iPhone 5 Screen Quality

tylerpenn · Oct 3, 2012

Mine has the scan line issue as well (64GB Black ATT model). It bothered me right away but thought it may be normal for the new screens. Luckily finally searched and found this thread. I've scheduled a Genius Bar appointment for tomorrow afternoon.

To those getting theirs swapped out, do you need to bring all of the original packaging or do they just open a new iPhone box and give you the new phone from there?

Also, what if the store doesn't have the specific model in stock?

panopticblue · Oct 6, 2012

Got mine swapped out

The interlacing on my 5 was driving me insane, so I made a genius appt. I went a good 20 minutes early so I could check the floor units. This particular store must have had around 20 or so iphone 5s on the floor. I thoroughly checked the screens on at least half of them. Sure enough, NONE of them had this issue (at least the ones I checked; I got bored trying to find one like mine). The screens were perfect, just like my old iphone 4 was. However, the genius who took care of me had the interlacing problem with his!

He didn't care, and swapped mine out without batting an eye. He turned around and opened a drawer on the wall which was stocked with replacement units (white box), there must've been 50 in that drawer. I am very pleased to report that my new iphone 5 has a perfect screen! I did end up with a tiny little imperfection on the side but I'm happy (not willing to roll the dice again). If your device has issues, get it exchanged!!

ProMod · Oct 8, 2012

I am on my first replacement model and it has the interlacing. I notice it most when I'm using the phone in a low-light situation. It's a shame too, because everything else about this replacement model is pretty much perfect compared to my launch day retail unit.

Guess I'll call Apple again in a few minutes.

darngooddesign · Oct 8, 2012

I just checked the interlacing image and mine is fine. Love this screen.

kockgunner · Oct 11, 2012

I have this issue as well. Everything seems grainy and just not "retina". It's really apparent when when looking at the status bar or the on/off switches in settings. My friend noticed this issue on mine too right away.

I had already on through a replacement which I refused as it had a dent (my original phone had dust under the screen). This replacement had some raw aluminum showing but I didn't get to use it long enough to notice the vertical lines. They said I could only go through 2 phones so I took it home.

I called Applecare and they said they can ship a box or I can drop my phone off at UPS but I don't have a backup phone that uses nano sims. The third option was to have a hold on my credit card and pay $30 for express shipping. This is too much hassle since I just signed up for a 3 year contract and expect a working phone. I didn't like any of the options so they told me to go to another Apple store to see if I can get another replacement.

I asked the guy whether they would see I already went through 2 replacements and he said he wasn't sure. It seems like Applecare is very disconnected from retail. Anyway, sorry for the rant.

kockgunner · Oct 16, 2012

I went to the Apple Store today and employee after employee checked my phone but couldn't see the issue. I felt crazy lol. Don't them the picture of the vertical lines because all the employees took out their phones and tried it but they all flickered. It seems many iPhone 5s do this or they use different screen tech because my iPhone 4 is not affected by that image.

They still replaced my phone and ironically I there is another black dot near the middle of the screen like my original phone which I replaced because of that issue. Also there is a lot of gunk between the metal and glas and it seems like glue because its solid. But, this unit is good enough and I'm going to keep it.

mateo124 · Oct 16, 2012

I could never get past the interlacing scan line issue. I took my 4 back because it had the problem and the Genius said he didn't see anything. He still swapped it but the replacement had it as well. My 5 has it and to tell you the truth, I just think it has something to do with my eyes. I can see it on almost any iPhone I look at, but I don't see it on my iPad, android phones, or well anything else. Its a little frustrating because it appears to degrade the image quality of the phone in landscape, but I don't think there is anything that can be done about it. I sent my ip5 in for a replacement and when I get it back I expect it will be just the same

THE BG 86 · Oct 16, 2012

kockgunner said:
I went to the Apple Store today and employee after employee checked my phone but couldn't see the issue. I felt crazy lol. Don't them the picture of the vertical lines because all the employees took out their phones and tried it but they all flickered. It seems many iPhone 5s do this or they use different screen tech because my iPhone 4 is not affected by that image.

They still replaced my phone and ironically I there is another black dot near the middle of the screen like my original phone which I replaced because of that issue. Also there is a lot of gunk between the metal and glas and it seems like glue because its solid. But, this unit is good enough and I'm going to keep it.

So you had a grainy screen and took it back and the the replacement was no longer grainy looking? Because when I checked in the in store units they all looked similar to mine with the grainy image

Bahroo · Oct 16, 2012

can someone link the this interface image you guys are talking about? i want to see if my iphone 5 has this problem.. what exactly am i looking for/

Bahroo · Oct 16, 2012

bigcstyle4 said:
Save that image as your home screen wallpaper. It will make the screen flicker if you have the "vertical lines" problem.

