How To Fix iPhone 12 Yellow Screen Display Problem
Last updated on November 20th, 2020 at 09:00 am
Posted in News by Patricia on October 29, 2020
iPhone 12 Yellow Screen Fix
Is your new iPhone 12 / 12 Pro screen displaying a yellow tint? Or better said, is your device showing a warmer color than usual, which makes your OLED panel look yellowish? You’re not the only one experiencing this. In most cases this can be fixed by tweaking Color Filters in the Settings app, as instructed below.
How To Test iPhone 12 Yellow Screen
- 1. Disable True Tone (Settings -> Display & Brightness -> True Tone – Turn Off).
- 2. Turn Off Dark Mode (Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Dark Mode – Disable)
- 3. Open Settings app home page.
- 4. Compare your new iPhone 12 with an older iPhone model that’s using the same settings. Is the iPhone 12 display more yellow?
How To Fix iPhone 12 Yellow Screen
Perform these steps to reduce the yellow tint on your iPhone 12:
- 1. Open the Settings app.
- 2. Browse for Accessibility.
- 3. Tap on Display & Text Size.
- 4. Scroll for Color Filters.
- 5. Enable Color Filters and tap on Color Tint.
- 6. Move the HUE slider to reduce the yellow tone of your display.
Tip: You can also adjust the INTENSITY to get the desired result. Hold an older iPhone nearby if you need a white screen standard.
Update (November 20)
iPhone 12 Yellow Screen Tip
Some users are able to fix this yellow tint issue by tweaking the Reduce White Point. This is also an Accessibility setting found in the same Display & Test Size menu. In fact, it’s available just below the Color Filters label.
In some cases Reduce White Point is enabled by default, forcing your iPhone to reduce the intensity of bright colors. If the setting is turned ON, you can either disable it or reduce it all the way down to 25%.
Next, use the above Color Filters trick to cool down your display a bit and things should be fixed. Is this working for you?
Thanks to Nic for posting this tip in the comments section.
Fact: In some rare cases, you might be unlucky enough to receive an new iPhone equipped with a low er grade OLED panel and applying the above fix might not be enough the reduce the yellow tint. In this case you might need to exchange your device.
iPhone 12 Yellow Screen Readers Reactions
Check out reports from other readers that blame low manufacturing standards as cause of iPhone 12 yellow screen problem:
- Phil: “I calibrate my PC colour balance – I am a bit of a nerd. So I can tell everyone this isn’t made up. iPhone has always been a bit over saturated but I can accept that. Colour cast however is not acceptable and isn’t the same thing at all. And this isn’t warm vs cool. Yellow is another direction completely. And finally, I spotted this out of the box – never heard it was a thing before and didn’t have to put it side by side to see it, but doing so just confirmed it.”
- John: “Just got my iPhone 12 today, set it next to my iPhone X to do the file transfers and I was shocked at the difference in screen color. I figured it was a setting so i finished the transfer and went through all the display adjustments/corrections stuff. Tried everything… the display is simply not as good as the iPhone X I have. Sigh Apple. Another reason to never buy the launch! I’ll be going to AT&T to hopefully get it resolved.”
- Alessandro: “I called Apple Care and ‘discretely’ after 15 minutes chat, the operator confirmed that lots of cases are arising around the iPhone 12 yellow screen. He fixed me a meeting in the closest Apple Store in town and I went today. At first they have recognized the problem and after several trials they decided to exchange my iPhone. Those on display were perfect and I felt really happy and relieved only until discovering that the new one they gave me had the very same problem!
Went back there to show them and they did pretend it was all perfect. I started to get a bit nervous and I claimed they were making fun of me. After 15 minutes discussion he said he could see the difference but did not know what to do…”
Debate: We’ve found some theories on popular discussion forums, like MacRumors, which claim that Apple reduces the standard of the OLED panel quality, for launch-day terminals, in order to be able to manufacture and increase stock size as much as possible. However, there is no solid proof to back this claim.
Are you experiencing the iPhone 12 yellow screen problem? Does the above fix solve the problem for you? Let us know, using the comments section available below.
Related: Get fixes for other common iPhone 12 problems: the No Service bug, and missing Short Code SMS, Exposure Notifications not working.
I have the same problem and NO……………..these tweaks do not fix the problem. It’s infuriating spending 1k on a pro device to have it look not as good as my 3 year old iphone X!!
