Awww come on! Managed to chip the glass of my 4200$ rMBP

[Barna Biro]

Originally Posted by stevelam

even based on your location you still got ripped off.

Ripped off? Did Someone force me to buy it without me being aware?
You get ripped off when you expect something but get something quite different.
I knew exactly what I was buying and why I was buying it.

If one can't afford it or can't justify the purchase, then he / she should simply get something else.

[Dyno-Mike]

Originally Posted by kis

I was just watching some Youtube videos when I noticed an extremely bright, tiny spot on the screen. At first I thought it was a stuck pixel that had suddenly appeared. Turned off the machine and immediately saw that the spot was still here. Gotta be dirt, I thought - not so. It's a tiny weeny chip / crack in the glass. I have no idea how that could get in there. I never cleaned the screen, so it can't have happened because I rubbed in sand or something. I carry the rMBP with me every day, so I guess it must have happened in the bag. Just don't know how? Even if there were some tiny sand particles in my bag, they couldn't possibly grind on the screen considering the screen's closed and in a fixed position relative to the keyboard.

I'm actually scared to ask - but: how much does Apple charge to replace the freaking screen? 1400-1500$?

This is not a fault of yours. It has happened to mine, I had 2 of these.
What it actually is is a pixel that has popped or burst and because there is no glass outer screen it burns through the polariser coating leaving its residue that can be felt and brushed away. If you look at an angle to the screen with the backlight off, you will see it looks like a small crater where it is.

I was told all this by an Apple reseller where I took it to, They had seen it a few times on other peoples rMBPs before I took mine in.

I got it replaced with a Samsung and all is good. I just prey that this screen doesn't have that issue come 3 months down the line.

[kis]

Originally Posted by stevelam

you spent $4000 on the 13" rmbp? ouch. even based on your location you still got ripped off.

No, it's a fully loaded 15"

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Originally Posted by Benjamin,

Sure you didn't have it there before, after purchase? How long ago did you buy it? Could you still argue it's been there from the start.

So you use your rMBP to... watch YouTube?

Yeah, that's all im doing with it :-)

I honestly don't know how long it's been there. Theoretically it could have been a manufacturing issue that simply got worse / more noticeable. Anyway, I'm taking it in to the Apple Store in Geneva tomorrow - taking half a day off to do it :-/

[thekev]

Originally Posted by kis

Isn't 8% about what you guys pay as well in the States? It's 19% in Germany - now THAT sucks :-) Normally it's 7.6% here but they temporarily raised it to 8% for seven years to bail out our ailing invalidity insurance system.

It's not the VAT that makes Apple products so expensive here - it's Apple. They just charge us more for the same product.

Varies, it's 10% here. The US site prices do not include sales tax, and it varies by state.

[kis]

Originally Posted by Dyno-Mike

This is not a fault of yours. It has happened to mine, I had 2 of these.
What it actually is is a pixel that has popped or burst and because there is no glass outer screen it burns through the polariser coating leaving its residue that can be felt and brushed away. If you look at an angle to the screen with the backlight off, you will see it looks like a small crater where it is.

I was told all this by an Apple reseller where I took it to, They had seen it a few times on other peoples rMBPs before I took mine in.

I got it replaced with a Samsung and all is good. I just prey that this screen doesn't have that issue come 3 months down the line.

Thanks!

Well, this explains why it's brigther on dark backgrounds. If it were solely from the outside, it shouldn't be visible when the background is black. Instead, it's almost invisible on white backgrounds.

[rikscha]

The currency in Geneva are Swiss Francs not Dollar. I think you got ripped off :-) It is completely off comparing Swiss with US prices. You earn twice as much over there so perhaps you stop comparing some made up dollar prices in Switzerland with US prices.

