M4 MacBook Air Display Flicker

[AshX]

Hi guys,

I just received my new 13-inch M4 MacBook Air in Sky Blue with the 16 GB RAM/512 SSD configuration. To cut to the chase, I purchased this to replace my 2019 iMac 21.5-inch 4K that had developed what appeared to be a backlight flicker after a move. Well, it seems that this MacBook Air has the same problem. Here’s a video of it recorded in 240 fps: https://streamable.com/uwqq3y

I was actually able to get rid of the flicker by turning off “Dim Display when on Battery Power” but when I changed the brightness, it returned.

I know others have had this issue going back to the M2 MBA’s. Does anyone know if this is the backlight? A energy saving PWM? I have turned off dithering with Stillcolor, so I don’t believe it is dithering. I can use my iPhone 13 no problem but have had trouble tolerating any of the Apple notebooks since the M-series chips were released. Just trying to get to the bottom of this as I’m a music producer and use these computers for work. Not sure if I should exchange this or if this is just how these machines are built these days.

Thanks!

 

[Technerd108]

Hi guys,

I just received my new 13-inch M4 MacBook Air in Sky Blue with the 16 GB RAM/512 SSD configuration. To cut to the chase, I purchased this to replace my 2019 iMac 21.5-inch 4K that had developed what appeared to be a backlight flicker after a move. Well, it seems that this MacBook Air has the same problem. Here’s a video of it recorded in 240 fps: https://streamable.com/uwqq3y

I was actually able to get rid of the flicker by turning off “Dim Display when on Battery Power” but when I changed the brightness, it returned.

I know others have had this issue going back to the M2 MBA’s. Does anyone know if this is the backlight? A energy saving PWM? I have turned off dithering with Stillcolor, so I don’t believe it is dithering. I can use my iPhone 13 no problem but have had trouble tolerating any of the Apple notebooks since the M-series chips were released. Just trying to get to the bottom of this as I’m a music producer and use these computers for work. Not sure if I should exchange this or if this is just how these machines are built these days.

Thanks!

I have an M2 MBA and I don't notice any flicker. However, some people have complained about migraines and other issues related to all Mac screens since switching to m series chips from Intel. Tons of threads on these forums.

I have also noticed that quality control at Apple is a bit hit and miss these days. I would return and replace up to 3 units and see what happens.

You may have just gotten a slightly defective screen? You could also be one of the people who are sensitive to PWM or whatever the issue is people are seeing with these screens. Happens on Mini LED and LCD.

I hope you enjoy your sky blue M4 MBA, I am jealous. Lol

 

[AshX]

I have an M2 MBA and I don't notice any flicker. However, some people have complained about migraines and other issues related to all Mac screens since switching to m series chips from Intel. Tons of threads on these forums.

I have also noticed that quality control at Apple is a bit hit and miss these days. I would return and replace up to 3 units and see what happens.

You may have just gotten a slightly defective screen? You could also be one of the people who are sensitive to PWM or whatever the issue is people are seeing with these screens. Happens on Mini LED and LCD.

I hope you enjoy your sky blue M4 MBA, I am jealous. Lol

Thanks for the advice! I went to a ton of stores trying out different Sky Blue 13” MBA’s and there definitely was a difference. One in particular I could look at comfortably. This one, the text looks blurry especially on bold text, and compared to my iPhone. I tried the disable font smoothing command but I don’t think it did anything…

The Apple Store is aware of my issues so I think they’ll be okay with me exchanging. I know my iPhone 13 has PWM and I’m completely fine with it…so there seems to be a “screen lottery” component for sure. I got COVID in 2022 and started having issues with light, so I think prior to that I could put up with stuff like this but now…not so much. Worse case I suppose I’ll go with a Mac Mini and try to pair a monitor with it. The MacBook Pros made me dizzy immediately.

 

[Technerd108]

Thanks for the advice! I went to a ton of stores trying out different Sky Blue 13” MBA’s and there definitely was a difference. One in particular I could look at comfortably. This one, the text looks blurry especially on bold text, and compared to my iPhone. I tried the disable font smoothing command but I don’t think it did anything…

The Apple Store is aware of my issues so I think they’ll be okay with me exchanging. I know my iPhone 13 has PWM and I’m completely fine with it…so there seems to be a “screen lottery” component for sure. I got COVID in 2022 and started having issues with light, so I think prior to that I could put up with stuff like this but now…not so much. Worse case I suppose I’ll go with a Mac Mini and try to pair a monitor with it. The MacBook Pros made me dizzy immediately.

