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rMBP Ghosting Poll . . .

R

ReddestDream

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 22, 2010
89
2
North Carolina
I ordered a 2.7/16/512 Retina MacBook Pro (Shipping: July 16-19), and I'm really worried about the “ghosting” (image retention) issue . . . :(

I created this poll to get an idea of just how widespread the issue was and what models it predominately affected. In the interest of keeping the poll simple, I didn’t list the Flash storage upgrade options for the 2.6/2.7 GHz model.

Thanks for helping! :D

Edit: Sorry I didn't have the poll up right away! Please vote now! ;)
 
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I have ghosting. Im starting to think that they all have this "issue" and that those who say they don't have ghosting are not checking the right way.

1. Set desktop background to dark grey.
2. Make sure in energy settings auto dim and sleep is set to never.
3. Open safari and go to google and leave the page on for 5-10 mins.
4. Press comman+H to hide safari and check for ghosting.

The ghost image disappears after about a minute.
 
My first rMBP had ghosting, it was a first shipment from best buy. A week later, new shipment and it does not have ghosting.
 
JrJ 15 said:
My first rMBP had ghosting, it was a first shipment from best buy. A week later, new shipment and it does not have ghosting.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? Did you check thoroughly?

My macbook just arrived today from china so its a newer batch and it still has ghosting.
 
melterx12 said:
Are you sure? Did you check thoroughly?

My macbook just arrived today from china so its a newer batch and it still has ghosting.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I'm looking for . . .

Different models may be moving at different rates, and since Apple still has not publicly acknowledged the problem, there still may be machines with particular configurations in stock that have the "ghosting" issue . . .
 
Will this ghost issue stay forever on the screen, or will fade away by a certain amount of time?
 
ReddestDream said:
This is exactly what I'm looking for . . .

Different models may be moving at different rates, and since Apple still has not publicly acknowledged the problem, there still may be machines with particular configurations in stock that have the "ghosting" issue . . .
Click to expand...

Well I have the base macbook, which surely has been selling the most out of all the configurations, so I highly doubt it is related to a specific batch of displays.
 
I was in what I think were the first batch of people to get the 2.6/16GB/512GB models and I have no ghosting. I've checked and I don't see any.
 
melterx12 said:
Well I have the base macbook, which surely has been selling the most out of all the configurations, so I highly doubt it is related to a specific batch of displays.
Click to expand...

True . . .

Your experience does seem to indicate that either the models with bad displays are scatted in the supply chain (at least for models made at higher volume) or, in truth, all models have ghosting, though perhaps to differing degrees among the individual machines . . .

This is all very disappointing . . . :(

Can anyone with a rMBP that does not have ghosting make a video to demonstrates what happens when you try the gray-background test with different time intervals (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 20 min)? I'm not accusing anyone of lying or not testing properly. I've just never seen a video with a demonstration of what "not-ghosting" looks like on the rMBP.
 
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UPDATE:

decided to go to the Apple Store to get a replacement. As I was showing the problem to the apple store employee I noticed a fedex guy passing by with some boxes.

The employee told me they had no base model retinas in stock so they could not exchange my macbook and that I should come back later or try a different store.

I asked him about the shipment they just got from fedex 5 minutes ago and he told me they don't have stock right now, as if ignoring my question. I asked him if he could check the boxes and he said he could not and just kept repeating himself. As I was about to leave I guess he changed his mind or something. He told me to wait while he checked the shipment that just came in in the back room.

Sure enough he came back out with a base retina macbook that just came in (they only got one in the shipment).

Anyway, I just checked my replacement using the same method I posted above, and it has NO ghosting!

This replacement is from week 25 (June). My original retina macbook was week 26 (July).

This leads me to believe that the problem isn't related to a batch of displays, but is rather just the luck of the draw.
 
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Is this the process everyone is using to check?

melterx12 said:
I have ghosting. Im starting to think that they all have this "issue" and that those who say they don't have ghosting are not checking the right way.

1. Set desktop background to dark grey.
2. Make sure in energy settings auto dim and sleep is set to never.
3. Open safari and go to google and leave the page on for 5-10 mins.
4. Press comman+H to hide safari and check for ghosting.

The ghost image disappears after about a minute.
Click to expand...
 
I didn't notice any ghosting until the other day when I loaded up Photoshop CS6 and saw it against the background. Went away after a few minutes.
 
melterx12 said:
I have ghosting. Im starting to think that they all have this "issue" and that those who say they don't have ghosting are not checking the right way.

1. Set desktop background to dark grey.
2. Make sure in energy settings auto dim and sleep is set to never.
3. Open safari and go to google and leave the page on for 5-10 mins.
4. Press comman+H to hide safari and check for ghosting.

The ghost image disappears after about a minute.
Click to expand...

Did this test just now, and have zero ghosting.
 
The very moment they appeared online for pre-order I bought a fully maxed out BTO MBPr. It arrived just four days later.

While it was a nice computer, I had no idea it was, for all intents and purposes unserviceable, or let's say partially serviceable but only by Apple. This fact bothers me, and goes against my philosophy since what we are telling Apple when we choose to buy one, is that it's OK for them to lock us out of the computer. Something no other laptop maker does.

While it did not have the ghosting problem, I got rid of it. Had I known it was going to be built as it is, I would have never had ordered it. Not every Apple enthusiast just buys whatever Apple sells no matter what.

That said, a good friend also ordered when I did. His was fine for the first few days, then the ghosting problem appeared. It's pretty bad on his.

Yesterday we took it to our local Apple store, one look and the genius agreed. In fact he didn't even have the patience to wait for the residual image to fade after shutting down the machine. On that computer, it took a full four minutes after it was fully shut down before the image faded from the display.

So far the new one they gave him is fine. Time will tell.

For those who have not received a replacement just yet, I'm confident Apple will take care of all the defective ones. It's probably nothing more than a defect in a batch of panels or other component that causes this.
 
Poll should have been just a simple yes/no. Don't think the configurations have much of an effect on bad retina panels.
 
melterx12 said:
Are you sure? Did you check thoroughly?

My macbook just arrived today from china so its a newer batch and it still has ghosting.
Click to expand...

I checked very thoroughly and there is no ghosting. Reading other posts, it seems like it is just luck of the draw.
 
Mine will be here towards the middle of this month but if it has ghosting I will just return for a refund. Such a long delay for initial shipping is not worth waiting even longer for another.

Mac products are basically the most expensive on the market and should not be subject to these types of problems. What really bothers me is their mentality is that they have higher quality products so they can charge more. Then when their products have problems, they revert back to demonstrating how other similar devices have the same problems. Sorry, you cant sell me something on its uniqueness then dismiss problems by generalizing.
 
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