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

[KarimLeVallois]

I've seen 3 G9Q panels on Airs and all of them have looked exactly the same, no real off axis tint and no pink hues.

 

[NotApplicable]

Are all the Samsung panels pink tinted on lower half of the screen? My panel is G9N and I’m having this issue and I’m curious to know how many other people have this as well considering from what I’ve been reading here G9N it’s supposed to be the better panel.

No — you’re discovering the real truth, which is that no matter the manufacturer or assembly line, there is panel variance

 

[MarkX]

iPhone 17 256gb in mist blue and I’ve no idea what screen code I have and frankly I don’t care 1 little bit!

It looks good to me. I am certainly not going looking for problems that do not exist! I do not look at my phone from all the weird angles I’ve heard others do as that’s just not normal!

 

[Harthag]

Show me your evidence of that, since you’re so keen on data.

I’ve noticed several of the people mentioning an Air with a Samsung panel have specified they have a larger storage size (not 256 GB).

And if I was Apple, I’d certainly put better displays in more expensive phones, since buyers of more expensive phones are likely to be more discerning and Apple’s return costs are lower for less expensive phones. That’s probably why they’re putting mainly Samsung panels in the 6.3-inch Pro and more of the other panels in the regular 17 with the notionally same display this year.


The past matters little. I have a 4-year-old 13 mini with a GVC panel that is better for off-axis colour shift and brightness drop than my partner’s 14 Pro Max and ALL the current iPhones I examined in the Apple Store in The Hague (and I understand what to look for, unlike probably half the people in this thread; for example, I understand that “head on” means nothing because it depends on the viewing distance: at infinity, sure, head-on means perpendicular angles across the display, but at 6 inches there is a wide range of viewing angles from top to bottom of the display).

You can't turn comments people make here and your own personal observations into facts. I can't either. I'm talking about panel variance within the same series of phone. For example, there's no data proving that Apple uses better displays in 512gb iPhone 17 compared to 256gb. That's all I was saying, maybe I misinterpreted your comment.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary at least a cheap hyperlink.


Obviously colour and storage size (not memory size) do not affect screen quality, but since Apple is already selecting better screens for the Pro than the regular 17, it’s hardly a stretch to wonder if they are also putting better screens in phones with more storage (i.e. more expensive phones).


They clearly do this year, since the Pros in the Apple Store were ALL good whereas I only found a single regular 17 with a good screen. Which matches the “build plan mix” document floating around.


Foxconn isn’t even making all the phones any more. Nearly half are made elsewhere.

There's no proof at all that Apple puts better screens in the higher storage capacity models. Last year I went through several trash 16PM that were 512gb, my 256gb one was perfect. This year I went through one 512gb 17PM (GVC) and two 256gb 17PM (GH3, G9P). The so-called "superior" GVC panel was the worst.

OLED screen uniformity and quality depends on how far from center it is cut off the main sheet. As someone else posted, it has 100% to do with OLED fabrication process. That's not debatable, do a Google search.

If there’s “no correlation”, how come every single 17 Pro screen I checked in The Hague Apple Store had a good screen whereas only one out of several regular 17s had a good screen?

Apple is clearly not randomly assigning screens between Pro and regular 17s. They might indeed be randomly assigning them within each model (across the colour, storage, and geography variations), but we don’t have enough data to know yet.

You visited one Apple store and viewed comments posted here and possibly other forums. That's not a lot of reliable data.

I forgot to answer your original question of my phone experience this year:

17PM, 512gb, silver, bought in U.S. - GVC panel, poor uniformity but less green off-axis shift. (Returned)
17PM, 256gb, silver, bought in U.S. - GH3 panel, very good uniformity but more green off-axis shift. (Sold)
17PM, 256gb, silver, bought in U.S. - G9P panel, very good uniformity, no pink tint or off-axis shift. (Keeper)

 

[dantay]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary at least a cheap hyperlink.


Obviously colour and storage size (not memory size) do not affect screen quality, but since Apple is already selecting better screens for the Pro than the regular 17, it’s hardly a stretch to wonder if they are also putting better screens in phones with more storage (i.e. more expensive phones).


They clearly do this year, since the Pros in the Apple Store were ALL good whereas I only found a single regular 17 with a good screen. Which matches the “build plan mix” document floating around.


Foxconn isn’t even making all the phones any more. Nearly half are made elsewhere.

I’m proving nothing to you, if you are interested enough to post be interested enough to know what you are talking about.

