iPhone SE 3 and iPhone 11 are the last iPhone models with LCD screens. Next SE is rumored to have OLED. When current LCD models are discontinued what are those people going to do who are sensitive to OLED / PWM? Switch to Android? Even cheap Android phones have OLED screens now. So they have to go really low end Android? Or switch to dummy phone?
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Other The last LCD iPhones
- Thread starter Sami13496
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I guess I'll rock my SE3 as long as I can as that will be supported the longest, after that I'm not sure what I'll do. There are a few LCD Android phones, but they are usually bare bones as far as features go. I wish someone would launch a class action suit against all these manufacturers for eye damage due to OLED.
I do not think anyone’s eyes are actually getting damaged by OLED.
Apple has an official, published document regarding iPhone usage:
(Paraphrasing)
“Do not use an iPhone if you experience physical problems using it”
(Paraphrasing)
“Do not use an iPhone if you experience physical problems using it”
The real big-brain move would be to get an E-Ink phone. 
Eye discomfort, and *damaging* your eyes are not the same thing. Nobody who is sensitive to PWM is getting eye damage.
I see there’s a lot of jokers here but OLED / PWM sensitivity is a problem for a lot of people. Those people can’t fully enjoy tech which is a shame. And they aren’t big enough group for Apple to care. Imho that’s a shame. I don’t understand why Apple can’t have one lower end model with LCD display. I know that enthusiasts care about OLED but many people I know are like ok cool I guess screen is a bit brighter whatever.
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From what I understand PWM is used to adjust brightness because OLED pixels can only be on or off. Does keeping the phone at max brightness help? I guess graphical elements that are darker shades will still be pulsed. Will microLED get around this or will it also use PWM?
Because it wont be long when all LCD panels will be made in China. In fact most are. Apple doesnt want to be caught in a tariff war and why they are moving production elsewhere. Samsung and LG still make their OLED panels in South Korea.
The problem with micro led is production cost and aligning all the pixels correctly. The smaller the screen the harder it is to do because of such a high pixel density for 4K.
No, its because adjusting brightness by adjusting current in OLED also causes a shift in color temperature. So they instead keep the current constant and use PWM.
Micro-LED has the same issue as described above. The only solution is to use higher PWM frequencies, but that probably has technical issues of its own.
In a sense it's a miracle that we have displays that do work as well as they do, despite all the issues they still have.
I plan to keep my iPhone 11 for as long as possible and will likely replace the battery within the next year. I am hesitant to switch to a Chinese-made Android phone with an LCD display due to security concerns. Additionally, I've been loyal to the iPhone since day one and feel somewhat locked into its ecosystem.
None of the OLED iPhones work for me as they cause eye strain and migraines. I have hoped each year that newer technology would alleviate this issue, but unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. It's frustrating as I am a tech enthusiast but feel held back by older equipment. I also experience eye strain with the newer iPads and MacBooks. Here's hoping the next iterations will be more comfortable for me..........
At this point, Apple shouldn't have my loyalty as they aren't prioritising the resolution of this issue. Their primary focus always appears to be on improving/maintaining battery life and their profit margin. Eye health should be a much higher priority.
None of the OLED iPhones work for me as they cause eye strain and migraines. I have hoped each year that newer technology would alleviate this issue, but unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. It's frustrating as I am a tech enthusiast but feel held back by older equipment. I also experience eye strain with the newer iPads and MacBooks. Here's hoping the next iterations will be more comfortable for me..........
At this point, Apple shouldn't have my loyalty as they aren't prioritising the resolution of this issue. Their primary focus always appears to be on improving/maintaining battery life and their profit margin. Eye health should be a much higher priority.
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Indeed, this is their only primary concern. They are a standard publicly-held corporation, after all. It is their legal obligation to focus their business in whatever way makes them, and their shareholders, the most profit. Were they a B-corp, that might be different.
It is not a health issue, it is a preference issue. You are not being damaged by PWM. Inconvenienced, yes. Perhaps even severely so, and for that you have my sincere sympathies. However, until people who suffer from PWM achieve protected class status, there is no obligation for Apple or any other company to address your need. That is the unfortunate reality.
OLEDs are reaching critical mass in terms of marketing and manufacture. Soon, if not already, it will become significantly cheaper to source OLEDs at the scale Apple and other consumer product companies operate. Dismissing LCD displays, then, becomes a cost savings. How it gets spun as a marketing conceit is separate. Yes, there are specific advantages to OLED. No, those advantages don't necessarily matter to everyone, but marketing bullet points rarely matter to most people (quick: How many of Apple's top-line marketing B.S. "magical and amazing" talking points do all of you actually use on a daily basis? I thought so. Same for me.) LCDs will disappear as OLEDs become cheaper and cheaper to manufacture due to scale. Demand follows scale in manufacturing.
And no, MicroLED will not be the savior anytime in the next decade. The technology is proving nearly impossible to scale beyond niche uses. A problem that will be solved eventually, like all engineering problems, but it will take far longer than some of the bloviated, inaccurate predictions paraded around in the amateur press.
Visual disturbances, blood flow disruptions within the retina, migraine headaches accompanied by blurry vision, fatigue. All triggered from using an OLED device that is rapidly flashing light into the retina. Probably not a health concern though.....🙄
Over the years, Apple has recognised the necessity of incorporating accessibility features to allow users to tailor their devices to accommodate their individual needs, whether for health reasons or personal preferences. Myself and others urge Apple, Samsung, LG, BOE, and other manufacturers to explore options for incorporating accessibility features that promote eye health specifically related to OLED.
This flashing can cause the pupils to quickly dilate and contract.
