iPhone 11 Pro Right 1/4th of screen darker than the rest

[Tyler23]

I realize this problem is pretty insignificant, but it appears the right 1/4th of my iPhone 11 Pro screen is darker than the rest.

90% of the time it’s impossible to tell, but is noticeable when using the phone at night with dark mode on when brightness is below 10%.

Is this something that could go away? Is this pretty normal? And would others bother trying to exchange the phone for this reason?

 

[pudcraft]

At night and in the morning I have my device on the lowest brightness setting, True Tone, and night shift on. I haven’t noticed anything like you described. I toggled off the settings to see if that reproduced your issue and nothin. I would assume faulty screen and return it for new.

im on an 11 Pro

 

[DCIFRTHS]

I realize this problem is pretty insignificant, but it appears the right 1/4th of my iPhone 11 Pro screen is darker than the rest.

90% of the time it’s impossible to tell, but is noticeable when using the phone at night with dark mode on when brightness is below 10%.

Is this something that could go away? Is this pretty normal? And would others bother trying to exchange the phone for this reason?

Post a pic so we can see what it looks like.

 

[Tyler23]

Post a pic so we can see what it looks like.

Will do this evening when I get back home.

 

[Harthag]

Is this something that could go away? Is this pretty normal? And would others bother trying to exchange the phone for this reason?

It will not go away. You’ll get some replies here that say it’s normal / they don’t care and other people will say return the POS. It’s your money. Bottom line is if it bothers you return it and hope that a new one will be better.

 

[Jordan921]

Like above poster said, if it bothers you return or exchange for another.

 

[Tsepz]

Definitely take it back if I bothers you. OLED displays are always a little bit of a gamble, especially if you buy the phone at launch.

 

[akash.nu]

I just keep my devices on auto brightness and hope it’s all fine. Unless something is obvious I don’t worry much about things like this. But then each to their own I guess.

 

[Tyler23]

Post a pic so we can see what it looks like.

First two pictures are at lowest brightness. Second is at about 15-20%.

The most noticeable is honestly browsing reddit in dark mode at night with the brightness very low. But looking again it doesn’t seem as bad as I was thinking.

edit: added a fourth picture this time showing what it looks like with settings open in dark mode.

 

[AndrewR23]

Mine has this too. Now that I noticed it I cant unsee it. Im giving myself until the 13th day of the 14 day returns before I replace/etc.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

First two pictures are at lowest brightness. Second is at about 15-20%.

The most noticeable is honestly browsing reddit in dark mode at night with the brightness very low. But looking again it doesn’t seem as bad as I was thinking.

edit: added a fourth picture this time showing what it looks like with settings open in dark mode.

I see what you are talking about. Is there any way you can get to a couple of stores where the phones are on display? You can get a better idea and see if this is common amongst the display models? @AndrewR23 states he has the same issue, so you may see it in store too.

If it only happens 10% of the time, I understand why you are hesitant to return it. Personally, I would probably be bothered by it enough to return and rebuy (this way you get the 14 day return policy again) but I know how much of a hassle it can be to do that.

Which way are you leaning at this point?

 

[Tyler23]

I see what you are talking about. Is there any way you can get to a couple of stores where the phones are on display? You can get a better idea and see if this is common amongst the display models? @AndrewR23 states he has the same issue, so you may see it in store too.

If it only happens 10% of the time, I understand why you are hesitant to return it. Personally, I would probably be bothered by it enough to return and rebuy (this way you get the 14 day return policy again) but I know how much of a hassle it can be to do that.

Which way are you leaning at this point?

Honestly not sure. Obviously doesn’t impede my use of the phone, but it is very distracting.

I am on the iPhone Upgrade Program. If I was to decide to replace the phone, how would that even work? I know my nearest stores don’t even have any in stock, but I wonder if they have replacement units. I may swing by the store tonight but it’s be helpful to have an idea of what to expect.

I’m leaning towards replacing it but also afraid a potential replacement could have greater issues.

 

[GBNova]

I realize this problem is pretty insignificant, but it appears the right 1/4th of my iPhone 11 Pro screen is darker than the rest.

90% of the time it’s impossible to tell, but is noticeable when using the phone at night with dark mode on when brightness is below 10%.

Is this something that could go away? Is this pretty normal? And would others bother trying to exchange the phone for this reason?

OLED screens suffer from banding issues at times. If you follow the OLED TV forums or own one you will be very familiar with banding on 5 and 10% grey screens.