It sucks to have exchange anything. However, If you keep your laptop a while then you are going to live with whatever you end up with for as long as you keep it.

Might as well enjoy that time as much as possible since you are paying of it. If Apple doesn't care to pay for proper QC or it cheaper just to build more units per hour and deal with returns then that is not our fault. Actually that business model is a hassle to us.

So I say you don't rest until you find a unit that works for you. There is a chance that the screens used on the MBA will not be usable to you. I have read countless posts about this issue and it is real for a lot of people. Some people say the MBP Mini Led screen is better and some say it is worse because it uses PWM while technically the MBA doesn't use PWM or dithering. There is something in the display driver in m series chips on a Mac that is very different and for a subset of people seems to trigger light sensitivities and various biological responses.

So if it affects you I am not sure even a different monitor will work since it is the display driver for m series that seems to have changed within the OS. So it is possible any monitor used would still have the issue for people since even if a monitor uses PWM or not or Dithering or not it may or may not be related to any of these things from all I have read.

My best advice for now is to try a few different models of the same that you want to buy until you find one that doesn't bother you. You might not find something that is 100% perfect but you might find 95%?

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Just to be clear there is no PWM on the MBA models.

 

[AshX]

It sucks to have exchange anything. However, If you keep your laptop a while then you are going to live with whatever you end up with for as long as you keep it.

Might as well enjoy that time as much as possible since you are paying of it. If Apple doesn't care to pay for proper QC or it cheaper just to build more units per hour and deal with returns then that is not our fault. Actually that business model is a hassle to us.

So I say you don't rest until you find a unit that works for you. There is a chance that the screens used on the MBA will not be usable to you. I have read countless posts about this issue and it is real for a lot of people. Some people say the MBP Mini Led screen is better and some say it is worse because it uses PWM while technically the MBA doesn't use PWM or dithering. There is something in the display driver in m series chips on a Mac that is very different and for a subset of people seems to trigger light sensitivities and various biological responses.

So if it affects you I am not sure even a different monitor will work since it is the display driver for m series that seems to have changed within the OS. So it is possible any monitor used would still have the issue for people since even if a monitor uses PWM or not or Dithering or not it may or may not be related to any of these things from all I have read.

My best advice for now is to try a few different models of the same that you want to buy until you find one that doesn't bother you. You might not find something that is 100% perfect but you might find 95%?

You’re 100% right. I appreciate this because I know some folks on here don’t believe this is an issue. I have 20/20 vision and while I know I probably have underlying health issues contributing to this sensitivity, the fact that I can look at an iPhone 13 and a Windows work laptop of my mom’s means that I can look at screens, so there has to be a solution.

It’s unfortunate because it’s not as if I can test drive or even check the laptops in-store to see if they have these issues. The LED and fluorescent lighting in Apple Stores and other places like Best Buy make it impossible to actually test if this flickering is present because the camera will pick up the store’s fluorescent lights. So I have no choice but to buy computers and then test them. I spent over a month researching and going to stores and the inconsistency of these screens was apparent, making it even harder since I can’t buy the display model that I found most comfortable.

I rented a 14” MBP M1 Pro in 2022 and it was one of the most comfortable screens I ever used. Yet the new Pros I look at in-store are brutal. Is this because of the overhead lighting or the same manufacturing inconsistencies? I don’t know.

Just to be clear there is no PWM on the MBA models.

That’s what Notebookcheck and RTINGs have posted. My question then is what is this flickering? And I know it’s not necessary because other users online have posted other laptops that don’t flicker like this - including the 13” MBP M2 touchbar. Dithering shouldn’t be visible on camera like this so the only thing I can think of is it’s a backlight flicker tied to the refresh rate.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

You’re 100% right. I appreciate this because I know some folks on here don’t believe this is an issue. I have 20/20 vision and while I know I probably have underlying health issues contributing to this sensitivity, the fact that I can look at an iPhone 13 and a Windows work laptop of my mom’s means that I can look at screens, so there has to be a solution.