 

[guitarguy316]

iPhone 17 Pro 512GB Silver...G9N...it is not uniform and the pink tint is very noticeable. I am working on a replacement. We also bought a iPhone 17 Pro 256GB Silver which was also a G9N but the panel looks fine.

 

[Moreplease]

Have any of you bought a 1 TB Air and got an LG display?

 

[palemonkey]

Adding my data point. Had G9N, prefer the GH3. (This is all incredibly subjective)

Swapped my 17 Pro Max 512 for a 1TB as needed more storage than first thought. Have been following this thread out of pure curiosity so was intrigued to see if I would notice any display differences.

512 was a G9N
1TB is GH3.

When compared side by side the differences are incredibly subtle. G9N has no off axis tint at all, noticeably pinker. GH3 has slight off axis ‘grey’ tint but is to my eyes text is clearer and sharper and is less pink which looks more natural.

 

[Corncab44]

Are any of these screens more pwm friendly? I know it depends on the person but any difference in modulation? I’d prefer a crummier looking screen over immediate headaches.

I have a G9P 17 pro and after about ten days of normal use with little trouble it started giving me eye burning and intense headaches. I wondered if an update changed something. Also wondering if I should try a max because those are more likely to have LGs by the look of it.

 

[Bost85]

Are any of these screens more pwm friendly? I know it depends on the person but any difference in modulation? I’d prefer a crummier looking screen over immediate headaches.

I have a G9P 17 pro and after about ten days of normal use with little trouble it started giving me eye burning and intense headaches. I wondered if an update changed something. Also wondering if I should try a max because those are more likely to have LGs by the look of it.

I has the same feeling and this is why I solved my issues with 60hz displays. I kept my 16 and returned my 17 that had a nasty pink hue and no clear whites… for a weird reason I have zero issues with my MacBook Pro for hrs

 

[Corncab44]

I has the same feeling and this is why I solved my issues with 60hz displays. I kept my 16 and returned my 17 that had a nasty pink hue and no clear whites… for a weird reason I have zero issues with my MacBook Pro for hrs

I was fine with a 13 pro though that kicked the bucket. 16 didnt work for me. Looking for whatever was closest to certain screens on the 13 pro (I bought two and only the second worked).

 

[jimmy_uk]

Are any of these screens more pwm friendly? I know it depends on the person but any difference in modulation? I’d prefer a crummier looking screen over immediate headaches.

I have a G9P 17 pro and after about ten days of normal use with little trouble it started giving me eye burning and intense headaches. I wondered if an update changed something. Also wondering if I should try a max because those are more likely to have LGs by the look of it.

I’d say probably not — it really depends on your personal sensitivity. Like you, I managed to use the 17 Pro for about 12 days, which is actually the longest I’ve ever been able to tolerate an OLED iPhone without immediate eye strain. But eventually, I started getting that same eye surface burning/stinging feeling. I ended up returning it, and even now, while using my iPhone 11, my eyes still don’t feel completely recovered.

Plenty of chat here (8 years worth):

Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up​

 

[inthefade]

Guess I got unlucky then this is my G9N Samsung panel
.

That’s pretty normal. I had a G9P and G9N next to each other, less shift on the G9P and mg G9N looks exactly like your pictures (also store and they had noticeable shift and keep in mind these were all 17 pros so almost all were Samsung panels.) the G9P however was way too warm for my taste and despite the slightly extra pink shift I decided to keep the G9N over the G9P.

But coming from an atrocious base 17 GVC both Samsung panels were great by comparison.

 

[Reyden]

Unfortunately I give it up.

5 iPhones in total, 1 PM that was GH3, and all the other Air GVC, similar, some better but nothing ice white as I like.

Np, we'll see next year

 

[Moreplease]

Still wish we could get some more info from owners here.

So far, no-one has reported an LG display in a 1 TB Air.

And this is the only report of a 256 GB Air with a Samsung panel:

I had a base Air with a samsung screen

Which Samsung panel was it? Phone colour? Continent of purchase? Why “had” past tense?

 

[KarimLeVallois]

Unfortunately I give it up.

5 iPhones in total, 1 PM that was GH3, and all the other Air GVC, similar, some better but nothing ice white as I like.

Np, we'll see next year

That's unlucky, of 6 Airs (512GB white) I have seen, 3 have been GVC and 3 have been G9Q, so pretty much a 50/50 chance. The G9Q screens have all looked the same too.

