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gbf

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 13, 2019
842
521
I’m getting so tired of this iPhone 12 Pro.
Now I keep getting the screen going bright and then dim by itself. I have all the auto dim things turned off. Anyone else having these problems?
 
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chasers

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2011
577
2,005
I’m getting so tired of this iPhone 12 Pro.
Now I keep getting the screen going bright and then dim by itself. I have all the auto dim things turned off. Anyone else having these problems?

yes and i've done everything including factory reset and set up as a new phone and still the same issue. i'm calling Apple soon as they open.
 

ZivaD

macrumors regular
Oct 11, 2012
145
78
I switched on my XR after a flight on Wednesday and the display was really dark, it was in daylight (not overly bright) and I tried to adjust the brightness and it ended up being so dark I couldn’t see the screen until I went into a dark room, I think the most recent iOS update messed things up, never had the issue before.
 

now i see it

macrumors G4
Jan 2, 2002
10,679
22,340
If the phone gets hot, the screen will automatically dim and stay dim until the phone cools. Having the screen in direct sunlight is a sure way to heat up the phone.
 
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iTone

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2007
149
76
CA
I’ve been having the same issue since May. At first it went away but it’s back as of today. Screen brightens up a bit then dims back down. Happens over and over at random times. Really annoying. I posted about it on Facebook and recorded the screen with another phone and I caught the issue:
 

Ixon2001

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2017
229
304
Wigan UK
This is not an overheating problem as my 12 Mini has done this strange dimming as well but only once, and that was when i first put the screen on in the morning & the phone wasn't hot, I restarted my phone and the problem went away and hasn't done it since this was a few weeks ago.

It seems to effecting quite a few 12 series iPhones, so it could possibly be a bug that Apple still not picked up on yet.
 

justin0712

macrumors member
Mar 25, 2021
76
70
My 12 Pro Max and spouses do the same exact thing. It is very random and no its not overheating.
Sitting locked for hours in an air conditioned room and it will pulsate from bright to dim and then just stop. It will not come back like that for days or weeks, then it happens again.
 

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Apr 21, 2004
4,706
2,722
Ohhhhbiyd overheating! I’ve experienced this fast charging but in the car with the sun shining on my phone.
 

iTone

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2007
149
76
CA
That is your phone trying to combat overheating. Do you use dark mode? Was this while outdoors?
Yes I use dark mode but this almost always happens when at home where it’s not hot and the AC is on. It’s odd how it only happens at random times. I haven’t noticed anything specific that may be causing it.
 

Ixon2001

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2017
229
304
Wigan UK
Mine did it again yesterday :(

It's been roughly 3 weeks since it last did it, & for me at least it only started happening after the 14.6 update.
 

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2010
2,266
2,436
i spent last week at the beach. my 12 Mini was unusable after 15-30 minutes outside. my wife's regular 12 was fine. i compared all display settings and they were the same. has nothing to do with auto brightness or true tone.

chatted with apple support and they're having me restore my phone but I know that wont do anything.
 

kawa636r

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2016
408
289
Spain
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harrisonjr98

macrumors 6502
Dec 15, 2019
340
200
i have this issue too.
on iphone 12 pro max it is impossible to use it in sunny day, at least in south spain.
unusable phone.
i will start a legal claim with apple since they told that no one is it reporting the issue but on their communities there are like 1000 users reporting the same issue here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252090403 and others 6000 users here :
I hate to say it but there's threads like this every year.

iPhone 11 Pro: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250649209
iPhone X: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251808618

There's many many more. There's even threads here on MR every year at launch with people saying "this year's phone runs way hotter" or "my old phone ran really hot, seems they fixed it this year."

None of it means anything. Even a forum post with 6,000 acknowledgements is a total drop in the bucket compared to the amount of units sold. Plus, they're self-reported signal boosts for the thread - I'd be willing to bet a good 2-3k of them if not more are having an easily explainable issue, but found that thread and thought it was applicable.

The truth is there's any number of situations that can heat up a phone - direct sunlight, high ambient temperature, misbehaving apps, all sorts of stuff. There's no hard evidence that the 12 Pro is any noticeably more or less prone to heat issues than previous model years, as far as I can tell. Mine seems fine, anecdotally.

If they were overheating so bad that they were completely unusable, you best believe there would be click-hungry headlines in three seconds (well, more than there already are every year...)

As for your sunny day use case - direct sunlight can just heat *any* object quicker than you realize. If I climb into my car on a hot day, sometimes my phone is on the verge of overheating just from the ambient temp before the A/C can bring it down. This has been every phone I've ever owned. Any other object I bring into the car in that situation is also heated. Can't beat physics, unfortunately!
 

kawa636r

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2016
408
289
Spain
I hate to say it but there's threads like this every year.

iPhone 11 Pro: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250649209
iPhone X: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251808618

There's many many more. There's even threads here on MR every year at launch with people saying "this year's phone runs way hotter" or "my old phone ran really hot, seems they fixed it this year."