Mark, thanks for your feedback. I’m sorry to hear that the Color Filters setting doesn’t fix the yellow screen issue. Have you tried to bring your device to an Apple Store and ask for a replacement unit?
I have the same issue. My iPhone 6 (which I am replacing) has a much better display than this new iPhone 12 Pro. The latter has a yellow screen and way less clarity. Such a disappointment,
J M, we understand your frustration. You can bring it back in to an Apple Store and ask for a replacement.
Can you please send us a photo with the two screens, iPhone 6 vs iPhone 12 Pro side-by-side? You can mail it to: contact@iphonetricks.org
Agreed!! I’m so upset, especially because even though the staff KNOW this they pretend like it’s all you. I bough an iPhone 12Max Pro, returned it (it was a hassle and cost me $50 restocking fee). Than bought iPhone 11 Pro that was on display and with correct color like my previous phones…when it arrived it’s just as yellow/greenish washed-out as the iPhone 12 was!! So upset, so much money, so much hassle and as a photographer I still don’t have a phone where I can edit mobile posts and know what color they truly are.
Thanks for sharing this Olga. Is there no way you can tweak this from the Color Filters or True Tone settings to much the display of your old iPhone?
I’m getting a replacement, no matter what I try it my 12 pro screen looks rubbish against my partners XS, just a yellow dull screen.
Paul, thanks for confirming. Yes, you might have picket a shorter straw and got an iPhone 12 Pro with a low quality OLED. Please keep us updated and let us know if you had any problems, replacing it. Good luck!
Hi guys, sadly I do have the same problem… called apple care and “discretely” after 15 minutes chat, the operator confirmed that lots of cases are arising around the yellow screen. He fixed me a meeting in the closest apple store in town and I went today. At first they have recognised the problem and after several trials they decided to exchange my iphone. Those on display were perfetc and I felt really happy and relieved only until discovering that the new one they gave me had the very same problem!!!
Went back there to show them and they did pretend it was all perfect. I started to get a bit nervous and I claimed they were making fun of me… after 15 minutes discussion he said he could see the difference but did not know what to do…
I am super sad. 1.289 € for something that looks garbage next to my old XR!
Alessandro, thanks for this valuable and in-depth feedback. This sounds like a serious problem. We hope that you will be able to fix this at some point. If the problem is widespread Apple might acknowledge it and issue a service program with free replacements. But I guess that it will take a while, because now most iPhone 12 stocks are short. Dust will have to settle down. Please keep us updated if anything changes.
P.S.: iOS 14.2 has just been released. We recommend you to update and let us know if by any chance the yellow screen problem is fixed by this update: https://www.iphonetricks.org/ios-14-2-software-update-10-features-15-fixes/
Important: We encourage everyone else that’s experiencing this problem to comment in this article. This topic will be forwarded to Apple as soon as a considerable number of cases are reported!
My iPhone 12 Pro Max has the same problem. Can be partially corrected by turning off True Tone and Night Shift, and also adjusting Color Tint in Settings- Accessibility.
Tip: When you enter Settings, you can swipe down for a search box and search directly for Color Filters to get to Color Tint.
Art M, thanks for your feedback. Yes, using the Search feature in Settings helps you reach Color Filters faster.
Just got my iphone 12 today… set it next to my iphone X to do the file transfers and I was shocked at the difference in screen color. I figured it was a setting so i finished the transfer and went through all the display adjustments/corrections stuff… then googled and found this forum. Tried everything… the display is simply not as good as the iphone X i have. Sigh apple. Another reason to never buy the launch!! I’ll be going to At&t to hopefully get it resolved.
John, thanks for your report. Yes, buying a launch day iPhone comes with its fair share of risks. Hopefully, you will get it replaced by AT&T, but this still doesn’t fix the cause of the problem, which seems to be lowered manufacturing standards to be able to ship out as many units as possible on day 1. Keep us updated, I am curious how this turned out for you.
Report submitted via email by ‘Phil’:
“Yes I have this issue too.
The phone should come out of the box set right.
Appreciate the ideas, but my Xs is default colour and is eye popping. The 12 is scank.
Apple replacing it no arguments, no questions, no reset this or trawl that. They admitted they have had a few. She wasn’t saying if they know what the reason is or if they don’t know, but that is no surprise.
