iPhone 12 Pro Max has the best smartphone display, says DisplayMate

AppleInsider · November 17, 2020 5:25PM

After thorough analysis and lab testing, DisplayMate has declared that Apple's new iPhone 12 Pro Max flagship has the best display that it's ever tested.

Credit: Apple

The new Apple handset has reclaimed DisplayMate's "Best Smartphone Display" ranking, a similar honor given to past handsets like the iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone XS Max. Currently, the iPhone 12 Pro Max holds DisplayMate's highest-ever A+ performance grade.

In an in-depth analysis of the device's display following lab testing, DisplayMate said that the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a "state-of-the-art" display that sets or matches records across 11 different performance metrics.

"The iPhone 12 Pro Max joins the very select Top Tier of Smartphone Displays which all provide Close to Text Book Perfect Calibration Accuracy and Performance that is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect, so they all received and maintain Concurrent DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Awards," the display testing firm wrote.

That includes full screen brightness, high contrast ratio, sharpness, low reflectance, and absolute color accuracy. The iPhone 12 Pro Max received "visually indistinguishable from perfect" in several categories, such as "shift in color accuracy and intensity scale" and "shift in image contrast and intensity scale."

DisplayMate also praised some of Apple's proprietary display technologies, such as True Tone and Night Shift, and noted that the device's display is also up to 10% more power efficient than the previous iPhone 11 Pro Max.

On the display itself, the iPhone 12 Pro Max sport's Apple's largest ever iwth a 6.7-inch screen and a 2778 x 1284 resolution; a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, peak brightness of 800 nits or 1,200 for HDR; and support for the P3 wide color gamut.

The full DisplayMate "shootout" goes into further detail about the iPhone 12 Pro Max's display technologies, and the report is available from the research firm.

karinatwork · November 17, 2020 5:33PM

That's great. Still gives me bloody headaches though, because of the PWM flickering. Why is nobody addressing this OLED issue?

mike1 · November 17, 2020 5:46PM

With the exception of size, of course, I would imagine that the 12 Pro display should be just as good, right?

bageljoey · November 17, 2020 5:46PM

Does the 12 Pro Max beat the 12 Pro simply because of the size? Or were there other tested differences?

appleish · November 17, 2020 5:57PM

Agreed! Love my screen. Love those flat edges!

strangedays · November 17, 2020 7:24PM

karinatwork said:

That's great. Still gives me bloody headaches though, because of the PWM flickering. Why is nobody addressing this OLED issue?

Never heard of it.

sflocal · November 17, 2020 7:58PM

karinatwork said:

That's great. Still gives me bloody headaches though, because of the PWM flickering. Why is nobody addressing this OLED issue?

I'm not following. Are you saying you're getting headaches because of the screen's refresh rate? If so, how are you handling the fact that there are LED's pretty much everywhere now for general illumination? Lamps, car headlights, etc...

ofer · November 17, 2020 8:42PM

bageljoey said:

Does the 12 Pro Max beat the 12 Pro simply because of the size? Or were there other tested differences?

Their specs are pretty much identical other than the slight size/pixel density difference

anantksundaram · November 17, 2020 8:51PM

In my non-professional opinion, my Xs Max display had this new one beat, at least on screen brightness. I need to up the screen brightness setting on the Pro Max to about two-thirds to get the same brightness as with 50% on the Xs Max. (I just checked it again, across multiple similar apps on both. They are visibly different.)*

I am sure there's more to a display, but I believe brightness has to be an important one.

* I should add that I dislike the TruTone screen look (too faded-yellowish for my taste), so I always leave TruTone off on my Apple devices where it's the default. Not sure if that matters...

sranger · November 17, 2020 9:48PM

I love mine!!! A great upgrade to my beloved iPhone 7 Plus.

jcs2305 · November 17, 2020 10:40PM

anantksundaram said:

In my non-professional opinion, my Xs Max display had this new one beat, at least on screen brightness. I need to up the screen brightness setting on the Pro Max to about two-thirds to get the same brightness as with 50% on the Xs Max. (I just checked it again, across multiple similar apps on both. They are visibly different.)*

I am sure there's more to a display, but I believe brightness has to be an important one.

* I should add that I dislike the TruTone screen look (too faded-yellowish for my taste), so I always leave TruTone off on my Apple devices where it's the default. Not sure if that matters...

I have had the XS Max, 11 Pro Max and now the 12 Pro Max and have seen brighter displays year over year with the 12 Pro Max being the brightest yet, and the most noticeable difference going from the XS Max to the 11 Pro Max. I am also a non professional as you are, but I have checked the brightness level a few times on my 12 Pro Max because it was so bright I thought I had turned it up accidentally. There may be something going on with your display?

