Other This years screen lottery (17, 17 pro, 17 pro max and air)

[relaxman]

iOS & iPadOS 26.1 Beta Release Notes | Apple Developer Documentation

Update your apps to use new features, and test your apps against API changes.

developer.apple.com

I see no mention, yet....of anything in 26.1 beta that would address not so bright displays.

Welcome to Apple who releases Logic Pro updates with a million fixes without ever mentioning the half of them in the change log. This really doesn’t tell you anything. 🤣

 

[fel10]

I’ve decided I’ll probably try my luck with an express replacement in a month or two. Unfortunately, I bought mine through AT&T, so not only do they charge a restocking fee, but they also don’t have any iPhone 17s in stock. For now, I just notice that when I’m holding my phone, the bottom of the screen looks a bit whiter than the rest on white backgrounds. That’s why I’m thinking of going the express replacement route later.

 

[relaxman]

Indeed. A bit like when they said certain type of Samsung panels were A grade and some were B or C grade via the serial number assigned during assembly. 🤣

Exactly. I really wonder who comes up with this nonsense, considering Apple defines strict production requirements for their displays, and the manufacturers builds them according to those specifications. The baseline quality is there.

They don’t put trash screens in 1000 dollar plus devices.

 

[Winterpark]

I’ve decided I’ll probably try my luck with an express replacement in a month or two. Unfortunately, I bought mine through AT&T, so not only do they charge a restocking fee, but they also don’t have any iPhone 17s in stock. For now, I just notice that when I’m holding my phone, the bottom of the screen looks a bit whiter than the rest on white backgrounds. That’s why I’m thinking of going the express replacement route later.

NEVER buy at a carrier. Always go to an Apple Store

 

[fel10]

NEVER buy at a carrier. Always go to an Apple Store

Learned my lesson.

 

[MrGimper]

I wish I hadn’t seen this thread. I’ve been doing my best to avoid getting into this, but I finally gave up.

Left : 15 PM with Samsung G9N
Right : 17 PM with LG GVC
(True Tone enabled - Identical brightness level slider on Auto brightness set)

The pictures don’t even fully show how massive the difference looks to the naked eye. The GVC is duller, less bright, and has more grey. Overall less appealing to the eye when both have the true tone enabled.

As soon as new stock arrives at my local Apple Store, I’m going to exchange mine until I get a Samsung display.

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Photos of screens don’t tend to work, as white balance etc go all over the place, I’m led to believe.

 

[sidezero]

NEVER buy at a carrier. Always go to an Apple Store

Hard to pass on those trade in deals this year for some

 

[Mick_ag]

Exactly. I really wonder who comes up with this nonsense, considering Apple defines strict production requirements for their displays, and the manufacturers builds them according to those specifications. The baseline quality is there.

They don’t put trash screens in 1000 dollar plus devices.

Agreed. Several users have reported in this thread that at the Apple Store they visited, all the 17 PM panels were LG, while the 17 Pro panels were mostly Samsung. Is anyone really going to believe that Apple would be so dumb as to put the “bad” panels in the devices that are typically bought by the people who scrutinize iPhones the most and who are the ones most active on forums like this, Reddit, etc.?

A logical explanation would be that Apple knows LG panels are more uniform, and that matters even more on a large screen size.

Maybe they didn’t anticipate that many people would actually prefer a Samsung panel that looks less uniform straight on over a perfectly uniform one that shows blue shift when tilted.

 

[sidezero]

Agreed. Several users have reported in this thread that at the Apple Store they visited, all the 17 PM panels were LG, while the 17 Pro panels were mostly Samsung. Is anyone really going to believe that Apple would be so dumb as to put the “bad” panels in the devices that are typically bought by the people who scrutinize iPhones the most and who are the ones most active on forums like this, Reddit, etc.?

A logical explanation would be that Apple knows LG panels are more uniform, and that matters even more on a large screen size.

Maybe they didn’t anticipate that many people would actually prefer a Samsung panel that looks less uniform straight on over a perfectly uniform one that shows blue shift when tilted.

Same with most Airs being LG. Putting a subpar screen on their new hotness makes absolutely zero sense.

 

[Harthag]

Agreed. Several users have reported in this thread that at the Apple Store they visited, all the 17 PM panels were LG, while the 17 Pro panels were mostly Samsung. Is anyone really going to believe that Apple would be so dumb as to put the “bad” panels in the devices that are typically bought by the people who scrutinize iPhones the most and who are the ones most active on forums like this, Reddit, etc.?

A logical explanation would be that Apple knows LG panels are more uniform, and that matters even more on a large screen size.

