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For anyone getting their hopes up that this will be fixed by a software update, don't. They might fix the aggressiveness of true tone, but as far as the general yellow tint goes, it's clearly a hardware problem.
There seem to be multiple issues...Having read this whole thread these seem to be the most common:

  1. Slight yellow tint, warmer whites (most cases I would say)
  2. Piss yellow with lower contrast and brightness, greys do not look good
  3. Blacks are not true blacks when low brightness
  4. Bad color shift depending on viewing angle
  5. Uneven screen color
Some people might have more than one of these at the same time.
If you only have #1 I would not play the screen lottery.. On the other hand I find that 2-3. are not acceptable and I would do a return. 4-5 depends on the intensity of the problem.

My iPhone 12 Pro falls in category one, slightly warmer than my X but I can live with it since it's the only noticeable difference from my (very good) X screen.
I doubt any stores have the 12PM to even do that
 
So I went to my local Apple store and the doorman had the audacity to say that they load the display phones with an app to make it look good for their in-store lighting and no matter which I look at my phone will look worse.

Coming from a 6s plus I can't help but look at my screen and it looks like it's been soaking in cigarette water.

I visited two Best Buys and one Apple store, looked at 5 Pro max's total. 2 were similar to mine but maybe slightly more neutral. 3 were noticeably more warmer and dimmer. The two that were good were also a little dimmer than mine at max brightness????

I don't know what to think, i think it's a combo of slightly yellow screen + not knowing what to expect from OLED. My 6s plus was perfect.
So did the ones at the Apple store with the special calibration look better?
 
So when I first got my 12PM I thought it was yellow. Disabling true tone definitely helped, but side by side with my 11PM it still looked yellow. Today though, I compared again and it looks pretty close, the 12PM definitely not quite as bright and maybe a smidge dingy. Also I confirmed my 12PM does have the green flickering on the pure black video test.

I wanted to put some data to this question.

Using sRGB target, D65:
My 11PM measured 6750k with an avg ΔE 1.1, max ΔE 2

View attachment 1670410

My 12PM measured 6520k with an avg ΔE 1, max ΔE 1.9. We can see the grays on the 12PM have greater ΔE, especially the dark grays, compared with the 11PM ΔE around the same color bands. This lines up with the slight tinge, especially when dark. So no, you aern't crazy if you see this. But overall, the 12PM display maybe appears slightly more even in regards to ΔE across the board compared to 11PM?

View attachment 1670411

So this reflects the slightly warmer tone the 12PM has for me, but I found both phones to have surprisingly tight calibration from the factory. Don't forget to disable night-shift as I forgot the first time and it also made a difference.
Thanks for this. This is what I’ve been suspecting... that people’s older iPhones are actually a bit too cool and the color temperature of the iPhone 12s is properly calibrated to 6500K. So when viewed side by side, people will think the 12s are too yellow, when in actuality the older phones are too blue, which tricks the eyes into seeing the 12s as yellow. This is the same thing Erica Griffin found. I really have no problems with the color temperature of my 12 Pro Max. It’s slightly warmer than my iPhone X, but looks likes it’s probably in the 6500K range and still looks good to me. My bigger problem is that both my 12 Pro Max and my wife’s 12 Pro have a slight green tint, which gets more intense when viewing the phones at an angle. I wouldn’t say it’s a dealbreaker, but I will probably try at least one replacement at some point to see if I get one with less green tint.

edit: What calibration device did you use to measure? Wouldn’t mind having one.
 
Thanks for this. This is what I’ve been suspecting... that people’s older iPhones are actually a bit too cool and the color temperature of the iPhone 12s is properly calibrated to 6500K. So when viewed side by side, people will think the 12s are too yellow, when in actuality the older phones are too blue, which tricks the eyes into seeing the 12s as yellow. This is the same thing Erica Griffin found. I really have no problems with the color temperature of my 12 Pro Max. It’s slightly warmer than my iPhone X, but looks likes it’s probably in the 6500K range and still looks good to me. My bigger problem is that both my 12 Pro Max and my wife’s 12 Pro have a slight green tint, which gets more intense when viewing the phones at an angle. I wouldn’t say it’s a dealbreaker, but I will probably try at least one replacement at some point to see if I get one with less green tint.

edit: What calibration device did you use to measure? Wouldn’t mind having one.
I need a simpleton clarification. can it be corrected via updates?
 
