Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

kre62

macrumors 68020
Jul 12, 2010
2,373
1,248
My 11 Pro max is noticeably warmer and dimmer than my XS Max. I am pissed! The 11 pro max is more even throughout than the XS Max though. I feel like returning it and keeping the XS Max honestly, as the exchange process can be tedious.


Theres a ton of people with launch day XS Max phones with screens dingier then that. Yet somehow you have a good one. Hmm..

If theres anything I can tell you it's this - each phone each year has a spectrum of color calibrations. If you prefer a whiter calibration, it is possible to get one with enough patience, and enough exchanges.

And now that you know you are picky - never. ever. EVER. buy a launch day phone. Wait for batch 2.
 

Wide opeN

macrumors 68000
Aug 27, 2010
1,763
1,035
Georgia
View attachment 861343 iPhone Pro Max - Top
iPhone XS Max - Bottom
Max brightness with white background. True Tone On

The Pro Max looks terrible!!! Yes, seriously.
[automerge]1569038913[/automerge]
Maybe one day...ONE DAY..people will realize that every single year, the first batch of phones has displays that lean yellow dinge.

This is an issue a few veterans have been fighting for 11+ years now.

Always the same arguments - Maybe its intentional. Maybe it's more accurate. Maybe its glue. maybe its....no dude. It's lax manufacturing tolerances in the first batches in order to maximize production. I am 100% convinced that "true tone" was invented just so those lax tolerances could be better masked, and justified by naive "geniuses".

That being said, I haven't seen too many Apple OLEDs I've liked. There are a few that get close to the white point I enjoy, but not many. The display 11 pros I saw today were standard dingy launch phones - they will be swapped out for clear beautiful displays within days. Consumers wont get those clear displays for a few months.

Luckily the XR, and now the new 11, have a much better, clearer, beautiful color calibration. Picking one up to replace my XR tomorrow.

You sir, have won the POST OF THE DAY AWARD!!! So much truth in your post it hurts, lol!!!

Stop being an apologist guys, and turning a blind eye; this man is speaking BIG FACTS!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: kre62 and Mattym62

Martius

macrumors 6502a
Jul 12, 2008
543
1,716
Prague, CZ
One of the things I really hate about Apple is problem like this. I don't mind paying premium for a device, but I expect it will be "perfect" in terms of consistency. Reading those posts of people trying 4 and more iPhones just to get better screen is quite insane. I don't mean the people are insane, I would probably do the same thing, but it shouldn't be like that.

So how long it's necessary to wait to get 2nd batch?
 

Bradleyone

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2015
232
262
Sydney, Australia
iPhone Pro Max - Top
iPhone XS Max - Bottom
Max brightness with white background. True Tone On

Not saying there isn’t a variation, but there’s a significant viewing angle difference there. OLED screens change as you move your head.

You need to photograph them from the same angle. And with True Tone off.
 

bbednarz

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2017
1,409
3,739
Chicago
One of the things I really hate about Apple is problem like this. I don't mind paying premium for a device, but I expect it will be "perfect" in terms of consistency. Reading those posts of people trying 4 and more iPhones just to get better screen is quite insane. I don't mean the people are insane, I would probably do the same thing, but it shouldn't be like that.

So how long it's necessary to wait to get 2nd batch?
The people are insane.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wokis

Mattym62

macrumors regular
Nov 27, 2003
237
74
Palm Beach, FL
Not saying there isn’t a variation, but there’s a significant viewing angle difference there. OLED screens change as you move your head.

You need to photograph them from the same angle. And with True Tone off.
Pro Max - left
XS Max - right
 

Attachments

  • 200E575D-68A3-4B42-9837-9515D0A5692E.jpeg
    200E575D-68A3-4B42-9837-9515D0A5692E.jpeg
    1.5 MB · Views: 919

sparkles61785

macrumors regular
Jun 13, 2009
134
15
Theres a ton of people with launch day XS Max phones with screens dingier then that. Yet somehow you have a good one. Hmm..

