I finally have my 2016 MBP (13" Touch Bar) again. Not perfect but VERY usable.

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)

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)

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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)

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

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)