My first one came in 3 days. Replacement will be 3 weeks! But hopefully that means it will be a new fixed batch.Lucky I still have my Xs.”
“I calibrate my PC colour balance – i am a bit of a nerd. So i can tell everyone this isn’t made up. iPhone has always been a bit over saturated but i accept that. Colour cast however is not acceptable and isn’t the same thing at all. And this isn’t warm vs cool. Yellow is another direction completely. And finally, i spotted this out of the box – never heard it was a thing before and didn’t have to put it side by side to see it, but doing so just confirmed it.”
I am having the same trouble with the screen color. I am replacing an iPhone 7. The screen on the iPhone 12 mini is like sepia, AFTER we adjusted all of the settings to make it white. I have been talking with support for over 2 1/2 hours. They have basically told me to return it and buy a different model. They say they have not seen any issues with screen trouble with this model. I don’t believe them. I am so frustrated.
Marcia, thanks for your feedback. So, the iPhone 12 mini is affected too. Until now we only had reports about the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro yellow screen occurring. It seems that the later released 12 mini and 12 Pro Max can be also affected by the low quality OLED manufacturing standards. We know how frustrating this is. Hope you can get a replacement unit soon, one that doesn’t have the same problem! Keep us updated.
I received my new iPhone 12 Pro Max yesterday and was really disappointed with how yellow the screen was compared to my XS Max. It just felt yellow and dingy.
For now I have turned off True Tone on my new 12 Pro Max but even with True Tone off on the old XS you can still see the shift in tint especially on whites.
I called Apple, their support was lukewarm at best. They offered me to Mail in the device for repair, but that would leave me without a phone for a week. Unfortunately the stores in England are closed due to COVID restrictions so I can’t ask for an exchange. I will have to hold tight for now.
I will keep hold of my old XS Max for now to use as evidence / comparison and go into store when restrictions are lifted. It is such a shame after spending £1100 on a new phone that it feels inferior to my 2 year old one.
CornishTD, thank you for confirming that the iPhone 12 Pro Max yellow screen problem is a fact. I’m sure that you would have preferred not to have a reason to write this comment. And yes, we know the feeling. Spending such a big amount of money implies high-quality. But apparently sometimes even Apple fails to meet expectations. I hope that this will be sorted out for you and you’ll get a replacement when stores reopen in the UK. Stay healthy!
Received my iPhone 12 Pro Max on the 13th and mine has the yellow tint as well. Took a picture of it side by side with my iPhone XS and the difference is really obvious. Comparing my 12 Pro Max with my friend’s 12 Pro also showed the difference that my phone has a yellow tint compared to the 12 Pro. It’s so frustrating. Contacted Apple and they are asking me to ship my phone for repair. Was asked to update my phone, restore my phone, all the works but it’s still yellow after all that. Hopefully I get a replacement, one that’s not yellow!
Cinderella123, thanks for reporting. Can you send us a picture with the comparison at: contact@iphonetricks.org? We could add it to the article as an example. Fingers crossed for your replacement to be in pristine condition!
Same issue with iPhone 12 Pro Max. white look yellow and looking at 45¨° angle, white become blue/green.
It seems apple chose a white to warm this year ( look at dxomark test of the 12 pro and “white point on angle scatter).
compared with an other pro max 12 and same result. Compare with a 12 pro and same result.
for the color angle change, sure it comes from the new panel by Samsung you can find the same result on s20ultra. I think Apple should change their standard setting for the white to be little more cold.
For the viewing angle there is nothing to do in my opinion. Maybe an other panel could correct it.
I Will ask for a replacement. i wish that for next delivery one, Apple will have adjust it.
Squall, thanks for your contribution and for the pointing out the DXOMARK iPhone 12 Pro display review. I’ve attached the link for the ‘white point on angle scatter analyzis’ that you mentioned: https://cdn.dxomark.com/wp-content/uploads/medias/post-61263/Scatter_Cono_White_P3_Zoom-1024×1024.png
Got my 12 pro max on launch day, soon as I switched it on, I could tell screen was not right, got in contact with apple ( via online chat), sent the guy pictures, he said it was normal lol,
So sending phone back tomorrow for a refund,
Ian, thanks for the confirmation. Yes, Apple online support can be hit & miss. Don’t you wanna try a replacement first? Are you going straight for a refund?
