Back in 2020, I gave my 2016 13" MacBook Pro originally bought in early 2017 to someone else — ironically in order to upgrade to a 2020 13" Intel Pro which is the first laptop I ever started having truly significant screen issues with. (Which then proceeded to get even worse when I switched again from the 2020 Intel to a 2021 M1 Max 14" Pro…)

As they aren't screen sensitive, I finally managed to trade my newer 2018 Retina MacBook Air (i5) — which I found unusable on any macOS version, and only usable at all on Windows — to get my exact original 2016 13" Pro back. They needed a laptop with official support for Sonoma and more RAM. It's a win-win because unlike me they luckily do not have issues with the 2018 Air screen!

I made the smart decision of choosing to not fully wipe the 2016 Pro and instead just remove their user account and Find My off of the device. That way I avoided any potential screen setting changes that may come with a full reinstall of a newer version of the OS. (When I first gave them the laptop, they started with a fresh install of 10.15 Catalina and later upgraded to 12 Monterey.)

The 2016 13" Pro screen is exactly how I remember it 😌

Not "perfect" and I can still totally observe dithering on macOS, but more usable compared to most other Intel Macs.

Update: This 2016 13" Touch Bar Pro has become VERY usable with a noticeably still and flat image after switching from macOS to Windows 10 2004, original June 2016 Intel drivers, and ditherig.exe (see my later replies)

My 2016 MacBook Pro specs

13-inch, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports, Touch Bar

2.9 GHz i5, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, Intel Iris Graphics 550

macOS Monterey 12.6.3 Edit: Switched to Boot Camp Windows 10 2004 and huge improvement

There are many interesting things about the 2016 13" Pro that set it apart from other laptops:

  • It has Iris graphics but is not terrible (contrary to the typical bad reputation of Iris graphics) — much more usable on macOS than the 2018 Air which had UHD Graphics 615.
  • It has a P3 screen but very does NOT show a Color Depth option in BetterDisplay at all. Most P3 Intel Macs are known to default to 10bpc color. This Mac is very unique as its native color gamut is P3 yet is also limited to (and defaults to) only 8bpc color.
  • It is MUCH more usable than my 2015 15" Retina MacBook Pro (which has a AMD R9 M370X dGPU and Iris Pro 5200 iGPU). Even on integrated graphics mode, the 2015 15" has so much glare and the screen appears to be constantly moving. (On integrated mode the 2015 only shows 8bpc but still causes strain. Interestingly, while in AMD discrete mode the 2015 also shows a 10bpc option.) Overall the 2016 13" Touch Bar Pro feels much better.
  • My 2016 does NOT have the infamous "Yellow Tint" and whites ACTUALLY look white. However, there is some yellowing starting to show around the edges simply due to wear over time.
  • I had my 2016 MBP screen repaired once (at the Apple Store, while I originally owned it) in Fall 2017. Since then there have been no more screen replacements. I have a hunch that I won the "panel lottery" in whichever new panel its true original screen was replaced with. Because of this factor, there's a chance that most 2016 MBPs in the wild do not have the same exact panel that mine does.
  • Warning: there is still "some" kind of dithering at play to some extent, as changing Software Brightness in BetterDisplay will appear "entirely smooth" with no shifts in banding. And unfortunately, setting nvram boot-args="dither=0" does nothing on this laptop and color adjustments remain just as "smooth". FWIW the only laptop I've actually ever gotten that command to noticeably improve the screen on is the 2015 12-inch (single port) MacBook.
  • However, very strangely, although I'm still sensitive to whatever form of dithering is used here it's not AS bad as the dithering used on other MacBooks. Temporal flicker is still noticeable but doesn't seem to "apply to everything" in the super obvious way seen on most other modern Macs? For example, I see flicker on text but scrollbars look still. My only guess is that because of the really unique combination of P3 and only 8bpc color, Apple may have decided to use more spatial dithering here (which doesn't move) in some places where they usually would apply temporal dithering?
  • Touch Bar still has PWM just like other newer Touch Bar MBPs. I've posted about methods to black out the Touch Bar to work around this earlier on this forum.

