15" MBP 2016 Screen Uniformity (White Point)

[Spoony Bard]

Man, I member when uniform lighting was a problem in MacBooks, let alone colour temperature. I think the display on my 2016 15" is the best yet, though it's a touch on the warm side.

It's been years since we've been able to accurately pull display manufacturer information from our Macs, but I'm curious to know who makes these panels. I wonder if it's still a mix of Samsung/LG/etc.

610 is a meaningless as a manufacturer identifier, btw; every MacBook will return this value.

 

[Farsider]

How? Where in System Preferences?

System Preferences / Display / Color / Calibrate button.

Use the slider to make the screen as warm or cool as you desire.

 

[Branskins]

Update: I just picked up my 3rd 15" MBP w/ TB from the Apple Store. I explained the situation to them(this was my 2nd time there in two days for the same problem so they knew what was going on) and they were totally cool with another exchange. This time they let me open it in store to check the screen.

So 2 out of 3 had the screen issue. Maybe my store has bad stock, not sure. I told them to contact me if they need more details about the issue.

But you found one you're happy with?

 

[nwsugoi]

But you found one you're happy with?

Yes, the one they let me test in store has a uniform screen.

 

[dugbug]

Could this be similar to the iPhone manufacturing where glue sandwiched between the screen layers has to dry and the preorder rush means you get a unit before it's cured?

I think it took a week on iPhones and the yellowish tint went away.

 

[nwsugoi]

Could this be similar to the iPhone manufacturing where glue sandwiched between the screen layers has to dry and the preorder rush means you get a unit before it's cured?

I think it took a week on iPhones and the yellowish tint went away.

I thought about it. I noticed that when I pushed on the screen lightly the tint would go away. Maybe it was my imagination.

Perhaps that's why people who are checking right now aren't seeing the issue because they've had theirs longer?

 

[Farsider]

Yes, the one they let me test in store has a uniform screen.

I find its impossible to detect screen uniformity issues at the Store. What's it like when you got it home?

 

[Dick Whitman]

I've played the display lottery before and as the rest of my laptop is A1 perfect, I'm not going to put myself through that again. Its stressful and futile as there is no perfect display. You could end up with something much worse and be stuck with it. Convincing Genius' in store isn't always easy as these display issues are rarely visible in an Apple Store.

Could not agree more but I'm not sure my OCD will let me leave it alone. What's frustrating is that I know there are perfect screens out there. I've had them before. My Mid 2012 MBA (after some trial and error), my iPhone 6, and my iPad Mini 4 all had beautiful, evenly uniform displays. Maybe they weren't perfect in a truly technical sense but they exhibited no glaring or obvious visual inconsistencies. At a minimum, I think I'm going to call Apple tomorrow and see how they respond. Can't hurt to try.

 

[Obagleyfreer]

Yeah I'm playing the screen lottery now. Waited 7 weeks for mine and got a screen like this!

 

[sneak3]

I will be buying a new MBP soon and I'm already worrying about the screen. I'm extremely sensitive towards color and brightness uniformity.

Do you guys think I should buy it directly at an Apple Store or Online, maybe pickup at store only? Which method will be more forgiving when it comes to more than 1 exchange?

 

[xmonkey]

Yeah I'm playing the screen lottery now. Waited 7 weeks for mine and got a screen like this!

You gonna find all the screen threads to post this in or something? This makes 3. It's already been suggested when you first posted that yours has a problem and should be exchanged. Not sure what your plan is here...

I will be buying a new MBP soon and I'm already worrying about the screen. I'm extremely sensitive towards color and brightness uniformity.

Do you guys think I should buy it directly at an Apple Store or Online, maybe pickup at store only? Which method will be more forgiving when it comes to more than 1 exchange?

Buying directly from Apple (in-store or online, either is ok) is the best way to go if you think you'll need to make exchanges.

 

[Branskins]

Buying directly from Apple (in-store or online, either is ok) is the best way to go if you think you'll need to make exchanges.

This! The exchange process is pretty painless with Apple. Plus your order jumps to the front of the queue so you aren't waiting weeks to receive it.

 

[sneak3]

I've heard some people saying that in-store might trigger the attention of employees and managers that would try and make you stop with the exchanges (as for them the screen is usually "PERFECT").

 

[xmonkey]

I've heard some people saying that in-store might trigger the attention of employees and managers that would try and make you stop with the exchanges (as for them the screen is usually "PERFECT").

If you're within your return period there's really nothing they can do if you want to exchange it (for any reason). If they say no (they won't), you just say you want to return it for a full refund (and buy a new one).

Either way, from some of the anecdotes I've read on this forum, Apple is being very understanding of returns/exchanges for these new MBPs. My own experiences exchanging other Apple products I own have been the same: very easy. I've gone through quite a few iPads and iPhones for bad screens because I'm really picky and it wasn't an issue.

In all likelihood, you're going to get a good screen the first time.

 

[sneak3]

Thanks xmonkey! So in theory I have 14 days to make as many exchanges I want or to return it for a full refund? And what if I return it on the 13th, then buy another one. Do I get another 14 days?

I remember to have read about people getting blacklisted, banned or something similar.

Also, if I do pick it up online first, that opens me the possibility to make exchanges both in-store and online, correct? As opposed to buying it straight from the store.

 

[lilkangster]

There's also a weird greenish blue off angle color too

View attachment 673951

View attachment 673950

I noticed this also while comparing to my older retina 15" MacBook Pro. The viewing angle on the new MacBook is simply not as good as the older versions. Even a slight tilt in viewing angle will produce a uneven tint in coloring.