Hi, I received my iPhone 12 mini on the 13th and when I switched it on I immediately noticed the dim, washed out, greenish/yellowish screen. I work with colour calibrated screens as I’m a photographer and the colour cast on the screen is just unacceptable. People’s skin tone on photos are greenish/yellowish. The text on the screen is not black but grey and in darkmode the text is not white but yellowish. It’s really ugly.
With True Tone enabled the screen turns almost to orange. So True Tone is useless too. But that’s less of a problem as I didn’t plan to use True Tone.
And I noticed that while booting up the phone, when you see the Apple logo, that the screen blacks goes from grey to black. This is also visible while watching videos. The blacks are not black but grey for a few seconds and after that they go black. I thought blacks on oled screens were supposed to be black, not grey?
Also the blacks and greys have a greenish colour cast. Also on photos but also on websites etc.
I’m very disappointed. I’m replacing my iPhone 7. But the 7 has a better screen. I did send the mini back today and I’m waiting to receive a new mini, but I’m not having high hopes after reading all the screen problems!
we got two iPhone 12’s and surprisingly one of them has this issue. We could compare both screens side by side and trust me Apple has done a worst job with these displays. Surprisingly Apple service centre was not able to identify the issue till i actually made them compare both the screens. They confirmed that Apple does manufacture diff screens for their devices but are not ready to give it in writing nor they are ready to replace the device. Being an Apple user for ever, i feel terrible that Apple could do this with such expensive devices.
We tried changing every setting but nothing worked and i do not even want to look at that dull yellow screen :-(
Shailendra, thanks for your feedback. Yes, we know how frustrating this is. I can only imagine that the quality was sacrificed because of the supply chain problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I can’t imagine how Apple has failed to detect these problems during manufacturing and filter them out. Can you also send us a photo with the two devices placed side-by-side and mail it to: contact@iphonetricks.org
i have same problem with my 12 pro when compared to my iphone x. apparently other iphones have had the yellow tint, especially those who have been sold on release date. wondering if apple can fix the problem with update or is this a hardware problem?
Meysam, thanks for your feedback. Unfortunately, it’s less likely that the iPhone 12 yellow discoloration can be fixed with a software update. It’s most probably caused by low quality OLED panel. I think that Apple will agree to replace this launch-day affected units. Let us know if you visit an Apple Store and get a fix.
I have the same issue. 12 mini arrived today and after setting it up I was surprised my iPhone 6 screen was whiter and brighter! it’s so gutting after waiting 4 years to update my phone . I’ll be contacting apple this evening.
Nico, thanks for the confirmation. Please get back to us and let us know what Apple support had to say.
Well I did have a genius bar appointment, then digging about this morning I think I’ve found the reason (for me anyway, but might be worth pointing out:
Under accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce white point – Mine was set about 50% as default. Bringing this all the way down increased the brightness LOADS!
then a slight tweak to the colour filter to cool it down and it’s looking amazing compared to my ipad pro (2016) and iphone6
Nic, thanks for sharing this. We’ve updated your tip in the main article. Let’s see if others can confirm that the Reduce White Point and Color Filters combo works for them too.
As i said before, mine has gone back.
new one for beginning of December.
Will tell you if another iphone 12 pro max can be ok.
I noticed an other issue before returning it.
notification sound was strange.
When i received a notification, the sound out was very high and saturated for a millisecond an then immediately lower. I din’t notice that in other case like listening music our watching video.
Despite this little “bug” the sound out was the best i never Heard from a phone.
Squall, thanks for getting back to us. Can you remember if the sound issue occurred with a MagSafe case on? This bug could be discussed here:
https://www.iphonetricks.org/fix-apple-magsafe-case-lock-screen-sound-bug/
yes i have an apple silicon case with macsafe.
Hi, just going back to iPhone and got a 12 and was really disappointed at the yellow looking screen compared to my oneplus6t and my iPad Pro. Messed about with it all day then found this. It has made a huge difference now it looks proper white again and now makes my oneplus look off.
I have set the intensity to 0 and the hue is about 65% of the way up the slider. Ideally this would be fixed in an update but who knows.
Andrew, thanks for your feedback and for sharing the setup tip. We will update it in the main content of the article.
