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iPhone 17 Pro Has Toggle to Disable Screen Flickering (PWM)

Love-hate 🍏 relationship said:
found this yesterday

enjoy

github.com

GitHub - aiaf/Stillcolor: Disable temporal dithering on your Mac with this lightweight menu bar app. Designed for Apple silicon Macs.

Disable temporal dithering on your Mac with this lightweight menu bar app. Designed for Apple silicon Macs. - aiaf/Stillcolor
github.com github.com
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Yes, Stillcolor is great, but it does nothing to address TCON FRC on MacBooks. This is performed separately from the GPU and is instead done by the TCON of the panel. The Stillcolor dev has not yet found a way to get into the TCON and see what command can disable dithering there.

The MacBook Pros also have PWM at 14.9kHz with a very aggressive modulation, in addition to having an 8-bit+FRC screen.

Theoretically it should be possible to implement Stillcolor within Accessibility settings to change the “enableDither=no” parameter as well as send a command to the TCON to disable FRC. This plus a PWM-free toggle added to MacBooks would address the flicker problem. Stillcolor frequently gets overridden by certain apps so having a native way to do it within Settings would be preferable.
 
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AshX said:
Yes, Stillcolor is great, but it does nothing to address TCON FRC on MacBooks. This is performed separately from the GPU and is instead done by the TCON of the panel. The Stillcolor dev has not yet found a way to get into the TCON and see what command can disable dithering there.

The MacBook Pros also have PWM at 14.9kHz with a very aggressive modulation, in addition to having an 8-bit+FRC screen.

Theoretically it should be possible to implement Stillcolor within Accessibility settings to change the “enableDither=no” parameter as well as send a command to the TCON to disable FRC. This plus a PWM-free toggle added to MacBooks would address the flicker problem. Stillcolor frequently gets overridden by certain apps so having a native way to do it within Settings would be preferable.
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I see.

speaking of, the macbook pros screens aren't true 10bits ?

I guess at least that issue will be fixed with the m6 oled mbp since oled are typically 10bits

also do you know how i can disable temporal dithering on an external monitor ?
 
Love-hate 🍏 relationship said:
I see.

speaking of, the macbook pros screens aren't true 10bits ?

I guess at least that issue will be fixed with the m6 oled mbp since oled are typically 10bits

also do you know how i can disable temporal dithering on an external monitor ?
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No, nothing except the Pro Display XDR is true 10-bit. iPhones and iPads lie somewhere in between.

BetterDisplay incorporated Stillcolor and so long as you send an 8-bit signal and have GPU dithering disabled within it, it should send as clean an 8-bit signal as you’re going to get out of a Mac.
 
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Oh, nice. One single feature that would make me think about upgrading. And if unavailable on cheaper iPhones would be useless anyway. It should have been on every OLED iPhone since day 1 and available as a toggle on iOS 26, not just one new iPhone. Eye health is not premium feature that Apple need to ask money for
 
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AshX said:
No, nothing except the Pro Display XDR is true 10-bit. iPhones and iPads lie somewhere in between.

BetterDisplay incorporated Stillcolor and so long as you send an 8-bit signal and have GPU dithering disabled within it, it should send as clean an 8-bit signal as you’re going to get out of a Mac.
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Sent you a pm if you don't mind
 
AshX said:
Perhaps this comment was made in jest, but there are over 7,000 users on the r/PWM_sensitive subreddit alone.

It would be fantastic if there was also an option to disable spatiotemporal dithering on the iPhone as well as MacBooks under the same Accessibility section.

Being sensitive to these types of flicker is absolutely career destroying for many of us who rely on laptops and phones for our careers. I would not wish this neurological issue on my worst enemy. Be thankful you are not affected.

