I checked to see if iOS 17.1 fixes iPhone 15 Pro display burn-in. You will be surprised

Since the beginning of October, owners of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have been enjoying the display burnout in their smartphones. I was also among them.

How did it come about: Remove ghosting or other screen elements. They were visible everywhere in low light and exclusively against a gray background.

A week ago, Apple said it was aware of the current problems and measures to correct them. The company accepts the affected devices under warranty.

The company always states in its support documents that burn-in is a degradation process of OLED screens. But a case like the iPhone 15 line was recognized because the burn-in period was too short. Rarely do the first problems arise after a couple of months, most often after a year or two or three of owning the device. It all depends on how often you use your smartphone.

And yesterday Apple released iOS 17.1 Release Candidate. The changelog states that it fixed an issue that “could cause image retention on the display.”

This is where the whole crux of the problem lies.

Unlike a static image from burnout

There are two different concepts: image retention and burn-in. Outwardly they are very similar, and it is difficult to separate them.

An afterimage is the result of a static image of fill contours that disappear over time on their own or after automatic exposure. The problem also occurs on conventional LED matrices.

In the case of OLED, afterimages can gradually lead to burn-in.

The main causes of burnout:

• demonstration of a static image (photo, paused video, interface elements)
• screen mess—horizontal or vertical black stripes along the edges of the image.
• Use of static elements such as battery and power icons.

Burnout is a durable hard drive that “imprinted” on him forever, and no software update will solve this problem. In this case, only replacing the screen will help.

Good ratings from RTINGS specialists on their YouTube channel:

Apparently, in the case of the iPhone 15, the problem was image retention rather than burn-in. The burnout period is too short.

How manufacturers combat image retention

Manufacturers of smartphones and TVs use movable interface elements for this. They did not stay in one place for a long time so that the OLED matrix did not burn out.

In the case of televisions, companies often cite their own development, which allows you to see a bright screen in a static image. Roughly speaking, they often reset the matrix image to the end, causing the fixed image to disappear.

They could also adjust the operation of the first steps so that they do not work so brightly, and after the English problems return to normal operation. For example, Sony does this in its TVs.

Yes, such problems are often solved by updating the software.

How I noticed burn-in/static image in mine

We have developed separate rules for this.

In short, you need to download one of the images below and view it with different brightness to see and move the image in different directions. If you see static halos, that’s what we’re looking for.

▪ Gray background: download
▪ Black background: download
▪ Blue background: download
▪ Green background: download
▪ Red background: download

On my iPhone, the result was visible only on a gray background.

Fixed issue in iOS 17.1. We checked

And now to the heart. Yesterday I installed iOS 17.1 RC on iPhone 15 Pro. Before the update, I clearly typed it where it shouldn’t have been seen.

This Update actually fixed the problem! Already this morning I have not detected any trace of the “burnout” that I reported earlier. The screen has become “clean”; there is no longer a hint of a “printed” keyboard on it. And I’m not alone, on the MacRumors forum we were also iPhone 15 Pro Max holders who reported an improvement in the situation:

So what happened to the display? Apparently this is an afterimage that Apple engineers adjusted along with iOS updates.

PS It was not possible to take a photo, it will appear a little later.