The iPhone 17 display may have one-upped the Pixel 10 Pro in a major way

For seven years now, most iPhone models have shipped with an OLED display. It was a long-awaited change for some users who had already experienced the punchy colors and inky blacks associated with Android phones that used the technology, and while it enhanced picture quality a lot, it also came with a nasty surprise for some: headaches and eye strain caused by PWM dimming.

This year, Google launched a new accessibility mode that's supposed to help users who find OLEDs more painful than pleasurable, but the company didn't actually do what users needed. Turns out, Apple was also working on a solution, and, per Mac Rumors, the iPhone 17 family has a new accessibility option that disables PWM dimming entirely.

The new setting, found under the Display and Text Size section of accessibility settings in iOS 26, reads "Disables pulse width modulation (PWM) to provide a different way to dim the OLED display, which can create a smoother display output at low brightness levels. Disabling PWM may affect low brightness display performance under certain conditions."

Mac Rumors notes that while all iPhone 17 series phones have the new option, they aren't sure if the setting will come to older iPhone or iPad models. We've reached out to Apple for additional information on this new feature and will update this article when we hear back.

Why this is important

Based on the language, it seems that Apple's new accessibility option is likely identical to what Motorola launched back on the Motorola Edge Plus 2023. That means the phone doesn't use PWM dimming at all. Instead, it'll use DC-like dimming to adjust the brightness of the display, making it significantly more friendly for everyone, not just those of us who suffer from PWM sensitivity.

We don't yet know the specifics of how the new setting works, but there's a clear difference in the language versus what Google's Pixel 10 Pro family provides. Google's accessibility setting notes that it "adjusts emission frequency" to help sensitive users, but this only doubles the PWM frequency from 240Hz to 480Hz. Research shows that PWM dimming needs to occur at a minimum of 3000Hz to help most users, so Google's mode isn't exactly effective.

Most phones from Chinese brands have offered the ability to either adjust or disable PWM dimming for years, with companies like Honor using up to 4320Hz dimming in its latest phones. Since most of these Chinese brands aren't officially available in the US, users who are sensitive to light flicker, like PWM dimming, haven't had an abundance of choice. Notably, the three most popular brands — Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel — offered no relief for these folks until now.

This move should help push the entire OLED industry forward and make OLED displays more friendly for all users. I wasn't PWM-sensitive until 2022, and it took me several months to figure out that it was my phone's OLED display causing the issue. Many users don't know that their phones' displays rapidly flicker on and off to control brightness, and likely have no idea it's what's been causing their headaches.

It's estimated that up to 20% of the population suffers from some form of flicker sensitivity and likely doesn't realize it. Since the flickering is "invisible" to our eyes, most people don't even know that LEDs and some fluorescent bulbs rapidly turn on and off to manage brightness, but our brains perceive this, and some people are "allergic" to it. Think of it like being allergic to gluten but not knowing that gluten exists. You would constantly experience pain, but not understand the cause since most people around you don't suffer from it.

By adopting this new accessibility setting, Apple's move will hopefully push Samsung and Google to finally fix their OLED displays and offer all users dimming options that are better for their eyes.