It’s unfortunate because it’s not as if I can test drive or even check the laptops in-store to see if they have these issues. The LED and fluorescent lighting in Apple Stores and other places like Best Buy make it impossible to actually test if this flickering is present because the camera will pick up the store’s fluorescent lights. So I have no choice but to buy computers and then test them. I spent over a month researching and going to stores and the inconsistency of these screens was apparent, making it even harder since I can’t buy the display model that I found most comfortable.

I rented a 14” MBP M1 Pro in 2022 and it was one of the most comfortable screens I ever used. Yet the new Pros I look at in-store are brutal. Is this because of the overhead lighting or the same manufacturing inconsistencies? I don’t know.



That’s what Notebookcheck and RTINGs have posted. My question then is what is this flickering? And I know it’s not necessary because other users online have posted other laptops that don’t flicker like this - including the 13” MBP M2 touchbar. Dithering shouldn’t be visible on camera like this so the only thing I can think of is it’s a backlight flicker tied to the refresh rate.

All screens have some amount of flickering but PWM is a specific way to control brightness that causes a different type. Recording at 240fps wouldn’t show PWM typically, you would need to have a camera with high exposure (e.g. 4000-8000) to see PWM. This can be done by downloading Final Cut Camera app on your iPhone or some Androids already have it built into their app.

I think it’s important to understand a little bit about how LCD tech works so here’s a link on why old CRT’ and LCD’s can flicker.

LCD screens don't flicker - or do they? - EE Times

Contrary to popular belief, LCD panels do exhibit flicker, write Intersil's applications engineers. Simple potentiometer adjustments can be made to minimize the effect since LCD flicker arises from an offset of the common voltage, not a refresh signal. As LCDs grow in popularity and in size...

www.eetimes.com

 

[AshX]

All screens have some amount of flickering but PWM is a specific way to control brightness that causes a different type. Recording at 240fps wouldn’t show PWM typically, you would need to have a camera with high exposure (e.g. 4000-8000) to see PWM. This can be done by downloading Final Cut Camera app on your iPhone or some Androids already have it built into their app.

I think it’s important to understand a little bit about how LCD tech works so here’s a link on why old CRT’ and LCD’s can flicker.

LCD screens don't flicker - or do they? - EE Times

Contrary to popular belief, LCD panels do exhibit flicker, write Intersil's applications engineers. Simple potentiometer adjustments can be made to minimize the effect since LCD flicker arises from an offset of the common voltage, not a refresh signal. As LCDs grow in popularity and in size...

www.eetimes.com

Thanks for linking that article - very informative.

I set my Fujifilm XT30 to 1/4000 shutter speed (its max) and was able to reveal PWM on my iPhone 13 (which doesn’t bother me) and flickering my on my GE lightbulb and the MBA.

This is a video at max brightness of me recording my XT30: https://streamable.com/2o4x7d

 

[arcite]

Notebookcheck tests for PWM;

The airs don’t have any;

The passively cooled M4 SoC makes the competition look old - Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 entry review

Notebookcheck test/review of the entry-level Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 with 16 GB RAM and a 256-GB SSD.

www.notebookcheck.net

Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 review - The fanless M4 SoC is years ahead of the competition

Notebookcheck has tested the brand-new Apple MacBook Air 15 with the M4 SoC and 16 GB RAM.

www.notebookcheck.net

No PWM flickering detected.

One thing you can try is turn off fontsmoothing

Font Smoothing Adjuster | macOS App

Download the free and open source Font Smoothing Adjuster app to disable or customise font smoothing on macOS Big Sur.

www.fontsmoothingadjuster.com

It could be the brightness of the screen itself that is bothering you, so turn that down.

One other thing to try; turn off temporal dithering (you can find instructions online). Apple ‘cheats’ creating perception of more colours by pulsing the RGB subpixels.—- I did that, it makes a difference.

 

[AshX]

Notebookcheck tests for PWM;

The airs don’t have any;

The passively cooled M4 SoC makes the competition look old - Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 entry review

Notebookcheck test/review of the entry-level Apple MacBook Air 13 M4 with 16 GB RAM and a 256-GB SSD.

www.notebookcheck.net

Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 review - The fanless M4 SoC is years ahead of the competition

Notebookcheck has tested the brand-new Apple MacBook Air 15 with the M4 SoC and 16 GB RAM.

www.notebookcheck.net

No PWM flickering detected.

