Looking for people with similar reactions to certain Apple devices
iMac 2017 is the most eye-straining device for me. I've accustomed to it little by little, but only after applying some tweaks (Gamma Control with max brightness, color profile, native resolution, etc.). I hope one day I can find a way to switch off temporal dithering on it.
I tried to use this Mac in BootCamp recently, and to my surprise, it was much worse than under macOS. I felt strain after one hour (that didn't happen before: on the same machine BootCamp was much more relaxing). Scrolling was especially straining. I think this screen applies some PWM below max brightness. Plus it's a slow matrix. So it might be a hardware issue. People at MacRumors mentioned "screen lottery", meaning you may get a good or a bad Mac. I didn't try other Macs though, except in the store.
As to mobile, I do not have strain from iPhone SE 1st Gen and iPad 6th Gen (2018), but I generally feel that my old Moto is more relaxing for the eyes. Not that bright and vibrant. My impression is also that with every version iOS has more and more vivid and bright colors. Right after I upgraded iPhone SE to iOS 14, I had to turn the brightness down a bit. Also, scrolling is easier on the eyes on Android.
Among other Apple devices that I tried in the store, I did not like iPad Pro 2018 and MacBook Pro 16 (some sort of dizziness immediately). So this might be in line with the others' experience.
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A family member of mine who is doing visual rehab therapy at Salus University was told by the staff there that he should switch from Windows based machines to to Apple. We are currently use a macbook air and the symptoms are softer with that product.
annv
iPhone 6s: scrolling with iOS 10 is much more relaxing than with iOS 13. Since iOS 13 I notice a bad ghost effect while scrolling
The foundation is that every experience is unique to each individual. Apple works for some and not others. In other words it's trial and error. Hence it is personal.
halkatzen It would be nice to know if they think Apple is easier on the eyes because of the hardware or the OS and why.
I never used Apple before 2018. Since then I have been on a MacBook Air Early 2014 and I can handle it well. I never upgraded the OS from High Sierra, the version of April 2018, though. I struggle with an iMac 2014, but I can use it.
Instead, I instantaneously get eyestrain and weird symptoms, if I look at the MacBook Pro 2018 of a colleague of mine. He has no issues, so he always keep the OS up to date. I have no idea whether I can't tolerate the new hardware or the new OS.
I can use pretty much any Windows PC which we share at work. Some are on W7 and some on W10. I tried a 13" Dell Latitude laptop on W10 and I get symptoms similar to the MacBook Pro.
iPhone SE seems a lot better than my iPhone 8. Unsure whether it's the device or iOS 14+. Both seemed to help.
AGI have you tried to film the screens of these notebooks with the camera of your smartphone in slow-mo to check if they flicker?
Quad43 iOS 14 better than 13?
Has anyone tried the new iPad Air 4? Very curious if it’s usable for us or not. The iPad Pros were awful on my eyes, I’d love to use the Air if possible.
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Sofista90 No, to be honest. In the past I did use flickering devices all day long and never had issues.
Moreover, I develop awful symptoms also in front of some modern displays which are claimed to be flicker-free.
I suspect that for me it is something more subtle than flicker. For instance, in the case of my iMac, which I can now tolerate better, I can sort of see the pixels glowing. It is like I see each single tree of the forest and this drives my eyes and brain insane.
I should add that in the past I turned unusable screens into easy on the eyes by reducing the resolution from native to 1024 x 768. I do not think that reducing the resolution diminishes the flicker.
In any case, thanks for your suggestion. I will give it a go as it is not difficult to try!
AGI
the devices that do not give you problems and the unusable ones have the same operating system?
Quad43
I agree! I used my girlfriend's iphone xs just updated to ios 14 for an hour and I had no problem! it is comparable to my iphone 6 with ios 10! while before with ios 13 I felt discomfort already after 5 minutes! further confirmation that many problems are caused by software rather than hardware!
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It’s interesting — when I got the iPhone SE 2020. it was near unusable. I had eye tightening in my left eye and side of face almost immediately. I had a real bad feeling about it. When I got home, I upgraded it to iOS 14, and it was immediately better. I chalked it up to a fluke, because since when as an iOS update made ANYTHING better for us? Definitely going to check out the iPad Air 4 in the coming days. iPad 8th Gen was no good for me, much worse than iPhone SE 2020, even on iOS 14. My expectations are very low. Tablets are for extended use .. I only use my iPhone SE for 1-2 hours a day total screen time. Trying to switch as much usage as possible to my eye-friendly desktop setup and use the iPhone SE as a minimalist setup. Was sometimes averaging 5+ hours on my Huawei Mate 20 Pro and getting nothing done.
Last night I upgraded my 6S to iOS 14.1 - wow, there is a difference! The text seems much crisper and less blurry, scrolling seems more natural (text stays still when scrolling but it almost had a 'wavy' effect before).
I don't use my phone for extended periods now as since 2018 it became unusable for anything but checking e-mails, phone calls and the occasional YouTube video. I still advise people here don't use your phone for extended periods. The blue light spike is simply not good for you.
bkdo
Is this you in the Notebookcheck comments for iPad 8th Gen?
"Jero 10 days ago
This is so strange, I have used the iPad 7th Gen for a year now with no issue, but the 8th gen gives me eye strain and headaches after 20-30 mins of use. I don’t understand how this is possible, considering the 7 and 8 seem like the exact same except for the A12 chip. Is there anything that I’m missing that could be causing the eye strain? "