 

[Tyler23]

OLED screens suffer from banding issues at times. If you follow the OLED TV forums or own one you will be very familiar with banding on 5 and 10% grey screens.

I definitely have now done some research and have seen similar topics with other OLED products including a thread on here from when the iPhone X launched with people having a similar issue.

Is it widespread enough to not be worth trying to get a replacement? I haven’t seen much of this issue posted here with the XS or 11 Pro now.

 

[GregJohn]

Apologies for image quality but if watching a video the top is the iPhone XS Max and bottom is iPhone 11 pro Max


it definitely has issues... unfortunately my carrier won’t exchange it and neither will Apple after only having the phone less than a day.

here’s another

same thing, just at an angle

when videos actually playing the black dots move and kinda like flicker almost. It’s like part of the display is trying to be black but glitches

the XS with apparently worse contrast ratio, gives way better blacks and more importantly doesn’t have the artifacts

 

[Tyler23]

I'm going to the Apple Store today to see what my options are since I purchased the phone using the iPhone Upgrade Program.

No store near me (ATL) has the same model in stock so it doesn't seem like it'll be a simple swap. Is it possible that Apple has replacement units at the stores for situations like this?

 

[DCIFRTHS]

I'm going to the Apple Store today to see what my options are since I purchased the phone using the iPhone Upgrade Program.

No store near me (ATL) has the same model in stock so it doesn't seem like it'll be a simple swap. Is it possible that Apple has replacement units at the stores for situations like this?

Keep us posted, and good luck!

 

[Tyler23]

Keep us posted, and good luck!

Thanks! Haven't ruled out just keeping it, but figured it can't hurt to see what options the Apple Store suggests.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

Thanks! Haven't ruled out just keeping it, but figured it can't hurt to see what options the Apple Store suggests.

Agree on the options part, and it’s certainly much less of a hassle to keep it as opposed to the exchange lottery.

 

[AndrewR23]

The exchange lottery sucks man. Did about 6 with the X and 4 with the Xs. Pain in the ***. Lol

 

[Tyler23]

Went to the Apple Store a few nights ago. The rep immediately saw the issue. Basically gave me the options I figured - I can return it (within 14 days) for another new unit, or get a replacement device.

Unfortunately they did not have any of my device in stock nor any replacement devices on hand, so they said to try again next week.

The more I notice the issue, the more it bugs me so I'm settled on getting it replaced, just a matter of when and how.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

Went to the Apple Store a few nights ago. The rep immediately saw the issue. Basically gave me the options I figured - I can return it (within 14 days) for another new unit, or get a replacement device.

Unfortunately they did not have any of my device in stock nor any replacement devices on hand, so they said to try again next week.

The more I notice the issue, the more it bugs me so I'm settled on getting it replaced, just a matter of when and how.

If you have decided to replace the device, I. Would do a flat out return, and purchase anew one. This way you have the 14 day return policy on the new device. Do you still have your old phone?

The only caveat is the “device activation” charge from the carrier. Who do you use for service?

 

[Tyler23]

If you have decided to replace the device, I. Would do a flat out return, and purchase anew one. This way you have the 14 day return policy on the new device. Do you still have your old phone?

The only caveat is the “device activation” charge from the carrier. Who do you use for service?

I am on the iPhone Upgrade Program so I already traded in my XS when I picked up the 11 Pro.

At this point I'm just checking to see if/when they have inventory of the same phone to go in and do the swap. If they don't have that before my 14 day return window is up (one week from tomorrow), I'll just have them do a replacement with a white-box unit once they have those in stock.

 

[IconIc215]

The exchange lottery sucks man. Did about 6 with the X and 4 with the Xs. Pain in the ***. Lol

Yup...especially when you return a phone and the new one is worse in some way. At that point the only option is just to keep going until satisfied. People have to realize there is no such thing as a perfect phone!!

 

[hongyauy]

I am on the iPhone Upgrade Program so I already traded in my XS when I picked up the 11 Pro.

At this point I'm just checking to see if/when they have inventory of the same phone to go in and do the swap. If they don't have that before my 14 day return window is up (one week from tomorrow), I'll just have them do a replacement with a white-box unit once they have those in stock.

Hi, is there an update on this? I have the exact same issue with my replacement 11 Pro Max, I've already exchanged it once before due to a defect in the sim card tray. I'm not too sure if the apple store employees would be too keen to provide another replacement.