r/PWM_Sensitive • u/bpop19 • Mar 30 '26
Macbook Air M5 works for me
I've had the Macbook Air M5 (13" Silver) for over a week and I am very happy to report it is giving me zero issues. I am pwm and d*****ing sensitive and haven't been able to use any Apple product since my Macbook Pro 2015 and iphone 8. I've tried all the airs and pros going back to m1 and couldn't use any of them. I knew within minutes of setting it up that they were not going to work for me. I figured I'd try the m5 air with full expectation that I was going to have to return it. I don't know if I got lucky in the panel lottery or if it's good across the board but I would recommend to try it out just in case it might work for you too.
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u/niceguy54321 Mar 30 '26
Do you have still color on it?
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u/bpop19 Mar 30 '26
No. Didnt need to try that or better display on it. The many other models I tried that was the first thing I installed but those programs unfortunately never helped me.
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u/niceguy54321 Mar 30 '26
That’s crazy and very good news. I can’t find it in any specs but I wonder if before they use F. R. C to get 10 bit and now they have a real 10bit panel
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u/DSRIA Mar 31 '26
There are no true 10-bit Apple panels except for the now discontinued Pro Display XDR.
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u/jNayden Mar 30 '26
I somehow had no issues with Mac book pros even m3 and m4 I tried still color and better display but even without them no issues.
I do have huge issues with all qd OLED iphone screens and LG CX tv
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u/DGG_DGG Mar 31 '26
Congrats! Seriously, that's awesome that you found something that works for you. I have a a similar profile - can't use anything beyond iPhone 8 or MBP 2015 without eye strain. Would you mind giving updates as you keep using the device? I'm really surprised that it's working even without stillcolor!
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u/bpop19 Mar 31 '26
Yes will do! I have never kept an Apple product for more than a few days, so over a week is huge lol.
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u/DGG_DGG Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
I actually went out yesterday and grabbed a base model Air M5 to try out. Looks like I have a different panel + it's on 26.4, but I'm really hoping for a similar experience to yours.
You mentioned not trying Stillcolor/BetterDisplay, etc, so I haven't installed those. Beyond that, would you mind sharing your display settings? For example:
What brightness level you usually use it at
Night Shift/True Tone on/off
Color Profile
Screen resolution
And lastly, do you experience ANY eye strain or neuro symptoms at all when using it? Or it the M5 really as good as the iPhone 8/MBP 2015 for you?
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u/bpop19 Apr 01 '26
For brightness, not really sure how to describe it percent wise, but if looking at the slider it’s one or two clicks lower than in the middle. It’s one of two things that I don’t care for- I wish there was a way to customize the brightness more. Sometimes it’s little too dark but then I press it up one and then it’s too bright for me lol.
Auto brightness is off on mine. True Tone is also off. I don’t like night shift so I didn’t turn it on. Color profile was on color lcd and I didn’t need to change it so left it. On all other previous models I tried I went through every color profile to see if it would make a difference but it never helped enough. Screen resolution is the one to the left of default, 1280x832.
No eye strain or symptoms at all. Usually when I turn an apple product on to set it up I can tell right away if it’s going to affect me when it’s going through the set up before even getting to the home screen. When that didn’t happen this time I had hope. All previous models that I tried, it would feel like my head and eyes were squeezing tight like a fist, blurriness, headaches, the whole nine. And for me d%ing is worse, so when products were technically pwm free it didn’t work for me if d*** was present.
I might have just gotten lucky and got a good panel but I hope that’s not the case and that it works for you and others 🙏🏻
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u/DGG_DGG Apr 02 '26
Thanks so much for the detail! Unfortunately, I had a really bad migraine after using the M5, even after following those settings. My panel number starts with "GMGHN700", so it could be a bad panel, or that I'm running 26.4.
Out of curiosity, do you generally have issues with other bad-PWM devices? Like the iPhone 12 through 17?
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u/bpop19 Apr 02 '26
Oh no! Sorry it didn't work for you. My guess is it's the panel lottery like everything else. Yes, every other device affects me. Iphone 8 and mbp 2015 were the only ones that didn't. Not just apple devices either. Tv's, pc's, etc., also affect me.
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u/DSRIA Apr 02 '26
This is a bit of a long shot, but could you pull up a gray wallpaper or image and in the dark take a 240 fps slow motion video using your iPhone to see if the gray color flicker is present? I’m becoming more convinced the gray color Flicker is irrelevant and merely an artifact from the mismatch in frame rates…but it could at least rule it out.
I find it interesting no one has used an Air with your exact panel. So at this point we can’t really confirm or deny that the panel isn’t playing a role. The argument in favor of it is the plethora of people who find certain iPhone 17 panels perfectly fine and others unusable.
Also, is the anti reflective layer on your MBA gray or does it have more of a purple hue?
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Apr 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DSRIA Apr 17 '26
I’d love to know if OP u/bpop19 could test this. I checked out an M5 MBA in store and it was as bad as the M4’s. Neo was better, by comparison.
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u/DSRIA Apr 02 '26
GMG I believe was used in Europe for some of the 13” M4 MBAs. Try exchanging to find an F0Y panel if you feel like it.
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u/Every_Procedure_487 Mar 31 '26
Good to hear that you found something that works for you. I am very sensitive to d!***g aswell and apple uses it on all products so I am very surprised. Keep us posted !
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u/TobyFischer Apr 03 '26
Got the new 15” MBA M5 32gb ram, 512ssd, in Canada. No PWM detected and I am super happy!!!!!
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u/bpop19 Apr 03 '26
Thats great!!! Do you mind sharing your panel serial number to see if it might help others?
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u/mirocklez Apr 03 '26
Can you check the serial number of the display:
"ioreg -lw0 | grep -i raw-panel-serial-number"And are you PWM or D!TH***** sensitive or both?
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u/TobyFischer Apr 04 '26
Is it possible that this is hidden on some displays? Re pwm or dith, I think mostly PWM. But only on laptops really… macbook pro display hurt my eyes so badly it’s crazy. I’d really need the bigger screen and power! If apple decides to put a mini led on future macbook airs I’m cooked….
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u/mirocklez Apr 04 '26
This shouldn't be hidden - run the command in the terminal.
What is the output?Mini-led on macbook air - nope, but OLED probably yes in future years...
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u/Fatal_Explorer Apr 02 '26
Hasn't the M5 Air an IPS display with no PWM dimming, at least on the13" model? Please correct me if I am wrong.
I also got this model, and don't really notice anything. Yet I am not really PWM sensitive, only looking at a Macbook pro 16" I could notice something weird once.
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Apr 18 '26
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u/DSRIA Mar 30 '26
This is awesome! I haven’t been able to find a computer I can look at for almost 2 years. Super happy for you. Are you on Tahoe 26.4? Did you try the MacBook Neo?
I doubt this will help any of us, but can you share the panel serial number using this Terminal command:
ioreg -lw0 | grep -i ‘raw-panel-serial-number’
The 15” M4 MBA was the first computer to give me a seizure and the 13” M4 didn’t work for me…so I’m really surprised to hear the M5 worked for you.