Clokwork
Unless each of us is testing multiple devices on multiple OS’s from each generation, it’s hard to say whether we are all that different.
It’s one thing to say a particular iPhone SE for example is bad on iOS 16+. There’s a difference in panel manufacturer, specific OS version, settings, etc. Unless each of us tests the same exact devices in the same environment akin to a scientific study, we will never be able to without a doubt say what the cause is.
Of course this is not realistic within the various communities online. And we don’t know what is going on “under the hood” so to speak with Apple devices. I do believe this problem is solvable because it is a technology problem which is inherently a scientific problem.
What is likely actually happening is not that we are all so different, but that these devices have a significant variance in their components, software implementation, and build quality. I would agree that each of us may have certain frequencies and modulation depths that we are more sensitive to based on our own neurology and health, but there is clearly a specific frequency range that should be avoided, as is well established in scientific literature involving flicker going back decades.
For example, it is clear that the iPhone 13 (the initial manufacturing run, not the re-wave) had one of the highest PWM frequencies and more stable modulation compared to many of the newer OLED iPhones. That doesn’t mean every version was, but the good panels seemed to cause minimal issues. The same goes for the iPhone SE.
iPads being largely a mix of old LCD, Liquid Retina LCD, MiniLED, and tandem OLED makes them far more similar to Macs in the sense that their size differences and more computer-like software has led to way more irregularities than the iPhones which largely remained similar in design since launch.
Macs suffer from the same issue. During years where the technology sort of plateaus, these computers tend to be more comfortable (2010-2015, for example). When Apple is pushing for more colors, better battery, brighter screens, etc. it seems to get worse.
I think it’s inevitable that upgrading the OS of older devices too far beyond 2 generations of the OS it shipped on guarantees problems will arise. We know Apple utilizes dither to increase the color gamut. We also know they utilize PWM and dither to conserve battery life for marketing purposes and so they don’t get sued again. Planned obsolescence is a thing, too.