Screen interlacing serial numer starting with F2

Bought 2 phones last night, one for me and wife. On both of them, I sensed I was seeing pixels now and then, which I now believe is this interlace issue. I did the test with the image and see the flickering.

Both phones are white, F2, week 44. Ugh.

Big question: When you go to an Apple store, can you request that they try to pull from stock starting with a certain serial number, like DN?

I think if I go to the store, I'll find a floor model with no flicker, load in the test image, and then show the Genius the comparison to mine. This test shows the problem in a more overt way.

I really notice the lines when in the new Youtube app and scrolling down through the movies on homepage... I can see that faint ghosting of lines?

After 4 iPhones with the same interlacing (although they were often replaced for other hardware problems), the tech support from Apple Care said that they escalated the issue to their engineers because they noticed all the phones I had with the interlacing issue had the serial number F2.

Apple Care was nice enough to replace my phone due to the interlacing issue and give me a retail unit through mail. This one is also F2 but the screen is acceptable and the lines gotten worse over time. However, the backlighting is uneven like the screen is being pushed from underneath. Also, I can't retain a LTE or 3G signal for more than a few minutes after a reset so I've been forced to use Edge and GPRS for a few days. Also, the camera doesn't turn on sometimes and has pink lines or a large purple area over the preview area. Since this iPhone has a screen issue more visible to average people, I'm going to take it into the Apple Store instead of of trying to diagnose the LTE/3G issue with the Apple Care technician.

Is there a way to ask for a certain serial number phone at the Apple Store?

Yup, the interlacing is a real problem and rampant. I saw 5 iphones with the problem, and it was very obvious to me, even before looking at these forums.

I did not go looking to buy an iPhone 5 and then imagine problems. I took it home and was like what is this interlacing thing going on? It's as clear as day to me and one that I think that Apple is not likely to acknowledge. Lesser phones do not display this problem.

I would take it back and return it.

That said, there are some phones that don't have this problem, and on my fifth one, yes, one two three four exchanges, I got one that has a white screen, and doesn't have interlacing issues.

I usually have to exchange apple products a few times before I get one that is not a lemon. I don't feel bad about exchanging at all b/c it's within your rights. The scales are tipped in your favor the first 30 days; after that, they are not in your favor. If they're going to market their products as better engineered with to the micron level tolerances, then I'm going to hold them to it.

There are different flaws that people make a big deal about. The screen interlacing issue is a big one to me, and probably not that big to other people, but the issue is real. The scratchgate is real, as mine all had scratches, yes all five of them, including the one that I took out of the box. The Apple meanie said that it's within spec, and I would get that scratch eventually anyway. B/c I finally got one with a good screen, I didn't argue with him although I felt like telling him, I'll exchange it again if I want to.

My first F1 one couldn't tell at the time, because I was too annoyed by the earpiece buzzing while on the phone that I never bothered to investigate. It was like a bee.

I had two DN's with this interlacing after that. On one of them, the front glass in top right was chipping whenever I removed my soft TPU case so I exchanged it...

Got an F2 without it, but phone kept randomly crashing ONLY selectively but always after taking pictures. I was really hoping it was a software issue but nobody else seems to be able to reproduce it quite like mine did. After about two months, I decided to take the gamble again recently (very reluctantly, mind you).

Replacement I just got in the mail is DN, more beautiful than my F2 screen (clear white instead of pink-ish), and no interlacing once again. At this point, short of this thing not working functionality wise (as I questioned with my F2-camera crash) or spontaneously combusting, I think I'm going to hold onto my current one until the iPhone 6 or hopefully by then serious competition will make Apple work overtime to please their customers.

It seems it's largely luck of the draw to be honest.

My dad's DN I think exhibits the interlacing but only every so slightly.

Some exhibit it far worse than others. My brother's F2 I notice right away. He doesn't seem to notice or care though.

Don't think my mom's F1 does it either but can't remember.

Welcome to screen lottery!

FWIW, I think DN in general are better and more consistently built but there are exceptions I'm sure.

All the DN's I've had the camera seems to show the purple flare, but only slightly and only when the light source is literally at the perfect edged angle. On my previous F2, purple flare was easily noticeable in more circumstances and way more obvious in shots. Maybe it's the DN's that have a more pronounced ring around the camera hole to cut down on this. Apple would never hone up to this being an issue, interlacing, or anything else because everyone and their mom would exchange their phone even if it didn't interlace/show intense purple flare and AAPL would tank.

Like if they honed up to how terrible the QC was on iPad3. Never... My current iPad3 is a bit on the warm/pink side but at least its uniform unlike so many other iPad3's I've seen that have pink bleed coming intensely from one corner or half the screen split into green and pink in an obvious way. Color Profiles jailbreak tweak ironed it right out

I don't remember my 4S with a similar camera sensor doing it nearly as bad as some 5's I've seen.

Apple should hire me for QC inspection iPhones would never leave the factory, then.

I also find scuffgate to be hilarious. A nick here or there I could care less about as long as the whole chamfered edge doesn't look like a grinded-on halfpipe. Screen quality is much more important imo.

Hum....

