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iPad Air screen defect?

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I just want to add my experience to this wonderful thread :) I've been using macs since 1993 and have owned pretty much every laptop Apple has created since then, and several desktops too. I also owned an iPad 1 and iPad mini, both of which I was happy with. I AM generally discerning with displays and usually won't accept a display that has weird colour shifts or very uneven backlight illumination - a bit of bleed is fine for me though if it's only visible when viewing movies in the dark.

I just got my third iPad air. I also tried a mini retina between the first two airs. The first two airs were returned because they were yellow on the left side. The retina mini was returned because it had an overall yellowish display and also poor viewing angles/significant brightness reduction when viewed from the side, especially compared with my mini 1.

I'm going to accept the third Air as the best I can get right now. The screen is warmer (i.e. whites are more yellow than blue) than I'd like and the backlight is not even (brighter along the bottom and right side, darker along the left). It also has a slight shadow about an inch from the left edge that is not very distracting. Taken as a whole, it gives a decent impression without too many glaring defects. But it certainly is FAR from perfect and much less than I would expect for a product at this price point. I'm sure many people would consider it to be a good display and not notice these issues.

What I'd really like to know is why the screens are having these defects - is it the actual design, or simply sloppy quality control by Apple and the screen manufacturers?
 
I'm sure it's not QC control fail. It's a pure and typical design issue. Not necessarily the Air itself, but the way it's produced.
The question remains : why some iPads Air screens are just fine, beside many flawed?
Probably the answer lies on production lines where screens are damaged during assembly. Assembling the Air must be very tricky due to its thickness . Most likely the robots during the assembly fail. And my guess is that Apple was aware of the problem but decided nonetheless to sell the new iPad based on that the defect would be acceptable for 90% of the crowd.
 
Fuelflow said:
I'm sure it's not QC control fail. It's a pure and typical design issue. Not necessarily the Air itself, but the way it's produced.
The question remains : why some iPads Air screens are just fine, beside many flawed?
Probably the answer lies on production lines where screens are damaged during assembly. Assembling the Air must be very tricky due to its thickness . Most likely the robots during the assembly fail. And my guess is that Apple was aware of the problem but decided nonetheless to sell the new iPad based on that the defect would be acceptable for 90% of the crowd.
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yeah, that seems plausible. I can't imagine that sharp and samsung are producing displays like this, but I'm not an expert on the technology or manufacturing challenges...

To add to my post: the latest iPad air I got has virtually no backlight bleed when viewing a black imagine in full screen mode in a dark room.
 
PDE said:
yeah, that seems plausible. I can't imagine that sharp and samsung are producing displays like this, but I'm not an expert on the technology or manufacturing challenges...

To add to my post: the latest iPad air I got has virtually no backlight bleed when viewing a black imagine in full screen mode in a dark room.
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Whatever the issue, it has something to do with the retina screens. For whatever reason, screen uniformity is very hard to achieve. I noticed the MBPs in the Apple store also have gradients across their screens. My iPhone does, my retina iPads do, etc. For that matter, I've noticed Android devices with the same issue. These manufacturers are just pushing out bleeding edge (excuse the pun) screen tech and there are clearly some trade offs.
 
Air screen defect?

thelookingglass said:
Whatever the issue, it has something to do with the retina screens. For whatever reason, screen uniformity is very hard to achieve. I noticed the MBPs in the Apple store also have gradients across their screens. My iPhone does, my retina iPads do, etc. For that matter, I've noticed Android devices with the same issue. These manufacturers are just pushing out bleeding edge (excuse the pun) screen tech and there are clearly some trade offs.
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I've noticed this as well with all devices I have owned, but the 4 airs I've owned at first glance don't even look like they should have passed a QC check had they been sampled. It really saddens me too, because as a device it is a huge step up from my 3 other than the display.
 
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Max(IT) said:
Could you post a picture ?
Is it something so noticeable ? A blemish is not a dent ....
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Sorry didn't have time to post a picture, I decided to return it, since I still had time to exchange it again if I got a bad screen.

I ended up going to an Apple Store close by, not the original store that I had bought it from. The return process was simple, they got me a new one, they passed me to another rep who had asked what was wrong with it, I told them about the blemish by the bezel near the headphone jack and she immediately pointed it out without me showing her, guess it was that obvious. Anywho they got me a new one and after paying the added sales tax since I had bought it elsewhere I was on my way.

As soon as I got home I opened it up and immediately looked for any scratches or damages to the exterior. And I can say none found so far. I then increased the brightness to the max and opened up the Notes application and from what I can see the screen seems to be evenly lit, though I still have the plastic sleeve on. But from what I can see no issues as of now.

Later tonight I'll take it out of the sleeve and see if the screen is truly perfect. The good news is the first four of the serial number matches my last Air I bought.
 
Max brightness hides the defects. Tone it down to 50% and read either web pages with white background or ebooks. If your new unit is affected with yellowing or book spine you'll see it immediately. Or even better: don't look for anything if you're pleased with your screen... And forget about that thread !
 
