Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Yellow Tint Redux

C

chancee

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
39
0
Not sure why the other yellow tint thread is closed, but I felt obligated to give an update on my situation... After going through 12 new ipads I was shocked to actually land on an absolute PERFECT one on my last try. I had become completely convinced that there was some kind of defect with all of them and had pretty much given up. The only reason I picked up #12, the perfect one, is because I accidentally took the one back I had finally decided to settle with, and was left with the horrible one.

When I realized my mistake, the Apple store was closed for the day and when I called the first thing the next morning they informed me they send all returns back at the end of each day. So I was left with little choice but to exchange my horrible one and roll the dice. And so I'm here to tell you there are absolutely perfect models out there without a trace of yellow, discolor, anything, anywhere. My keyboard looks perfect. The screen is absolutely phenomenal.

I came to realize in my exchange madness that there seemed to be two types of back-lights. I'm not talking about the tint, I'm talking about an entirely different light source lighting the ipads. On almost all of the black ones I had, the light was of a warmer nature, and somewhat dull. Those same black ones are also the ones that had the 'yellow' tint somewhere... either in a corner, on half the unit.

The second back-light is more of a cooler tone, more akin to a fluorescent light. And I found these mostly on the white ipads. These white ones usually had an annoying red tint instead of the yellow. The one I had finally decided to keep before I accidentally took it back was this kind. A White one with reddish tint.

So then I got home with basically my last ipad and it was perfect. It is a white one with the cooler back-light... but NO RED TINT. No tint whatsoever.

I'm not posting this to make anyone feel bad who still has one with tint on theirs... because I know reading this would have annoyed me two weeks ago. I'm posting this because I think it's unacceptable that Apple would have such lousy quality control that so many people would have to go through all this hell. And maybe if enough people don't stand for it, they'll pay closer attention to what they're charging $800 for. Because I know I could have just as easily not wound up with the one I did, or could windup with a bad one next time.
 
The best looking screen I've seen out of a dozen or so was a 16gb white at an AT&T store. I really don't want a whIte iPad but I can't stand th screens of the black ones I've had.
 
mcdj said:
The best looking screen I've seen out of a dozen or so was a 16gb white at an AT&T store. I really don't want a whIte iPad but I can't stand th screens of the black ones I've had.
Click to expand...

You still haven't gotten a good one yet? I haven't spent much time in that big older thread lately - it was getting redundant.
 
The most "yellow tinted" iPad I seen was a white 16 Gb wifi. So I don't think what your saying is entirely true about white iPads.
 
chancee said:
Not sure why the other yellow tint thread is closed, but I felt obligated to give an update on my situation... After going through 12 new ipads I was shocked to actually land on an absolute PERFECT one on my last try. I had become completely convinced that there was some kind of defect with all of them and had pretty much given up. .......

I'm posting this because I think it's unacceptable that Apple would have such lousy quality control that so many people would have to go through all this hell. And maybe if enough people don't stand for it, they'll pay closer attention to what they're charging $800 for. Because I know I could have just as easily not wound up with the one I did, or could windup with a bad one next time.
Click to expand...

I believe there is hope. Apple production was running below demand in March due to retina screen yield issues. So maybe you were the one that "drove them over the edge" and made them realize they needed to tighten their quality control. So on behalf of people like me who have been holding out and waiting for Apple to fix their quality control issues: I thank you for documenting your problems and enduring the abuse from the see-no-evil crowd.


http://9to5mac.com/2012/04/09/1000-...arned-in-asia-on-the-next-iphone/#more-159194

".. we walked away with the impression that production of Apple’s new iPad would have been higher during the March quarter if not for yield issues at panel makers driven by the new retina display that created a bottleneck in the supply chain. However, we believe the issue has largely been resolved and this should have an incrementally positive impact on the June quarter."
 
Last edited:
richpjr said:
You still haven't gotten a good one yet? I haven't spent much time in that big older thread lately - it was getting redundant.
Click to expand...

The one I have now is much better in the pink/green dept. But it's kinda blotchy and dim in spots and there's a big streak of lemon yellow down the right side, accompanied by a sliver of shadow/dark pixels. At first I'd thought I'd be fine with the screeen if it weren't for the dark pixels, but now I realize the dark pixels don't really bother me; it's the yellow.

This has been so frustrating, and made even more so by seeing the pics of nice screens here, and actually seeing a really nice one in the flesh.

----------
Fruit Cake said:
The most "yellow tinted" iPad I seen was a white 16 Gb wifi. So I don't think what your saying is entirely true about white iPads.
Click to expand...

I've seen a really pink tinted white iPad too. But it, and the neutral tinted one I saw had something none of the ones I've owned had...they were evenly lit and colored, not blotchy or multicolored.
 
chancee said:
I came to realize in my exchange madness that there seemed to be two types of back-lights. On almost all of the black ones I had, the light was of a warmer nature, and somewhat dull. Those same black ones are also the ones that had the 'yellow' tint somewhere... either in a corner, on half the unit.

