Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Screen Ghosting on Retina MacBook Pros

[BJonson]

This screen problem and hard drive gamble has been the whole reason I have not bought a new retina macbook pro. Too much stress. If I knew for a fact I could buy one and get both samsung screen and hard drive I would own one. Not playing this game with apple. The lawsuit is way overdue if you ask me. This same BS has been going on with the macbook air since they came out, samsung screen good, LG screen bad. Meh.

 

[cpuin]

as i wrote before i have brand new rMB Pro 13 with new Core i7 3.0GHz working w/out problems.The screen is looking very well but i can't check the manufacture in order to tell you whether is Samsung or not.

 

[Belmont31R]

Bought a 15" RMBP last week and it has LG. Haven't done an IR test and haven't noticed any on my own.

 

[swy05]

Hahahaha is all I can say.

Do you guys hate samsung or no. Make a clear distinction. Stop backpeddaling. You cant have your cake and eat it too.

"Samsung is a bunch of copy cats. Their screens are crap. Im glad Apple dropped them."

"Wait a second, LG screens are crap so I want a Samsung screen. Come back Samsung, we want your screens!!!"

Haha.

 

[cpuin]

Yes , we like Samsung screens, because Samsung now is the best manufacture for screens in the world! This doesn't mean we like all products of Samsung like smart phones for instance.Samsung have to learn a lot about operations systems, services, product management etc., but for screens is the best choice.

 

[jozeppy26]

We really should be thankful for Samsung regardless. Competition is always good for the consumer.

 

[fskywalker]

Class Action Directory?

Do anyone knows if there is already a web site related to the class action on the rMBP LG panel screen defects? I wonder if the lawyer(s) handling the case are already collecting the information (name, machine S/N, etc.) of owners of LG equipped rMBP; such a list may help to pressure Apple to do a recall on those machines and exchange (at least) the LG screens with Samsung non IR prone panels.

 

[garryvandenberg]

I want to buy a Mac Book Pro Retina 15"

I want to buy a 15" retina MacBook Pro, and when Apple don't change the retina screen I don't buy that MacBook, I only buy one with a Samsung sceen, how can I know wich one is LG and wich one is Samsung.
I want buy a very expensive Laptop so I have the right to get QUALITY.
Garry

 

[fskywalker]

I want to buy a 15" retina MacBook Pro, and when Apple don't change the retina screen I don't buy that MacBook, I only buy one with a Samsung sceen, how can I know wich one is LG and wich one is Samsung.
I want buy a very expensive Laptop so I have the right to get QUALITY.
Garry

There is no way to tell without starting the new machine and running the script given in this thread. The problem is I doubt a store will allow you to open a seal box to do the test before purchasing to check the screen manufacturer as it will then be an open box machine, which they will then most likely be forced to sell it for less or send it back to Apple, eventually becoming a factory refurbished. If you have access to a Best Buy or similar retailer carrying open box rMBP ask an employee to run the script on the machines; if they allow you to do the test perhaps you may get lucky and find a Samsung equipped rMBP you can buy.

 

[maplingstorie]

about time.

 

[M87]

Bought a 15" RMBP last week and it has LG. Haven't done an IR test and haven't noticed any on my own.

My LG display took 8 months to start doing it. I tested for it a few times and never saw a sign of it until I just noticed it one day during normal use. Apple replaced my display with a Samsung. They did refer me to the article they have about image retention, but when I insisted that it shouldn't happen after only 2 minutes they pretty quickly agreed to let me send it in. They fixed it extremely fast too, I was only without my computer for one day.

 

[Bensalama21]

Nope, you have I think 2 weeks to return anything for any reason right?

Wrong. I returned my 2 year old Macbook Pro due to a dysfunctional CD-ROM and they gave me a brand new computer with the old hard drive installed. (the same visit) ** I did NOT have AppleCare

 

[AbyssImpact]

Why do people here like Samsung? Why are you supporting Apple's rival? You do know that when purchasing anything Samsung, Samsung increases their revenues right?