My F2 is fine - I was concerned at first but seems to have escaped this issue. Nice and clear and that background just looked gray - no flicker.

I did notice that my first 5 (they replaced it for having problems inside the sapphire lens) that it sometimes took photos of buildings or objects outside with moire patterns in them.

I had to get my launch day DN iphone 5 replaced last week because the screen started making a popping/clicking sound out of the blue.

They gave me a replacement. It seemed fine, but the more i used it the more something seemed odd. And then later on in the evening, i used it for a solid 20 minutes straight, and my eyes began to hurt, and i almost felt dizzy.

I over the weekend, the same started to happen. If i would use it for more than a few minutes at a time, i felt like i was going to vomit.

Now, i have had motion sickness before. I can't play a lot of those first person shooter games. But this has never happened to me before.

And then i noticed that an overlay in a game i was playing started flickering. I immediately remembered having read this thread.

I looked up the thread, and loaded up the image. And of course, it was flickering like CRAZY. My fiance even freaked out when she saw, and she usually doesnt notice/care about these things.

So next i checked the serial, and of course it was F2.

I went back to the apple store Monday, and explained/demonstrated the problem, and they apologized and gave me a new one.

The replacement they gave me, i immediately noticed was better. But it also had a half inch spot on the middle of the screen that was SUPER bright. I'm talking about, completely black screen, and then in the middle, a huge white spot.

The genius asked if this one was ok, and i said "take a look at that".
He said literally "Jesus...I'm so sorry. Let me grab another one". The serial # was DN.

He brought me another replacement, and again i noticed that it would be ok. I loaded up the image before i left, and NO flicker. Serial DN.

I know there are randoms out there with all the serials, but it really seems like you want to just avoid the F2's like the plague.

Thank goodness this thread exists, because i don't think i would have ever figured out why that phone was making my eyes hurt!

That's awesome they were nice and understanding.

I could totally see that not being the case haha.

Something strange happened. My F2's interlacing screen suddenly became perfect for around 10 minutes. All the lines were gone and all the greys and solid colours were actually solid. However now the lines are back.

I'm wondering if it's some sort of connector cable issue or even software refresh rate issues because apparently the hardware is capable of being normal.

FWIW My friend's week 35 F2 phone has a perfect screen as did my week 39 DN phone. However, my subsequent 4 replacements all had interlacing and were all F2. It seems is really a luck of the draw.

It seems the screen has less interlacing when it's cold. It's around 5 degrees celsius here and I find my screen looks good when I'm walking home. Even when I put my phone outside for 5 minutes and let it become cold to the touch, the screen stops interlacing. As soon as it warms up, the interlacing is back. Can anyone confirm?

First iPhone 5 (F1, rest unknown) had very loose buttons and EXTREME interlacing/scan lines/flicker. So much that I'd noticed it 5 minutes into turning it on.
Second (current) iPhone 5 (F2, week 45 Zengzhou Foxconn), which I went into the Vodafone store and they offered me a brand new sealed retail unit has a perfect screen, tiny scuff on the metal corner that's only noticeable in light and is less than a millimetre in length which I don't care about the slightest, and a slighty loud vibration motor (compared to the 4S) which I assume is normal.

If anyone else is having interlacing issues, I'm sorry to break it to you, but that problem will not go away. The screen will remain flickery and blurry.

Get a replacement ASAP.

Final word

After weeks of correspondence, I got a response from a senior advisor at Apple Care and he said the engineers said something like "iPhones go through many tests and there are some manufacturing differences in hardware and some customers may notice a difference between phones when compared side to side. The screen are within the tolerances Apple has set". Basically the dreaded "within spec".

This is extremely disappointing that Apple won't even admit this is a problem. It's unfortunate for those who have interlacing screens and can see the problems because it seems very widespread. Three phones replacements, each from a different Apple Store in different cities, plus a retail unit shipped from China (ranging from week 37-47) have had bad screens.

I wouldn't have signed up for a contract if I knew these interlacing screens were within spec. I seriously would have considered an Android phone or probably just stayed with my iPhone 4. The senior advisor said that the common denominator was my eyes and that I may have good vision. I just told him that my first iPhone 5 had a perfect screen so not all are defective, and that I actually wear glasses. I got rid of my iPhone 4 before I got my 5 so it's not like I could even compare screens, but I immediately saw something was wrong. You don't need perfect eyes for this issue and it's kind of a dead end if the genius can't see it.

You just have to hope that your phone has another obvious hardware problem or a nice genius who will replace the phone because of the interlacing issue which according to Apple is not an issue.

Interesting to note I guess.. my cousin from Australia came the other day and I definitely noticed interlacing on her phone while using it. I've never seen this before so it was weird to me.. but just goes to show that it's not limited to the ones we get here.

I finally got a perfect phone! I got a DP replacement unit which I haven't seen before. The screen has no interlacing at all no matter how hard you try. Everything is easier on the eye and it doesn't flicker when using the test image with vertical lines. I think the interlacing screens have some refresh rate issues that complicate the issue.

