether having an infrared light shined on our faces for hours on end is good for our eyes…
Do you mean infrared from the screen or from Face ID? If Face ID then you can turn off attention awareness so it is not constantly active. This is what I do so it only activates when I unlock the phone
 
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I’m getting worried about whether having an infrared light shined on our faces for hours on end is good for our eyes…
IR light is heat. Your eyes get 1000X more IR light blasting into them when stepping outside on a sunny day.

Watching a kettle on the stove waiting for it to boil blasts more IR light into your eyes than 500 iPhones.

Like staring at a campfire? That’s probably equivalent to 10,000 iPhones.
 
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Do you mean infrared from the screen or from Face ID? If Face ID then you can turn off attention awareness so it is not constantly active. This is what I do so it only activates when I unlock the phone

If not heard about that! Maybe that explains reports that the iPhone is typically blasting that ir light all the time.

Thanks, I’m going to look that up…

Okay, must be that second setting


And I’m hoping that explains the videos of it spraying your face all the time with IR.

That sounds pretty dubious/pointless to me even if I wasn’t worried about the light. Wastes battery at best.

Maaaaaybe this gets rid of the issue, if it is one. I figure no big deal if it turns on momentarily when it’s locked or for an unlock prompt like to check passwords, but spraying your face all the time…and this might explain why it does.
 
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