Same thing it looks really normal now good colors no yellow tinit , changed the photo filter settings and the color tint just raised it slightly and looked good i am sure just an update will fix it 👍🏼👍🏼
Guys the same problem exactly i was scared but when i went to color filter settings i changed the color settings to on and turn on the color tint just slightly on just like 2% and it will look normal or good i just did it 👍🏼
Amed, thanks for sharing this. Glad that you could fix it.
Color filter is not a solution, it doesn’t fix the issue, as you maybe didn’t notice it, but you loose at the same Time at less 20% of brightness.
The only solution is to send back the phone.
If next one I will receive have the same issue
I will Ask for a refund and will buy an iPhone 11 with ips panel.
I received my new pro max.
It is a little better than the previous one, but no big difference.
viewing angle seems to be really better , but sure it is again samsung panel.
white become little blue at angle.
The yellow tint of the white is due to the warm color decided by Apple.
Now i m sure this is not due to bad quality panel our something like that.
It is the white calibration decided by the company to obtain the best colour calibration.
To be honest, i will not send back an othertime or buy an iphone 11 instead.
if all the rest works fine, i will keep it and maybe compare with an other one in 6 month,
to see if something changed in the panels.
Please Apple, if you can, correct the white just a little in next IOS even if the colour are no more perfect.
Put a little punch in the colour. Not as Samsung but just like you did with your IPS Panel.
thanks !!!!
Or let us adjust from the phone a little better than with colour filter.
Squall, thanks for your observations. Yes, let’s hope that Apple will perform these adjustments in the future.
I have the same issue yellow hue on screen in comparison to my old iPhone 11 when True Tone turn on. If turn off True Tone then screen is ice blue hue. Even the full brightness is just 80% of old iPhone 11. Let me know if someone is feeling brightness is not as iPhone 11 or earlier.
put a the back light (flash) of another phone on the captor light of your 12.
then, desactivate the automatic light from the parameters.
you will see now all the brithness capacity of iphone 12.
If you reactivate auto brithness you will loose it.
you can only adjust manually if you want to keep the benefice.
Have you checked the Reduce White Point setting? For some, this is enabled automatically in iOS 14. This significantly lowers the brightness level.
Hi there,
I have received my new iPhone 12 mini one week ago, as a replacement for my old iPhone SE (1st series). The same day I also received an aftermarket screen protection which filters blue light, and I installed it as first thing, just to put it on a new screen with no dust. Immediately after turning the new phone on, I had a feeling of very yellowish screen, and I started to swear against the screen protector! Before contacting the shop to return the screen protector, I decided to remove it and see how much difference it did, and I was very disappointed… the protector didn’t affect the colors at all, thus it was the iPhone screen. Unfortunately these protectors cannot be removed and reinstalled, thus, just for this, I had to throw away a brand new protector. I tried everything, some settings (like turning True Tone off) improved the situation, but the screen remains absolutely not comparable in terms of brightness and clearliness with that of my previous iPhone SE. I called Apple, had to talk to 3 different people, losing more than 2 hours !!! The first, after explaining the issue, made me wait… after 30′ wait, the line was cut, so I had to recall – the second helped me better, he didn’t recognize there is this issue, but proposed me a replacement unit – I agreed, and I had to talk to a 3rd person (after sales department), who at first told me that a replacement was not possible because my device was not broken, but afterwards corrected, as my phone was less than 14 days old, and agreed for a replacement. I am now waiting to get the new device, but I’m terribly afraid that it will have the same problem, I hope not, anyway, I did never expect such issues with Apple, and with a phone which costs 700+ Euros!
Matteo, sorry to hear about this. We know how frustrating this is. When you pay premium prices you demand top-notch quality. Hopefully, the replacement unit will be OK. Keep us posted please.
Thank you – I messed around in the color area as noted above and this fixed the yellow color cast. I am a graphics professional and having a real clean color for the screen is important. I appreciate your help. Hopefully this does not revert back.
Glenn, thanks for confirming that this helps. Do let us know if the issue comes back.
Dear all
I have tested to buy a new one from reseller not apple this time.
Manufacturing date was 06 12 2020 , so very new one .
it was as yellow as the previous one. Panel G9N samsung.
I decided to send back this last one after one day, as no difference with the previous one.
So I will keep my second one from Apple, waiting from ios upgarde with the white adjustment necessary.
