iPhone 12 Pro Yellow Screen/Tint? Display seem "Warm"? Check here first!

[Baconhouse]

Glad to hear someone who knows 6500k chime in on this. After 10 years of calibration warriors trying to say this is simply moving down a bit in calibration its good to have someone who knows what they are talking about.
Id wait at least 6 weeks launch to try again

I'm just gonna keep mine since its only "warmer" not severely yellow tinted, and if they get better later I'll get the screen replaced under warranty. This may be the first year I opt for AppleCare.

While I was in the store doing the return, I compared my Pixel 3 to both a display 12 and 12 Pro they had at the table I was being helped at. Both were significantly warmer, so much so that I was thinking, "wow, I didn't realize how cold this screen is." When I got back home, I took a double-take and compared the P3 to my monitor and it was very close, maybe a tinge colder... I am kind of kicking myself because I didn't check to see if true tone was off, so that could've been why.

Either way, I saw the associate turn mine on and I immediately noticed just how dingy it was. I even asked her, as she processed my return on her perfect-white iPhone beside her, "Do you see that?" She agreed, if a bit reluctantly. I know true tone is automatically enabled on fresh start devices, but still...

Maybe there are some "good but warmer" screens out there, but mine certainly wasn't one of them. IMO, Apple's really relaxed manufacturing tolerances for this year.

 

[new-user1583]

I have an Apple store appointment regarding yellow tint tomorrow.I plan to compare my iPhone 12 pro to the one used for exhibition and if there are no differences I’ll compare it to my XR. In that case one can see the difference for sure....

if they say iPhone 12 pro has no problem then my iPhone XR has a screen problem and I’ll ask for the X-XR to be replaced (still under warranty)

considering to exchange my phone iPhone 12 pro, is there anyone who received a better screen after requesting an exchange??

Edit: Does anyone else notice that if I turn brightness at maximum level and then I shine a flash light on the sensor the brightness even doubles... is this working as intended? Makes no sense to me

 

[Phone Junky]

Edit: Does anyone else notice that if I turn brightness at maximum level and then I shine a flash light on the sensor the brightness even doubles... is this working as intended? Makes no sense to me

Settings>Accessibility>Display & Text Size>Auto-Brightness
Turning this off will make the maximum brightness setting be actually the brightest. With it on, the brightest will be auto-adjusted in some way.

 

[mackiee]

Got my 12 Pro yesterday. Yes, it is slightly more yellow than my 11 Pro. However, in most situations I find the 12P being more accurate and more "white". The 11 Pro has a more "grayish" white. With True Tone turned on it is obvious that the feature is way more aggressive on the 12P. When comparing the phones to a white paper the 11P is much more accurate. Don't know if this is because of the 11P running iOS 14.01 and the 12P running iOS 14.1...

Another thing I noticed is that the screen is ever so slighly brighter at the bottom half compared to the top. This is most noticeable when showing uniform content like a gray image with the brightness set to about 50%. I then checked the same thing on my 11P and it also has the same problem but it is less noticeable. Now, this is maybe my biggest concern about the screen and may be the reason I return it. Haven't decided yet because of the risk of getting a screen that is worse...

Note that the 11P has a Spigen high quality glass screen protector.

Full brightness
Left: iPhone 11 Pro, Right: iPhone 12 Pro

Half brightness
Left: iPhone 12 Pro, Right: iPhone 11 Pro (NOTE - the left/right has changed)

 

[thadoggfather]

Turn off night shift for both^

 

[mackiee]

Turn off night shift for both^

Doesn't matter. Not within night shift active hours. Tried it and it is no difference.

 

[Vazza]

So just to clarify...my 12 pro OLED screen shouldn’t look bright white like the iPhone 7 that it replaces (when compared next to each other)?

I wouldn’t say my pro’s screen looks yellow just not brilliant white like the iPhone 7.

 

[thadoggfather]

So just to clarify...my 12 pro OLED screen shouldn’t look bright white like the iPhone 7 that it replaces (when compared next to each other)?

I wouldn’t say my pro’s screen looks yellow just not brilliant white like the iPhone 7.

'shouldn't is subjective

my good unit 12 pro on full blast in settings against my good unit SE 2020 (same p3 screen specs as 7/8) on full blast in settings... the 12 pro is whiter and brighter

 

[Vazza]

'shouldn't is subjective

my good unit 12 pro on full blast in settings against my good unit SE 2020 (same p3 screen specs as 7/8) on full blast in settings... the 12 pro is whiter and brighter

Sigh, a return might be in order then

 

[Vazza]

I’ve done a photo for comparison. To my naked eye the white on my iPhone 7 looked more true white compared to the 12 pro but weirdly in the photo it seems to be the opposite?! Both were set at max brightness and obviously turned off True Tone etc.

Guess I’m just not used to the screen yet.