Realistically, nothing is preventing Apple from addressing the needs of its customers who suffer from eye strain. Apple already has several priorities which are not oriented around profits; e.g., reducing environmental impact, climate-related initiatives, etc.
Your characterization of OLED-induced eye strain as a “preference issue” rather than a health issue is, frankly, mistaken. The post above this one lists some of the common health symptoms of this condition, among others. I might have thought the same as you, until I discovered my own visual sensitivity condition after using a modern MacBook Pro (with a Micro-LED/XDR screen).
LEDStrain Forum
ledstrain.org
Which they do so as a legal requirement to serve the needs of protected classes of individuals. PWM sensitivity is not a protected class, therefore Apple has no legal obligation to address it and as such they won't. Apple is not your friend and is not interested in your problems.
These are marketing cudgels. Which is a cynical way of looking at it, of course. They happen to be things I agree with so I certainly don't mind Apple pursuing these actions, but they are broad-brush-stroke actions with limited applicability that Apple can constantly point to as a way to shape public opinion and burnish their brand. "PWM-friendly screens" won't move the needle in the same way as "we recycle things." Plus, Apple can shift the focus of their "environmental stewardship" to serve their own conveniences and efficiencies in a way that limiting themselves to certain technologies won't.
To be clear, I'm on your side. I'm sorry you are affected this way. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be. I wish Apple the company matched Apple's garbage marketing, something I rant about 'round here constantly.
I still don’t know, honestly I hope my SE3 to last a long time, because let’s remember that it has the insides of an iPhone 13. And the same SoC than the 14 as well, although the 14 has 6GB of RAM and the 13 & SE3 only have 4GB, which can be a problem at some point. But still, I hope the iPhone 13 that was launched in 2021 will have at least 6 years of support, same as the SE3, which brings us to 2027 (iOS 21), plus a couple of extra years of security updates.
Right now, I’m gonna enjoy my SE3, because it is compact, robust, and fast. And I really hope most of the new AI features to be supported by the A14 and up. And, while the year 2030 approaches, I can test some new OLED iPhones (such as the 17, 18…) to see if any new model, with newer OLED panels, are more healthy for my eyes.
Getting this SE3 was one of my best decisions ever. And I‘m also considering getting a second one to keep just in case this one breaks or something.
This, sir, is a great idea I’ll keep in mind when the SE4 is on the market and the replacement for an LCD is trustable and reliable. I mean, once we know those iPhone 14 LCD replacements work properly. The last thing I remember from LCD iPhone 14 screen replacements was that the brightness sensor didn’t work on replacements.
I have AppleCare+ on the SE3.
I’m just hoping Apple stops using PWM dimming on OLED displays when apps stop supporting the SE3. Maybe brand it as “EyeCare” or something like monitor manufacturers do.
I have questions for people that are bothered by oled screens
What are the symptoms?
Is it instantaneous?
how much time are you looking at your phone?
Do you have other vision issues?
Is there some medical science I can read about this?
I don’t have this experience so I’m very curious to learn about it
Having a hard time finding any good information
What are the symptoms?
Is it instantaneous?
how much time are you looking at your phone?
Do you have other vision issues?
Is there some medical science I can read about this?
I don’t have this experience so I’m very curious to learn about it
Having a hard time finding any good information
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In my case, with some screens is just eye strain, like feeling a pressure on the eye, while with other devices (there are different suppliers, thus, different range of symptoms) it is worse, getting red and itchy eyes.
No, I don’t think it is instantaneous. Maybe after 10-15 minutes of using it… I can’t be very accurate remembering the time it took, because last device I tried to get used to, was a third iPhone 13 mini -yes, I tried three different 13 minis along 2 years-. And that was a few years ago.
When I use my phone, I am looking at it during 10, 20 or even 30 minutes (for instance, if I have to write a long post on a forum like this one). I mean, I don’t buy a flagship smartphone such as the iPhone to use it just for phone calls and replying some messages. I use it as a smartphone.
Well, my eyes are healthy, if that’s what you mean. Actually, with the latest episode of red eyes related to a new screen, I went to the ophtalmologist, and she told me my eyes were healthy. She also told me that we currently don’t know the long term eye problems the screens can cause, and we’ll probably start to see the effects it in 10 years. Her last advice was “choose the device that doesn’t bother your eyes, by trial and error. If it bothers you, return it, and if you find a comfortable one, keep it”.
But that’s MY particular case. Let’s see what other forum users have to say.
Apple typically doesn’t care about its own minorities. This isn’t a criticism, this is a fact.
-Users who want downgrading as iOS updates obliterate devices: no reply
-Users affected by A9 on iOS 9 activation bug: silence
-Users sensitive to PWM: silence
-Users who want MacOS on iPad: (luckily), silence.
If Apple hasn’t done anything until now, I guess you have to ride out the iPhone SE 3, just like headphone jack enthusiasts have to ride out the iPhone 6s as long as possible.
It would be good to get an ophthalmologist to comment on this.
By my superficial understanding, our eyes are designed to be most relaxed and comfortable looking far. When they need to focus at objects really close, however, it causes all 20 something eye muscles to strain. While this is ok on a short run, straining them this way continuously for a long period of time can obviously cause headaches, migraines and other uncomfortable symptoms.
If we are forced to stare at smartphone screens for a while, we can still take some micro-pauses to blink, close our eyes to relax them, or look at a distance.
By my superficial understanding, our eyes are designed to be most relaxed and comfortable looking far. When they need to focus at objects really close, however, it causes all 20 something eye muscles to strain. While this is ok on a short run, straining them this way continuously for a long period of time can obviously cause headaches, migraines and other uncomfortable symptoms.
If we are forced to stare at smartphone screens for a while, we can still take some micro-pauses to blink, close our eyes to relax them, or look at a distance.