iPhone 15 Pro Max OLED burn-in reports on the rise — what to do if yours is affected

Five iPhone 15 Pro Max devices side by side, showing all of the available colours.

(Image credit: Apple)

They may be Apple’s best iPhones ever, but the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max launches haven’t been completely smooth sailing.

First, there were reports of the handsets overheating — an issue Apple addressed with an iOS 17 update — and now some iPhone 15 Pro Max users are reporting concerns of screen burn-in with Apple’s largest phone.

A number of owners on Reddit and Apple’s own community forums are sharing images of the handset with clear image retention, with elements of the user interface appearing as ghostly shadows when the screen is left to display solid, light-shaded colors.

Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max is reportedly experiencing screen burn-in issues, adding to a growing list of problems for the company this year.#iPhone15Series #iphone15pro #Apple pic.twitter.com/HDsQ0iccHwOctober 11, 2023

The images show remnants of Home Screen icons and keyboards, while one user even claimed to have seen a YouTube thumbnail partially retained. The iPhone 15 Pro Max makes use of an OLED display, a screen technology that has previously been prone to image burn-in, but advancements in the tech and safeguards to avoid the problem have seen it mostly eradicated in recent years in both phones and TVs. It’s been suggested that the high temperatures that some iPhone 15 Pro Max handsets experienced at launch before the iOS 17 fix may have exacerbated the problem.

What to do if you experience the problem

While the issue does not appear to be widespread, and reports of burn-in on the iPhone 15 Pro Max at this stage remain rare, there are some simple steps to take to get help if you do experience it.

Your first step is to contact the official Apple support page, or to make a booking at Apple’s in-store Genius Bar, where the company’s experts can troubleshoot the problem. If the issue is deemed to be a hardware fault, you’re well within the one-year limited warranty that Apple offers with its new devices in the US.

If there is an issue with Apple’s OLED displays, it’ll be a problem Apple will want to address as quickly as possible. It’s expected to be on the cusp of launching a whole new range of OLED-equipped iPads, and won’t want to see similar issues extend to other parts of its product range.

Gerald Lynch is the Editor-in-Chief of iMore, keeping careful watch over the site's editorial output and commercial campaigns, ensuring iMore delivers the in-depth, accurate and timely Apple content its readership deservedly expects. You'll never see him without his iPad Pro, and he loves gaming sessions with his buddies via Apple Arcade on his iPhone 15 Pro, but don't expect him to play with you at home unless your Apple TV is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system.

Living in London in the UK, Gerald was previously Editor of Gizmodo UK, and Executive Editor of TechRadar, and has covered international trade shows including Apple's WWDC, MWC, CES and IFA. If it has an acronym and an app, he's probably been there, on the front lines reporting on the latest tech innovations. Gerald is also a contributing tech pundit for BBC Radio and has written for various other publications, including T3 magazine, GamesRadar, Space.com, Real Homes, MacFormat, music bible DIY, Tech Digest, TopTenReviews, Mirror.co.uk, Brandish, Kotaku, Shiny Shiny and Lifehacker. Gerald is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press, and also holds a Guinness world record on Tetris. For real.