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Sowelu

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2008
754
885
New York City
I really just can’t believe that Apple is still using displays from suppliers who are producing subpar panels with this blatantly obvious issue. Who's the culprit? Is it LG? Samsung? Sharp? Who needs to get their **** together and when is Apple going to start demanding higher quality displays for their premium (and very expensive) tablets? How many generations is it going to take? Or do they just not care?

The left side of the display fades to a horrific dirty green/yellow while the right side is brighter, whiter but a bit on the pink side. If the entire display looked like the right side (and was uniform), it would be usable and I'd live with it. But as it is now, it’s very distracting. Just as it was on the iPad 3s and iPad 4s that had this problem.

Then there’s iOS 7 on the iPad. All that white really makes this uneven tint obvious, yet no one at Apple noticed, or cared. It’s kind of ironic, or incredibly arrogant depending on how you look at it.

I also noticed ALOT of color banding (or whatever you call that horrible distortion on low quality images) whenever there is a transparent overly (after you type in your password and slide to unlock, pull down notifications, or the left side of ‘Reminders’). I hope Apple addresses this issue when they polish iOS 7 (I still have hope that 7.1 will bring visual improvements).

If you have a good one, congratulations, you’ve won yet another Apple Display Lottery. I on the other hand refuse to play this game again - trying to get an iPad with a 'good' panel from whichever supplier is making them. I’ll see what the Mini Retina looks like. If Apple was able to use a supplier that can produce a uniform high-quality display with crisp bright whites and nicely saturated colors, I’ll stick with the Mini.
 

aypues

macrumors regular
Feb 25, 2012
159
21
San Diego
Yah I'm not impressed with my display either. Compared to my iPad 3 it's really blueish. My 3's display is more on the warm side of the color tones and looks a lot better I think (feels more solid too). There really isn't a huge difference between the two in the actual user experience. I'm probably going to return mine and save the money.
 

terrywfoster

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2009
278
246
I finally got a perfect display. The past two models I've replaced after buying. I prefer the blue cool tint over the orange warm anyway.
 

mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,964
4,214
NYC
Interesting that the OP is in NYC, where I got a pinkish/greenish Air today. Returned it. Not getting another. Makes me wonder if there's a direct shipment from a certain factory to NYC, because I went through 5 ipad 3s with the exact same problem a couple of years ago.

Overall warm or overall cool would be fine with me. It's the shifting across the screen that is intolerable, especially as a photographer who shows a lot of black and white images on my ipad screen...monochrome landscapes with pink skies are not very flattering.
 

kre62

macrumors 68020
Jul 12, 2010
2,373
1,248
Went through 2 airs today with yellow lower left screens. I'm done for at least a month until the good screens start rolling out. Not sure why I haven't learned my lesson that it takes a month to get good screens with this idiotic company.
 

Tikatika

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2012
709
794
Northern California
I feel your pain! Brings back horrible memories of the iPad 3 screen fiasco. I don't have the discoloration but I am not pleased with the saturation. Colors on my iPad 3 and even my Mini are vibrant and have depth. Not so on the Air ... just blah.

Couple that with apps I have used for 2 years crashing all over the place, I do believe I am returning this Air and sticking with my stellar iPad 3 and non-retina Mini, both with iOS 6.1.
 

Ipadfever

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2012
746
319
After spending countless hours and returns in previous iPads , the whole screengate is due to the way the glass panel is manufactured and cured!! Go figure!
 

iCheddar

macrumors 6502a
Apr 30, 2007
662
13
South Dakota
My first one this morning had terrible backlight bleed all along the left hand side from top to bottom. I noticed it immediately when I got home, but had to head straight to work.

Fortunately, Best Buy still had plenty in stock when I went to go swap it out in the evening. Now I've got just a teensy single bleed point on the left that I can only notice on a pure white background, it's enough for me to live with.

Loving this new Air though! It's so fast and light compared to my old pokey 3rd gen. :D
 

mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,964
4,214
NYC
I feel your pain! Brings back horrible memories of the iPad 3 screen fiasco. I don't have the discoloration but I am not pleased with the saturation. Colors on my iPad 3 and even my Mini are vibrant and have depth. Not so on the Air ... just blah.

Couple that with apps I have used for 2 years crashing all over the place, I do believe I am returning this Air and sticking with my stellar iPad 3 and non-retina Mini, both with iOS 6.1.

This may interest you...the air screen is similar in construction to the mini, and narrower gamut and higher reflectivity are byproducts of the design.

http://gizmodo.com/5957775/ipad-mini-display-shoot-out-how-does-it-stack-up
 
Last edited:

calvol

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2011
995
4
Apple probably hoping a few marginal units make it through without anyone noticing. It takes a few 100 returns for Apple to wake up and do some silent hardware mods.
 