My GF has my previous 11 Pro Max and they are very close in brightness, with the my 12 Pro Max looking a tad brighter at the same level. Maybe swap it out and see if the actual display is faulty?

Just my 2c..

Just to add... I do use True Tone on my phones so maybe that does somehow make a difference? I just re-read your post as I finished my post.

edited November 2020

mknelson · November 18, 2020 12:27AM

sflocal said:

karinatwork said:

That's great. Still gives me bloody headaches though, because of the PWM flickering. Why is nobody addressing this OLED issue?

I'm not following. Are you saying you're getting headaches because of the screen's refresh rate? If so, how are you handling the fact that there are LED's pretty much everywhere now for general illumination? Lamps, car headlights, etc...

Basically you can control brightness by lowering the voltage and actually dimming the OLED elements, or you can flash them on and off at different rates so your eye perceives a lower brightness.

A lot of the explanations for why that's bad read like quackery (I'm pretty sure your iris doesn't react that fast), but it does make sense to be an issue for people who are sensitive to strobing lights and how they can affect your brain (not quite Epilepsy).

sdw2001 · November 18, 2020 12:47AM

anantksundaram said:

In my non-professional opinion, my Xs Max display had this new one beat, at least on screen brightness. I need to up the screen brightness setting on the Pro Max to about two-thirds to get the same brightness as with 50% on the Xs Max. (I just checked it again, across multiple similar apps on both. They are visibly different.)*

I am sure there's more to a display, but I believe brightness has to be an important one.

* I should add that I dislike the TruTone screen look (too faded-yellowish for my taste), so I always leave TruTone off on my Apple devices where it's the default. Not sure if that matters...

Sounds like you have a bad unit. I upgraded from a XS Max at this phone is far superior in the display category and everywhere else. Brightness is much better. Everything looks crisper. The difference in battery life is night and day.

fatman · November 18, 2020 12:51AM

YouTube 4k HDR content on my iPhone12Pro OLED or a Disney+ movie (I use Moana as a reference for its deep tones, vibrant colors and use of contrast/shadows) is truly incredible looking - destroys my old iPhone6 lo-res LCD.

fatman · November 18, 2020 1:10AM

Before anyone comments - I know the 12Pro is not full 4k, but the hires content scales down wonderfully.

anantksundaram · November 18, 2020 2:53AM

sdw2001 said:

anantksundaram said:

In my non-professional opinion, my Xs Max display had this new one beat, at least on screen brightness. I need to up the screen brightness setting on the Pro Max to about two-thirds to get the same brightness as with 50% on the Xs Max. (I just checked it again, across multiple similar apps on both. They are visibly different.)*

I am sure there's more to a display, but I believe brightness has to be an important one.

* I should add that I dislike the TruTone screen look (too faded-yellowish for my taste), so I always leave TruTone off on my Apple devices where it's the default. Not sure if that matters...

Sounds like you have a bad unit. I upgraded from a XS Max at this phone is far superior in the display category and everywhere else. Brightness is much better. Everything looks crisper. The difference in battery life is night and day.

Maybe. But I have neither the time nor the inclination to experiment with another unit. I can live with this screen (I just turn the brightness up). I brought it up because it happens to be true in my case.

I said nothing about "...everywhere else" or "...battery life." So relax.

sdw2001 · November 18, 2020 2:33PM

anantksundaram said:

sdw2001 said:

anantksundaram said:

In my non-professional opinion, my Xs Max display had this new one beat, at least on screen brightness. I need to up the screen brightness setting on the Pro Max to about two-thirds to get the same brightness as with 50% on the Xs Max. (I just checked it again, across multiple similar apps on both. They are visibly different.)*

I am sure there's more to a display, but I believe brightness has to be an important one.

* I should add that I dislike the TruTone screen look (too faded-yellowish for my taste), so I always leave TruTone off on my Apple devices where it's the default. Not sure if that matters...

Sounds like you have a bad unit. I upgraded from a XS Max at this phone is far superior in the display category and everywhere else. Brightness is much better. Everything looks crisper. The difference in battery life is night and day.

Maybe. But I have neither the time nor the inclination to experiment with another unit. I can live with this screen (I just turn the brightness up). I brought it up because it happens to be true in my case.

I said nothing about "...everywhere else" or "...battery life." So relax.

Huh? I'm not sure what about my post would cause you to ask me to "relax." I'm sensing you're a little more upset about the brightness issue than you're letting on. I'm just saying I have a totally different experience. You also posted that your opinion was that the XS Max display "has this one beat." That is objectively false, both from an analysis perspective, and from a real-world perspective. That is why I'm saying I think your experience is a one-off. I'm not questioning your perception of what's happening.

iPhone 12 Pro Max has the best smartphone display, says DisplayMate

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