Nevertheless, today i succed to adjust the white to a level i can support.
for that i used the color filter as mentioned before. I put it at about 70 % on the right, just between the green tint and red tint. the transition point is dificult to find exactly but i’m sure your eyes will do it.
Then you will have a white with some blue.
To correct that a little, i have activated night shift from 18:00 to 07:00 at the less warmer temp (totally on the left)
.
so it reduce the blue tint of the white due to the colour fliter to a more acceptable point.
This is not perfect, but really better. For the rest of the day with sunlight i desactivate color filter and night shit do it himself from 07:00.
Then i have affected the shortcut for colour filter to the 3 clic on the side button.
So at 07:00 i just have to clic 3 times on side button to come back without colour filter for the day.
then at 18:00 i clic 3 times to reactivate the colour filter.
if your iphone is also really yellow on day, you can let the colour filter and night sfhift from 7:00 to 7:00
for a permanent effect.
Aplle please, do something for us.
I’m sure Steeve jobs would never have let something like this arrive ;)
Squall, thanks for a lot of this in-depth iPhone 12 yellow screen workaround. I’m sure that other readers appreciate your tips too. We will update them in the main article for better exposure. Apple has been notified about this.
I recently upgraded from an iPhone 12 Pro Max from an iPhone 7 Plus. I noticed the warmer tint after getting the phone home, after turning off True Tone, my screen is a very nice warm white. I was curious about this, and what I was able to find was that apple did the warmer tint intentionally, and I also had heard the reports of Apple acknowledging this as a software problem. Plus This was my first OLED panel, and wanted to check on proper behavior.
I had a Plasma TV for several years and always remembered, it was always warmer than LCDs So I figured this was just normal OLED behavior since there wasn’t a Backlight.
Anyway after hearing so many complaints I decided to do my own testing to see if this was hardware, or software. So here is what I did:
1. I turned True Tone back on and hit the sensor directly with a bright LED flashlight with cool white and the display instantly turned bright cool white.
2. I repeated the test under a smart LED bulb set to cool white at 100% brightness and the same thing happened. So at least for my own phone that ruled out bad panel since it was able to adjust to lighting without keeping the tint.
3. Yesterday morning on the way from walking back with groceries, i had True Tone enabled to test in natural sunlight and again the display got bright and turned a tint to match the lighting around me, this time a bit warmer, but not overly yellow like I’ve seen in pictures.
4. So my conclusion is for myself anyway is, true tone exaggerates warm lighting, or even darker environments and turns the screen too yellow, turning this off, gave me a nice warm display that I’m used to looking at, and video looks great the way it should on a calibrated display.
So while I can’t speak for everyone, I see a combination of software, and hardware problems here, Thankfully for myself, and most likely a good percentage of others, it’s most likely software, and people not being used to a warmer white balance.
One last thought, I tend to get my observations and information from a variety of different sources, and from what I’ve seen is most of the people complaining about this aren’t professional creators, but rather the average consumer.
Hope this feedback helps and have a great day! :)
Clinton, thanks for enlightening us and for sharing these clever iPhone OLED panel testing tricks. I’m sure other readers will appreciate them too as it makes it easier for them to self-diagnose if the iPhone 12 yellow screen problem is hardware or software related. We will share some of your contribution in the main content of the article.
Dear all
Please note that i notices my adjustment works better without automatic britness. It seems that function is a part of the issue . It Always add some yellow to the yellow tint.
So Apple must adjust the white point from firmware, and adjust the autobritness function to the iPhone 12 série panels.
My Iphone 12 pro max also has the worst yellow tint when true tone is on, as compared to my 11 pro max. My son just got his today and it is perfect like his 11 pro max too. Ours buying date was 4 weeks apart. Mine was F2LD and my son is G6TD serial number (I don’t know if it has anything to do with the production code). I did some googling and finally tried to fix the yellow tint and I found it working. Try: Setting>Accessibility>Display and Text Size>Color Filters (on)>then click on Yellow/Blue Filter. Mine works well. I compared my screen with my son’s screen. I even found mine whiter than his even when true tone is on.
Ginny, thanks for your feedback and for the troubleshooting tips.