That is fancy, but I dont understand anything about it. Can that be adjusted via an update?
Not really. Because of the variation in screens (not different panel models, just variations during production of the same model — this is an analogue process with physical/chemical variations), it can only really be fixed by calibrating the individual screen using a colorimeter or spectrometer — assuming iOS would provide proper calibration controls (like higher-end TVs do), which unfortunately it doesn’t.
 
I haven't got my old 11 pro to compare it but here are pics of 12 pro max and 12 pro side by side. They both are keeper in my opinion and they look a lot better in person. Both have screen protector installed.

IMG_0032.jpgIMG_0028.jpgIMG_0037.jpg
 
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So, how do they get consistency between all the displays? Just curious
They don’t, obviously?

Edit: iOS likely has calibration controls internally, but they are not user-exposed, and it doesn’t seem that the displays are being calibrated at the factory — or only with incredibly permissive tolerances.
 
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So if they have internal controls, they could see what the possibly percentage of yellowish displays are and based on a high enough percentage, adjust?
 
So if they have internal controls, they could see what the possibly percentage of yellowish displays are and based on a high enough percentage, adjust?
The controls don’t “see” what the display looks like. You need external measurements by a colorimeter or spectrometer to determine the actual colors of the display, in order to be able to apply the correct adjustments.
 
Hi, I’ve made an account because I’m facing problems with the iPhone 12 mini screen too. Yesterday I did send it back and I’m waiting for a replacement now. (I’m not having high hopes though, after reading this thread).

I’m a photographer so I ‘know’ colours and like some people already wrote here, I’m not all too worried about the yellow looking screen. I think too that my 7 looked too blue actually. And my iPad is on the ‘cool’ side as well.

But... my screen had a very green colour cast. When viewing photos the skin tones of people were greenish. And the whites were greenish as well. So this was unacceptable really.

Also the screen was dim and all colours were dull. Probably due to the green cast. The greys were greenish too and text was not black but grey. The mini i had, had the ‘raised blacks’ problem as well. It was also visible when switching on the phone while in a dark environment. The screen with the Apple logo flickered from grey to pure black.

I noticed too, when switching on the phone that at first the Apple logo was very bright and white and after a few seconds the Apple logo got greenish white. I’m wondering if more people noticed that?

Anyway, it’s disappointing that my 7 has a better looking screen.

Also, I have tried the colour filter. It improved a lot, but the screen got less bright immediately. And I never got whites without a pink, green, bleu or yellow tint. So that’s not a real fix, like many others here already wrote.

It’s so disappointing, because I really loved the mini! But a green colour on the screen is just unacceptable for me. So I hope there will come a solution. My iPhone 7 is not so great anymore after all those years!
 
Just finished reading through this thread. I doubt there is perfect screen that exists and even if it did the chances of any of us getting one is very slim purely because it was on this lorry lol.

 
....

I noticed too, when switching on the phone that at first the Apple logo was very bright and white and after a few seconds the Apple logo got greenish white. I’m wondering if more people noticed that?

...
Well, this is really interesting and could be a hint that it is a software problem after all!
 
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Well, this is really interesting and could be a hint that it is a software problem after all!
Yes, I was thinking the same. I’m really curious to hear if more people noticed it, so that I’m sure it’s not only in my head. Because a brain can play tricks with how you perceive colours :)
 
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Yes, I was thinking the same. I’m really curious to hear if more people noticed it, so that I’m sure it’s not only in my head. Because a brain can play tricks with how you perceive colours :)
I think when you see the apple logo for the first time it does not take the user settings into consideration. So it has full brightness, no true tone, no night mode. I'm guessing that is the difference you saw. Now if the "early" logo was perfectly white is really hard to tell, like you said.
 
