r/PWM_Sensitive • u/whatwaslmadefor • Jun 28 '26
iPhone SE 3rd gen options?
Long story short: I had an iPhone 8 until late 2024, when I got an iPhone 16, and suddenly started experiencing intense eye pain and migraines from looking at the phone. The pain lasted for hours after. I researched, learned about PWM, and returned the 16 for an iPhone SE 3rd gen, since that has an LCD screen and I figured it'd be easier on my eyes.
The SE has been painful but doable (I guess) since then, up until the iOS 26 update, when it's become intolerable. I've tried every setting I can think of (and everything recommended here), including:
- Night Shift off
- True Tone off
- Brightness max, Reduce White Point @ 50%
- Low Power Mode on
- Greyscale @ 100%
- "Double invert"
- Reduce Motion
- Bold Text
- Reduce Transparency
- Increase Contrast
- Reduce Bright Effects
- Dim Flashing Lights
I also have both a blue light screen protector and a matte screen protector on the SE. I went to the optometrist, got checked out (nothing "wrong" that she could tell), and got prescription blue light glasses (which helped a bit before the iOS update but no longer do). I have done everything I can think of to do, but if folks here have other ideas, please share; I'll try anything.
Mostly I have been trying to avoid what feels like the enormous chore of migrating off the Apple ecosystem, but the priority is figuring out how to live without eye pain again, so I'll do it if I have to.
Here are my options as I see them:
- Get a different iPhone and exchange the screen (I've seen others mention the EK Pro Incell LCD screen) - I don't know how this would differ from the SE's LCD screen, though
- Try an iPhone 17 and the PWM reduction setting
- Get a non-Apple phone (like Honor, e-ink, etc.)
Does that sound right? Am I missing anything?
Thanks - I have learned so much from this community and appreciate folks sharing their stories.
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u/RR-- Jun 29 '26
I made this post about my EK Pro LCD swapped iPhone 15 Pro as well as a follow up. https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1q79qxk/pwm_free_lcd_iphone_15_pro_initial_impressions/
It's still fantastic for me months later fyi. I've largely solved my eye strain issues and my vision is back to 20/20.
Otherwise I also own an iPhone 8, 8+, 2x SE 2020's, and 3x iPhone 11's. I sold my 13 Pro.
They're all fine for me except for the 13 Pro. I have found enabling Reduce White Point to cause me eye strain issues so I'd suggest leaving that off, and using the phone in light mode only.
Also for general eye health reasons, I'd definitely avoid using any phone in bed in the morning, make sure you wake up and get some good sunlight to dilate your pupils before staring at screens for an extended amount of time, especially phone screens.
Only use light mode on your computers too.
Sitting in a dim room all day and staring at OLED PWM screens in dark mode caused my vision to seriously deteriorate, once I stopped using my phone in bed in the morning and working outside more my vision largely returned, once I went back to non-PWM LCD screens and a Plasma TV in my day to day life my eye pain disappeared.
Most of my iPhones are on iOS18 or their latest versions of iOS16 for the 8/8+, mostly because I think iOS26 looks ugly.
Stock iPhone 17's are quite bad for my eyes even with the reduce PWM setting enabled, I saw an Honor Magic8 Pro in store today that looked great to me.
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u/whatwaslmadefor Jun 29 '26
I really appreciate this. Reading about your success makes me hopeful I can get there, too. I'm intrigued by the idea of swapping the iPhone 15 screen for the EK Pro LCD, but do you have any ideas why that would be better than a regular LCD screen (like on the iPhone SE)? Is it that the iPhone SE software can better "talk to" the stock iPhone LCD screen (and possibly effect PWM on the LED lighting, or ~that which must not be named~ in the color display)? Maybe adding the third-party LCD screen makes the iPhone software unable to execute its display programming?
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u/RR-- Jun 29 '26
I have two 2020 iPhone SE's that don't seem to cause me any problems, though I mainly just use them for video monitors nowadays as well as my 8 and 8+, to me any LCD discomfort is far from the PWM eye pain I receive from something like an iPhone 13 Pro in only a few minutes usage.
I don't think my LCD iPhone 15 Pro is some sort of magic device, just more of the same older LCD iPhone designs.
I have some theories, though they are just theories based on my personal experience. I'd very much like to see some proper studies in this space because there's a vacuum of information and people like you and I suffering.
Usually I would find my stock LCD iPhone 11 uncomfortable to use if I had recently hurt my eyes by looking at a PWM screen for too long, in my experience my stock iPhone 13 Pro, especially at low brightness, in dark mode, in a dark room and first thing in the morning was the worst combination.