Tikatika

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2012
709
794
Northern California
Thanks MCDJ. That explains it perfectly. I suspect it is so much more noticeable to me because of the larger screen on the Air as opposed to the Mini.

Newer does not equal better!
 

kidwei

macrumors regular
Sep 20, 2007
160
20

M5RahuL

macrumors 68040
Aug 1, 2009
3,401
2,009
TeXaS
I really just can’t believe that Apple is still using displays from suppliers who are producing subpar panels with this blatantly obvious issue. Who's the culprit? Is it LG? Samsung? Sharp? Who needs to get their **** together and when is Apple going to start demanding higher quality displays for their premium (and very expensive) tablets? How many generations is it going to take? Or do they just not care?

The left side of the display fades to a horrific dirty green/yellow while the right side is brighter, whiter but a bit on the pink side. If the entire display looked like the right side (and was uniform), it would be usable and I'd live with it. But as it is now, it’s very distracting. Just as it was on the iPad 3s and iPad 4s that had this problem.

Then there’s iOS 7 on the iPad. All that white really makes this uneven tint obvious, yet no one at Apple noticed, or cared. It’s kind of ironic, or incredibly arrogant depending on how you look at it.

I also noticed ALOT of color banding (or whatever you call that horrible distortion on low quality images) whenever there is a transparent overly (after you type in your password and slide to unlock, pull down notifications, or the left side of ‘..........


Same. Exact. Issue here too :mad:

Left side, piss yellow...slowly fading into a bluish pink right side...

Happens every damn time Apple refreshes it's iPad, iPhone, and even MacBooks.. :mad:

Will try an exchange tomorrow and if it's the same, will stick with my iPad 4 !
 

Z3man

macrumors 6502a
Feb 19, 2012
781
397
UK
If i go into a store to test for this, what would be the best thing to bring up on the screen to test it, would it be the settings menu as that is quite white.
 

daneoni

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2006
11,569
1,123
Quite pleased with mine. I lucked out this time. Having suffered with the iPad 3, 4 and mini.

I thought I had issues again but was just experiencing angle color shifts which is normal for IPS panels. All in all no complaints.
 

mpayne2k

macrumors 6502a
May 12, 2010
876
63
I too have this issue, I'll be headed back to best buy in the morning to exchange my ipad.
 

scupking

macrumors 6502a
Dec 14, 2010
766
355
Same issue on mine. I remember my mini had like an orangish color on the bottom half that eventually went away.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,726
1,132
What are you folks doing where you notice this? Surfing the web, reading an ebook, playing a game, etc. etc.??????? Please describe it as best as possible where it is on the display so we can try it to duplicate it.

I don't see anything on my 16gb for what is being described but we all do different things.

Thanks much!
 

scupking

macrumors 6502a
Dec 14, 2010
766
355
What are you folks doing where you notice this? Surfing the web, reading an ebook, playing a game, etc. etc.??????? Please describe it as best as possible where it is on the display so we can try it to duplicate it.

I don't see anything on my 16gb for what is being described but we all do different things.

Thanks much!

Surfing the web. Can even notice it on the keyboard. Though once the screen brightness goes up you don't notice it as much.
 

mpayne2k

macrumors 6502a
May 12, 2010
876
63
What are you folks doing where you notice this? Surfing the web, reading an ebook, playing a game, etc. etc.??????? Please describe it as best as possible where it is on the display so we can try it to duplicate it.

I don't see anything on my 16gb for what is being described but we all do different things.

Thanks much!

I actually noticed my issue when on this forum. It's predominantly white and I noticed when the home button is on the lower side my left side fades from a nice white to a murky greenish white. It's sad but now I can't help but see it when on Mac Rumors forums.
 

Sowelu

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2008
754
885
New York City
Interesting that the OP is in NYC, where I got a pinkish/greenish Air today. Returned it. Not getting another. Makes me wonder if there's a direct shipment from a certain factory to NYC, because I went through 5 ipad 3s with the exact same problem a couple of years ago.

Overall warm or overall cool would be fine with me. It's the shifting across the screen that is intolerable, especially as a photographer who shows a lot of black and white images on my ipad screen...monochrome landscapes with pink skies are not very flattering.
I got mine at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue ('The Cube'). I love that store since it's so small, never crowded, hardly any tourists, smells fresh and clean and you're in and out in 2 minutes or less. ;)

I am thinking that the factories just randomly pull from a gigantic stock pile of displays regardless of supplier. I got lucky with my iPad 4, I eventually got a 'good' one in the SoHo store.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,726
1,132
Thanks to those that replied. Can you do a screen shot? I do not see on my Air what is being described.
 
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