Currently my only known usable Intel Mac is 2015 12" single port MacBook on 10.14.6 Mojave (with boot-args="dither=0").

Running 12.6.3 Monterey, the 2016 13" Touch Bar Pro comes close, better than many other Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, but dithering is still an issue on macOS. TLDR: good hardware, bad software.

Edit: Dithering can be disabled with Windows 10 2004!

You should really get the 2016 15 Macbook Pro whit Intel HD530 that is completely dither free and one of the most comfortable screen I ever used on a notebook and that is coming from someone very screen sensitive. The 13 2016 whit Intel Iris gives me strain, 2016 15 0 strain for multiple hours daily

    osxcool22 are you sure it is "completely" dither free? like if you change software brightness in BetterDisplay on your 15" it will cause banding on gradients to shift around instead of remaining "smooth"?

    also, i already have found and own 3 usable macbooks (as described at the bottom of my post), 2 of the 3 also have successful dither disable methods and i can use them all for hours, so i don't really need another one

    most likely my 2016 13" is not exactly the same as the one you tried because mine had one official screen repair, i bet the panel Apple put in during that repair is different than what originally came stock with the 2016

    the 2015 12" macbook I own also has similar Intel HD Graphics (one generation older than yours) so the screen on there is probably pretty similar to your 2016 15" — and yes the screen on my 12" is pretty great especially after dither=0

    I've noticed the same thing. I have a 2017 non touchbar MBP 13 inch. It reports 8 bit color and has mostly been fine for me.

    osxcool22 The 13 2016 whit Intel Iris gives me strain

    Been using my original 2016 13" for a few days now and very little strain. Less strain "on average" than even my M1 Air which is actually pretty crazy since the M1 Air has an actual proven dither disable method with Stillcolor, and the 2016 13" does not as it still seems to still have "smooth" color adjustments even after dither=0 implying "at least" spatial dithering is used…

    This means it's likely not "perfect" and may still have some flicker, but I don't really care since it is VERY usable. It feels nothing at all like the typical "Apple LCD strain" that I get from most of their other 2015 and later devices (except for the 2015 12" MacBook which is also pretty usable).

    If it ever does cause problems for certain tasks, I have other usable "backup" devices like my 2012 Win8.1 laptop.

    Compared to M1 Air the screen on this has less yellow tint and much less glare which is probably why I'm liking it better for "general use". M1 Air actually has very little glare by "modern Apple laptop standards" so it's very surprising that I can very noticeably tell that the 2016 13" screen has even less glare.

    I feel like my M1 Air has the potential to be better at certain tasks, I've actually been enjoying my M1 Air (with Stillcolor) for long sessions of complex work like 3D modeling in Blender or editing Logic Pro projects… it's WAY more usable than other Apple Silicon Macs for sure — but there's something about my original 2016 13" that I still love today for general web browsing, note taking, and graphic design work.

    (For comparison, the 1 year older Intel 2015 15" Retina MacBook Pro AMD on Monterey has TONS of glare, extremely noticeable temporal dithering that doesn't entirely go away even after multiple dither disable methods or switching between iGPU/dGPU, and I find it unusable.)

    There's something really different about this laptop that feels like coming home for the first time in years. It really drives in the fact that my eyes never changed, the screens did. Colors and details on this screen looks and feels today EXACTLY how I remember it looking back in 2018/2019 (AKA pre-covid era) on macOS Mojave.

    Let me repeat, I look at it TODAY and it literally looks exactly as crisp and comfortable as it did in 2019. The same advantages and same flaws. This basically proves my physical eyesight didn't even get worse at all.

    I'm on Monterey 12.6.3. This current install of macOS started on Catalina and was upgraded by the person I gave it to. As I stated before I didn't wipe the OS and simply removed their user account and Find My instead to prevent any screen settings from getting reset. Updates are now disabled.

    Back when I originally owned this laptop the first time around, it started on macOS Sierra and was upgraded yearly up to macOS Catalina.