 

[Moreplease]

That's unlucky, of 6 Airs (512GB white) I have seen, 3 have been GVC and 3 have been G9Q, so pretty much a 50/50 chance. The G9Q screens have all looked the same too.

More fuel for my suspicion that Apple is putting better displays in Airs with more storage. Argh.

Every Air I’ve seen in three shops including an Apple Store went very green at a reasonable downward viewing angle to the screen – about eight phones. But presumably those were all 256 GB since they were store demos.

 

[maka344]

Still wish we could get some more info from owners here.

So far, no-one has reported an LG display in a 1 TB Air.

And this is the only report of a 256 GB Air with a Samsung panel:

Which Samsung panel was it? Phone colour? Continent of purchase? Why “had” past tense?

I returned it for the Pro Max hence the past tense. It was a black 256 purchased from Apple Bluewater, London. I still have the log in my Files. Let me check. Edit, it was G9Q.

 

[Reyden]

My mom just got a PM 256gb silver, GVC too,

I checked two Air, black and blue, I don't know the capacity, in the Apple Store, GVC them too.

 

[profanum]

Still wish we could get some more info from owners here.

So far, no-one has reported an LG display in a 1 TB Air.

And this is the only report of a 256 GB Air with a Samsung panel:

Which Samsung panel was it? Phone colour? Continent of purchase? Why “had” past tense?

My sky blue 256GB Air has a G9Q panel, no off-angle issues and it's uniform all around. Purchased in the US.

 

[Corncab44]

I’d say probably not — it really depends on your personal sensitivity. Like you, I managed to use the 17 Pro for about 12 days, which is actually the longest I’ve ever been able to tolerate an OLED iPhone without immediate eye strain. But eventually, I started getting that same eye surface burning/stinging feeling. I ended up returning it, and even now, while using my iPhone 11, my eyes still don’t feel completely recovered.

Plenty of chat here (8 years worth):

Eye-strain while using iPhone X and up​

I find it so strange this would start after using it for almost two weeks. And once it did it hasn’t gone away even after monkeying with settings. In the past I always had issue immediately or with an hour or day or two at most. Was there a recent software update? It’s frustrating since I was super relaxed about the phone and while I read the pwm actually wasn’t all that different from the past (despite the new toggle) it was fine for me and that was enough. So the mental hurdle has been overcome as far as I was concerned (which I think is not something to totally ignore). And yet…!

I might try a pro max? Maybe my eyes prefer LG? I don’t really want a larger phone. The pro is the perfect size. Air I can’t so cus of camera and batteries. Maybe I’ll try to find an old 13 pro. But even that in my experience had a screen lottery.

 

[Mvwijk]

I checked out the phones in the store here in The Netherlands.

All 17 pro max screens showed the green tint
7 out of 8 17 pro had the green tint
6 out of the 8 17’s had the green tint
All iPhone Airs had the green tint

The green tint was only visible when viewing it off angle, the ones that didn’t show the green tint had a more cool tinted or pink tinted screen and weren’t uniform.

I have the 17 Pro Max with the GVC screen, little green tint when viewed off angle but other than that the screen is clear and crisp so i’m not even gonna bother trying to exchange it and maybe get a bad screen

 

[Mvwijk]

I checked out the phones in the store here in The Netherlands.

All 17 pro max screens showed the green tint
7 out of 8 17 pro had the green tint
6 out of the 8 17’s had the green tint
All iPhone Airs had the green tint

The green tint was only visible when viewing it off angle, the ones that didn’t show the green tint had a more cool tinted or pink tinted screen and weren’t uniform.

I have the 17 Pro Max with the GVC screen, little green tint when viewed off angle but other than that the screen is clear and crisp so i’m not even gonna bother trying to exchange it and maybe get a bad screen

Need to add that some displays did show the green tint way worse than others, especially the Airs had really bad viewing angles. I turned true tone off for all displays. Crazy that apple doesn’t deliver the same quality screens for all models and that it has to be this lottery. Didn’t check the capacity of the phones

 

[KarimLeVallois]

My initial Air had a pretty bad green tint, hence the return.

 

[Harthag]

More fuel for my suspicion that Apple is putting better displays in Airs with more storage. Argh.

Every Air I’ve seen in three shops including an Apple Store went very green at a reasonable downward viewing angle to the screen – about eight phones. But presumably those were all 256 GB since they were store demos.

Eagerly awaiting your results / conclusions confirming Apple puts better displays in phones with more storage 🤣