[throAU]

Its all relative. Having been on holiday in switzerland recently (Lucerne), everything is expensive because otherwise heaps more people would want to live there

[kis]

Originally Posted by rikscha

You earn twice as much over there

That's a myth / depends on what you do. In IT, for example, wages are significantly higher in the US than in Switzerland. I work as a CS teacher and as a photographer. Teachers make drastically more here than in the States (or anywhere else for that matter). However, there's no way I could make a living as a photographer here if that's the only thing I could do.

[Barna Biro]

Originally Posted by throAU

Its all relative. Having been on holiday in switzerland recently (Lucerne), everything is expensive because otherwise heaps more people would want to live there

It's expensive for some foreigners... not really expensive if you live and earn there. I'm saying this because I live there... and I'm not a millionaire ( yet ) Who knows, maybe we have even passed by each other on the street

Originally Posted by kis

That's a myth / depends on what you do.

Myth? As a teacher ( especially a CS teacher ) I was expecting you to look at numbers... based on numbers, Swiss do earn significantly more on average ( no matter the field ) than people from most of the other countries working in the same field. I'm not talking about exceptions here ( like some top of the line managers or a few really well paid IT guys - I'm a Software Engineer myself, working in the finance sector ), but in general / on average.

Still... there are quite a few factors that foreigners fail to see / consider. Sure, the higher salary pops out immediately ( a simple supermarket - Migros or Coop - full-time employee ears a minimum of 3000-4000 CHF / month Gross - roughly 3200-4200 USD Gross ), but people fail to check rents, insurances, grocery prices, etc. Don't get me wrong, no one is starving on a minimum-wage around here ( heck, they can afford more than others in neighboring countries working at better jobs ), but it's not as if out of the minimum wage one ends up saving 2000-2500 each month ( minimum wage is still "minimum"... even if it were 10000 USD / month, it's considered "minimum" for a reason ). If you want to save such amounts without any serious effort, you'll need to start earning around 5000+ CHF / month ( Net ). You can save on less too, but then you'll need to do some cuttings in other places ( like: getting a crappier rent, not going on holidays that often, buying relatively cheaper but still really good quality clothes, etc. )...

[rikscha]

Originally Posted by kis

That's a myth / depends on what you do. In IT, for example, wages are significantly higher in the US than in Switzerland. I work as a CS teacher and as a photographer. Teachers make drastically more here than in the States (or anywhere else for that matter). However, there's no way I could make a living as a photographer here if that's the only thing I could do.

This is not a myth and of course you can pick out certain groups of people etc. that will earn less. The average salaries are much higher. And believe me, this is not just an educated guess. The much higher salaries come at a much higher costs as well of course why Apple products, VAT aside, are also more expensive but relative to income in CH.

[ZacT94]

Originally Posted by motoracer1486

I guess I've been out of the game for awhile...how the heck is your laptop worth $4200??

Max spec 15" rMBP costs $4300 here in Australia.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by kis

Isn't 8% about what you guys pay as well in the States? It's 19% in Germany - now THAT sucks :-) Normally it's 7.6% here but they temporarily raised it to 8% for seven years to bail out our ailing invalidity insurance system.

It's not the VAT that makes Apple products so expensive here - it's Apple. They just charge us more for the same product.

It sure is and it sucks!

[Barna Biro]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

It sure is and it sucks!

In other EU countries it's more... 24% and average monthly salary is 350 Euros ( or less ).
Stop complaining... it's not as if it's the end of the World.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by Barna Biro

In other EU countries it's more... 24% and average monthly salary is 350 Euros ( or less ).
Stop complaining... it's not as if it's the end of the World.

I earn in Dollars, and live in Euro's so for me it's closer to 45%.

For the bolded comments, I care very little.

[takeshi74]

Originally Posted by motoracer1486

I guess I've been out of the game for awhile...how the heck is your laptop worth $4200??

Price and worth are 2 different things. The latter is subjective.

[kis]

Just a quick update: took it to the Apple Store today. They said it's a bad pixel. Don't know the exact technology behind it, but apparently, with the new bonded displays, pixels can burst and will actually perforate the front panel (as someone already mentioned here)

They're going to replace the screen under warranty but mainly because it also failed Apple's image retention test. Disaster averted. THANK YOU APPLE (and LG....)