 

[javisan]

Got my 12 Pro yesterday. Yes, it is slightly more yellow than my 11 Pro. However, in most situations I find the 12P being more accurate and more "white". The 11 Pro has a more "grayish" white. With True Tone turned on it is obvious that the feature is way more aggressive on the 12P. When comparing the phones to a white paper the 11P is much more accurate. Don't know if this is because of the 11P running iOS 14.01 and the 12P running iOS 14.1...

Another thing I noticed is that the screen is ever so slighly brighter at the bottom half compared to the top. This is most noticeable when showing uniform content like a gray image with the brightness set to about 50%. I then checked the same thing on my 11P and it also has the same problem but it is less noticeable. Now, this is maybe my biggest concern about the screen and may be the reason I return it. Haven't decided yet because of the risk of getting a screen that is worse...

Note that the 11P has a Spigen high quality glass screen protector.

View attachment 1537160
Full brightness
Left: iPhone 11 Pro, Right: iPhone 12 Pro


View attachment 1537161
Half brightness
Left: iPhone 12 Pro, Right: iPhone 11 Pro (NOTE - the left/right has changed)

The 11 Pro looks better to my eyes. The yellow tint is obvious on the 12.

I have yet to see anyone post a picture of their “good” 12 Pro next to a X/XS/11 Pro. I won’t believe it exists until I see it.

 

[bevsb2]

11Pro on left, 12Pro on right

I consider my 11Pro to have a near perfect screen. My 12Pro is very slightly warmer, but I would not consider it yellow tinted. Both screens look much brighter and whiter in person. Same photo entered twice by mistake.

 

[javisan]

View attachment 1537552View attachment 1537552
11Pro on left, 12Pro on right

I consider my 11Pro to have a near perfect screen. My 12Pro is very slightly warmer, but I would not consider it yellow tinted. Both screens look much brighter and whiter in person. Same photo entered twice by mistake.

That 12 Pro looks better than many others that have been posted here. I don't necessarily care the the term (yellow or warm), I just don't think it looks better than the 11 Pro. But that is just my personal opinion on how I think the display should look like.

Everyone's tastes and tolerances will be different, but I'm against upgrading a device to downgrade on the display, which is literally what you will be using the most. That is why I ended up returning my 12 Pro and I'm now happily using an 11 Pro. If I see really good 12 in a couple of months, I might reconsider.

 

[bevsb2]

That 12 Pro looks better than many others that have been posted here. I don't necessarily care the the term (yellow or warm), I just don't think it looks better than the 11 Pro. But that is just my personal opinion on how I think the display should look like.

Everyone's tastes and tolerances will be different, but I'm against upgrading a device to downgrade on the display, which is literally what you will be using the most. That is why I ended up returning my 12 Pro and I'm now happily using an 11 Pro. If I see really good 12 in a couple of months, I might reconsider.

My 12 Pro looks better in person than the picture represents and I'm happy with it, but I can't deny that the 11 Pro has a better looking screen. I'm happy with the upgrade and don't want to play the lottery as I think the chances of getting a better screen than the one I have are dismal from what I'm reading here. I still have the 11 Pro but today I am officially out of the 14 day return period, so my final decision to keep the 12 was made yesterday.

 

[mackiee]

Got my 12 Pro yesterday. Yes, it is slightly more yellow than my 11 Pro. However, in most situations I find the 12P being more accurate and more "white". The 11 Pro has a more "grayish" white. With True Tone turned on it is obvious that the feature is way more aggressive on the 12P. When comparing the phones to a white paper the 11P is much more accurate. Don't know if this is because of the 11P running iOS 14.01 and the 12P running iOS 14.1...

Updated the 11P to iOS 14.2 but it made no difference. However as I hinted before, with True Tone off and 50% brightness the 12P looks better having a more natural white. The 11P looks like it has a slight blue/gray tint in comparison... The 12P does not look yellow but just plain white. But then, I have always preferred a warm screen before a cold one. Unfortunately with True Tone turned its another story and the 11P looks slightly better. Hopefully that will be fixed in a future software update.

Another thing I noticed is that my 12P is much better when viewing off center. I can tilt it much more before it gets the typical OLED off axis color shift.

 

[gpoop]

I compared a display model 12 Pro with my X today at best buy. At first it was yellow. Opened up settings and turned true tone off. Instantly the 12 Pro's screen turns the perfect shade of cool white to the point it made my X screen look like trash. I have dark mode on my X so I go back into settings on the 12 pro and turn dark mode on and compared. The pro's screen had turned yellow when I turned on dark mode. Changed it back to light mode but it stayed yellow. So weird. Perhaps its not a defect with true tone but with dark mode instead?

