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BillMoller

macrumors newbie
Apr 21, 2016
3
2
My iPhone X was doing the same exact thing. Portrait mode on the rear camera was making some severely dull photos. And if I would tilt the camera a little away from my subject, the colors came back like magic.

I also had that screen wash out problem on my iPhone X. Downgrading to 11.4.1 fixed both issues for me. Shame.

Don't mean to hijack the OP, but here's a video of the "Portrait" mode color washout clusteroo:

  • "Photo" mode, on/off axis, colors look correct
  • "Portrait" mode, on/off axis, colors turn to s
 
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holyrita

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2010
73
40
Finally called support today,I described my issue to the support rep and she immediately said she needed to transfer me to a senior advisor.

The senior person got on the phone and told me unfortunately there's nothing they can do to resolve the issue right now, but that they've received many reports and their engineers are working on it.

They had me send a couple of screenshots and then pictures of my phone from another device. We ran some diagnostics and said they'd give me a call when they have an update.


I get that people who aren't having this issue don't understand / get nothing out of this thread, so maybe just don't read it? I wouldn't want you to have a look at a screen that strains your eyes to read because it's so washed out ‍:shrug:
 
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tcdav26

macrumors regular
Aug 8, 2013
154
157
Yarmouthport, MA
Finally called support today,I described my issue to the support rep and she immediately said she needed to transfer me to a senior advisor.

The senior person got on the phone and told me unfortunately there's nothing they can do to resolve the issue right now, but that they've received many reports and their engineers are working on it.

They had me send a couple of screenshots and then pictures of my phone from another device. We ran some diagnostics and said they'd give me a call when they have an update.


I get that people who aren't having this issue don't understand / get nothing out of this thread, so maybe just don't read it? I wouldn't want you to have a look at a screen that strains your eyes to read because it's so washed out ‍♂️
Yep, did the exact same procedure!
 

Kloan1

macrumors newbie
Jul 15, 2016
16
6
I’ve done three things on mine to help make it less of an annoyance until Apple offers a fix for it (hopefully).

1) Turned on Increase Contast
2) Turned on “Blue/Yellow” filter
3) Turned on Night Shift (lowest level)

It’s not perfect (dark blues have an almost purple tint to them), but colours are visibly more saturated and things overall look less muted.
 

umusachi

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2014
27
12
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Some people are reporting that pressing ‘Update’ in iTunes with your iPhone in recovery mode fixes the issue. Doesn’t erase data, it focuses on system software.

Apple contacted me about this and took a software capture. They now want my physical iPhone to help solve the issue, so I am getting a replacement and they are collecting mine. They are aware of this thread as well as others.
 

tcdav26

macrumors regular
Aug 8, 2013
154
157
Yarmouthport, MA
Some people are reporting that pressing ‘Update’ in iTunes with your iPhone in recovery mode fixes the issue. Doesn’t erase data, it focuses on system software.

Apple contacted me about this and took a software capture. They now want my physical iPhone to help solve the issue, so I am getting a replacement and they are collecting mine. They are aware of this thread as well as others.
I did this method, and it worked for me! I don’t know if it’s a complete full fix, but it definitely has made a huge difference in making my screen look more like how my X looked on iOS 11
 

roastspud

macrumors member
Oct 11, 2011
60
11
UK
Some people are reporting that pressing ‘Update’ in iTunes with your iPhone in recovery mode fixes the issue. Doesn’t erase data, it focuses on system software.

Apple contacted me about this and took a software capture. They now want my physical iPhone to help solve the issue, so I am getting a replacement and they are collecting mine. They are aware of this thread as well as others.

Does this actually work then?
 
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holyrita

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2010
73
40
Does this actually work then?

I just tried this method to update to 12.0.1. Sadly, (yet surprising no one) it did not resolve the issue.

Another note: after the update I was presented with a horrifying "Attemping data recovery" screen and progress bar for about 10 minutes before the home screen came back. Sharing in case anyone else wants to try this, hopefully you won't be as scared by that as me (even though I was backed up :confused:)
 

gtmac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2010
676
116
Could be dreaming but seems that iOS 12.0.1 looks a little better to me on XS Max than 12.0 did.
 

magicschoolbus

macrumors 68020
Original poster
May 27, 2014
2,469
8,015
I am updating to the new software update now; wondering if this will fix the problem.
 

iExpLiziT

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2018
34
21
Houston, Texas
I just put my iOS 12 Beta 2 iPhone X next to my Sisters iOS 11 iPhone X under the same lighting conditions and settings. Both my sister and I could NOT spot a difference in color, Brightness, nor Saturation.

