Got a new iPad Pro m2 yesterday while my other one is being returned and this new one came with iOS 16.0 no problems at all, no yellow smearing or anything š
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iPad Pro Is yellow smearing when scrolling normal??
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JabroniCorleone
macrumors member
I have space grey M2 and my M1 was space grey. There is at least one on this thread and another in another forum who got M2s with 16.0. The Apple Stores probably have them with 16.0 which is more than likely how they received them at the time.
Rafterman
macrumors 604
jonnyb098
macrumors 601
Not to be a downer, but I really doubt MacRumors is going to report on this issue. There's a 66-page thread about the iPhone 13 Pro taking bad pictures, and they never reported on that either. That's just one example.
I noticed a similar issue on my 11" M1 iPad Pro immediately after upgrading to iPadOS 16.1. In my case white text on dark backgrounds turned yellowish when scrolling (only when True Tone is on). It is already yellowish when Night Shift is on, so no change there. The best way I can explain it is as if Night Shift turns on while scrolling, and then turns off.
Also, this was mainly noticeable after upgrading, as it was a bit jarring. But now, I don't really notice it as much. I must be getting used to it because I can still see it if I really pay attention. Everyone's perception is different, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of those that claim to not have the issue on 16.1 just don't notice it...I always take those claims with a grain of salt.
I noticed a similar issue on my 11" M1 iPad Pro immediately after upgrading to iPadOS 16.1. In my case white text on dark backgrounds turned yellowish when scrolling (only when True Tone is on). It is already yellowish when Night Shift is on, so no change there. The best way I can explain it is as if Night Shift turns on while scrolling, and then turns off.
Also, this was mainly noticeable after upgrading, as it was a bit jarring. But now, I don't really notice it as much. I must be getting used to it because I can still see it if I really pay attention. Everyone's perception is different, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of those that claim to not have the issue on 16.1 just don't notice it...I always take those claims with a grain of salt.
Frankfurt
macrumors 6502a
You are probably correct re: macrumors. This is issue may not be widespread (if hardware) and if it is (i.e. due to software, which I believe it is) not many necessarily notice it. My solution is to switch Night Shift off. I can live with that, if there is no software fix.
Rafterman
macrumors 604
I don't have the discoloration (Night shift is off), but I do see the white text on black background dimming when scrolling on 12.9 M2. Based on others' post, it is clearly software. Particularly people who have M1s and downgraded to 15.7 (no issue), then upgraded back to 16.1 and get the issue. That's the clincher.
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So this is interesting...
Just for giggles, I started a screen recording, did some scrolling on this site and observed the text dimming/changing yellowish. Then I played back the video (on the same iPad), and the text stayed white! Thought that was interesting, so I tried again with Notes (to see if maybe it was a Safari issue in my case), and had the same behavior. šµ Again, I have the M1 iPad Pro, True Tone is on, and Night Shift is off for me.
I'm curious...how does video playback of recorded screen capture of you scrolling look on M2 iPads? If it plays back white for you too, I think it's just further proof that it's a software issue and not a hardware issue with the display/pixel response time.
Iāve taken several videos of this on my M2. Iāve also submitted them to Apple through their Feedback Assistant app for beta software. When I check those videos from that app a web site opens that plays the video and the issue is not as evident as it is on the ipad so I donāt know what they are actually seeing if theyāve looked at my report. When I play the videos in photos itās again not as evident but the blurring is plainly evident as well as some discoloration, but still not quite as obvious as the issue actually is.
For me white text on a black background, either on a site with a dark setting or when dark mode kicks in, is the most obvious. The text dims which appears as some yellowing and blurs a bit as the page scrolls. However even in apps such as Settings or Mail without dark mode the black text dims as the white background yellows. Itās almost as if momentarily night shift gets kicked up higher on the slider to the warmest end while scrolling and then returns to your normal setting when scrolling stops. Turning off night shift and True Tone minimizes this to the point itās really not noticeable even though there is a faint bit of blurring which could be normal. Iām certainly no authority but this really looks like some bug with how night shift and True Tone work since 16.1.