The second back-light is more of a cooler tone, more akin to a fluorescent light. And I found these mostly on the white ipads. These white ones usually had an annoying red tint instead of the yellow.
Click to expand...

this. exactly the same conclusion i came to recently after looking at about 20 of them. more so, the cooler "back-light" affects the sharpness and brightness of the unit making everything look just right and pronounced against those yellow _defective_ ones that are inconsistent throughout. it's the holy grail of the new ipad (yes, there were only 2 or 3 good units in those 20) but really worth all the pain you might go through while looking for one.

now, what happened to the original yellow tint thread? somebody's trying to sweep this under the rag. this topic needs MORE attention.
 
mcdj said:
The one I have now is much better in the pink/green dept. But it's kinda blotchy and dim in spots and there's a big streak of lemon yellow down the right side, accompanied by a sliver of shadow/dark pixels. At first I'd thought I'd be fine with the screeen if it weren't for the dark pixels, but now I realize the dark pixels don't really bother me; it's the yellow.

This has been so frustrating, and made even more so by seeing the pics of nice screens here, and actually seeing a really nice one in the flesh.

----------



I've seen a really pink tinted white iPad too. But it, and the neutral tinted one I saw had something none of the ones I've owned had...they were evenly lit and colored, not blotchy or multicolored.
Click to expand...

Keep trying. They're out there. My pink tinted screen was week 6 and my yellow/tint free one is week 9. I don't think there's a correlation w build weeks. People just get lucky.

Although apple is not going to do recall, I think they should inform employees more of screen issue (bc some apple geeks never even heard of this) and let customers freely exchange after the 14 day return window. I had 1 apple genius not really believe me and another take my word for it and just swapped it out for me.

----------
vjacques said:
this. exactly the same conclusion i came to recently after looking at about 20 of them. more so, the cooler "back-light" affects the sharpness and brightness of the unit making everything look just right and pronounced against those yellow _defective_ ones that are inconsistent throughout. it's the holy grail of the new ipad (yes, there were only 2 or 3 good units in those 20) but really worth all the pain you might go through while looking for one.

now, what happened to the original yellow tint thread? somebody's trying to sweep this under the rag. this topic needs MORE attention.
Click to expand...

Lol I think it's closed bc people were starting to fight too much over the OCD, non yellow screen issue.
 
Got my 2nd iPad today, and noticed right away that it was tinted pink. My previous one was yellow at the top. I have no idea if I want to send it back or not.

The annoying thing is that if I send it back, I HAVE to send it for a refund. Apple's new policy basically means all devices need to be sent in for "repair" to be inspected by a technician, and it doesnt matter if your screen is dark yellow, they'll still say its "within spec", and send it back to you.

They are a truly awful company to deal with when it comes to screen issues. Why on earth do a company as huge as Apple, with $80bn in spare change, have some of the worst quality control standards?

The only company I have ever had trouble with quality wise was Samsung, with my first (and last) Galaxy S2. Every other device I have owned has been perfect in every way screen wise.
 
mcdj said:
guess who made your ipad screen...
Click to expand...

If its pink or yellow, its always a Samsung. LG on the other hand seem to make the more neutral or blue-ish tinted ones.

The actual yellow shading on certain areas of the screen though, is down to the glass covering the screen.
 
Ok disregard my previous long comment about their returns policy.

It seems that if you ring Apple while you're just a tad angry at the same time, they will send a replacement out.

Looks like I'm back on the merry-go-round!

If I'm honest, I'll happily keep replacing them till I actually get a decent one. The fact that I have 2 PlayBooks, and original iPad, 2 Galaxy S2's (relatives), a cheap ass ZTE Blade, a PSP ficking GO, and even an iPhone 4S, all with normal screens, amongst many other gadgets i own past and present, is proof enough that something is seriously wrong.
 
Keep replacing? You guys are abusing the return policy. But of course, i's Apple's fault in the first place for making crappy built products.

My suggestion is save yourself money. Return it for a refund. If you haven't bought the pad yet, don't buy it. It's not worth it.
 
wait wait wait... so let me see if I understand:

you're saying that the white iPads somehow have a "better" screen than black ones? Better meaning less prone to be "yellow"?

wow.
 
iHeartsteve said:
Keep trying. They're out there.
Click to expand...


HOLY MOTHER OF JOBS! I don't want to jinx it, but I think I finally got a good one. Just returned from yet another trip to the Apple store. I've lost track of how many this makes it...it must be 5 or 6. But finally, I got one with no glaring pink splotches, no hot yellow splotches, no gaps in the bezel foam, no dead/stuck pixels.