 

[thesimplelogic]

I hadn't noticed any tinge prior to reading this post but now I can see it! I feel like the longer I look at it the worse it gets, but mine isn't super noticeable, and since I'm more a music production person rather than photography, it's not a huge deal for me. Would they consider this a faulty product and let you exchange it during the warranty period, if it is outisde returns?

 

[Branskins]

I hadn't noticed any tinge prior to reading this post but now I can see it! I feel like the longer I look at it the worse it gets, but mine isn't super noticeable, and since I'm more a music production person rather than photography, it's not a huge deal for me. Would they consider this a faulty product and let you exchange it during the warranty period, if it is outisde returns?

It would need to be repaired at that point

 

[Balders]

Just returned my 2016 15" tbMBP for a similar reason. The screen looked generally quite dull/dingy at medium brightness levels and the very right hand side had a slightly blue tint to it - it looked as if the bezel was too tight or something (similar effect to pressing down on the screen).

When I moved a finder window over to very right hand side, the window would turn a cooler blue/white. The scroll bar in Safari was blue too - tried to ignore it but the more I used it, the more it bugged me.

Spoke to Apple and they are shipping me another one - fingers crossed for this new one.

Comparing my 2013 13" MacBook Air screen side by side with the tbMBP, the screen seems far far better on the Air.

 

[Obagleyfreer]

In all the Retina display devices I've had, I've never had or seen a perfectly uniform display in both backlight and tint. Each one always displayed a 'characteristic'. In my experience that was either yellow stains, blue to white/yellow colour shifts, dark patches or pink to green colour shifts (this is a slightly warped polariser in the screen apparently). There is no perfect screen out there. If you're unlucky enough to be able to see these characteristics, its about finding a screen that you can live with.

Take my 15" TB MBP for example. The screen is uniformly lit (yay!) and has no Pink>Green or Blue>Yellow colour shifts (yay!). The native White Point is much warmer than my 2014 13" rMBP but I have addressed that in System Preferences by making the screen temperature a little cooler.

What I have noticed is the tint of the screen changes at different vertical viewing angles. With the screen facing you head on, the top & bottom of the screen is slightly browner/duller than the middle of the screen. If I tilt the screen towards me the top of the screen is brighter and whiter and the bottom is browner and duller. If I tilt the screen back, the bottom is brighter and whiter but the top is browner and duller. This is in line with one of the comments made earlier in the thread by DHagan4755 about the bottom 3rd of the screen being 'dusty'. That sounds suspiciously like what I'm seeing too.

You can easily see the tint change when scrolling this thread up and down and following a block of text with your eyes. I have no basis for comparison as I've never had a Retina display as large as the 15" before so I'm chalking it down to yet another 'characteristic'.

I've played the display lottery before and as the rest of my laptop is A1 perfect, I'm not going to put myself through that again. Its stressful and futile as there is no perfect display. You could end up with something much worse and be stuck with it. Convincing Genius' in store isn't always easy as these display issues are rarely visible in an Apple Store.

Here's my 2014 13" rMBP compared to my 15"

I think the photo shows the white point differences. On the 15" the top and bottom posts are slightly browner/duller that the post in the middle.

The right hand side of your screen looks really pink compared to the rest, is that just the photo or does it really look like that?

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

If I look at my screen for long enough my eyes start playing tricks on me and I see uneven lighting all over the place. I generally feel my screen is uniform however there is a slight but definite pink hue to the left and right of my screen. This doesn't bother me at all and the rest of my machine is perfect so I don't want to swap it out and risk any number of problems reported here. I can attest to the fact that every laptop I have owned has had some screen irregularity of sorts; the question for me is whether it interferes with anything at all.

 

[kokhoong0624]

If I look at my screen for long enough my eyes start playing tricks on me and I see uneven lighting all over the place. I generally feel my screen is uniform however there is a slight but definite pink hue to the left and right of my screen. This doesn't bother me at all and the rest of my machine is perfect so I don't want to swap it out and risk any number of problems reported here. I can attest to the fact that every laptop I have owned has had some screen irregularity of sorts; the question for me is whether it interferes with anything at all.

I have the same issue. Pink hue on the left and blue hue on the right, its definitely not your eyes playing tricks. I swapped out mine. Not acceptable on a 3000 dollar equipment. Even my non retina MBP have even and uniform lighting.

 

[BoredSnow]

I've measured the white point on my nTB and there was a 300 degree difference between the bottom left corner (pink hue) and top right corner (blue hue). It was too much for me. Waiting for a replace now.

 

[sneak3]

I've measured the white point on my nTB and there was a 300 degree difference between the bottom left corner (pink hue) and top right corner (blue hue). It was too much for me. Waiting for a replace now.

Yep thats the safest route. Always have my colormeter ready with me when testing recent tech gadgets with screens. For some reason my displays from 10-5 years ago always had uniformly lit displays with no stains, tints or gradients.

Nowadays, oh boy, they dont care about those anymore as long as it's "ips" "retina" "4k" "wide gamut". Screw that. I had to go through 6 ipads and 5 iphones 7 to get units that had REASONABLE, not perfect screens, cause others had deviations so bad I wanted to punch the screens.

 

[xmonkey]

Thanks xmonkey! So in theory I have 14 days to make as many exchanges I want or to return it for a full refund? And what if I return it on the 13th, then buy another one. Do I get another 14 days?

I remember to have read about people getting blacklisted, banned or something similar.

Also, if I do pick it up online first, that opens me the possibility to make exchanges both in-store and online, correct? As opposed to buying it straight from the store.

Sorry didn't see this earlier. Ya, you'd have the 14 days to do all that. If you return one on the 13th for a refund and buy a new one the return period should start over new (as far as I know).

Buying online would let you exchange in store, yes. You could ship it back to Apple for an exchange as well, but I've never done that as I've got lots of Apple Stores near me and shipping it is a hassle compared to just walking into the store.