    Due to our very different experiences I suspect there was a significant panel lottery on 2016 13" MacBook Pros. Remember that my current panel was a replacement panel (official Apple Store repair) replaced in late 2017 and that replacement LCD is still the same panel in my 2016 MBP today. In addition, it's totally possible that the LCD that was installed at that point may have some significant differences from the "actual" factory original panels.

    Due to the above, I agree that I'm not sure any other 2016 13" is quite the same as mine so I can't necessarily "recommend" this laptop. The Apple replacement LCD in mine though was great and is still great today.

    14 days later

    osxcool22

    BTW,

    My 13" 2016 MBP Touch Bar + Windows 10 2004 with 2016 intel drivers (bootcamp default) and ditherig = awesome

    Also turned off Intel DPST, no auto brightness, and disabled all video post processing settings in Intel Graphics Settings. Using latest Chrome v125 browser and 200% UI scaling

    Importantly, I made sure to disable "advanced power saving for gaming" in Intel Graphics Settings too which seems to be some pseudo-variable refresh rate feature

    I had a feeling for a while that the screen hardware in this machine was pretty good (good antiglare coating, comfortable backlight, probably not much pixel inversion, was historically a very good machine for non-text work like graphic design even though working with text felt weird etc.) and it was mainly the macOS software causing it to feel "off" — this pretty much confirms it

    Extremely still and flat image on Windows 10, actually one of the most still "high resolution" screens I've used. Totally different than what macOS looks like on here. Also first time I've ever been able to get usable display output out of Intel Iris (instead of HD) graphics

    Compared to the previous 2018 MacBook Air (with 8th gen and UHD graphics) I was testing with Windows 10, the 2016 13" is way better — in comparison, the 2018 Air still had a flicker to many colors even with ditherig I could totally notice even though Windows on there was still much more usable than Mac. But with Win10 on the 2016 Pro, everything feels so much more still and flat

    Also, I can tell ditherig actually works on the 2016 as toggling from spatial to disabled actually does increase the banding on a gray gradient image by a very slight amount. On the 2018 Air, it was hard to tell if ditherig was even doing anything, but on the 2016 I can actually see the screen change.

    The only issue is that the OLED Touch Bar seemingly can't be disabled in Windows (the DimBar Windows app only works on 2018 "T2" Macs and later, not T1 Macs like the 2016), but that seems to be tolerable for me IMO as I'm not looking directly at it despite its heavy PWM. The Touch Bar looks terrible on a slow motion camera, but is weirdly not that bothersome to me, maybe because I got used to it after using this laptop for so long back in 2017-2020.

    Side note about my PWM sensitivity in the collapsible block below:

    PWM has also been historically much more tolerable to me compared to dithering — on screens at least, although the PWM in LED/flourescent lightbulbs are a huge issue for me. And in this case it's just the OLED Touch Bar, meaning the amount of comfort I'm getting from the main 13" LCD screen I'm actually looking at it kind of "cancels it out" in a way. I can also "get used to PWM" over time in a way I can't at all with dithering which always gets worse over time.

    Totally theorizing here, but maybe using an 100% safe dither-free screen but also keeping some PWM in the corner of the eye like the Touch Bar could actually be a form of exposure therapy to PWM? I only say this as I'm noticing my OLED iPhone 14 Pro feels noticeably more comfortable to look at after using the 2016 13" MBP for a while, like in a way where it feels less harsh in those seconds after turning it on. Still ends up straining me and making me feel motion sick if I use the 14 Pro for too long indoors though, but definitely has increased my tolerance to it in some way. PWM screens strain my eyes a lot but don't typically "break my brain" in the way that really bad temporal dithering screens do.