Iāve mentioned this before as I know some in this thread are also on the beta software but if they could post their feedback report numbers I could reference them on my report. Iāve listed mine several times but I havenāt seen any others unless I missed something. My report still shows no other reports received. If we could all reference the different reports we might get some attention to this.
Actually just turning off True Tone minimizes the issue considerably even with night shift on. Thatās most visible with black text on a white background. Iām using Settings to scroll and look at this. Turn True Tone off and the white background brightens considerably and then scrolling really is improved. To the point someone else might not see any issue whatsoever. With both activeā¦Houston we have a problem! Thatās why again this really feels like software. If the issue can be eliminated by manipulating one or two settings I donāt think a screen defect would be that likely.
When you say "video" are you talking about a screen recording, or recording with another camera? When submitting to Apple, you should use a recording from another camera, as many of the posts here have shown. A screen recording probably wouldn't capture the yellow smearing, much like how a screenshot doesn't capture dead pixels or different colors whether True Tone and Night Shift are on or off.
My curiosity is referring to using the built-in screen recording feature and then playing it back on the same iPad. The thought is, if it plays video of scrolling normally without yellow smearing, then it isn't a hardware defect.
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Iāve used the built-in recording feature. The issue is definitely present in the video just not quite as obvious.
Using my phone to take the video the issue looks worse than it actually is. The blurring appears much more pronounced. If I were looking at that video to make a decision on this Iād say replace that thing, it is completely defective. The built-in feature gives a more accurate depiction even though itās not quite as obvious, but much closer to reality.
The yellowing is also not really obvious at all when using my phoneās camera. The blurring is worse but the yellowing just isnāt obvious. The built-in video is much closer to what I actually see on my device. I wonāt be submitting the phoneās video.
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The screen recorder bypasses things like True Tone / screen brightness, and it records at 60 FPS (and fluctuates to an even lower number, depending on the length of the recording). That's not going to tell you much.
I'm not sure there's much more that can be said until or unless we know more information, and it's certainly possible that there's been a change to the way Night Shift or True Tone is being implemented that people are picking up on, but I just want to reiterate that the issue of "smearing" on iPad screens has been remarked on for years, whether the user is aware of response times or otherwise:
Edit: The Photos app also disables True Tone for playback, just FYI. You can see the change in color temperature when you switch back and forth from the app. I'm trying to keep an open mind here, but it really does just seem like you're all picking up on the same poor motion performance that Apple displays have always had to varying degrees, even across the same product line (eg: the 16" MacBook Pro having significantly worse response times than the 14" model).
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The primary presentation of this issue for me is the dimming, or yellowing, of text as I begin to scroll in every app including Safari. Just touching the screen to begin scrolling causes this to appear. It first became noticeable on my M1 iPP on this site because I had the site set to its dark setting. So the stark contrast of the white text against the black background made the dimming or yellowing immediately apparent. Back then I assumed it was just an issue with this site as Iāve had various issues with MR in Safari. And nothing like this had caught my attention in the year before that I had the device. But then came 16.1 for the iPads and I started to notice but still thought it was a Safari issue with MR.
Then it continued with my M2 and I realized I was seeing this when dark mode kicked in and on other sites that I have set to their dark settings. Thatās when I started searching here and found the other complaints. Iāve minimized the effect here on MR because I now use the Noir app that makes a grey background available so the contrast between the text and the background is not as stark as the dark setting lessening the yellowing/dimming effect.