Maybe they didn’t anticipate that many people would actually prefer a Samsung panel that looks less uniform straight on over a perfectly uniform one that shows blue shift when tilted.

Respectfully disagree. A logical explanation would be that Apple tapped LG as a supplier to increase supply. Apple couldn’t care less about panel uniformity or color shift. As long as the panel passes their general QC it’s sent for assembly.

 

[mattwestside]

The issue I have with the Samsung panel on my 17PM (shown below) is the lack of uniformity when looking directly at the screen. To my eyes, the top of the screen shifts to yellow, while the bottom shifts to pink. The LG display is just plain white, but shifts to green at off-axis. In the end, that is less of a trade-off to me than looking at a non-uniform screen, especially on a $1300 phone.

 

[Lexicon44]

The issue I have with the Samsung panel on my 17PM (shown below) is the lack of uniformity when looking directly at the screen. To my eyes, the top of the screen shifts to yellow, while the bottom shifts to pink. The LG display is just plain white, but shifts to green at off-axis. In the end, that is less of a trade-off to me than looking at a non-uniform screen, especially on a $1300 phone.

There’s a green line in the top right that looks like light refracting through the edge of a screen protector. Illusion or do you have one installed?

Off-axis my screen protector shows a very mild rainbow effect on the display that’s in addition the green tint I saw without the protector installed. I sort of see some mild vertical rainbow bands at the bottom of your display.

If you do have a protector installed, wonder if it would look more uniform straight on without it.

 

[usmaak]

I went to a Best Buy today and they had a bunch of demos for ATT and Verizon. I looked at a Pro Max, a Pro, two Airs and a few base 17s. All of them had varying degrees of green tint when tilting it except for Pro Max. Mine has a GVC screen and I can see the green if I put up a completely white image and tilt the phone. I noticed it when doing the check I always do for dead and stuck pixels in new devices. This is not a way that I’d ever use it.

I’m considering returning it for reasons other than this. I’m considering going smaller this time and swapping for a Pro.

 

[Lexicon44]

I went to a Best Buy today and they had a bunch of demos for ATT and Verizon. I looked at a Pro Max, a Pro, two Airs and a few base 17s. All of them had varying degrees of green tint when tilting it except for Pro Max. Mine has a GVC screen and I can see the green if I put up a completely white image and tilt the phone. I noticed it when doing the check I always do for dead and stuck pixels in new devices. This is not a way that I’d ever use it.

I’m considering returning it for reasons other than this. I’m considering going smaller this time and swapping for a Pro.

Glass half full approach, at least for those of us with the GVC display it seems to be more of a feature than a bug of that panel, since most seem to have it. An unfortunate property of the panel rather than defective ones.

As another member attested earlier, we may be underestimating how often we look at the display at the angle from slightly above, and the green shift may be more apparent in daily use than we may realize.

 

[usmaak]

Glass half full approach, at least for those of us with the GVC display it seems to be more of a feature than a bug of that panel, since most seem to have it. An unfortunate property of the panel rather than defective ones.

As another member attested earlier, we may be underestimating how often we look at the display at the angle from slightly above, and the green shift may be more apparent in daily use than we may realize.

For me, time will tell. So far I haven’t noticed it other than when I was testing for dead pixels. But that doesn’t mean I won’t in the future. I keep my phone in dark mode, so that makes it a little less likely, I suppose. But yeah, I’ve never considered any kind of off angle tints to be a feature. 😂

The Pro that I saw with the Samsung screen (based on total lack of green shift) was definitely nicer than the other ones. It actually caught my eye that it was nicer before I checked it for the green tint. It was uniformly white and seemed to have a better viewing angle.

I’m still deciding what to do with this 17 PM. I might return it and sit this one out with my 14 PM. Or I may get a Pro sometime in a few months when it’s all settled down and they have a lot of stock.

I am glad that I kept my 14 PM though, instead of trading it in.

 

[mattwestside]

There’s a green line in the top right that looks like light refracting through the edge of a screen protector. Illusion or do you have one installed?

Off-axis my screen protector shows a very mild rainbow effect on the display that’s in addition the green tint I saw without the protector installed. I sort of see some mild vertical rainbow bands at the bottom of your display.

If you do have a protector installed, wonder if it would look more uniform straight on without it.

Good call - I still had the screen protector on. I removed it and here's a new photo. Looks pretty much the same to my eyes, maybe a tiny bit more yellow in the center now.

 

[kulan]

The issue I have with the Samsung panel on my 17PM (shown below) is the lack of uniformity when looking directly at the screen. To my eyes, the top of the screen shifts to yellow, while the bottom shifts to pink. The LG display is just plain white, but shifts to green at off-axis. In the end, that is less of a trade-off to me than looking at a non-uniform screen, especially on a $1300 phone.

