Maxx I see a few people on Reddit and Macrumors who say that MBA m2 was either not better or outright worse than MacBook Air M1. We really need more people to compare the two, although I do appreciate @eyestrainsolutions report that MBA M1 was better. @bkdo is also going to report when ready, who has experience with M1, no pressure 😉)

I myself am trying to decide on a Mac machine, changed my mind to a laptop, to trial Ashai Linux (I am going to keep mentioning Ashai Linux everywhere any perhaps annoyingly because we could use some people to compare strain on that to macOS.)

  • bkdo replied to this.

      joelj Thank you! I do see a bit of flicker in your video, I think you are sensitive to OLED screens like to that MBP that you had. I might try the M2 and see if I'll have any issues with it

          degen I posted this in the other thread, I'll post it here as well -

          I've been using the M2 Air for about a week now, it's definitely easier on the eyes in my experience. I still get a little dizzy after prolonged use, but it doesn't cause the gritty eyes, migraine, lingering pain above the eyes, etc. I'm actually planning on selling my M1 and just keeping the M2.

          My setup is:

          • sRGB Color Profile

          • True Tone On

          • Auto-Brightness Off

          • Usually kept at 50% brightness

          I'd definitely recommend trying this one out if the M1 gave you trouble 😃

            4 months later

            Macbook M1 has detectable PWM, Macbook M2 has undetectable PWM, Lenovo ideapad slim 9i don't have PWM, but these laptops all causing eye strain and headache. These laptops also cause you can't sleep at night if you use them before sleep.

            It is the IPS screen problem, IPS screen will causing eye strain just because the light it emit is too strong. Because the angle they emitting light, and the area of one pixel is comparatively bigger. IPS screen light didn't be filtered well. Buy a screen filter won't help, it will help a little bit like fifty percent, but won't really solve the problem, I bought a privacy filter which said decrease 96% ultra violet and blue light. It doesn't help much.

              445641544 I used to think that all IPS are tough on vision, but this is not true. I own HP Elitebook G4 it is the best screen I ever used (together with a very old TN). Very easy on eyes, great colors and contrast. It is an IPS.

                I've never had noticeable issues with eye strain in the past. Been using an iphone 12 with OLED for 2 years without issue, and had an M1 MBA as well and was fine.

                I recently picked up a 2021 Macbook Pro 14" with the XDR micro-LED display and after a week of torture determined that it is the display on the computer making me physically ill. Motion sickness, mild headache and general "off" feeling. I've never experienced anything like this from a screen before so didn't consider myself "sensitive".

                After doing some research I decided to try the 2022 M2 Macbook Air based on good reviews, lack of measurable PWM, etc.

                I'm pleased to report that I have no issues with the M2 Air screen, probably even more comfortable than my M1 Air one.

                As a test, I went back to the MBP 14" again this morning after initially using the Air, and within 5 minutes I had that now-familiar pressure point on my frontal-lobe, and the beginnings of motion sickness setting in. That screen is a literal weapon, I really cannot believe how immediate and strong the impact is.

                Anyway, FWIW, I find the 13.6" M2 Air perfectly fine, and the 14" MBP literally and almost instantly debilitating.

                19 days later

                Independent of the PWM or dithering or whatever else seems to cause these issues, the promotion displays can cause motion sickness when they ramp the frame rate up and down. I noticed this with the MBP 14 and 16 as well as the iPhone 13 Pro. You can sort of disable it in accessibility settings. Although the wording makes it seem like it still reduces the frame rate in some circumstances.

                Its a bit weird because I can use the 2018 iPad Pro fine, even with the variable refresh rate enabled. I haven't tried the newer ones. The Macbook Pros and Pro iPhones that use pro-motion bother me.

                25 days later

                When you use an srgb profile on the m2 air, do you essential turn off the FRC because you’re not needing the wider colors of the p3 spectrum so there’s nothing that needs faking?

                I've measured a Macbook M2 16 Pro and it has PWN that can't be turned off in any of the profiles.

                  10 months later

                  I have been using a mabook air M2 15" 16GB for two months now and like any other macbook I have tried in the past it causes me: migraine, dizziness and sweaty hands/hot sensation.

                  I have tried disabling dithering via command string but I haven't noticed any improvement.
                  Using betterdisplay removes the hand sweat but the migraine and dizziness remains. I take 5mg of fluxarten and whit this drug I can complete the work day.

                  When I work from home, I connect the MBA via USBC --> DP to the LG 27GR95QE monitor (OLED 2K 240hz). With this setup I can work all day without betterdisplay and without fluxarten. I have a slight headache but totally acceptable.

                  MACOS 13.5

                  Edit: with the LG OLED monitor i am not able to use my gaming PC (W11 21H2 with nvidia 4070). So, as always, is a software problem.

                    5 days later

                    Lauda89 Yeah external screens are really great. Just not sure why you are not using usb-c? Are you trying to say display port somehow better for the eyes ? I personally have this macbook air m2 only for swift ios development, using external monitor.

                        Lauda89

                        Could you please perform a test? Try setting the LG monitor using the MacBook Air to 720 HDPI, which is the 'retina' mode for that resolution (1440/2). Then, check if the UI rendering bothers you or not. Thank you."

                            anon123 I am trying but when i select the 720P HDPI the UI became giant. Is not usable in this condition honestly..
                            Am i doing something wrong?

                            EDIT: maybe i can keep the 1440P resolution and activate the HDPI with the better display app?

                              Donux Because the LG 27GR95QE dosn't have any USB-C port. I have tried to use a USB-C -->hdmi cable but the image quality was horrible, instead USB-C --> DP is good!

                                Lauda89 I've been pretty much unable to use any Retina displays. So I'm stuck using the last iMac and Air that Apple produced (2013 and 2017 respectively).

                                I got an M2 15" MacBook Air last month, and was fine for the first couple hours until everything started up again, mainly strained and burning eyes for me. But I might try this monitor and see if it helps.

                                Does anyone know if temporal dithering is still present if you use an external monitor with true 10-bit color?

                                  Alyosha2001 Yes, this is what notebook check wrote in this machine too. So no surprises here.

                                    5 days later
                                    a year later

                                    joelj Are you still confortable with your Macbook air m2 ? And would you mind sharing your panel number and OS version ?

                                        Donux

                                        I tend to mostly use it with my monitor as I feel a larger display is less likely to give me general eye strain which I believe is more likely due to being short sighted and using screens a lot (working day and then personal projects in the evening).

                                        However, the one day I go into the office, I'm able to use it all working day looking at it fine without any issues. I actually now use two MBA M2s in this set up (my personal one and my work one). I couldn't use the MBP M1 16" for short periods without feeling it.

                                        I can also use it sporadically around the house without a monitor but feel this can be somewhat risky if for a long time and I've had migraines from using it in dimly lit conditions on its own/in the evening for a long period, but general with a monitor and in the day on its own seems fine.

                                        Details below, not sure how I can get to more info on MacOS –

                                          Displays:

                                        DELL S2722DC:

                                          Resolution: 2560x1440 (QHD/WQHD - Wide Quad High Definition)

                                        Colour LCD (MBA M2):
                                          Display Type: Built-in Liquid Retina Display
                                          Resolution: 2560x1664 Retina
                                          Mirror: Off
                                        Online: Yes
                                          Automatically Adjust Brightness: No
                                          Connection Type: Internal

                                            dev