iPad mini Are some Mini screens sharper than others?

Currently typing this out on my mini. f4 serial number, small text looks fine to me. Not blurry. Small. But not blurry. Not screen door effect.

I have an iPad Mini with an F4 serial number and on mine the screen is great. Very sharp and with really good color.

I ordered directly from Apple--32 GB black version.

I actually have two, but have not opened one of them. I pre-ordered one from Apple, but bought another one from Best Buy since I had over $300 in gift cards (Thanks Best Buy ). I'm going to end up returning my Apple pre-order, but am using it until my screen protectors come in.

When I have a chance I'll compare the two.

Mine starts with F4.

The question is, doesn't everyone's iPad Mini start with a F4?

Week 41 f4 over herrrrr

China for me

Mine is Chinese.

OP, just enjoy your device and stop obsessing over things.

Quantus said:

You are leaving out the most important piece of info: place of manufacture. Some F4's came from China, others from Brazil. What I'd like to know is where the higher quality screens, if they exist, are from.

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You assume far too much.

1. Maybe you're just seeing what everyone else sees but you don't like it, and the Mini is not for you.
2. Maybe yours is just defective, regardless of factory or country.

One complaint is not worth starting a massive hunt for a correlation between factory, serial, production week, etc.

Relax.

F4 China, screen is fine.

mcdj said:

You assume far too much.

1. Maybe you're just seeing what everyone else sees but you don't like it, and the Mini is not for you.
2. Maybe yours is just defective, regardless of factory or country.

One complaint is not worth starting a massive hunt for a correlation between factory, serial, production week, etc.

Relax.

Click to expand...

Have to agree. Checked out a bunch of models at the store and they're all the same. The screens just don't look good.

Supposedly ifixit has reported the same thing. That there is a small difference in the screen qualities. Some look slightly sharper than others.

This could totally be possible with three different manufactures (Samsung, LG and Sharp) providing screens for the mini.

Can anyone verify this? Can anyone find ifixit's comment on the matter.

I'm glad I'm waiting for my LTE mini to be delivered. Hopefully it'll have the better display.

I've been wondering about this, too. After reading a ton of posts it seems like some who don't like the screen are just unhappy that it's not retina, and some seem unhappy because the clarity is awful. I have an iPad2 and while it's no retina display, the screen is crisp within its confines.

I've seen several articles mentioning Apple possibly/probably sourcing the screen from different suppliers, and I'm wondering if this is the difference. Certainly when I look at similarly spec'd LCD TV panels from different manufacturers a difference is clear in their crispness from one to the other.

Just speculation as the iPad mini I bought is a Christmas gift for one of my teens who will probably not notice either way. Still, if it's fuzzier than my iPad2 it's going to bug me. Guess I won't know until the end of December.

Indigovalley said:

I have an iPad Mini with an F4 serial number and on mine the screen is great. Very sharp and with really good color.

I ordered directly from Apple--32 GB black version.

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This is my experience as well. And my hardware, and mine was assembled in China, has F4 serial prefix. I have watched a couple movies on the thing, plus two Apple keynotes, some music videos. I'm going to move a season of The Wire onto the mini and do a mini-viewing marathon tomorrow night for the hell of it. I am in love with iPad mini.

Reading a book is great, I like the sepia toned pages when using iBooks but switching to white on black is fun too. I don't experience the black on white as any different from reading a book on iPad 1 or a Nook color tablet. But my eyes are old so who knows. Anyway it works fine for me.

Come on guys, it's not a Retina Display. By its very nature it's not going to be sharp. You will see some blurriness. If you thought otherwise, you were deluding yourself. Stop looking for excuses. Now go enjoy your device or return it.

aam07 said:

Supposedly ifixit has reported the same thing. That there is a small difference in the screen qualities. Some look slightly sharper than others.

This could totally be possible with three different manufactures (Samsung, LG and Sharp) providing screens for the mini.

Can anyone verify this? Can anyone find ifixit's comment on the matter.

I'm glad I'm waiting for my LTE mini to be delivered. Hopefully it'll have the better display.

Click to expand...

Do you have a link to this comment? The reason I ask is because when iFixit did their teardown they found a Samsung screen, and I did not see any mention about differences with other screens. I am not saying there aren't any other screens or that they aren't slightly different, but I don't recall iFixit tearing down multiple minis or doing a comparison.

F4.

Week 42, which is October.

You can check it here by putting in your serial number:

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

nfl46 said:

F4.

Week 42, which is October.

You can check it here by putting in your serial number:

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

Click to expand...

Same here, also China. Screen looks fantastic.

There is a difference, many are fuzzy and some are not. It's possible to get a good one by comparing, exchanging, & repeating till you get lucky. I was patient & determined. After several exchanges, all approved by the genius I worked with, I got one that's very good for a non retina model. It was worth the time & effort after paying so much for the Apple brand.