 

[rockyroad55]

Why do people here like Samsung? Why are you supporting Apple's rival? You do know that when purchasing anything Samsung, Samsung increases their revenues right?

You know that some components of Apple products are manufactured by Samsung right? So don't buy Apple products because you are supporting the rival.

 

[AbyssImpact]

You know that some components of Apple products are manufactured by Samsung right? So don't buy Apple products because you are supporting the rival.

I don't own anything Samsung. My only Apple product is an iPhone 5.

 

[anthony11]

Why people buy v1 of any tech is beyond me.
You're just paying 1000s to be a beta tester.

My 2007 MBP became unusable right before the RMBP became available. What should I have done, told my employer I couldn't do any work until another generation came out?

They already have one. It's called warranty service

Apple insisted that mine wasn't bad enough to qualify for replacement, something that others have reported as well.

Now that Apple has spent countless time & money honing its skill in the courtroom, this one will be easy to defeat

Apple has lost/settled class actions in the past. I joined one for iPod battery life at one point - the settlement was a $25 Apple Store card that could only be used to buy Apple-branded stuff. This of course was next to useless since almost nothing was both Apple-branded and <$19.

If this goes through and forces Apple to replace the display on my RMBP, as opposed to some token gesture that is difficult to get any actual value out of, then I'd be happy to have them replace mine. It does seem to be slowly getting worse.

As for hating on Samsung: they've brought it on themselves. My DLP TV broke due to a design/manufacturing flaw, and I found that there was a class action / settlement. I called Samsung and they basically told me to GFY because the claim period had ended two weeks before. I had to hunt around to find someone who would even take the thing without charging me for it, and a TV repair guy wanted to replace the whole light engine for >$1200 -- most of the cost of replacing it with an LCD, so I did the latter.

 

[OnlyGerman]

good, this shouldn't happen with 2k computers

 

[Snake6]

Sorry for a bit of a necro. I tried posting this over on the apple support forums but it gets instantly nuked...

I figured I would post on here about my experience trying to get my LG display that was ghosting fixed over the last week.I am extremely frustrated and honestly this computer will probably be the last apple product I will ever buy.

Last week I started noticing the ghosting issue, mainly when swapping spaces between applications with a lot of white and a website that I frequent with a dark gray background. The persistence happens within as little as 5 minutes and remained for at least 3 minutes after changing screens. It started becoming annoying and since I paid $2500 for this laptop I figured I would take it in and get it fixed.

After running some of the ghosting tests online to be sure that I was identifying the right issue, I called applecare to make sure there wasn't anything I could do without taking it into the apple store. They cited this article, got off the phone before I had the chance to read through it: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5455

Obviously it wasn't helpful as setting power settings and screensaver doesn't really work when the issue occurs in less than 5 minutes of use. So I proceeded to call back, and applecare told me to take it into the genius bar. I make an appointment and take it in that afternoon.

After waiting around for 15 minutes or so the tech runs the diagnostics and says it passes. The issue is that the apple test is rigged. They black the screen for a minute to remove the image from the pixels before looking at it. Cool, except that in my daily usage I am not going to black my screen every time I want to look at a new image. I ask to speak with the manager, and am directed to the lead genius. I showed him what was happening in my daily use case, and he confirmed that it was ghosting. We then went to the three display model machines, ran the bash command to find out what screens were in them(all samsung) and attempted to replicate the behavior on them and could not. If this is expected behavior, then why do the other computers with samsung displays not show the behavior? I asked the tech to replace my screen because obviously this is not normal but he refused. He then advised that I should call applecare back and that he would note on my ticket that he saw the issue but could not do anything because it passed the tests.

When I got home I called applecare back and was immediately escalated to tier 2. He has me run a capture data(not sure what use this would be on a hardware problem of this nature but w/e), and advises me that he is going to send it to the engineers and they would get back to me in 2-5 business days.

Completely frustrated I decide to pen an email to Tim Cook, maybe someone on the executive support will help me out?

To whom it may concern,

I just wasted half my day on the phone with applecare, and in my local apple retail store(Short Pump, VA).