Yes my 12 pro max also have that dull display, this is the first time that i got an iPhone and to get this kind of quality at such a higher price is horrible. Unfortunately i cannot return this iPhone because I am from Haiti and getting this iPhone come to me basically expired the 14 days return policy. I try hard to overlook this issue but the screen is simply not pleasing. My iPad has better screen quality and colors than my iPhone which is ridiculous!!!!!
Carl, we understand your frustration. Please read Clinton’s comment and perform the tests he describes to determine if the OLED panel is low quality, or your facing a settings issue that you can improve yourself, with these detailed tips provided by Squall.
Hi – you previously used my comment at the top of this article and I wanted to follow up.
Apple were initially very helpful in so far as they just replaced my phones without question. After the 4th one they suggested I get a refund and buy another so i had a clean procurement line. Also that perhaps I should just get a refund anyway if I am not happy with the iPhone12. So what have I learned on this journey through five iPhone 12 Pro……
The first two I received were really really bad – low contrast, low brightness, yellow with True Tome off, very yellow with True Tone on – a massive step back from my iPhone X. The next three have all been the same as one another, pretty much, but much better than those first two – small variation in brightness between them, but as bright as my iPhone X. With True Tone off, the screen is pretty close to white. With True Tone on, they are still yellow in nearly every situation.
Some people prefer the look, but that is not the point – you can use night shift (which is adjustable) if you like that look – its very similar. True Tone should attempt to look white in all lights – place a white hanky next to it – the screen (where it is a white background) should look the same as the white hanky in all lights; with True Tone on, the iPhone 12 does not. It looks like a Kindle Paper White. The white is off white – great for books, rubbish for photos. Have a “Book Mode”, call it what you like Apple, but do NOT call it True Tone. IMO, Apple has no intention to fix this and apart from those early panels like the first two I had, there is no hardware issue and there is no intention to fix it.
It feels like some kind of nanny state attempt to reduce our blue light fatigue. I don’t suffer from that and I like my whites white. To be clear, removing blue light to reduce fatigue is not about correcting over blue whites, it’s about reducing blue light. It has its place – in works for what its intended, but it’s not accuracy and should not be the standard default True Tone setting. This setting should be called True Tone Mellow or some such.
Fiddling with the filters does not get you back to a good place – switching off True Tone is the simplest and most accurate choice.
iPhone12 pro is the most expensive phone you can buy – so it should be the best and most accurate. It’s not.
Just got my Iphone 12 Pro 2 days back. Noticed that my screen was very yellow (too warm for my taste) , especially with true tone on. I have tried turning true tone off – and the level of “yellow-ness” does reduce. But when I compare it to my iPad Pro 11, the difference is very clear – my iPhone 12 pro is very yellow compared to the iPad.
Based on the “quick fix” (under Color Filters), I am able to get rid of the yellow hue on the iphone. I have talked to the store and they are happy to replace it.
My question is – should i be returning my iPhone to the store for a new one ? Is this the way Apple had intended ppl to use it ?
Sorry for the late reply, what have you done in the meantime? have you returned your device?
I’m having the same issue. I was noticing that photos on my new iphone 12pro look awful. Completely yellowish gray. When I put the phone side by side with my old 6S, 6S is by FAR nicer. For a phone that costs $1500+ this should not be an issue.
I just got my new iPhone 12 and I noticed the yellowish scream immediately. Then I tried putting my iPhone XR side by side and was shocked, I really thought that the night shift or True Tone where on, but no… and to make it even worst, if you move your phone up and down ou sideways you can literally see the colors changing!! From yellow to “normal”. I tried doing your “trick” but although it kind of works, the scream now is too blue.. can’t get the perfect color. I’m shocked, this is really bad and disappointing. If I knew I would probably have gotten the 11 instead of the 12…
Nadia, continue to play around with the settings. It should click the right way at some point.
I got a new 12 pro max. The moment i opened it from the box it had this weird dingy yellow low contrast panel. I came from 11 pro and it had a much better overall color accuracy. Apple store decided to replace my phone with a new one…But the screen is still even more yellow on my replacement model. Total dissapointment for a thousand dollar phone.
I can fully understand your frustration. However, if you play with the color filters you should be able to find the right balance.
This is a hardware issue, nothing to do with software, Apple is fooling the whole world, lawsuits shoudl start very soon, watch and learn
If it would be hardware I would expect Apple to correct it by now, an manufacture this later iPhone 12 batches at better OLED quality. However, I doubt that they would stick with a low quality display in production for so long after all these reports. What do you think?