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Signed up just so that I can post this.
iPhone 12 Pro Max arrived last Friday. Immediately transferred across from my 7 plus. Set up nice and easy. I've held off 4 years to upgrade, as was waiting for the right model, and with the camera's on this thing it felt like the time was right.
Having read previews, all the raving reviews etc over the last couple of months I was really excited to start using this thing. Honestly have to say, I am really disappointed with the whole thing. Firstly for me, the curved edges of my 7 plus make it nice and comfy to hold, and possible to use with one hand. This new phone is definitely painful to hold, these new straight edges are not for me. That aside... I am here to add my details about the screen quality.
The screen, far from being "the brightest that Apple has ever produced" is way dimmer than my 7 plus. Next to each other the 12 pro max is YELLOW. 7 plus is nice and bright, with clean whites. This new phone looks like crap in comparison. Viewing angles are worse, if it tilt the 12, the yellowness disappears and the screen becomes whiter, but worse to read...
The worse thing is, when I have a black background, the whole right hand side of the screen has what I can only describe as LED Backlight Bleed??? So a whole band of green highlight all down the right hand side.
I have gone back and watched all the reviews that I watched before. Nobody complained about a poor screen? In fact everyone was raving about how amazing it is?
I find this hard to believe.
Utterly utterly disappointed, waited for 4 years for a new phone to be WORSE than my 2016 one!!!
 

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Today I received a black 12 mini that I ordered from Amazon as a replacement of the previous white 12 mini (ordered from Apple). Screen color and brightness is very close between the two. You can tell they are not 100% identical, but the difference is so small that it's hard to pin down. They are basically equally good or bad. The yellow tint is rather subtle (with TT/NS/AB off), and sometimes you get the illusion that the whites are actually neutral (and you really want to believe...). But, going through a lot of personal photos on both phones, they all have a faint yellow veil, as if under yellowish sunshine or warm indoor lighting, making them look unnatural on the whole. This, by the way, is a crucial reason why screen tint is not a matter of fashion ("this year Apple decided to make the displays warmer") or of eye care ("it's better for your eyes anyway"). You want displays to be as color-accurate as possible so that photos look like how they're supposed to.

So both minis will be going back. I guess I will stay with my SE1 for the time being, and maybe will try again in a couple of months, or if Apple acknowledges that there is a general production error or software error with the 12 model line and provides some sort of fix.
 
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They don’t, obviously?

Edit: iOS likely has calibration controls internally, but they are not user-exposed, and it doesn’t seem that the displays are being calibrated at the factory — or only with incredibly permissive tolerances.
The displays are absolutely being calibrated at the factory. Apple calibrates the displays of every device they sell and have been doing it for a very long time. If you think there's a lot of variation now, your mind would be blown by the variation in uncalibrated displays. Also, uncalibrated displays tend to be much cooler naturally, which is not what we're seeing. There is a limit to what calibration can do though. It can't make every display look exactly alike, because every display has different natural tendencies and limits, so calibration just gets each display as close to the desired output as that display is capable of, but some displays are still less capable than others to hit the desired output no matter how well they're calibrated.
 
The displays are absolutely being calibrated at the factory. Apple calibrates the displays of every device they sell and have been doing it for a very long time. If you think there's a lot of variation now, your mind would be blown by the variation in uncalibrated displays. Also, uncalibrated displays tend to be much cooler naturally, which is not what we're seeing. There is a limit to what calibration can do though. It can't make every display look exactly alike, because every display has different natural tendencies and limits, so calibration just gets each display as close to the desired output as that display is capable of, but some displays are still less capable than others to hit the desired output no matter how well they're calibrated.
If you’re right (which may well be the case), then it means that all the yellow-leaning displays were physically unable to hit the calibration target, and hence a software fix is not possible for them.
 
Has anyone in this thread had their Mini replaced with another one with a "fixed" display? I am getting mixed thoughts reading through this huge thread.
 
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