    Back to the 2016 13" MBP, did some text heavy work on it yesterday for a few hours, felt very comfortable and I was productive. It's awesome to be able to both work with text and many browser tabs comfortably and also experience the sharpness and vivid colors of a P3 Retina screen, usually those totally conflict with each other but the 2016 with Win10 2004 strikes one of the best balances between reading comfort and beautiful colors that I've experienced on a screen so far

    (I admit that I did say this previously about the 2018 Air but I wasn't totally committed to that statement at the time, at that time I was just glad to have something semi-usable. With the 2016 it's different, as I'm now able to directly compare this to all of the "perfect for me" very old devices I've been able to obtain since then. I'm no longer simply saying it's more tolerable than macOS on the same device. The 2016 on Win10 actually manages to get noticeably closer in comfort — compared to many other "modern" screens — to my "truly good" old devices I rely on)

    However, the screen did feel too bright at points compared to the really dim screen on my "perfect" 2012 Lenovo Yoga 13 Win8.1 laptop. I already can tell everything looks soooooo much noticeably better and more relaxing on Windows 10 compared to macOS Monterey on the 2016 MBP

    (It's hard to beat my 2012 Lenovo as I still have a preference for pixelated low-DPI screens over HiDPI/Retina and the balance of information density and UI size with its 1600x900 LG IPS panel at 13 inches with no need for any scaling is absolute perfection IMO. I can't believe that it's so hard to find 1600x900 at 13" today that's also IPS and not TN, but I digress…

    However, I can already tell that the 2016 13" MBP on Win10 2004 has immediately earned its place as one of the good experiences I've had with a HiDPI screen, along with the 2015 12" MacBook)

    I agree that your 2016 15" is definitely more usable on native macOS (because I have a 2015 12" MacBook with a similar HD Graphics chip to yours that looks great on macOS Mojave) — but now my 2016 13" is better than it's ever been before as long as I'm using Windows 10 2004 instead of macOS

      DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs Used Win10 on 2016 Pro again for longer today and remains great! Screen still feels extremely stable


      By the way, despite my previous post from a few months ago, I no longer reccomend the 2018 MacBook Air for Windows 10.

      This 2016 13" MacBook Pro with Windows 10 is significantly more comfortable for me than the Air with Windows 10 in every possible way. While booted into Windows with ditherig active, this is some of the easiest to read text I've been able to achieve on a HiDPI/Retina screen so far.

      However, I don't reccomend the 2016 13" for macOS despite it being "decent" and something I did in fact use with macOS for years as I mentioned in my first post — since despite it being still "very usable" compared to newer Macs, even back then there was something off and unstable about macOS display output that made it hard to work with long text documents. In macOS it was not "offensively bad" like many other screens are, but far from perfect.

      dither=0 does not work within macOS, the only way to disable dithering on the 2016 13" is to install Windows.

      Windows 10 & ditherig on the 2016 13" fixes all of those issues and I now have a new usable internal display Windows laptop.


      (For reference, the only Retina MacBook I can actually say has a comfortable internal display while booted into macOS is the 2015 12" MacBook with Mojave and boot-args="dither=0" — which actually has observable effects on the 12" unlike many other Macs.

      No other MacBook I've tried has been fully comfortable on the internal display while using macOS itself, as in an entirely stable image, aside from the 2015 12".

      Now, the 2016 13" feels very comfortable too but only when using Windows + ditherig.exe, it still feels odd when booted into macOS.

      Although the "integrated graphics only" version of the 2016 15" mentioned by osxcool22 is worth checking out as it is very similar to the 12" in specs, with HD instead of Iris graphics, and they find it usable.)

      simplex spatial dithering yes, but i don't mind that as on an actually good setup it remains still and doesn't move

      chrome text is easier to read for me than firefox on Windows 10 2004, i tried both

      (although for some reason the opposite is true on my 2015 12" with macOS Mojave, in that case Firefox is much better)

        DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs Windows 10 2004

        win10 21H2 build 19044.1889 + Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0

        looks good for me, I now testing it with z690p MB (last BIOS) and iGPU

        not supercalm as w10 1809, but acceptable

          simplex I was thinking of trying 1809, but weirdly enough even though some people here really like it there was a sizeable amount that had a lot of issues with it too, so settled on 2004 instead as some apps I use require 2004 or later.