One thing you can try is turn off fontsmoothing

Font Smoothing Adjuster | macOS App

Download the free and open source Font Smoothing Adjuster app to disable or customise font smoothing on macOS Big Sur.

www.fontsmoothingadjuster.com

It could be the brightness of the screen itself that is bothering you, so turn that down.

One other thing to try; turn off temporal dithering (you can find instructions online). Apple ‘cheats’ creating perception of more colours by pulsing the RGB subpixels.—- I did that, it makes a difference.

I did all of this, including Stillcolor to disable dithering. That grey flicker I posted was still present - even in safe mode - the same as my 2019 4K Retina iMac and 2015 rMBP 15”. I also tested a 15” MBA M4 that had the same thing and actually triggered a seizure on Friday. This has never happened to me with any computer, ever. This occurred before I was able to turn off dithering.

I suspect the TCON is dithering at the display level no matter what you do. Others on Reddit and LEDstrain have suggested this is some sort of PWM-strobing flicker that engages on grey. This thread on Reddit has the Opple data and a video to prove it.

I’m really upset. I spent over $30,000 in 2018 for my business and have comfortably used Macs since 2011. Even the other Macs that exhibit this flicker are nowhere near as bad as the MBA - especially the 15” M4. The Apple Store and phone support seems unable to push this along to the upper echelons.

I know for many this flickering issue (PWM, dithering, whatever they’re doing on a hardware and software level to push these colors, GPU, and maintain battery life) isn’t a big deal but there’s an ever-growing number of us for whom it is, which I have now become aware after going through all this.

Apple prides itself on being disability friendly with their Accessibility options. There should be an option within Settings to disable this flickering and run the GPU and displays at a lower level that doesn’t use strobing and flickering to push these screens beyond their hardware limits.

I’m not even sure a Mac Mini would resolve this, because I tried hooking up the MBA 13” with Stillcolor enabled to several monitors at Micro Center and that grey flickering was still present. Not to mention MacOS’s scaling and rendering makes it a challenge to find a compatible monitor.

I’m open to recommendations.

 

[Honza1]

Have you tried calling Apple? And potentially elevating this issue to higher levels in support? If anyone, they may know what would this be related to and how to mitigate. You probably need to get higher in support level, but might be worth the try.

 

[AshX]

Have you tried calling Apple? And potentially elevating this issue to higher levels in support? If anyone, they may know what would this be related to and how to mitigate. You probably need to get higher in support level, but might be worth the try.

I have as have others. An Apple team member at the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, NJ was trying to run this up the flagpole. The store manager is also aware. They are trying to help, but they don’t know the intricate knowledge that the design team and upper level staff does. Phone support just seems to troubleshoot based on a pre-determined script and then say they’re escalating but nothing ever comes of it. It’s not their fault, but Apple is incredibly cagey when it comes to revealing what’s going on, probably for proprietary reasons.

It’s clearly a combination of the new chips and how they’re optimized to run in these machines as well as MacOS software changes. I’ve kept my iPhone 13 on iOS 15 because I noticed when they re-released the 13’s back in I believe late 2023 into 2024 as the budget model in the lineup, they were way more uncomfortable to use. I only realized something had changed when I upgraded my 13 to a 15 Pro in May 2023 and found myself unable to get my eyes to focus on the screen and got a headache. Yet my 13 which has PWM was fine. Thus I learned about PWM and dithering.

Many with even the iPhone SE found discomfort when upgrading to iOS 16, and those phones have an LCD screen. Another user on Reddit just checked his iPad Air which gives him problems and it has the same grey strobing flicker as the MBA. The only commonality is they both use Liquid Retina LCD screens.

I have theories (unfortunately I am not a programmer or software engineer) one of which is that newer versions MacOS and iOS are designed for the flagship products which have higher spec hardware and can reproduce colors with less tricks, but the lower tier, lower powered models have to compensate more with dithering and energy conservation techniques to extend battery life. In other words, the 8-bit LCD screens are having to meet the P3 billion color gamut demands and thus the flickering is ramped up. I think to a degree it’s an unintended side effect, and it’s been present on various 8-bit and 6-bit panels Apple has used over the years.