The downside is that the repair takes 2 1/2 weeks because they need to order a new screen. So now I'm without a computer. Probably will have to buy some el-cheapo windows machine that'll at least let me do basic word processing. Thank god the wedding season is over already.

[brentsg]

Originally Posted by kis

The downside is that the repair takes 2 1/2 weeks because they need to order a new screen. So now I'm without a computer. Probably will have to buy some el-cheapo windows machine that'll at least let me do basic word processing. Thank god the wedding season is over already.

Tell them you need the machine and you'll bring it in when they get the panel in stock.

[FuNGi]

yeah that's unacceptable. I would want to keep the machine until the day the repair can be done. either that or they should loan you a MBA or something to work on while it's being fixed.

[kis]

Originally Posted by brentsg

Tell them you need the machine and you'll bring it in when they get the panel in stock.

They offered me that, but I live 60 miles from the Apple Store and didn't want to drive there again. Also, they said it takes 2-3 days for the screen to arrive, the rest is just repair time. Seems a tad long, TBH. When they first opened the Store, it was 48h.

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Originally Posted by FuNGi

yeah that's unacceptable. I would want to keep the machine until the day the repair can be done. either that or they should loan you a MBA or something to work on while it's being fixed.

I was honestly thinking about buying another Mac there just to make use of the 14 day return window. But since they were nice to me, I decided against doing so.

[AndersBrohus]

That's not fun!

I also have a Retina MacBook Pro 15" like many of you, with an LG display, and after 3 months of use it was like there was dead or stuck pixel and when i took it to the local Apple Reseller (No Apple Stores in Denmark) And they said that it was a bubble in the glass that comes in some of the first displays... Mine is still at the repair center because when it got back first time there was a little damage on it so it needed to be repaired one more time and here in Denmark they dont have the repair parts at the repair center, they have to order them from Apple... So maybe on Monday i get mine back or if im very lucky Friday!

[Dyno-Mike]

Originally Posted by kis

Just a quick update: took it to the Apple Store today. They said it's a bad pixel. Don't know the exact technology behind it, but apparently, with the new bonded displays, pixels can burst and will actually perforate the front panel (as someone already mentioned here)

Glad they told you the same as they told me. Let us hope that the Samsung replacement doesn't exhibit this problem but I think it's quite likely it will.

Time will tell...

[kis]

As a final update in the matter: I was able to pick up the repaired MBP today. The LG screen was exchanged with a Samsung model. The screen looks flawless (knock on wood) - but the colors are much warmer per default on this one, I'll have to calibrate it

Anyway, I'm happy I got the computer back within a week (rather than the 2-3 I was told at first) and that everything was fixed. Thank you Apple!

[Dyno-Mike]

Originally Posted by kis

As a final update in the matter: I was able to pick up the repaired MBP today. The LG screen was exchanged with a Samsung model. The screen looks flawless (knock on wood) - but the colors are much warmer per default on this one, I'll have to calibrate it

Anyway, I'm happy I got the computer back within a week (rather than the 2-3 I was told at first) and that everything was fixed. Thank you Apple!

My Samsung replacement has a slight yellowing on the bottom right corner on white screens but at least its free from IR and bad pixels.

Mine took 2 weeks in total. I took it to a reseller instead of apple and they had to send it somewhere for the repair.

[kis]

Originally Posted by Dyno-Mike

My Samsung replacement has a slight yellowing on the bottom right corner on white screens but at least its free from IR and bad pixels.

Mine took 2 weeks in total. I took it to a reseller instead of apple and they had to send it somewhere for the repair.

We have neither a reseller nor an Apple Store anywhere nearby, so I just bit the bullet and drove the 60 miles to the nearest Apple Retail Store. Note sure if they fix the computers there or if they send them to the Netherlands to get them repaired.