          I suspect the variation between experiences is because one group is using NVIDIA or AMD dedicated graphics and the other Intel, but couldn't easily figure this out so just went with 2004 instead

          But 2004 has turned out to be a great decision, feels so still and so stable on Iris Graphics 550 with original 2016 Intel graphics drivers. Windows updates and driver updates are now both fully disabled through the Winaero tweaker app

          According to others here, display output on 2004 is different (and better) compared to 21H2

            New finding:

            Devices I've used where "slight brightness drop every frame"-style "PWM-like flicker" at all brightness levels is easily detectable on camera filming a dark gray background at 240hz slow motion:

            • 2015 12" MacBook ✔️ pretty comfortable but still flickers on camera
            • 2012 Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga (LGD0360 panel) ✔️ main device! most comfortable but still flickers on camera
            • 2015 15" Retina MBP (with AMD graphics) NOT comfortable
            • 2022 M2 Air (Stillcolor) NOT comfortable
            • 2020 M1 Air (Stillcolor) surprisingly usable outdoors, but bad compared to better devices indoors

            Devices where this does not occur, which I would consider "PWM-free":

            • 2022 M2 Touch Bar Pro (00000000 Panel + Stillcolor) decent, better than M1 Air
            • 2022 M2 Touch Bar Pro (FMX Panel + Stillcolor) NOT comfortable
            • 2016 13" Touch Bar Pro (Windows 10 2004 + ditherig.exe) ✔️ 👀👀**pretty comfortable AND NO PWM detectable on camera!**👀👀

            (I know that the 2016 Pro still has extremely high frequency PWM at low brightness levels, but as that type of fast PWM cannot be detected on camera at all and can be avoided entirely above ~50% brightness anyway, I don't consider it)

            -

            TLDR: 2016 13" Pro with Windows 10 2004 and ditherig.exe is giving me

            • a very stable image
            • AND does not flicker on dark gray backgrounds in a slow-mo video

            Although there's still something perfect about the 2012 Lenovo panel that makes me extremely productive while working on the screen that I haven't managed to truly replicate on anything else yet…

            …something really interesting is that after using the 2016 Pro, I actually feel better looking around the real world compared to the 2012 Lenovo. Less "washed out" color vision, less "motion blur" looking around, less floaty feeling while walking. Getting up after working feels really easy. This is almost certainly because unlike the Lenovo and 12" MB which still have PWM despite being usable, the 2016 Pro does not show PWM on camera.

            This is my first time noticing this as last time I owned the 2016 Pro, it still definitely strained a bit due to forced dithering on macOS. Now with Win10 2004 and ditherig.exe, I can confirm I'm both getting a very still and stable image (for the first time on this laptop) as well as no "dark gray" PWM on camera.

            I definitely recommend the 2016 13" MacBook Pro as a PWM-free Windows 10 laptop worth trying

            (but not a macOS laptop)

            3 months later

            btw, i recently started using this 2016 13" MBP again

            i5, Iris 550, firmware: 499.40.2.0.0 / os loader: 540.120.3~22 / smc version: 2.37f25 / macOS 12.6.3
            Monterey was installed via an upgrade in 2020, the last wipe + full reinstall was Catalina, if that matters

            even though it has no known dither disable method… (still dithers after adjusting color profile brightness instead of causing banding, even with boot-args dither=0. not sure if spatial or temporal though)

            somehow, this laptop is still shockingly usable on 12.6.3 Monterey. it's the only wide gamut device with the most vivid colors that i can actually use

            also, weirdly enough, it's MORE usable running macOS Monterey than it is running Windows

            (➡️ this means you can ignore my older post about Windows working better, because for some reason in real-world use macOS causes less strain on here, surprisingly)

            BTW, it's PWM-free on camera, which is unique since most Mac laptops have some form of PWM, even from this era — the 2015 15" rMBP and 2015 12" MacBook both show PWM dips on camera at all brightness levels


            in fact, for some reason it's the only laptop where i can work in design software (Figma) at max productivity without any brain fog or trouble focusing — technically, some of my other usable devices "might" be technically better, but the 2016 MBP's trackpad is so far above any other input method for graphic design, that this is really the only device where I can work just as fast as I think


            on the other hand though, both historically and today i prefer other devices for writing documents or coding so there probably is still something abnormal… but whatever it is, it doesn't affect graphic design software at all, so this is pretty much my dedicated laptop for Figma because it feels the best on here compared to anything else