Fuelflow said:
There are morons sometime passing by.
I believe 80% of most users of iPad is simply "reading" . Just that : reading. Books, internet, PDFs for work, magazines, etc.
most reading is done, most of time, with white backgrounds. So how does it feel when you read from left to right, when the left of the screen is yellow creamy and the right is cold blue white ? Not good.
But after all, perhaps the arrogant and uneducated posters who accuse other people reporting in This thread of psychic disorder don't read themselves. Perhaps they play games on their pad so they re not bothered with screen faults .
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I agree as well. It's quite obnoxious that people go out of their way to attack others. Seriously, do they not have anything better to do? This issue is widespread across many forums and by stating otherwise makes you appear to be nothing more than an ignorant (fill in the blank). Geees, give people the benefit of a doubt once in a while.

Also, I emailed Apple about the issue and to see if they'll be addressing the issue for those of us who are not oblivious to it. To not acknowledge after so many complaints by users would be embarrassing for a company and would only reinforce how little pride and concern of perfection they have in their products. If I get some oblivious response, I'll be quitting with Apple since it won't be the company I grew to enjoy with its pride, perfection and awareness of its products and customers.
 
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I spoke with the lady who is handling a case I have with my iPhone 5S. She asked if there was anything else she could do for me, and after contemplating if I should tell her about my iPad Air having a yellow tint down the side and a darker screen on one side I decided to tell her and ask if she could give me any information. I told her that I had done some research into it which says that the yellow tint should fade within a few use cycles.

She said that it was the glue holding the screen setting and should indeed fade after use, but as mine has it after a month of use she said maybe its not set properly. She told me to take a few photographs of it and send them to her.

If she gets back to me and says Apple will replace it, I'm going to request a retail unit, Apple have really messed up for me this year, I have been through 5 different iPhone 5s's (3 of which were refurbishments), they made an exception for me to change the colour but they keep messing up sending the new colour iPhone out to me (I have been waiting for weeks), I keep being told i'll be contacted and will get information but I don't, I don't get anything back when I email the department Im supposed to email with information about returns for my old iPhone, the list is endless.

I have remained pleasant and so has the person who initially handled my case, so I think I'm well within my rights to request an exception with my iPad Air too if they do indeed offer to replace it.
 
DJJAZZYJET said:
I spoke with the lady who is handling a case I have with my iPhone 5S. She asked if there was anything else she could do for me, and after contemplating if I should tell her about my iPad Air having a yellow tint down the side and a darker screen on one side I decided to tell her and ask if she could give me any information. I told her that I had done some research into it which says that the yellow tint should fade within a few use cycles.

She said that it was the glue holding the screen setting and should indeed fade after use, but as mine has it after a month of use she said maybe its not set properly. She told me to take a few photographs of it and send them to her.

If she gets back to me and says Apple will replace it, I'm going to request a retail unit, Apple have really messed up for me this year, I have been through 5 different iPhone 5s's (3 of which were refurbishments), they made an exception for me to change the colour but they keep messing up sending the new colour iPhone out to me (I have been waiting for weeks), I keep being told i'll be contacted and will get information but I don't, I don't get anything back when I email the department Im supposed to email with information about returns for my old iPhone, the list is endless.

I have remained pleasant and so has the person who initially handled my case, so I think I'm well within my rights to request an exception with my iPad Air too if they do indeed offer to replace it.
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Ironically I just found out my iPad Air has TERRIBLE light bleed by trying a backlight bleeding test :(
 

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DJJAZZYJET said:
Never noticed it with day to day use (been using it since black friday back in november), now I'm just horrified with how bad it is.
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Did you try using backlight on medium? I never use my iPad past 1/3 - 1/2 ..

My old iMac had backlight bleeding like yours, and it never bothered as long as I didn't watch a movie, if that was the case I had to turn it all the way down, there was no other way.
 
DJJAZZYJET said:
Never noticed it with day to day use (been using it since black friday back in november), now I'm just horrified with how bad it is.
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Well I'm not OCD at all, and I'm quite notorious for my criticize at thread like this a, but I have to admit that your screen bleeding is very noticeable and worth of a return. The only question is: did you notice it during normal usage ???
I can see some bleeding on my Air, just above 75-80% brightness on a perfectly dark room, mainly in the down left corner, which is the warmer side (maybe they are somewhat related). But in my case it's perfectly acceptable and I'm not going to change it.
 
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Tried again today from my local Apple Store. Nope - horrible yellow left side and blue/white right and it's going back. Week 51 2013. I give up. No iPad for me now. I have a Note 8 so that's what I'll be using until the new Nexus 10 appears.

Very poor show Apple. Gone from two iPads to none. Sigh.
 
Purplish vs. blue web links on the Air?

