I'm surprised by Apple putting out a laptop display with slow PWM. That's the kind of detail Apple has a reputation for paying attention to when other companies don't.
As a flashlight reviewer, I consider any PWM I can see by waving my hand in front of a light source (i.e. less than kHz) slow. Perhaps others use a different scale.
Apple in 2026 is just like any other manufacturer. They don't care about excellency anymore, the products just need to look good in ads and sell for a high price.
So that’s why Apple continued to offer 5K and 6K monitors which aren’t cheap, are and are the best you can get other than getting a professional production grade type monitor, which by the way cost a ton more, and most people can’t afford them.
The frequency is the frequency. If you have a problem with it, it’s your bad luck because the frequency over the years has been somewhere between 30hz and 120hz thru the years depending upon the use case.
PWM on LCD backlights usually doesn't flicker at all. It's smoothed to reduce the flicker to very low intensity. Which makes the frequency nearly irrelevant.
Apple still making some good products also doesn't disprove my statement.
Apple has been using low PWM screen for nearly a decade on iphone and ipad now. There’s just been limited demand to improve this in the market outside of china.
There’s also trade off to high pwm, usually worse color accuracy. But at least give us a toggle!
The frequency is the frequency. If you have a problem with it, it’s your bad luck because the frequency over the years has been somewhere between 30hz and 120hz thru the years depending upon the use case.
Apple still making some good products also doesn't disprove my statement.
There’s also trade off to high pwm, usually worse color accuracy. But at least give us a toggle!