By the way, my issue with flicker on screens and lighting started after a COVID infection. I had no problems before. I walk with a cane now, too. I’m only 32. You never know when you may be one of the few to need a mobility aid or an Accessibility option on a device.
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I believe dithering is possible to turn off on iPhone by enabling energy saving mode. It has hardware bit res limiter, works like a kill switch for all HDR videos on the web
 
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Wow, I never thought I’d read something like this! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I’m still using iPhone SE and was seriously planning to drop iPhone altogether. I had just asked ChatGPT what the best PWM-free phone would be, and now this shows up!!! Absolutely incredible!!! Pre-ordering right away!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🥳🥳🥳🥳❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thank you Apple!! 🥹
 
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I haven’t been able to use a proper flagship iPhone since iPhone X without 24/7 headaches due to the PWM flickering. I currently use the third-generation iPhone SE as it’s the “latest” iPhone with zero display flickering at all as none of the LCD models have ever had any flicker.

I’m skeptical since I’m convinced that I need a true flicker-free setting, as in no measurable flickering or modulation at all and not just a faux DC dimming alternative—it’s difficult to quantify what this will be based on the description. If it lives up to the setting’s title this could be a true revolution for me and the many PWM-sensitive users out there who have had to endure headaches, migraines, and an inability to use newer iPhones for the past eight years.
 
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Mark Gurman says : “ OOOOPPPPPPSSSSSS “

As usual, time after time after time, and again and again and again, 7 out of 10 WRONG predictions.
And yet macrumors keeps mentioning him 10-20 times a day!!
So the question is, macrumors, how much DOES he pay you?
 
Honestly, the base iPhone staring with 256gb storage and 120hz screen and then this, this is so consumer friendly it’s amazing
 
Any idea if this will make it to the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup? Or older models?

Also, what will be the downside of turning PWM off?

I personally get random headaches from PWN but I just deal with it…very interested in this new feature.
 
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ghsDUDE said:
Any idea if this will make it to the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup? Or older models?

Also, what will be the downside of turning PWM off?

I personally get random headaches from PWN but I just deal with it…very interested in this new feature.
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This will most likely only be on the iPhone 17 generation. I’ve been waiting a long time for Apple to add an Accessibility setting for this to older generations, and it seems that it required new hardware. Probably only on the Pro and possibly the Air, but we’d need confirmation.

The only possible downsides could be slightly reduced battery life and/or color accuracy, particularly at lower brightness levels. Although I’d bet that with the time Apple has had to create a flicker-free setting color accuracy will remain virtually flawless.
 
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Is this setting called Disable PWM or Disable Screen Flickering? I’ve found the hard way that DC dimming can still flicker…
 
Credit where it's due to Apple, it's great this is FINALLY getting the attention it deserves - is PWM sensitivity widespread? not really, but it is AWFUL for those affected (including me).

I am still using an iPhone 11 because I am super sensitive to flickering and dithering, I sincerely hope this will go some way in helping me to upgrade, and applaud Apple for finally doing something about it.
 
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I think it will be half-way we need it, but better than nothing. Fingers crossed it will be available for regular iPhone 17 too, because I don't like the Pro looks.
 
siksik6 said:
Credit where it's due to Apple, it's great this is FINALLY getting the attention it deserves - is PWM sensitivity widespread? not really, but it is AWFUL for those affected (including me).

I am still using an iPhone 11 because I am super sensitive to flickering and dithering, I sincerely hope this will go some way in helping me to upgrade, and applaud Apple for finally doing something about it.
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Based on random conversations I’ve had I’m willing to bet it’s more widespread than any publication or company has ever measured. There are so many people I’ve come across that also claim to get headaches or migraines from using a new iPhone and weren’t sure why that was the case.
 
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siksik6 said:
DC dimming isn't real DC dimming any more, it's a software imitation and still has flicker ( just less than PWM). No-one does 'proper' DC dimming any more.
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Exactly, “DC dimming” on OLED is usually just marketing for lower modulations than typical PWM. At least since the early days of OLED when real DC dimming did exist.
 
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