It only makes the screen by the dock flicker but the rest of the screen doesnt flicker?

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Do people think the screen is that much better? It has brighter more vivid colors, and reflects less but thats it ?

bigcstyle4 · Oct 17, 2012

mateo124 said:
I just think it has something to do with my eyes. I can see it on almost any iPhone I look at, but I don't see it on my iPad, android phones, or well anything else. Its a little frustrating because it appears to degrade the image quality of the phone in landscape, but I don't think there is anything that can be done about it. I sent my ip5 in for a replacement and when I get it back I expect it will be just the same

It's not your eyes. I got lucky and the first replacement I got does not have this problem. A lot of people either don't notice it or think its normal. It's "normal" for whatever cheap panel was put in that particular phone but its not something I would settle for.

My original iPhone and iPhone 3G were fine. My first 3GS had this but the scan lines were horizontal, and at that point I thought it was a fluke. It was replaced and the new one was fine. My iPhone 4 was good as well and I skipped the 4S. It just seems like you have to get lucky with the LCD panel lottery as Apple uses multiple suppliers, some of which are better than others.

lamenramen · Oct 17, 2012

The interlacing issue drives me nuts.
I saw it and I've seen it in many iphone 5s.
I went through FOUR before I found one unit that doesn't have the interlacing issue. And the "geniuses" can't see it.
My noninterlacing screen ended up having a small chip in the aluminum, but at this point I don't care. The iphone 5 was bought by me b/c of the larger screen and the speed. I knew going in that aluminum would prove to be a poor choice for a phone, esp b/c they ended up using a unibody backplate.
Once everyone gets dents in it like a tin can, how are they going to replace those?

kockgunner · Oct 17, 2012

THE BG 86 said:
So you had a grainy screen and took it back and the the replacement was no longer grainy looking? Because when I checked in the in store units they all looked similar to mine with the grainy image

It's better but it still has vertical interlacing. I look back at my 4 and despite the duller colors the screen looks better because the colors are solid and it's actually sharper. I don't want to live with this screen for 3 years especially knowing my friends have screens that are perfect and not as yellow as mine to boot. In scared Apple will blacklist me if I keep going back especially since none of the Geniuses could see my issue. Does anyone know if there's a way to check the screen manufacturer?

lamenramen · Oct 17, 2012

Jessay said:
Surprisingly, my iPhone 4s has a better screen display than my 5. Is anyone else noticing this? It's almost like I can see tiny vertical lines. The apple genius didn't see it (of course). The display iPhones didn't have this problem, but my phone and the genius' phone did. It's just frustrating, that's all.

The dirty little secret is that the iphone 4s/4 have better screens. There are a select few that I would deem equal to the iphone 4/4s, but judging by my sample size it's around 20% of them are "good", 80% are bad.

Gathomblipoob · Oct 17, 2012

lamenramen said:
The dirty little secret is that the iphone 4s/4 have better screens. There are a select few that I would deem equal to the iphone 4/4s, but judging by my sample size it's around 20% of them are "good", 80% are bad.

So, judging by your obviously small sample size, it's not really a dirty little secret, is it?

My sampling tells me that the iPhone 5 has a better screen than the 4/4S.

Bahroo · Oct 17, 2012

lamenramen said:
The dirty little secret is that the iphone 4s/4 have better screens. There are a select few that I would deem equal to the iphone 4/4s, but judging by my sample size it's around 20% of them are "good", 80% are bad.

How do they have better screens? The color reproduction is much better on the i5 and about 80% of regular users will not notice scan lines unless there really noticeable... I happen to have vertical scan lines on my i5 but its extremely minor and i can barely tell i have them, but regardless i still can see them now because im OCD... Your acting like only the i5 is new with this issue, scan lines go way back to the 1st iPhone

Bahroo · Oct 17, 2012

kockgunner said:
It's better but it still has vertical interlacing. I look back at my 4 and despite the duller colors the screen looks better because the colors are solid and it's actually sharper. I don't want to live with this screen for 3 years especially knowing my friends have screens that are perfect and not as yellow as mine to boot. In scared Apple will blacklist me if I keep going back especially since none of the Geniuses could see my issue. Does anyone know if there's a way to check the screen manufacturer?