If theres anything I can tell you it's this - each phone each year has a spectrum of color calibrations. If you prefer a whiter calibration, it is possible to get one with enough patience, and enough exchanges.

And now that you know you are picky - never. ever. EVER. buy a launch day phone. Wait for batch 2.

I'm not picky at all. The Pro Max was advertised as having a brighter and superior screen to the XS Max. If I'm paying $1250 for a phone, I expect it to live up to those claims. No need to attack people.

I found another thread with this issue and it turns out that Auto-Brightness is enabled by default and buried in the accessibility settings. After disabling it my phone is noticeably brighter that my XS Max (even after also disabling it for the XS Max and comparing. In fact when I disabled it on the XS Max it had no immediate effects on the screen). Even after re-enabling it, my phone is much brighter than the XS Max. I suspect that this is a bug. Now that my phone is much brighter, I think I'll be keeping it. It is still warmer, but more uniform throughout. So I'll live with it.
 

AndrewR23

Contributor
Jun 24, 2010
4,549
1,723
Me and @kre62 have been fighting yellow displays since 2010 here guys. Lol.

Sad to say my 11 Pro is yellow compared to my XS. Ive officially given up in this now. Its beyond exhausting every year to return, redo the loan, retype in SSN, etc.

Apple will get away with it for another year. Lets see how the 2020 phone does on launch day.
 

wabbitwarren

macrumors newbie
Sep 21, 2019
1
0
Hampshire England
OMG so pleased I found this thread! Unboxed my 11Pro Max last night .....and straight from start up I noticed the ‘yellow’ tint..compared to my 2 iPads and IPhone 7 Plus it’s REALLY noticeable! I did turn True Tone off...not sure if it made a difference. I surfed for super white photos of snow on all three devices and the 11 Pro did not have such good clarity and I think the display on the 7 is better. I’ve slept on it and have 14 days to return it....sadly I bet that’s what I end up doing. Can anyone tell me what’s CAUSING this yellowing?
 

Coffee_Time

Cancelled
Nov 22, 2017
718
342
My 11 Pro max is noticeably warmer and dimmer than my XS Max. I am pissed! The 11 pro max is more even throughout than the XS Max though. I feel like returning it and keeping the XS Max honestly, as the exchange process can be tedious.
Which one is?
 

Jim McN

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2017
200
118
Maybe one day...ONE DAY..people will realize that every single year, the first batch of phones has displays that lean yellow dinge.

This is an issue a few veterans have been fighting for 11+ years now.

Always the same arguments - Maybe its intentional. Maybe it's more accurate. Maybe its glue. maybe its....no dude. It's lax manufacturing tolerances in the first batches in order to maximize production. I am 100% convinced that "true tone" was invented just so those lax tolerances could be better masked, and justified by naive "geniuses".

That being said, I haven't seen too many Apple OLEDs I've liked. There are a few that get close to the white point I enjoy, but not many. The display 11 pros I saw today were standard dingy launch phones - they will be swapped out for clear beautiful displays within days. Consumers wont get those clear displays for a few months.

Luckily the XR, and now the new 11, have a much better, clearer, beautiful color calibration. Picking one up to replace my XR tomorrow.


Could you please compare your iPhone XR screen with your new iPhone 11... just curious. Thx
 

netnative

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2013
433
320
Puerto Rico, USA
I have the Xs Max that I will trade-in next to the 11 Pro Max that was delivered yesterday. Both devices have True Tone set to off. The difference is noticeable. The display of the 11 Pro Max appears dingy in comparison. The 11 Pro Max definitely does not look as having the display of a new and better iPhone with a higher brightness and contrast ratio than its predecessor. I am not pleased.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Wide opeN

StumpyBloke

macrumors 603
Apr 21, 2012
5,404
5,988
England
Settings > Accessibility > Auto-brightness > turn it off.

Oh that. Yep made no difference to mine. I don’t think mine is any brighter than my XS max... unless it only goes brighter when playing HDR content? I don’t know. Thanks anyway.
 