And from the screenshots provided in this thread. Am I the only one preferring the more natural look of the iOS 12 Screenshots than the overly Saturated iOS 11 look?
 

guesswho183

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2018
98
51
I just put my iOS 12 Beta 2 iPhone X next to my Sisters iOS 11 iPhone X under the same lighting conditions and settings. Both my sister and I could NOT spot a difference in color, Brightness, nor Saturation.

And from the screenshots provided in this thread. Am I the only one preferring the more natural look of the iOS 12 Screenshots than the overly Saturated iOS 11 look?
iPhone X display with IOS 11 is not over saturated in any way, maybe screenshot is, but in person colors on screen is pretty balanced (I don't use true tone).
 

MrGimper

macrumors G3
Sep 22, 2012
8,478
11,750
Andover, UK
I just tried this method to update to 12.0.1. Sadly, (yet surprising no one) it did not resolve the issue.

Another note: after the update I was presented with a horrifying "Attemping data recovery" screen and progress bar for about 10 minutes before the home screen came back. Sharing in case anyone else wants to try this, hopefully you won't be as scared by that as me (even though I was backed up :confused:)

Attempting Data Recovery is normally a sign that you've restored a version of iOS lower than the version currently installed. Were you running 12.1 beta and installed 12.0.1?
 

umusachi

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2014
27
12
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
A week later I am still waiting for Apple to ‘capture’ my device. I’d really just like to try this update trick but have been asked to leave my phone as is. I had almost convinced myself that the screen had somehow fixed itself, but I just tried the ‘reduce whitepoint’ option and it looks a lot more how I remember my screen looking. Obviously it massively reduces the brightness so it’s not an option for me, but I am now again reminded of just how much ‘pop’ the screen has lost since the update.

For the update trick I wonder if you need to update to same OS version rather than straight update from 12.0 -> 12.01. Almost like an OS repair. Not sure if people have had success doing this now that 12.01 is out.
 

holyrita

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2010
73
40
A week later I am still waiting for Apple to ‘capture’ my device. I’d really just like to try this update trick but have been asked to leave my phone as is. I had almost convinced myself that the screen had somehow fixed itself, but I just tried the ‘reduce whitepoint’ option and it looks a lot more how I remember my screen looking. Obviously it massively reduces the brightness so it’s not an option for me, but I am now again reminded of just how much ‘pop’ the screen has lost since the update.

For the update trick I wonder if you need to update to same OS version rather than straight update from 12.0 -> 12.01. Almost like an OS repair. Not sure if people have had success doing this now that 12.01 is out.

When I did that trick I only remember the option to update to 12.0.1, not to update but stay on 12.0 :(

The :apple: senior advisor I've been working with reached out to tell me that 12.0.1 should have resolved my issue, so I'm not sure what to make of that (because it didn't).

I did however try reducing my white point to 49% and the colors seems to be much more vibrant again- exactly how I remember it being on iOS 11 so I'm happy about that!
 

dmccombs

macrumors 6502a
May 13, 2013
561
1,520
IOS 12.1 - iPhone XS:

I seem to have found a fix (for me) that solves the "faded" look in the Photos app, News, Browser ect. I went into General->Accessibility->Display Accommodations, and turned on Reduce White Point. I then moved the slider down to 49% like others suggested. I ran the phone like this for a while testing things.

Then I went back into Reduce White Point and turned it back off. The images n Photos, News, Browser etc, all look like they should now (pre IOS 12). This is huge. Aside from the lock screen the XS looks terrific, as we'd expect.

The one open issue I still have is that IOS 12 still makes the Wallpaper on the Lock Screen a little bit faded. I compared my Lock Screen photo to the same photo, viewed in Photos. The lock screen version dos have a slight faded look. Others have mentioned that Apple did this intentionally to make the Lock Screen text more readable.
 
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Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,094
1,567
Has this been fixed yet? What a ridiculous problem. Afraid to update iPhone X to iOS 12 until it is confirmed fixed. Anyone?
 
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MrGimper

macrumors G3
Sep 22, 2012
8,478
11,750
Andover, UK
IOS 12.1 - iPhone XS:

I seem to have found a fix (for me) that solves the "faded" look in the Photos app, News, Browser ect. I went into General->Accessibility->Display Accommodations, and turned on Reduce White Point. I then moved the slider down to 49% like others suggested. I ran the phone like this for a while testing things.

Then I went back into Reduce White Point and turned it back off. The images n Photos, News, Browser etc, all look like they should now (pre IOS 12). This is huge. Aside from the lock screen the XS looks terrific, as we'd expect.

The one open issue I still have is that IOS 12 still makes the Wallpaper on the Lock Screen a little bit faded. I compared my Lock Screen photo to the same photo, viewed in Photos. The lock screen version dos have a slight faded look. Others have mentioned that Apple did this intentionally to make the Lock Screen text more readable.

So in other words, your eyes adjusted
 
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