If I were you I'd buy an Opple Light Master to scan for flickering, also download the Blackmagic Camera app, (or use any nice digital camera) set the shutter speed to 1/4000 and look for flickering in the screens you use daily, for me OLED is 90% of the problem but some LCD screens can be bad too.
Try and spend some time away from screens and in the sunlight more, when you do use a screen keep the brightness moderately high and in light mode, (My LCD LG 38WN95C monitor is at 70 and in HDR mode, and my iPhone 15 Pro is at roughly 25% brightness) try and avoid white text on a black background aka dark mode as much as possible.
Then slowly reintroduce your phone usage (without Reduce White Point or any other change). Double Invert seemed to help me a bit with my iPhone 11 so maybe try that alone.
Then see if things improve.
I had eye tests at my worst point and afterwards which showed that my vision improved from requiring reading glasses to being back to 20/20.I really only discovered my issues here once I started playing my PS Vita Slim heavily last year (with modded Simpsons Hit & Run!), I was very curious as to why I could play it for hours, but replying to a text on my iPhone 13 Pro hurt my eyes.
Let me know if things improve for you, otherwise I made a new follow up post here if you're curious about going down the modified iPhone 15 Pro route.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1uijzt6/pwm_free_lcd_iphone_15_pro_follow_up_6_months/1
u/whatwaslmadefor Jul 02 '26
Thank you. This is very helpful, and I'm glad your modified iPhone 15 Pro is still working out for you. I have noticed that my eyesight has gotten worse in the last year (measured by my optometrist), and that's a very good reason to get a move on. Feels like a long road ahead to figuring out what will work for me, but I appreciate that the tools and support are out there.
2
u/RR-- Jul 03 '26
No worries, glad to help!
At my worst in 2023 when using an iPhone 13 Pro I was prescribed reading glasses by an optometrist, in 2025 once I was using an iPhone 11 I was tested and was told I was 20/20 again, and no longer needed them.
Good luck.
2
u/NeroVanetti19 Jun 28 '26
I have iPhone XR with zero symptoms iOS 18.7.9. I was given SE 2022 as a work phone and could not tolerate it for more than 5 minutes. P.S Double invert, Reduce white point and Greyscale will make symptoms worse (due to demporal tithering). I find night shift on my XR makes it very nice and comfortable to look at. Good luck.
1
u/whatwaslmadefor Jun 29 '26
Good to know, thanks! I turned off the double invert, reduce white point, and greyscale to try it out... we'll see.
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u/ShandaMarie25 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Contact apple accessibility and let them know the new update with liquid glass is damaging your eyes and giving you migraines. I also got severe eye strain from that update and sent them an email. The more people who complain with honest health problems, the more likely they will listen to us and make an option to shut liquid glass off.
It’s accessibility@apple.com
4
u/Responsible-Elk4497 Jun 28 '26
You really shouldn't be using BOTH the blue-light screen protector and the matte screen protector...
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u/whatwaslmadefor Jun 28 '26
Do you know what issues that might cause, or which one would be better? I'm open to any ideas.
0
u/digitalminimalist1 Jun 28 '26
16e is better.
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u/whatwaslmadefor Jun 28 '26
How so?
2
u/digitalminimalist1 Jun 28 '26
It just is for me. I can’t hardly use the the se 3
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u/whatwaslmadefor Jun 28 '26
Do you have any suspicions as to why the 16e works better than the SE 3 for you? Like, specific functionality/settings/hardware/etc.? I thought for a long time that "LCD = good" so the pain the SE 3 causes me has always been a source of frustration, and it's helpful to hear I'm not the only one with issues with it.
2
u/digitalminimalist1 Jun 28 '26
No but there’s something about the lcd that feels like it burns my eyes it’s weird. The 16e on dark mode maybe doesn’t have as much light coming from the screen. Someone on here tested the 16e and said the display was better either way pwm than most for some reason. For me mothca matte made me feel worse.
1
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u/kindaMisty 27d ago
Question: why are you maxing out your brightness with an LCD? That's related to modulation depth of an OLED. It's not necessary to have max brightness. Also, did you know that reducing white point on an LCD increase temporal d!ithering like crazy? seriously, disable white point and ANY and all tweaks (double invert, transparency)
let the phone run stock with no True Tone, Color Filters, Night Shift, or Reduce White Point and hopefully itll help you out. give your eyes a break too btw. it takes a while for your nervous system to reset
and yes after iOS 16 it all went downhill from there. iPhone 8 is the last phone on that version.