Jim McN

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2017
200
118
Oh that. Yep made no difference to mine. I don’t think mine is any brighter than my XS max... unless it only goes brighter when playing HDR content? I don’t know. Thanks anyway.


Right this option is just to let the iPhone to set automatically the right brightness based on the surrounding light/brightness
 

jgiannakas

macrumors member
May 26, 2014
85
64
I've decided to do some measurements with my X Rite colorimeter on my new iPhone 11 Pro Max to check its colour temperature. Will post in a bit with results...
 
Last edited:

iamdman

macrumors newbie
Oct 14, 2018
25
6
Settings > Accessibility > Auto-brightness > turn it off.


Interesting... I turned off Auto Brightness, left True tone on and my display is MUCH better and comparable to my XS MAX - the Pro 11 display is not dull (or too warm) anymore for same level of brightness level on both phones. My XS MAX had auto brightness on though. So wondering if it has anything to do with:

1. Auto Brightness sensor on Pro Max has some cap may be?
2. I have full screen protector on both phones and same brand but wondering if its somehow affects Pro but not the XS MAX? ?

I have always used Auto brightness even though I manually adjust sometimes as my ambiance light level changes but having it on I think helps the display in long run...
 

jgiannakas

macrumors member
May 26, 2014
85
64
So measured the colour temperature of my iPhone pro max at 6546 kelvin with True Tone off. That is perfect. The iPad Pro measured at 7014 Kelvin, which is on the cool side.

With True Tone on, I noticed that the iPhone was about 200-300 Kelvin warmer than its surroundings when the room temperature was at 6500K. At my workshop with 2700k LEDs the iPhone was at ~5000 kelvin so did not adjust to go as low.

Measured with different brightness levels (10%, 50%, 100%) and there was absolutely no change in colour temperature.

In conclusion, at least for my device, with True Tone off, its as good as it can get. With True Tone on, its a bit of hit and miss and it really depends what is in line of sight to the front sensor.
 
Last edited:

Mr$tone

macrumors 6502
Oct 25, 2017
460
457
You’re going to have to explain the four different Xs Max phones...that seems a bit much. The screen temperatures are calibrated yes, but a warmer display could be the norm this year. Who knows.
I’m eager to hear about the screens, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some are warm, and some are cool.
I can confirm that problem on both XS Max and Pro Max. It’s very different displays from box to box. It’s a lottery when unpacking.
The biggest problem is when a display is yellow on one side and pink on the other. It’s annoying. I guess it’s a matter of how picky one is and/or how sharp/sensitive ones eyes are.
 

StumpyBloke

macrumors 603
Apr 21, 2012
5,404
5,988
England
Right this option is just to let the iPhone to set automatically the right brightness based on the surrounding light/brightness

Yup, exactly. That’s why I was surprised when the OP said turning it off made a massive difference with their brightness.
 

MacDevil7334

Contributor
Oct 15, 2011
2,528
5,719
Austin TX
Maybe one day...ONE DAY..people will realize that every single year, the first batch of phones has displays that lean yellow dinge.

This is an issue a few veterans have been fighting for 11+ years now.

Always the same arguments - Maybe its intentional. Maybe it's more accurate. Maybe its glue. maybe its....no dude. It's lax manufacturing tolerances in the first batches in order to maximize production. I am 100% convinced that "true tone" was invented just so those lax tolerances could be better masked, and justified by naive "geniuses".

That being said, I haven't seen too many Apple OLEDs I've liked. There are a few that get close to the white point I enjoy, but not many. The display 11 pros I saw today were standard dingy launch phones - they will be swapped out for clear beautiful displays within days. Consumers wont get those clear displays for a few months.

Luckily the XR, and now the new 11, have a much better, clearer, beautiful color calibration. Picking one up to replace my XR tomorrow.
I agree that launch day phones do seem to have slightly laxer quality control than devices manufactured later in the run. But I did have to chuckle when you then turned around and said you are buying a first batch 11 to replace your XR!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wide opeN
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.