Use this wallpaper, if your background flickers or if it flickers by the dock then you have the issue, and it will be very noticeable

lamenramen · Oct 17, 2012

The scan lines, flicker, what you call it is very obvious to me. In fact, it's what distracts me more than the yellow tint. It makes the blue toolbar in Safari and the mail apps, as well as other patches of color, appear pixelated. Lower res. It's distracting b/c as you move your gaze, the phenomenon appears to appear out of nowhere, only to disappear again. 100% it's not overly sensitive eyes. But to each his own.

I continue to maintain that if Apple is going to charge us more than the competition, and they want to be known as a premium brand, then they need to put out premium products. If they did not freely paint themselves as such, then I probably would not care.

The interlacing issue is corner cutting, but maybe they will say that it is within spec. Cheap panels produce the interlacing. (ok I have no proof of that :>) However, I definitely do not consider it to be within spec. I too did not see it on the display models, but I have on every phone I replaced until my 4th. I have a chip in the aluminum on this 4th phone, but I don't really care as much about cosmetics, although I would have no qualms about exchanging again if I change my mind. If others have no chips in their phone, then why should I? And if others think it's OCD, then why is this the only phone that I've ever bought that has come scratched right out of the box? Other companies can produce phones without finishing problems. And even if Apple thinks that these defects are within spec, that's what the 30 day refund policy is for. The customer gets to be a PITA for 30 days; after that, Apple can be the PITA back. Seems fair to me.
They are still making plenty of money on returned phones. They are still net positive even after the returns process.

So yes, the interlacing screen issue is a real defect. I wish that someone who is actually well-versed in screen tech could say what causes this.

Bahroo · Oct 17, 2012

lamenramen said:
The scan lines, flicker, what you call it is very obvious to me. In fact, it's what distracts me more than the yellow tint. It makes the blue toolbar in Safari and the mail apps, as well as other patches of color, appear pixelated. Lower res. It's distracting b/c as you move your gaze, the phenomenon appears to appear out of nowhere, only to disappear again. 100% it's not overly sensitive eyes. But to each his own.

I continue to maintain that if Apple is going to charge us more than the competition, and they want to be known as a premium brand, then they need to put out premium products. If they did not freely paint themselves as such, then I probably would not care.

The interlacing issue is corner cutting, but maybe they will say that it is within spec. Cheap panels produce the interlacing. (ok I have no proof of that :>) However, I definitely do not consider it to be within spec. I too did not see it on the display models, but I have on every phone I replaced until my 4th. I have a chip in the aluminum on this 4th phone, but I don't really care as much about cosmetics, although I would have no qualms about exchanging again if I change my mind. If others have no chips in their phone, then why should I? And if others think it's OCD, then why is this the only phone that I've ever bought that has come scratched right out of the box? Other companies can produce phones without finishing problems. And even if Apple thinks that these defects are within spec, that's what the 30 day refund policy is for. The customer gets to be a PITA for 30 days; after that, Apple can be the PITA back. Seems fair to me.
They are still making plenty of money on returned phones. They are still net positive even after the returns process.

So yes, the interlacing screen issue is a real defect. I wish that someone who is actually well-versed in screen tech could say what causes this.

Is yours feint or very noticeable? Mine seems to be very feint but I can still see it because now i know its there

Bahroo · Oct 17, 2012

kockgunner said:
I have this issue as well. Everything seems grainy and just not "retina". It's really apparent when when looking at the status bar or the on/off switches in settings. My friend noticed this issue on mine too right away.

I had already on through a replacement which I refused as it had a dent (my original phone had dust under the screen). This replacement had some raw aluminum showing but I didn't get to use it long enough to notice the vertical lines. They said I could only go through 2 phones so I took it home.

I called Applecare and they said they can ship a box or I can drop my phone off at UPS but I don't have a backup phone that uses nano sims. The third option was to have a hold on my credit card and pay $30 for express shipping. This is too much hassle since I just signed up for a 3 year contract and expect a working phone. I didn't like any of the options so they told me to go to another Apple store to see if I can get another replacement.

I asked the guy whether they would see I already went through 2 replacements and he said he wasn't sure. It seems like Applecare is very disconnected from retail. Anyway, sorry for the rant.

Strange, your scan lines are probably much stronger then mine. It certainly doesnt make things grainy on my screen, its still sharp as ever but I can see very minute lines the status bar like you said on a iPhone screen with no scan lines its smooth but on mine i can see extremely feint lines that probably 90% of of people i could show it to would never notice or see it...i have to look up close and focus in to really see it though ans even so its very minor... Its really extremely minor though and i have probably had scan lines on my old iPhones but just never noticed them... Its just more of a OCD thing with me as for many on these forums..usually when your technologically inclined your more OCD with your products so these problems seem to be more then it is

Dlanod · Oct 17, 2012

My i5 screen is better than my i4S was. I had two 4Ss and both were plagued with yellow screens. The 5 I have has no interlacing problems that I can detect and the colours are crisp and white. My 4 was very blue - but I preferred that to the 4Ss yellow.