I've been following this thread with interest. I've had experience with several iPad Airs (my cousin's and friend's), an iPad mini, earlier iPads, etc. I've definitely seen defects or odd visual effects on the iPad Airs--pink-grayish screens; book spine patterns; etc. I've even seen a bit of gray diffuse splotchiness across the Air's screen, too, although some of that was inside my eyeball (floaters, odd visual effects, etc.).​

But I'm posting on a different matter. I'm wondering what color the web links are on your iPad Airs, e.g., Google search results and MacRumors's own links.
​
Are Web Links More Purple on the Air and Blue on the Mini?

On the Airs I've seen, they look more purplish, as if one had clicked on the links before. Which is disconcerting.:( In contrast, on our Mini--and the Retina Minis I've seen--the links look blue--a rich blue without any hint of purple. It's the same rich blue color that appears on the MacBook Airs, the iPhones, and earlier iPads.:rolleyes: (To be sure, there are variations by web site—Yahoo's search results, e.g., are bluer than Google's on the Air and Apple's own links are even a light blue on the Air.)​

The purple effect, though, spills over into apps, too. An astronomy app I run has constellation lines that are more purple on the Air… I did find an informative thread on the color issue, although it pertained to the iPad 3! https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1343504/​

Is the purplish cast now standard? Do all Airs have that hue?​

What do the web links look like on your Air vs. other iPads or other Airs?

Apologies for all the colors; I thought it would be useful to see what they look like on the different devices.​
 
Saturn007 said:
I've been following this thread with interest. I've had experience with several iPad Airs (my cousin's and friend's), an iPad mini, earlier iPads, etc. I've definitely seen defects or odd visual effects on the iPad Airs--pink-grayish screens; book spine patterns; etc. I've even seen a bit of gray diffuse splotchiness across the Air's screen, too, although some of that was inside my eyeball (floaters, odd visual effects, etc.).​

But I'm posting on a different matter. I'm wondering what color the web links are on your iPad Airs, e.g., Google search results and MacRumors's own links.
​
Are Web Links More Purple on the Air and Blue on the Mini?

On the Airs I've seen, they look more purplish, as if one had clicked on the links before. Which is disconcerting.:( In contrast, on our Mini--and the Retina Minis I've seen--the links look blue--a rich blue without any hint of purple. It's the same rich blue color that appears on the MacBook Airs, the iPhones, and earlier iPads.:rolleyes: (To be sure, there are variations by web site—Yahoo's search results, e.g., are bluer than Google's on the Air and Apple's own links are even a light blue on the Air.)​

The purple effect, though, spills over into apps, too. An astronomy app I run has constellation lines that are more purple on the Air… I did find an informative thread on the color issue, although it pertained to the iPad 3! https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1343504/​

Is the purplish cast now standard? Do all Airs have that hue?​

What do the web links look like on your Air vs. other iPads or other Airs?

Apologies for all the colors; I thought it would be useful to see what they look like on the different devices.​
Click to expand...


I can't comment on your link's questions, but in iMessage, my Air sent messages appear more purple than blue and on my rMini they look light blue than dark blue. The difference is almost staggering when looking side by side. Thankfully I use each separately. While most complain the rMini screen is washed out, I prefer it mostly to the Air in everyday use. In fact, now that they are jailbroken and I've installed flu.x, the Mini's screen to me is just gorgeous!
 
Saturn007 said:
I've been following this thread with interest. I've had experience with several iPad Airs (my cousin's and friend's), an iPad mini, earlier iPads, etc. I've definitely seen defects or odd visual effects on the iPad Airs--pink-grayish screens; book spine patterns; etc. I've even seen a bit of gray diffuse splotchiness across the Air's screen, too, although some of that was inside my eyeball (floaters, odd visual effects, etc.).​

But I'm posting on a different matter. I'm wondering what color the web links are on your iPad Airs, e.g., Google search results and MacRumors's own links.
​
Are Web Links More Purple on the Air and Blue on the Mini?

On the Airs I've seen, they look more purplish, as if one had clicked on the links before. Which is disconcerting.:( In contrast, on our Mini--and the Retina Minis I've seen--the links look blue--a rich blue without any hint of purple. It's the same rich blue color that appears on the MacBook Airs, the iPhones, and earlier iPads.:rolleyes: (To be sure, there are variations by web site—Yahoo's search results, e.g., are bluer than Google's on the Air and Apple's own links are even a light blue on the Air.)​

The purple effect, though, spills over into apps, too. An astronomy app I run has constellation lines that are more purple on the Air… I did find an informative thread on the color issue, although it pertained to the iPad 3! https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1343504/​

Is the purplish cast now standard? Do all Airs have that hue?​

What do the web links look like on your Air vs. other iPads or other Airs?

Apologies for all the colors; I thought it would be useful to see what they look like on the different devices.​
Click to expand...

Now, this is THE MOST ridiculous OCD I've ever seen.

Your life is ruined now: the links are PURPLISH!!! :D
 
gcoh.jpg


7ylk.jpg



I tried to take pictures but no success getting a good one, backlight is at 50%

The right border is yellowish .. hard to see, very minor, still there. I've been holding myself against returning it for another one, because I believe I'll get something far worse.
 
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