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iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 15 Pro Max Dim Screen

Balders

Balders

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 12, 2008
72
32
UK
Anyone else noticed the 15 Pro Max brightness is only half that of the 14 Pro Max? First thing that caught my attention when I'd finished setting it up. On max brightness, the 15 is so much dimmer.

Photo is a bit rubbish as it was taken on my iPad, but you can clearly see the difference. Rather disappointing... :/

UPDATE: A hard reset, as recommended by Skrungemaster, fixed the issue. My odd looking grey colours and the face melting brightness are back to normal :)

IMG_0048.jpeg
 
Last edited:
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You’re not the only one, mine is the same and it’s one of the first things I noticed. Unfortunately it looks like they downgraded the screen a little bit as mine has worse colours than the 14 Pro Max. I’m happy with the phone for everything else but the screen is not as good sadly.
 
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Left one is 14, right one is 15. Agree the colours look better, but the brightness is half as much. Increase contrast is off, auto brightness is off. Brightness level set to max on both.

The 14 has that melting your eyeballs brightness that isn't there on the 15...

IMG_0052.jpeg
 
Balders said:
Good suggestion - auto brightness is off though :)
Click to expand...
Interesting, I would have imagined MKBHD and others would have picked up on it. Will have my one delivered in a couple of hours and can double check your initial findings
 
14's battery was terrible. maybe cause of the brightness.

Try testing them in direct sunlight, with auto brightness on - it might go as bright or brither on the new one.
 
Balders said:
IMG_5884.jpeg
Left one is 14, right one is 15. Agree the colours look better, but the brightness is half as much. Increase contrast is off, auto brightness is off. Brightness level set to max on both.

The 14 has that melting your eyeballs brightness that isn't there on the 15...

View attachment 2275985
Click to expand...
Balders said:
Left one is 14, right one is 15. Agree the colours look better, but the brightness is half as much. Increase contrast is off, auto brightness is off. Brightness level set to max on both.

The 14 has that melting your eyeballs brightness that isn't there on the 15...

View attachment 2275985
Click to expand...
Strange one given the improved nits on 15
 
Try with an HDR video, maybe they limit the brightness indoors to not reach that “blinding” spot and to save battery.
 
14 Pro Max vs 15 Pro Max

If I turn auto brightness on, the screen brightness slider (without adjusting it manually) goes to the same level however the screen brightness itself is massively different - I'm struggling to read the screen because its so dim. There's definitely a massive difference in brightness between them, certainly on this 15 Pro Max anyway. Keen to see if anyone else has the same experience...
 
Torty said:
Confused. So it's 14 vs 15PM? They have different screens.
Click to expand...
This. That screenshot is comparing apples (haha) to oranges. Max brightness spec-wise as far as nits is the same between 14PM and 15PM.
 
T4t3r said:
This. That screenshot is comparing apples (haha) to oranges. Max brightness spec-wise as far as nits is the same between 14PM and 15PM.
Click to expand...
No, it's a 14 Pro Max vs a 15 Pro Max as per my original post...
 
Balders said:
No, it's a 14 Pro Max vs a 15 Pro Max as per my original post...
Click to expand...
Maybe there is something weird going on with attachments but this is what is showing up in the quote...

I'm not talking about the picture of your phones.

1695403544632.png
 
can you take a new picture like the first one, except where both sliders are all the way up? (The 15PM is clearly not all the way up on the slider in the first photo).
 
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I took them outside too, side by side, 15 Pro Max is definitely still dimmer in daylight... It's like night and day difference :/

Here's one with both on full (apologies for missing that previously).

IMG_0055.jpeg
 
Balders said:
Took them outside, side by side, 15 Pro Max is definitely still dimmer... It's like night and day difference :/

View attachment 2276071
Click to expand...
Weird, I can’t get my 14PM to look as washed out as the left one on the same settings

If you think there’s something wrong with it, why not go exchange it? Stores keep stock for exchanges. And Early Field Failures have a name because they exist.

Last thing: you haven’t recently just completed data xfer or something, right? They may throttle brightness when overheating etc.
 
I'll call into the Apple Store tomorrow and compare mine with the showroom models to see if I've got a duff one.
 
NotApplicable said:
Weird, I can’t get my 14PM to look as washed out as the left one on the same settings

If you think there’s something wrong with it, why not go exchange it? Stores keep stock for exchanges. And Early Field Failures have a name because they exist.

Last thing: you haven’t recently just completed data xfer or something, right? They may throttle brightness when overheating etc.
Click to expand...
Same here. My 14PM looks like the right one with brightness all the way up.
 
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