Good call - I still had the screen protector on. I removed it and here's a new photo. Looks pretty much the same to my eyes, maybe a tiny bit more yellow in the center now.

The Samsung stans here conveniently ignore everything you're pointing out, as others with less-than optimal Samsung displays in the thread have too - while LG's obviously have a problem with off-axis shift, there's literally no way to ignore an uneven and non-uniform display when viewing the screen straight on. Which is a problem affecting Samsung-produced displays more than LG's.

Simple proof that both displays have their own respective issues, and that it's a preference of what you're willing to tolerate, not one manufacturer outright makes better displays than the other one.

Apple obviously controls for this stuff, seeing the problems and assessing displays to meet a specific standard. Of course neither manufacturer can make perfect displays with no production errors or noticeable issues, especially at the volume that these phones are produced in.

 

[iLuddite]

Now I’m leaning toward just keeping this 17 Pro Max with its G9P panel—although it’s definitely tinted greenish (sometimes it also appears pinkish; and yes, with True Tone/Night Shift disabled), the screen overall is serviceably uniform.

Still not quite as good as the G9N with which my old 16 Pro Max was blessed, but I reckon it’ll do.

Kourtney pretty much said it best:

 

[gvcg9n]

Is there 17 Pro Max screen dimmer than 15 PM? I read a report that 16 PM screen was. Is Apple capping screen brightness with newer phones?

 

[langkhack18]

Is there 17 Pro Max screen dimmer than 15 PM? I read a report that 16 PM screen was. Is Apple capping screen brightness with newer phones?

The 17s have 3000 nits max brightness.

 

[relaxman]

I wish I hadn’t seen this thread. I’ve been doing my best to avoid getting into this, but I finally gave up.

Left : 15 PM with Samsung G9N
Right : 17 PM with LG GVC
(True Tone enabled - Identical brightness level slider on Auto brightness set)

The pictures don’t even fully show how massive the difference looks to the naked eye. The GVC is duller, less bright, and has more grey. Overall less appealing to the eye when both have the true tone enabled.

As soon as new stock arrives at my local Apple Store, I’m going to exchange mine until I get a Samsung display.

View attachment 2560538

View attachment 2560539

View attachment 2560540Can you try this with the latest iOS beta?

I wish I hadn’t seen this thread. I’ve been doing my best to avoid getting into this, but I finally gave up.

Left : 15 PM with Samsung G9N
Right : 17 PM with LG GVC
(True Tone enabled - Identical brightness level slider on Auto brightness set)

The pictures don’t even fully show how massive the difference looks to the naked eye. The GVC is duller, less bright, and has more grey. Overall less appealing to the eye when both have the true tone enabled.

As soon as new stock arrives at my local Apple Store, I’m going to exchange mine until I get a Samsung display.

View attachment 2560538

View attachment 2560539

View attachment 2560540

Can you try this with the latest iOS beta?

 

[gvcg9n]

The 17s have 3000 nits max brightness.

I guess that is auto brigthness when detecting the sun.
How about manual 100% brightness with true tone off, does anyone feel 17s looks dimmer than 15s and 16s?

 

[relaxman]

Respectfully disagree. A logical explanation would be that Apple tapped LG as a supplier to increase supply. Apple couldn’t care less about panel uniformity or color shift. As long as the panel passes their general QC it’s sent for assembly.

Okay, so now they just don’t care?

Let’s put this ‘cheap’ LG screen in our most expensive Pro Max iPhone. Let’s put that cheaper panel in the model with the most high end demanding users.

Let’s give people who care the most about their screen panels the worst screens.

Nope, makes no sense at all.

 

[iLuddite]

I guess that is auto brigthness when detecting the sun.
How about manual 100% brightness with true tone off, does anyone feel 17s looks dimmer than 15s and 16s?

I feel like the screen does look weirdly dimmer and duller (G9P 17 Pro Max versus G9N 16 Pro Max) and other than assumed panel differences I'm beginning to wonder if it might have anything to do with the new antireflective coating.

And, sidenote, the 17 P.M. is running the first 26.1 developer beta just as the 16 P.M. was before I traded it in.

 

[MrGimper]

One thing worth remembering is that the phone will reduce the screen brightness if it gets too hot. That includes maximum brightness. This tends to happen when you’re restoring or setting up a new phone. I had this with a replacement iPad which looked noticeably dimmer on full brightness and nearly got returned until I noticed the following day that the display was much brighter because the device had now cooled down.

Just worth bearing in mind.