            BTW Figma still runs totally fine, only load times are a bit slow but i don't care

            also, I did write this post on the laptop without strain, so something is working here


            whatever "remaining weirdness" about this Mac is SO different from any other MacBook, because many kinds of visuals that I can't focus on or cause eye strain on other MacBooks are fine on this one

            also, MANY visuals that induce the "false 3D effect" on other modern Macs, including earlier ones like the 2015 rMBP, do NOT on this MacBook. so many things are just flat. it's amazing that i can even achieve that on a Retina MacBook of all things

            the effect is not entirely gone, but it seems like there's totally different "way less smart" logic for applying it where only very specific colors seem to cause it, but many photos and UI elements do not cause it at all)


            here's my settings that have achieved this:

            • max brightness
            • sRGB color profile (BTW, this laptop doesn't have a color depth menu, even though it supports P3)
            • 1440x900 HiDPI scaled resolution, which was the factory default anyway (this is important, the pixel-perfect 1280x800 HiDPI resolution causes strain, but the "more space" options don't)
            • font smoothing disabled
            • cursor blinking disabled
            • dock hidden

            that's it. i even still have the Touch Bar on (even though the OLED touch bar strip has PWM, i don't seem to mind it when not looking at it)


            TLDR: a 2016 13" MBP with mostly default settings, somehow, is the most comfortable and lowest strain experience i've found for specifically graphic design — even compared to other usable laptops I own. the exact reason is unknown.

            however, i prefer other laptops for writing/coding, partly because text looks better in low DPI to me

              DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs Is it still strain free if you choose some weird color profile, or mess around with image adjustments in better display?

              Would be nice to see some closeups of the screen compared to another Mac. Preferably in the same photo so it uses the same camera settings.

                async i don't know because i don't want to try changing the color profile, this profile is working perfectly for me — and it's the only device i've found that manages to have both the correct trackpad ergonomics + usable screen for graphic design so i don't want to accidentally lose that

                only thing i know is that before i set it to sRGB, the default Color LCD (P3) profile did cause strain. (this was true even the first time I owned this laptop before I really knew about LED strain, i always ended up setting the profile to sRGB because something felt blurry or off to me about Color LCD)

                i'll try to get some macro photos soon of the screen compared to my 12" MacBook (okayish, still good compared to other Macs, usable at native resolution unlike this one and actually has a dither disable method, BUT has PWM causing washed-out feeling afterwards and has more issues with false 3D effect compared to this) and the 2015 15" rMBP (unusable, i often get immediate strain, can't focus on text after using for more than 20 minutes even if I use the AMD dither disable method, intel mode causes strain too, btw it also has PWM)

                  DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs

                  Washed out as in reduced contrast sensitivity (everything looks a bit gray) when looking at other things? I've been trying to observe a bit more how my vision changes thru the day. The effect where black things looks gray is one of the bigger ones if that is what you mean. I never connected that to PWM and flickering, but when I think about it that kinda makes sense. If the brain keeps trying to adapt how bright things are on every flash.

                  As noted in the other thread about color shift effects affecting how I percieve other colors later I'm sure there are combos of color intensity and brightness on screen or in the peripheral vision that would be helpful. Maybe some of these goes out of whack when you put brightness into the mix, so instead of adjusting based on a high gamut color once, you would get an impulse to adjust based on it for every flicker.

                  Just try changing the color temparature on your screen. In less than a minute white will look white no matter how extreme it is. I think the same types of adaptations are relevant.

                  One untested theory I have is that showing washed out colors where you're used to seeing bright ones can increase your percieved contrast sensitivity, as I often get problems after messing around with color profiles. For example spending a few hours with high gamut and then turning down the saturation. No idea if the brain only adjusts this based on maximum intensity, or if there are more advanced pattern matching, where for example seeing photos of objects at 50% saturation would make the brain try to percieve them at the usual level.

                  What if some issues are this type of adjusts on overdrive. So you are so used to having high gamut red items for example, so that viewing somewhat similar red items would tell the brain that it looks too faint.

                  Impact of Temporal Visual Flicker on Spatial Contrast Sensitivity in Myopia - PMC (nih.gov)

                  dev