I think there is definitely a problem with F2s as all 4 of my F2s have had flickering and interlacing screens while my DN one and now this DP one do not. If it really bothers you just go to an Apple Store and try asking for a non F2 one. You will be glad you did.

Just returned a DN phone with the interlacing problem and received an F2 with a flawless screen, I'm really happy, the phone itself is completely flawless.

DN, and mine flickers, but I really couldn't care less.

I was silly enough to sell my black iPhone 5 which had no problems because I wanted white. I am now on my 3rd white one, all out of factory F2 with uneven screens and interlacing issue My local store and one an hour away from me have plenty of stock but all the serials start with F2 I have placed an order online so I hope I get one that is ok. Quality control sucks lately.

Mine has a perfect screen but now the sleep/wake button decided it will only work if pressed on the left side. I'm probably going to just live with it and get it replaced before the 5S comes out. I really don't want to re-enter the screen lottery!

Anybody else have this issue? It surely sucks. Makes the screen look pixelated

A lot more of them do than you'd think

I just bought my fiancé a brand new iphone 5 unlocked white 16gb. DN, beautiful no flicker screen!

The only thing that annoys me is that I can see little dots on the screen, especially when the brightness is full. Is it flickering or it's normal?

C3 - Occasional Flicker.. Not really noticeable.

cababah said:

Here is my assessment of this interlacing issue so far. There are 3 types:

1. People that see no flicker or interlacing. Great. You guys can move on in peace.

2. People that noticed interlacing beforehand and used the test image to validate their issue and should get their phones replaced.

3. Special case here. People that saw NO EVIDENCE of interlacing in the display but when loading the test image, saw some flickering and now deem their display faulty. I guess this side of the camp has to use a judgement call...

a. Risk getting a replacement phone that might have one of many other issues and officially enter the iPhone lottery.

b. Forget you saw this thread and carry on using your phone since you didn't even notice a "problem" in daily operation until you saw this thread.

I, myself am type 3. I thought I had a great display until I saw some flicker in the test image near the dock. I have seen absolutely no examples of any interlacing or symptoms elsewhere during the month I have had the phone and will be keeping it. I don't see any realistic situation where I would be looking at that image let alone have it as my wallpaper. The quest for a perfect iPhone is not a journey to be taken lightly. I played this lottery with my iPhone 4S and it was a long, time-consuming, patience-testing process that made me learn that when you spend enough time looking hard and long enough at anything, you will find flaws.

That being said, I do appreciate the OP taking the time to do some research and all the people who uploaded pictures for reference. Nothing wrong with gaining more knowledge on the subject.

Click to expand...

I will join you in camp 3. I too had no idea that my phone experienced this problem until I loaded the test image. Also I can validate that mine has the issue because my wife's phone does not flicker with the test image. Alas without the test image I can't see the condition at all. Even on all those light gray areas, settings menu, or keyboards that other people claim to see the lines on. I've been looking to closely between my two test samples that I begin to wonder if I am making myself believe there is an issue when there isn't one. Can anyone else attest to the risks I take with entering in the iPhone lottery between yellow screens, scuffgate, and more vertical line issues?

Also FWIW, the phone that suffers from the flickering with the image test is F2 week 40, meanwhile my wife's phone is F2 week 36 and does not suffer from the flickering. I wish there was more rhyme or reason to this.

Also here is some more comparison shots of an iPhone that is affected with the issue and another that is not.

Please, help me. I practically can't see vertical lines, but I see that there are some dots on the screen everywhere. They look like pixels. Is it just the construction of the touch screen or is it an issue?

Oppressed said:

I will join you in camp 3. I too had no idea that my phone experienced this problem until I loaded the test image. Also I can validate that mine has the issue because my wife's phone does not flicker with the test image. Alas without the test image I can't see the condition at all. Even on all those light gray areas, settings menu, or keyboards that other people claim to see the lines on. I've been looking to closely between my two test samples that I begin to wonder if I am making myself believe there is an issue when there isn't one. Can anyone else attest to the risks I take with entering in the iPhone lottery between yellow screens, scuffgate, and more vertical line issues?

Also FWIW, the phone that suffers from the flickering with the image test is F2 week 40, meanwhile my wife's phone is F2 week 36 and does not suffer from the flickering. I wish there was more rhyme or reason to this.

Also here is some more comparison shots of an iPhone that is affected with the issue and another that is not.

Click to expand...

That first image looks normal. The second image looks exactly like the screen I had which had interlacing. The screens even look different on camera. If you say you can't see the difference there is really no point in changing. But even when I couldn't see interlacing lines at all times, my phones with bad screens were uncomfortable to look at whereas my current non-interlacing screen is easy to look at. I think it's the flickering that subconsciously makes your eyes uneasy.

My friend with a week 35 F2 also has no flickering but my later F2s which were 37, 38, and 47 all had flickering. It seems something happened somewhere along the line.

I bought a black 16gb AT&T on Saturday. It was an F2, week 48. It had horrible yellow spots/streaks that got worse with heat. It also had an overall yellow tint and of course the vertical interlacing was really obvious. Physical condition was perfect.

I returned it today and got a DN, week 51. Screen is perfect - no spots, tint or interlacing! World of difference.