The MiniLED MacBook Pros in theory would solve this problem, but they have several problems: PWM for the local dimming zones, ProMotion which can be worse in some cases because the refresh rate is not a constant 120Hz and can go as low as 30Hz, and dithering on the hardware level to push 10-bit XDR on an 8-bit MiniLED screen. I think the issue with the iPhones giving folks issues comes down to PWM and modulation depth as well as dithering on iOS 18.

I don’t know why the iPhone 13 gives me no issues, which gives me hope, and I certainly found the iPhone 16e to be more tolerable than the other models. I suspect it’s because the 13 has a very stable modulation depth and iOS 15 is not incorporating excessive amounts of dither to render colors and effects.

For what it’s worth, the iPads seem much more agreeable than any of the Mac computers, with the exception of the Airs. It’s too bad iPad OS can’t run Pro Tools.

 

[Megatron]

I don’t know why the iPhone 13 gives me no issues, which gives me hope, and I certainly found the iPhone 16e to be more tolerable than the other models. I suspect it’s because the 13 has a very stable modulation depth and iOS 15 is not incorporating excessive amounts of dither to render colors and effects

For what it’s worth, the iPads seem much more agreeable than any of the Mac computers, with the exception of the Airs. It’s too bad iPad OS can’t run Pro Tools.

Another data point - out of recent iPads, I found the iPad Air 11” not comfortable, but the M2 air 13” is great (which I purchased). I also found the iPhone 13 comfortable, and the 15 plus and 16 plus also comfortable. The 15 pro phone was not comfortable. The oled iPads caused a bit of motion sickness feeling after 10 minutes.

I’ve got a 16” MacBook Pro m1 now that I never originally noticed a screen discomfort with, but now notice that I get eye strain after about 10 minutes using the onboard display. I wonder if something changed in the OS updates since its launch.

I’m considering switching to a 13” m4 mba as that seemed the most comfortable when I saw them at the Apple Store. The 13” m4 mba seemed better than the 15”.

 

[AshX]

Another data point - out of recent iPads, I found the iPad Air 11” not comfortable, but the 13” is great (which I purchased). I also found the iPhone 13 comfortable, and the 15 plus and 16 plus also comfortable. The 15 pro phone was not comfortable. The oled iPads caused a bit of motion sickness feeling after 10 minutes.

I’ve got a 16” MacBook Pro m1 now that I never originally noticed a screen discomfort with, but now notice that I get eye strain after about 10 minutes using the onboard display. I wonder if something changed in the OS updates since its launch.

I’m considering switching to a 13” m4 mba as that seemed the most comfortable when I saw them at the Apple Store. The 13” m4 mba seemed better than the 15”.

Someone on r/PWM_Sensitive found the same grey flicker on the iPad Air that is on the MacBook Air and some older Intel Macs. It’s looking more and more like that flicker is FRC dithering performed by hardware. The commonality is all of these are using Liquid Retina screens pushing P3 color, with the exception of the Intel Macs that are older Retina LCDs.

That’s interesting about the iPad 13”. I owned an M2 MiniLED iPad Pro in 2023 and it was fine until a software update. I haven’t really looked at iPads because I don’t have much of a use for them, but I am curious as a means of narrowing down what my own sensitivities are.

You know, it sort of confirms one of my theories after looking at the Pro Display XDR and finding it better than the Studio Display. Perhaps the 13” (the new Pro model, I assume) works because it doesnt have to rely on software tricks to display the OS demands?

The Pro Display XDR is allegedly true 10-bit, whereas the Studio Display is 8-bit+FRC. The MacBook Pros are believed to still be 8-bit+FRC displays despite being MiniLED and advertised as XDR displays. So you get PWM and dithering.

I definitely think software updates are the cause of a lot of problems, mainly changes in dithering. I used a 14” M1 Pro in 2022 on Monterey that was fine - I actually remember thinking it was the most comfortable Mac I’d ever used. But then I got COVID and my issues with screens began.

The 13” M4 was definitely much better than the 15” I assume because it’s a smaller surface area so any flickering isn’t as bad. It seems like the 15” models have more of a propensity to have PWM, too. I did find the in-store display models to be much better than the one I received, so there’s clearly a screen lottery. Stillcolor helped take some of the edge off along with disabling font smoothing actually making words legible, but ultimately you still get that built-in display dither. We really need someone to pick up where the Stillcolor dev left off and find out if there’s a way to disable the FRC either via the TCON or something else. The fact that it’s present in safe mode isn’t encouraging, though.