I've been experiencing eye strain, dizziness, and nausea since mid-October 2023 after starting to use a new 2023 MacBook Air M2 for my new job. The symptoms worsened over time, but I don't have any medical issues according to my doctor and optometrist. Adjusting settings with Apple accessibility didn't help, and I can't use the laptop for more than a few minutes without feeling sick.

I have no issues with my personal MacBook Pro 2021 M1, but I'm not allowed to use it for work. My IT team provided a 2023 MacBook Pro, but the problems persisted. Then they sent me what I thought was the same model as my personal (2021 Pro, M1) but it is giving me issues as well and even though the models seem to be the same - they look different when compared side-by-side. The screen appears different from my personal laptop, with sharper colors, more brightness, and glare. All problematic laptops run on Sonoma, which Apple doesn't believe is the issue.

I've taken screenshots to show the differences, including what seem to be a warmer tone of my personal laptop - even though my night shift is not on and I haven’t adjusted anything on either. The common factor in the laptops causing discomfort is the Sonoma operating system. Could this be the issue?

Also, one call out that I thought was strange. The models appear to be the exactly the same on paper: 2021 Pro M1. However, the one issued from work had the option to turn True Tone off. That is not an option for my personal laptop. There is no True Tone toggle.

    Kendallsj changed the title to I have two 2021 Pro M1's. One causes me pain. One is great. What gives? .

    Kendallsj Changing color profile can have significant impact if root cause is not PWM. Even in stores it is possible to see how dramatic change is from Wide gamut to sRGB color gamut. Have you tried it?

        Kendallsj The difference in color tinting showing up specifically in these screenshots is just because of Wallpaper Tinting, which slightly changes the background color of windows to match the wallpaper. This can be turned off in the same appearance preferences window shown in the screenshots, which should make both screenshots appear the same.

        A camera photo with both screens displaying a solid background or picture would be a better way for us to compare the screens themselves.

        However the discomfort is definitely coming from an actual screen difference (different manufacturers?) between models, which I've also personally encountered.

        I hate my 2021 14" Pro M1 Max screen, it's actually the worst screen I've ever used in my life — literally the laptop that made me realize I even had problems with screens in the first place. One friend has a 2023 14" Pro M3 Pro, which has the same exact problems as mine.

        However, another friend has a 2022 16" Pro M2 Pro, and for some reason, I'm totally fine with that screen. It feels like a completely different panel, way sharper, more realistic colors, no weird glow around text, less "vignette" effect at the edges, and SO much more comfortable to look at. All 3 laptops are marketed as having the "same" Liquid Retina XDR display and are running the latest version of Sonoma.

        Very confusing experience but definitely confirms that there are very significant panel differences between each mini-LED MacBook Pro.

        Also, weirdly enough, my terrible 14" M1 MBP actually got slightly better with Sonoma, I feel like it noticeably improved the consistency of frame timing in 60FPS mode. I don't think Sonoma is the issue, because my 14" MBP sucked even back when it was on Monterey.

            I have an M1 with glowing text as well. True tone and accesibility color tints wrecks havoc on my eyes. Same on iPhone. Not that the screen is great without it either. But turning that on is the absolute best way to get problems fast.

            1. Check all accessibility options in the control panel that they are the same. Especially the window tinting from wallpaper.
            2. Check the color profile and resolution.
            3. Check if anything forces a fixed refresh on one of them. My eyes hate ProMotion variable refresh rate, so I usually run something that forces it to stay at 120hz. Menubar apps can in certain cases force it. You can also find Quartz Debug that in Additional Tools for Xcode 15.3 beta at https://developer.apple.com/download/all/ to see the live hz
            4. Check that both are using either high or low power, or at least the same. I have best experience with low power mode. It's under the battery settings.
            5. Did any of them get washed harder affecting the screen treatment?

              If you have enough time you could also dump out the info from both with AllRez for comparison. It gives a ton of info.

                I think the issues can be an anti-glare coating defects or different display manufacturers. As I know apple uses two different vendors for Macbook Pro displays: LG and Sharp.

                  DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs I hate my 2021 14" Pro M1 Max screen, it's actually the worst screen I've ever used in my life — literally the laptop that made me realize I even had problems with screens in the first place. One friend has a 2023 14" Pro M3 Pro, which has the same exact problems as mine.

                  However, another friend has a 2022 16" Pro M2 Pro, and for some reason, I'm totally fine with that screen. It feels like a completely different panel, way sharper, more realistic colors, no weird glow around text, less "vignette" effect at the edges, and SO much more comfortable to look at. All 3 laptops are marketed as having the "same" Liquid Retina XDR display and are running the latest version of Sonoma.

                  Do you think the size difference could have something to do with it?

                  A lot of people do better with the 15" air than the 13". On Windows devices I feel like I'm better on a 16" vs a 13 or 14" too.

                      Try to detect wich panels do you have in both Macs with the following command:

                      ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed “/[^<]*</s///” | xxd -p -r | strings -6

                      You could also make a comparison of both displays by using an app to measure flicker or with a spectrum meter device using a totally white picture as background.

                        wlmsn Not sure, but I suspect that there's probably a higher chance that the 16" models have better quality control and are more often shipped with the "good" panel.

                        I remember seeing two 14" MacBook Pros next to each other a few months ago where one looked bad like mine does, and one looked way better, so I think it's definitely possible that there are some of the smaller 14" models that actually have good screens — but it may be more rare.

                        Someone on MacRumors also said that they had a bad experience with hazy feeling text on their 14", had to exchange it five times(!), and then finally got one where they immediately noticed that the colors felt uniform and text was way easier to read. (I can find that forum post if you want to see it…)

                        I've also seen some people here say that they had a really bad experience with the 16", so likewise it's definitely possible for the 16" to have a bad panel too. (I'm actually surprised with your comment about the 15" Air, since a lot of people on this forum say that they're actually having worse experiences with the 15" M2 Air compared to the 13" M2 Air if I remember correctly.)

                        I'm generally confident that this is primarily related to a "panel lottery", due to the fact that Apple has at least two mini-LED suppliers:

                        • Taiwan-based Epistar
                        • Germany-based Ams Osram

                            DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs Yea I think the 15" thing is from the PWM Sensitive Reddit, a lot of people seem to have good luck with that (but not everyone of course). I haven't tried it yet myself though

                              DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs Thank you so much for this response! I felt like I was losing my mind, truly. This is really helpful and such a relief to know that it's not just me. The background makes sense, and you're right - I should have included a photo from a phone! I can rule out the Sonoma factor which is also good to know. I'll do that and upload! Thank you again!

                                GZunit I actually haven't used an external monitor in a long time. Eek! I am interested in buying or trying out whatever is needed to help solve this though! Is there one that you recommend or like to use?

                                  async Ahh! That is good to know! Thank you so much for the tips!! I will do that right now! I am not sure about the one issued by IT, but my personal computer hasn't been in a very long time and it looks terrible. Haha! I have makeup everywhere. That's a good call out, and something I will also look into though!!

                                    Sentiny Ohhh! Really? That's a good call out! I will look into that! Thank you so much!

                                      dev