None of it means anything. Even a forum post with 6,000 acknowledgements is a total drop in the bucket compared to the amount of units sold. Plus, they're self-reported signal boosts for the thread - I'd be willing to bet a good 2-3k of them if not more are having an easily explainable issue, but found that thread and thought it was applicable.

The truth is there's any number of situations that can heat up a phone - direct sunlight, high ambient temperature, misbehaving apps, all sorts of stuff. There's no hard evidence that the 12 Pro is any noticeably more or less prone to heat issues than previous model years, as far as I can tell. Mine seems fine, anecdotally.

If they were overheating so bad that they were completely unusable, you best believe there would be click-hungry headlines in three seconds (well, more than there already are every year...)

As for your sunny day use case - direct sunlight can just heat *any* object quicker than you realize. If I climb into my car on a hot day, sometimes my phone is on the verge of overheating just from the ambient temp before the A/C can bring it down. This has been every phone I've ever owned. Any other object I bring into the car in that situation is also heated. Can't beat physics, unfortunately!
Harrison, first of all consider that 99% of iPhone users have got no ideas about of forums, apple communities and so, so it will be hard for them to publish or found some topic talking about screen dimming that also they cannot understand/found the words to claim what is a screen dimming or overheating.

Second, I'm an expert user, having got all the iPhones that came out, and I can affirm for sure that iPhone 12 Pro Max is the device that has got the most screen dimming compared to the other iPhones ever made. Means the worst thermal management.
It exited in the end of October 2020 and until now there was lockdown and cold temperatures, so the issues will came now.
There will be a gate about this, don't worry.
There is no need to keep the phone under sunlight, just try to measure with the measure app.
Something outside with a temperature of 27c and you will notice the screen dimming like a beast, under the sun and with sunglasses is nearly invisible.
 

Novius89

macrumors regular
Nov 1, 2020
248
141
I used an iPhone 8 for almost 3 years, never had this problem.
For almost a ear I have the 11 and it’s ridiculous. When I just browse when I sit in the sun in my lunchbespreking it’s dimming.

when I play a game (CoD for example) at home in the evening, the phone gets hot and it’s dimming as well.

Does the SE2 has this as well?
Thinking about selling my iPhone 11 and Apple Watch SE, and just buy an SE2 and Apple Watch 6.

Shame that here in the Netherlands, the watch does not work with 4g. Because i use my watch more than my phone.
 
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kawa636r

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2016
408
289
Spain
Dame for me.
My iphone 8 Plus was for me the last good iphone (i jumped over the x directly to xs because the speed processor).

Everything after the 8 plus was ****.
This was because of the amoled screens that should be better under sunlight but in real life they got killed by temperature issues
 

Novius89

macrumors regular
Nov 1, 2020
248
141
But I have the normal 11, that has an lcd screen.
Its just really bad temperature management , because the phone gets ridiculous hot when playing a game, or even browsing this forum.
 

Bentleydrive626

macrumors newbie
Jul 31, 2021
1
0
I’ve been having the same issue since May. At first it went away but it’s back as of today. Screen brightens up a bit then dims back down. Happens over and over at random times. Really annoying. I posted about it on Facebook and recorded the screen with another phone and I caught the issue:
View attachment 1793376
My iPhone XS-Max is doing the same thin. I’ve tried all the brightness/battery saver, etc. settings. It is absolutely the most aggravating issue ever…
Does anyone have any other suggestions regarding fixing This issue??
 

Ixon2001

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2017
229
304
Wigan UK
I've reluctantly done a full restore & set the phone up as new & not used any iCloud backup's, been 3 days and it hasn't returned as of yet.
 

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Apr 21, 2004
4,706
2,722
You know I thought it was just me but I agree. This is pretty bad thermal management. Haven’t experienced this before in my other phone. Apple needs to balance speed with issues such as this. The mini is fast enough and so is my xs max. I’d rather have battery life and I’d rather have max brightness when outdoors with the phone ability to maintain this without lowering brightness. It’s pretty aggravating because I experience this when driving and navigating. Those are real benefits to upgrading each year as opposed to specs saying it’s the fastest phone or faster than an intel laptop.
 

Ixon2001

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2017
229
304
Wigan UK
I'm seriously pissed off with this phone tbh, what with the low volume notification tones & this screen glitch as in video above plus the dimming problem, I'm all set to ditch Apple which means getting rid of my 12 Mini & the Apple Watch SE, & picking up a Samsung S21 with either the upcoming Samsung Watch 4 or a Fitbit Versa 3.

It's a shame really my other Apple products such as the Macbook Pro M1 & the Airpods Pro have been solid even the Apple Watch SE has had no issues, but there is no point keeping the watch without an iPhone.
 

iTone

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2007
149
76
CA
Apple actually replaced my previous phone recently but now the new phone has the same issue. I also notice this new one gets really hot when I’m charging it. SMH. This is unacceptable for a $1000 phone!
 

StaceyMJ86

macrumors demi-goddess
Sep 22, 2015
8,158
14,518
Washington, DC
If you use the instructions I posted with #11 comment, that may help your screen dimming. I haven’t had any issues with mine since then, except my battery drains a little faster.
 
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