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Apple Engineering dept called me...

Diversion

Diversion

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 5, 2007
773
142
Jacksonville, Florida
This obviously stemmed from the fact I took my white Verizon 64gb iPad3 into my local Apple store for an exchange based on a yellow screen issue..

Ended up having to exchange the iPad three times while in the store in order to find a good unit.. and it's still not perfect.. The three additional iPads we opened had a much better screen (no yellow) but all three had at least 1 dead pixel or more.

I ended up taking the final 3rd one home, has a great screen other than a single dead pixel, no backlight bleed, no yellow blotches against black, etc...

I think I might have a dud battery in this unit though.

Anyways, Apple "Engineering" department called me wanting to ask about my issues and document it and pass it along I assume to corporate. The "engineer" agreed with all my sentiments and said that he doesn't blame me wanting a perfect iPad and that dead pixels are indeed a downer..

He continued that if I still wasn't happy to take this unit back and exchange it again. I told him my iPad is losing over 10% battery life over 6 hours just sitting idle on my desk and he seemed to think that's definately not right but said to give it a few more days and see if it gets better (i.e. Calibrates) and if not, just exchange it.

Pretty cool to hear Apple reaching out with concern..

Anybody else get a phone call like this?
 
Cool, the fanatics want to dismiss the problems. Apple takes 'em seriously.
 
Yr Blues said:
Cool, the fanatics want to dismiss the problems. Apple takes 'em seriously.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this is a knock towards me; but when we compared my yellow screened iPad to another we pulled out of the box, everybody around immediately noticed the difference. I didn't want to risk waiting too long for the "yellowness" to clear up like some people have seen.. I just wanted to get it taken care of the day of. Again, all 3 iPads we opened up brand new, all had a much nicer, whiter screen in comparison.
 
ZZ Bottom said:
why don't they just include a fricken screen temp calibrator in iOS!
Click to expand...

If you want these controls, let them know, the more people to let them know the better.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

More controls like we have on other Apple products is going to be needed, especially with such a wide color spectrum. With more pros using the iPad for photos, and tools like iPhoto, why not have color temp, hue, luminance, contrast...etc.
 
Last edited:
Ccrew said:
And rocks an incredible 1 star review :)
Click to expand...

There are actually 34 reviews, only 1 to leave a comment.

I do have a Spyder calibrator. I can try it as long as I know it can be reversed if it causes more issues than fixes. I think I'll try it on a family members iPad with 16GB with minimal data if it needs a restore after.
 
jreuschl said:
There are actually 34 reviews, only 1 to leave a comment.

I do have a Spyder calibrator. I can try it as long as I know it can be reversed if it causes more issues than fixes. I think I'll try it on a family members iPad with 16GB with minimal data if it needs a restore after.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly certain the change only takes place in the app, shouldn't be any risk.
 
I thought a single dead pixel usually falls within a courtesy of apple, it's their call. I know a dead or stuck pix would annoy me a lot after dropping a lot of dough on a pricey tablet.

I'm surprised that apple let some of these screens, pixel dead or yellowing pass thru quality control. That's really sad that you had to change all those times. Big fail on apple. They lose money with wasted employee time and refurbishing.
 
wow you kept it even with the dead pixel? that is more of a problem than the yellow screen imo
 
Wait a second here......

You returned it three times. An 'engineer' called you, and suggested you return it again.

Well that's GREAT NEWS! the official Apple line is then:

Buy our products. If for any reason (including OCPD) you are unsatisfied, just keep returning it until they run out of stock, and/or a miracle occurs and you become either:

1) exhausted
2) you find Shangri-La and forget about iPads.
3) you grow up
 
Wow, I haven't had a dead pixel in ten years. Did you guys even come to the conclusion that the batch of iPads hasent yet cured. Why didn't you go some where else. I bought one from Walmart and best buy and not single issue with either one of them.
 
mac jones said:
Wait a second here......

You returned it three times. An 'engineer' called you, and suggested you return it again.

Well that's GREAT NEWS! the official Apple line is then:

Buy our products. If for any reason (including OCPD) you are unsatisfied, just keep returning it until they run out of stock, and/or a miracle occurs and you become either:

1) exhausted
2) you find Shangri-La and forget about iPads.
3) you grow up
Click to expand...
Some people have high standards and dont settle for mediocrity just because it has an apple logo on it. :)

No need to make excuses for defects. Apple seems to be addressing them and now concerned probably due to the high return/exchange rate for defects.

If this thread/poll is any indication, a 14% defect rate (420,000) is pretty high.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1343130/
 
A single pixel would annoy the hell out of me. Especially paying a premium for a tablet computer.
 
The funny thing is the yellow screen has been done to death since the iphone 3g it's the glue and can take anywhere from days to weeks to clear most people have been able to fix it by turning up the brightness full blast for a day or 2 then all of a sudden your yellow is gone.
 
mac jones said:
Wait a second here......

You returned it three times. An 'engineer' called you, and suggested you return it again.

Well that's GREAT NEWS! the official Apple line is then:

Buy our products. If for any reason (including OCPD) you are unsatisfied, just keep returning it until they run out of stock, and/or a miracle occurs and you become either:

1) exhausted
2) you find Shangri-La and forget about iPads.
3) you grow up
Click to expand...

Or, gasp...

4) the OP gets a screen with no yellow tint and dead pixels.

They do exist. I have one.
 
bawbac said:
Some people have high standards and dont settle for mediocrity just because it has an apple logo on it. :)

No need to make excuses for defects. Apple seems to be addressing them and now concerned probably due to the high return/exchange rate for defects.

If this thread/poll is any indication, a 14% defect rate (420,000) is pretty high.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1343130/
Click to expand...

With a <700 unit sample size and almost certainly non-random population selection...I'd think it almost certain for that poll to NOT be any indication of much of anything.
 
I received the same call yesterday afternoon. I had to exchange mine four times
first 2 had 2 dead pixels on it, third time there was three. The funny thing is the fourth one they had me check it at the store and as soon as i turned it on I spotted 2 dead pixels. They gave me a replacement but I didn't bother checking it. It's been taking so much of my time driving to the apple store which is an hour drive.

The engineering guy told me to inspect the one that I have and if there are still dead pixels, I should go back and exchange it again because he said it is not normal. He was very nice and apologetic that I keep getting defective units.
 
Not to worry, Apple adds a couple hundred dollars to each of out devices due to OCD caused by this forum. It is just built into the price.
 
These people are getting calls from some sort of 'special case' advisors/analysts. They say they are from the 'engineering' dept, but that's not really what this is.

In others words. If you are a compulsive returner, Apple knows and will explore the situation. Of course their stance will be accommodating, but it's curious that this is happening. Many companies will just ban you. Yes they can do this, it's legally within their rights, but Apple is taking a more hands on approach it seems.
 
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