I have a 256GB 12 Pro Max and also experiencing this. I finally upgraded from an iPhone 6 and that had a replacement screen that wasn’t even official, just a cheap one, and that screen is better than this new £1300 phone! Spent all day looking at people having the same issues. Absolute disgrace from Apple this.
Thanks for confirming that this problem still occurs. Couldn’t you fix it with True Tone or Color Filter settings?
I just got an iPhone 12 pro, upgrading from a 6s and comparing side by side there is a clear difference in contrast and I am having a yellow cast issue as well. I noticed it right out of the box but I thought it was true tone. I turned it off and it still doesn’t look right. I tried the color filter but it only helped a little bit. Main issue for me is the lack of contrast. I have noticed that if I have auto brightness on and shine my 6s flashlight on the ambient light sensor then it will brighten up and the contrast and colors look much better and closer to what I’m used to but I don’t want to have to keep my screen at maximum brightness to keep it looking right. It seems like a replacement probably won’t help either considering the previous comments with little to no success with replacements. I have heard that for some the iOS 14.5 beta has fixed the yellow cast issue but we’ll see when it comes out. I also have a pixel 3a which has an OLED screen that looks great, with vibrant high contrast but I have noticed that at lower brightness levels the colors shift a lot warmer so it may be the way the software interacts with the hardware that is causing the screen to not display properly. At least I hope it’s a software issue but considering how long it has been since release there is little hope left for that.
Thanks for reporting. Now with iOS 14.5 out, can you confirm if the iPhone 12 yellow screen issue has improved?
I am a photographer and iPhones has always been a good color test for my images. The screens were perfectly calibrated (4, 6 Plus, 7 Plus). Now I got 12 Pro Max (iOS 14.5.1) and colors are rubbish. Yellow tone and I can’t unsee that anymore. What is more. When changing the view angle colors turn to bluish. That is absolutely unacceptable. This is what the cheapest monitors do. I am extremely disappointed. “Color filters” was not helpful as well. Adjustments are too extreme and it is not possible to to reduce that a bit yellow tone. It turns to blue/green/red, but not that neutral which is needed.
Thanks for sharing your findings about the iPhone 12 Pro Max, from a photographers point of view. Sorry to hear that the tweaks mentioned in the article did not help out. If you manage to find anything else that can help with the yellow screen tone, don’t hesitate to follow up.
My iPhone has the same issue. I tried all possible ways, but there is no change.
Sorry to hear about this. Color Filters tweak should improve it though.
I purchased a 12 mini back in January 21. I experienced cell reception consistency issues reported on different blogs but also noticed the yellow screen tone. Ended up returning that unit. Purchased another 12 mini last week and again noticing the yellow tone on this unit as well. Both purchases were from 3rd-parties. To the naked eye and next to my 11 pro, both minis were noticeably yellower. I tried the white LED sensor flash described in earlier comments with my 11 pro and the 2nd 12 mini placed “sensor-to-sensor” (top edges together but both screen sides up) and found the mini’s maxed-out brightness still yielded a yellowed display compared to the 11 pro. This was with true tone off, night shift off, no filter applied, and white point reduction off. At this point I’m not sure if we all are crazy or not. Is this actually a manufacturing problem with the 12s or are we all just dissatisfied with Apple’s color calibration for OLED? Is that in itself a manufacturing issue? Further, I placed my 11 pro next to my 1st generation SE and what would you know, the 11 pro looks yellow compared to the SE, but the difference is not as pronounced as that between the 12 mini and the SE. That makes me think this screen yellowing is a characteristic of OLED panels, not just a manufacturing issue on 12s. Whatever the reason is, I prefer the SE and can tolerate the 11 pro but am having trouble accepting the 12 mini. Thoughts?
Lastly, can someone explain in detail why the “filter hack” is not a solution? It distorts other colors and reduces peak brightness? Tell me why I shouldn’t accept that setting adjustment and use the 12 mini. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for the detailed feedback Jake. I think that the problem with accepting are your own standards. If you find it acceptable you should go for it. Else, not. Btw, we haven’t seen reports of the same yellow screen issue for the iPhone 13 mini. So, if that is an option I would pick it.