The minor blurring that occurs when scrolling is typical of iPads and is probably not the issue we are seeing. We all may be perceiving this differently. For me it is, as mentioned previously, as if the night shift function temporarily jumps to the warmer end of the spectrum while scrolling and then returns to where it should be. It may well be some buggy interaction with True Tone since turning that off minimizes this significantly for me. If I turned both off I doubt anyone would be able to see any issue. But this is new, and whether itās primarily with the M2s or not, it does appear to have coincided with 16.1. Built in video captures do show the effect but not as much as is actually seen. If thatās because True Tone is not captured in such videos then that is understandable.
Then it continued with my M2 and I realized I was seeing this when dark mode kicked in and on other sites that I have set to their dark settings. Thatās when I started searching here and found the other complaints. Iāve minimized the effect here on MR because I now use the Noir app that makes a grey background available so the contrast between the text and the background is not as stark as the dark setting lessening the yellowing/dimming effect.
The minor blurring that occurs when scrolling is typical of iPads and is probably not the issue we are seeing. We all may be perceiving this differently. For me it is, as mentioned previously, as if the night shift function temporarily jumps to the warmer end of the spectrum while scrolling and then returns to where it should be. It may well be some buggy interaction with True Tone since turning that off minimizes this significantly for me. If I turned both off I doubt anyone would be able to see any issue. But this is new, and whether itās primarily with the M2s or not, it does appear to have coincided with 16.1. Built in video captures do show the effect but not as much as is actually seen. If thatās because True Tone is not captured in such videos then that is understandable.
jonnyb098
macrumors 601
Wow you people donāt get it do youā¦..the response time of the display is just garbage itās that simpleā¦.itās not gonna show up on a screen recording and I dont know how software will fix a physical inadequacy of a displayā¦.but ok. True Tone and night shift just make it more obvious due to inherently making the display warmer. Iāve had nearly every iPad /ipad pro and never seen smearing this bad as on my 11ā M2ā¦..sadly I did a trade in and canāt get my 2020 model back now. But this is bad.
But this is exactly how poor motion performance would manifest in such a circumstance. I refer again to this gif, both showing 144hz panels (and quoted response time performance, but that's another issue specific to display marketing) in which one, the IPS panel with the faster response times, scrolls cleanly, while the slower VA panel, "dims" and "yellows" as it scrolls in the same circumstance. That's because the pixel is transitioning from black to white more slowly, and our eyes perceive that as a value in between.
Now multiply the effect in the gif by several factors, depending on your model of iPad and the almost impressively slow response time performance it achieves by comparison. The intensity of your specific True Tone / Night Shift calibration is a further variable that adds, per its intended function, a "yellow" tint to the white text.
Frankfurt
macrumors 6502a
How does the 2022 IPP 12.9 differ from previous IPP screens (other than being Mini LED)? I did not witness this on my 2017 10.5ā IPP.
Well, we don't have information on the M2 model specifically, but the 10.5" model has a 17.6ms black-to-white transition time versus something like 45ms on the M1 mini-LED model last year.
Frankfurt
macrumors 6502a
Thank you for the linked articles. That is quite insightful and indeed may indicate this is an inherent display design issue. Means I will likely have to shut off Night Shift for good when reading āwhite on blackā.
Yes, your experience would be particularly jarring as the 10.5" model has a blazing fast panel by Apple standards, it seems like!
If I were to speculate, I think the issue of slow response times in Apple displays is becoming more noticeable to a greater number of people in recent years because more sites are offering (and more users are implementing) a dark mode feature, likely because of the switch to OLED in the iPhone. This is a scenario that is particularly revealing of slow response times. This wouldn't explain the experience of everyone who has commented in this thread, and I don't wish to invalidate their perspective. But in the general sense, the problem of "yellow smearing" is a direct consequence of the slow response times of iPad displays, a problem that is notably worse in the mini-LED model.
And like I said before, it's not an "issue," per se. But it is a characteristic of the panel that can be distracting in some instances.
Rafterman
macrumors 604
Actually, a number of people reported that the same M1 on 15.7 did NOT have the issues being described here, then AFTER UPGRADING to 16.1, the issues appeared. It's not the panel, it's the software.