Overall, the color is warmer than the one I just returned, which I didn't realize was so magenta until I compared it to this new one. It's definitely not yellow, but it's a pleasing warm neutral.
 
mcdj said:
HOLY MOTHER OF JOBS! I don't want to jinx it, but I think I finally got a good one. Just returned from yet another trip to the Apple store. I've lost track of how many this makes it...it must be 5 or 6. But finally, I got one with no glaring pink splotches, no hot yellow splotches, no gaps in the bezel foam, no dead/stuck pixels.

Overall, the color is warmer than the one I just returned, which I didn't realize was so magenta until I compared it to this new one. It's definitely not yellow, but it's a pleasing warm neutral.
Click to expand...
Great news! This gives me a bit of hope that I too will get a ‘good’ one.

I returned my iPad 3 after 2 replacements displayed that horrid uneven tint (magenta on one side, perfect on the other, dim bluish tint on the bottom right, dim dingy yellow/green tint on upper left). It was so obvious and distracting while reading email, iBooks or any white page document. Typing was also a joy with the left side of the keyboard showing a different color than the right.

Do you happen to know the build week? I know that this doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but if it’s a later week iPad, perhaps another supplier kicked in.
 
mcdj said:
HOLY MOTHER OF JOBS! I don't want to jinx it, but I think I finally got a good one. Just returned from yet another trip to the Apple store. I've lost track of how many this makes it...it must be 5 or 6. But finally, I got one with no glaring pink splotches, no hot yellow splotches, no gaps in the bezel foam, no dead/stuck pixels.

Overall, the color is warmer than the one I just returned, which I didn't realize was so magenta until I compared it to this new one. It's definitely not yellow, but it's a pleasing warm neutral.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear this! Too bad you had to go through so many to get a good one. I'm sure you had better things to do with your time than act as QC for Apple.
 
Sowelu said:
Great news! This gives me a bit of hope that I too will get a ‘good’ one.

I returned my iPad 3 after 2 replacements displayed that horrid uneven tint (magenta on one side, perfect on the other, dim bluish tint on the bottom right, dim dingy yellow/green tint on upper left). It was so obvious and distracting while reading email, iBooks or any white page document. Typing was also a joy with the left side of the keyboard showing a different color than the right.

Do you happen to know the build week? I know that this doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but if it’s a later week iPad, perhaps another supplier kicked in.
Click to expand...

Thats exactly my main issue with the last 2 iPads I've been sent. Thank you sir. You've put it into the words that I could not. I shall bookmark this for further disputes with Apple.

Its so annoying that I now have 2 Apple products being replaced over and over again. I'm still waiting for my 2nd iPhone 4S replacement box to come for me to send my current one back. Everything about the screen and the device is perfect, apart from a 2cm wide dark spot in the middle of the screen. Insanely annoying when browsing on light backgrounds etc.
 
mcdj said:
HOLY MOTHER OF JOBS! I don't want to jinx it, but I think I finally got a good one. Just returned from yet another trip to the Apple store. I've lost track of how many this makes it...it must be 5 or 6. But finally, I got one with no glaring pink splotches, no hot yellow splotches, no gaps in the bezel foam, no dead/stuck pixels.

Overall, the color is warmer than the one I just returned, which I didn't realize was so magenta until I compared it to this new one. It's definitely not yellow, but it's a pleasing warm neutral.
Click to expand...

Congrats! We all deserve a iPad w no tinting or dead pixels. :D
 
Leonard1818 said:
wait wait wait... so let me see if I understand:

you're saying that the white iPads somehow have a "better" screen than black ones? Better meaning less prone to be "yellow"?

wow.
Click to expand...

I have a white one and it does not have a better screen. I have a corner which is more yellow than the rest of the screen. His observation is based on a limited sample size and isn't accurate.
 
physicsguy13 said:
I have a white one and it does not have a better screen. I have a corner which is more yellow than the rest of the screen. His observation is based on a limited sample size and isn't accurate.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I gathered that from the post. Insane. People will come up with all kinds of crazy crap to justify true randomness.

We have an iPad (3rd gen) black and it's PERFECT.
 
I have a new iPad that has an uneven yellow tint in the upper left corner. I actually first discovered this while reading stuff, got upset and then went online to check if I was the only one. So I landed here. A lot of people who I showed the iPad in landscape mode confirmed easily that it's "darker on the right side".

I just got off the phone with the retailer who sold me my new iPad (it's in Europe and he doesn't have a 14 day policy). He had taken photos yesterday and told me that he'd get in touch with Apple to see if they'd replace it.

He just told me that Apple said that it was a minor cosmetic issue that might happen with another device as well and that therefore it could not be replaced under the guarantee.

The retailer told me to call up Apple directly and see if I could convince them to give me a replacement anyway.

I'm a little hesitant because I wanted to look at the thing first in the store. Mine is fine for watching videos etc. and if I turn it the right way in landscape mode so that the darker spot is in the lower left corner instead of upper right, it's less noticeable (probably because my eyes are trained to read from the top left to the low right). This way, I'm playing the lottery. I'm not caring about an overall tint. It's just the unevenness that is driving me mad.

Suggestions?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back