I had an S3 that had horrible yellow patches so screen problems are not restricted to Apple only.

kockgunner · Oct 18, 2012

Bahroo said:
Strange, your scan lines are probably much stronger then mine. It certainly doesnt make things grainy on my screen, its still sharp as ever but I can see very minute lines the status bar like you said on a iPhone screen with no scan lines its smooth but on mine i can see extremely feint lines that probably 90% of of people i could show it to would never notice or see it...i have to look up close and focus in to really see it though ans even so its very minor... Its really extremely minor though and i have probably had scan lines on my old iPhones but just never noticed them... Its just more of a OCD thing with me as for many on these forums..usually when your technologically inclined your more OCD with your products so these problems seem to be more then it is

The grainy thing is different from the interlacing but it seems to be a side effect of it. Compared to the iPhone 4 with no interlacing, text looks ever slightly less sharp. One example is when looking at the white text under apps on the home screen. On the 5 the text is a bit fuzzier which makes the text less fine and have wider strokes (as in the width of strokes when using regular vs bold fonts).

The graininess is just a minor issue as Retina screens are way better than what we got pre Retina! What I can't stand is the interlacing which adds patterns on solid colours not designed to be there.

I think some of us have more sensitive eyes. Its not like I was looking purposely either. During normal usage I just noticed scan lines and interlacing during OS animations. Sometimes the interlacing is worse and can be seen at normal usage distance but sometimes you have to look closely. Some things may affect me more than others I guess because I wouldn't mind trading a good screen for a dent.

NovemberWhiskey · Oct 18, 2012

I don't get flickering when using that image as a wallpaper. Can you describe what the flickering looks like? Maybe I am missing something. I guess I don't have the problem. I haven't noticed any vertical or horizontal lines on my screen.

Not that I doubt you guys. I have been through my fair share of problems with the 5, and have witnessed quality differences in the screens.

bigcstyle4 · Oct 18, 2012

It flickers like crazy, you would notice it right away. It's almost as if the brightness flashes high/low at 30fps or so.

Bahroo · Oct 18, 2012

kockgunner said:
The grainy thing is different from the interlacing but it seems to be a side effect of it. Compared to the iPhone 4 with no interlacing, text looks ever slightly less sharp. One example is when looking at the white text under apps on the home screen. On the 5 the text is a bit fuzzier which makes the text less fine and have wider strokes (as in the width of strokes when using regular vs bold fonts).

The graininess is just a minor issue as Retina screens are way better than what we got pre Retina! What I can't stand is the interlacing which adds patterns on solid colours not designed to be there.

I think some of us have more sensitive eyes. Its not like I was looking purposely either. During normal usage I just noticed scan lines and interlacing during OS animations. Sometimes the interlacing is worse and can be seen at normal usage distance but sometimes you have to look closely. Some things may affect me more than others I guess because I wouldn't mind trading a good screen for a dent.

Maybe it was worse in your case because I cannot see anything under the white text on the home screen, hell i cant see anything in the browser, virtually id say the screen to me is like 98% out of 100% with the 2% being the scan lines, sometimes i wonder if its just my eyes playing games with me when i "think" i see it

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NovemberWhiskey said:
I don't get flickering when using that image as a wallpaper. Can you describe what the flickering looks like? Maybe I am missing something. I guess I don't have the problem. I haven't noticed any vertical or horizontal lines on my screen.

Not that I doubt you guys. I have been through my fair share of problems with the 5, and have witnessed quality differences in the screens.

Like twitching by the dock, but if you cant tell then it means you dont have the issue... But i never see flickering on any background or color, only with that wallpaper which is intended to test for that... From the looks of it other people here defitnetly have worse scan lines then mine because its virtually almost possible to see it on my screen and i even wonder if my eyes sometimes play games on me lmao...idk i dont even really care i got a flawless phone in all other aspects and im not going to swap it out for this reason because its so minor, but i probably will in the future if i happen to really ding up my phone and ill just use that excuse and get a replacement for free

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bigcstyle4 said:
It flickers like crazy, you would notice it right away. It's almost as if the brightness flashes high/low at 30fps or so.

With that wallpaper i posted?

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