Have you ever heard of PWM (pulse width modulation)? Even if you haven’t, this screen flickering issue still might impact you. But iPhone 17 looks like it will bring a long-awaited PWM fix.
PWM can be disabled on iPhone 17 models
I had never heard the term PWM before today, but as I learned by visiting the ‘PWM Sensitive’ subreddit—which has 16k weekly visitors—it’s a fairly widespread issue, and has been for years.
Pulse width modulation is a tactic used by smartphones when brightness is reduced.
Essentially, the phone’s OLED display keeps all pixels on at 100% brightness, but at 50% brightness it’s rapidly switching them on and off in a way that most users can’t discern.
For some people, however, PWM might result in a screen flickering effect that can cause eyestrain and even severe headaches.
It turns out, Apple has a solution coming with the iPhone 17, as discovered by Aaron Perris.
Perris later confirmed that the new setting is indeed coming to the entire iPhone 17 lineup, as reported by MacRumors.
It’s unclear why the new PWM setting is exclusive to iPhone 17 models, but it may have to do with advancements in the A19 and A19 Pro chips.
In any case, if PWM is an issue for you, Apple may have just given you yet another reason to upgrade to an iPhone 17.
Do you struggle with PWM, and if so, how significant will iPhone 17’s new Settings toggle be for you? Let us know in the comments.
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