 

[klamchop]

I compared a display model 12 Pro with my X today at best buy. At first it was yellow. Opened up settings and turned true tone off. Instantly the 12 Pro's screen turns the perfect shade of cool white to the point it made my X screen look like trash. I have dark mode on my X so I go back into settings on the 12 pro and turn dark mode on and compared. The pro's screen had turned yellow when I turned on dark mode. Changed it back to light mode but it stayed yellow. So weird. Perhaps its not a defect with true tone but with dark mode instead?

sometimes your eyes takes a while to adjust, I have compared the 12pro with mine at Sam's club with both true tone and night shift off and the display was brighter and whiter than mine. I even stayed for around 5mins and mine looked yellow and dull. Received replacement on Friday and and immediately it it felt like it looked better than mine, but after a while it was complete trash (even yellower than my original)

 

[bevsb2]

I took 2 more photos this evening with my iPad Pro with True Tone off. With True Tone off and full brightness on the iPad, both iPhone screens are considerably brighter and whiter than the iPad. The phone screens are pretty similar in appearance with the 12 Pro just a little warmer and both are much brighter and whiter than these photos show. The 11 Pro is on the left and the 12 Pro on the right.

 

[Starscape]

Excellent post. You are right on, its not intentional. I have 10 years of experience on this issue and can say that a large % of the initial batch will be out of tolerance.

What exactly is your “10 years of experience on this issue”? Just curious.

 

[Starscape]

This thread is hysterical. Just watching all the ridiculous theorycrafting going on here and how so many of you are scrambling around to compare phones and debate non-facts to justify the process of returning 10 phones in the hopes of finding your little golden lottery winner iPhone is so entertaining. Please, don’t stop.

I actually just received my new iPad Pro 11 yesterday and it’s perfect. Amazing. I guess that means I’m not a victim of “inferior screen dumping on unsuspecting customers”, but then again, I didn’t compare its white point to a million other screens, I didn’t use microscopes or 2000-lumen lights to seek out mysterious problems, and I didn’t use a straightedge check if it’s not the slightest bit bent. I’ll just enjoy the thing.

I really feel bad for some of you. Just witnessing the levels of stress this causes many of you is astonishing. Carry on.

 

[gpoop]

This thread is hysterical. Just watching all the ridiculous theorycrafting going on here and how so many of you are scrambling around to compare phones and debate non-facts to justify the process of returning 10 phones in the hopes of finding your little golden lottery winner iPhone is so entertaining. Please, don’t stop.

I actually just received my new iPad Pro 11 yesterday and it’s perfect. Amazing. I guess that means I’m not a victim of “inferior screen dumping on unsuspecting customers”, but then again, I didn’t compare its white point to a million other screens, I didn’t use microscopes or 2000-lumen lights to seek out mysterious problems, and I didn’t use a straightedge check if it’s not the slightest bit bent. I’ll just enjoy the thing.

I really feel bad for some of you. Just witnessing the levels of stress this causes many of you is astonishing. Carry on.

I noticed something was off the second I turned on the phone. I'm not keeping something that costs 1100 dollars if I'm not 100% happy with it.

 

[Starscape]

I noticed something was off the second I turned on the phone. I'm not keeping something that costs 1100 dollars if I'm not 100% happy with it.

What was off about it?

 

[gpoop]

What was off about it?

Are you seriously asking this question?




THE SCREEN WAS YELLOW!!




Looked like someone took yellow film and placed it over top of the screen and any script on the screen was dull, not sharp as it should be.

 

[kre62]

This thread is hysterical. Just watching all the ridiculous theorycrafting going on here and how so many of you are scrambling around to compare phones and debate non-facts to justify the process of returning 10 phones in the hopes of finding your little golden lottery winner iPhone is so entertaining. Please, don’t stop.

I actually just received my new iPad Pro 11 yesterday and it’s perfect. Amazing. I guess that means I’m not a victim of “inferior screen dumping on unsuspecting customers”, but then again, I didn’t compare its white point to a million other screens, I didn’t use microscopes or 2000-lumen lights to seek out mysterious problems, and I didn’t use a straightedge check if it’s not the slightest bit bent. I’ll just enjoy the thing.

I really feel bad for some of you. Just witnessing the levels of stress this causes many of you is astonishing. Carry on.

Glad to hear you got a good one. If you hadn’t, it might bother you. Its not a subtle difference. And no one is stressed we are just holding Apple accountable for poor QC.

 

[whlee84]

Guys, turn off auto brightness for a fair comparison. Strangely, the iPhone 12 pro screen doesn’t get as bright when auto brightness is on. I don’t see any effect on the iPhone 11 or X. Therefore, if your iPhone 12 pro has auto brightness on, it will appear darker and possibly more “yellow” at the same brightness setting as another iPhone.

I bought an iPhone 12 pro at launch and I was disappointed about the screen not being quite as crisp or bright as my iPhone 11. However when I turned off the auto brightness feature on both phones, the screen is much brighter than my iPhone 11, and subsequently the screen looks more crisp. It is not as blue as the iPhone 11, but rather more of a true white. I was going to return my iPhone 12 pro, but now I am actually happy with the screen.

Make sure both phones you are comparing has the auto brightness, True Tone, and night shift all turned OFF.