I am experiencing the widely known issue of ghosting on the Retina MacBook Pro with an LG display. I started noticing this issue a couple of days ago, and while working in some applications recently it became very noticeable with the previous image persisting up to 5 minutes.

This has started to impact my ability to work so this morning I called applecare. The tech on the phone linked me to a KB article about setting power settings, however it did not really apply to my situation since the persistance happens well before any screen saver would take affect, and while I am actively working on the computer. I called back to support, and this time the tech had me perform a SMC reset which did not resolve the issue.He then advised me to make a Genius Bar appointment and take it into the local retail store, which I did this afternoon.

At the apple store the tech ran some test and claimed that it was working as intended, and there was nothing he could do. I then spoke with the lead tech there, and replicated the issue in from of him which he observed and confirmed, but said it was intended behavior. We then went to one of the store retina macbook pro's and attempted to replicate the issue on it, we could not because it had a samsung display which we confirmed by running the command: "ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*
I called back applecare who then escalated my ticket to tier 2. The tier 2 tech had me send him a "capture data", and stated that he was going to send it to the engineers and get back to me in 3-5 business days. I don't understand why this is so hard to get fixed? This is a known issue with the LG displays, there is a 493 page forum thread about it https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4034848?tstart=0, and there is a pending class action lawsuit.

I have a $2500 computer that I bought specifically for the quality of the display, which is completely unusable at this point. I even paid the extra money for applecare+ on this computer, it sure is helping now...

Maybe if I throw it out the window and pay the accidental damage cost I can get a computer that actually works as intended?

Now I am forced to hook the computer up to a 5 year old 22" monitor in order to do the work that was originally meant to be done on this laptop. I guess it's just an overpriced desktop now...

I am not going to say that this experience is going to make me never buy another apple product again, but I am sure I will think long and hard before my next purchase of any apple device.

If anyone reads this, my case number is:
blah
and my serial number is:

blah

Today I received a call from a Mr. Chad Jones from Corporate Executive Relations, who went on about how he had spoken with the techs at the store that they confirmed that they were able to see the issue etc, etc. But he was very sorry but they would not be able to replace my screen because ghosting is normal.

Seriously apple? WTF

I guess it is time to find out how to get in on the law-suit.

If anyone knows how to join the lawsuit please let me know, I really want my issue fixed.

 

[fskywalker]

Sorry for a bit of a necro. I tried posting this over on the apple support forums but it gets instantly nuked...



If anyone knows how to join the lawsuit please let me know, I really want my issue fixed.

Hi, here is information from the law firm which submitted the class action against Apple:

http://www.siprut.com/news.html#

News from their website:
"Siprut PC has sued Apple Inc. in a lawsuit that accuses the company of tricking consumers into paying premium prices for MacBook Pro computers with shoddy retina display screens manufactured by LG Corp. Although Apple advertises the MacBook's liquid crystal display screens as the best of its kind, some of the computers contain LG screens that suffer from brightness, color and image display flaws while others feature better screens made by Samsung Corp. The lawsuit further alleges the LG screens fail to live up to Apple's marketing claims, and consumers have no way to tell whether a MacBook's screen is made by LG or Samsung until after they purchase the product"

Under the Contact us section you can write them about your issue and the class action. I e-mail them and they gave me a call back, so suggest you do the same.

 

[DaffyDuck]

There is no way to tell without starting the new machine and running the script given in this thread. The problem is I doubt a store will allow you to open a seal box to do the test before purchasing to check the screen manufacturer as it will then be an open box machine, which they will then most likely be forced to sell it for less or send it back to Apple, eventually becoming a factory refurbished. If you have access to a Best Buy or similar retailer carrying open box rMBP ask an employee to run the script on the machines; if they allow you to do the test perhaps you may get lucky and find a Samsung equipped rMBP you can buy.

Even that is not good enough. My screen was perfect for 5 months then suddenly started ghosting. I have upgraded the hard drive so I'm hesitant to take it in and replace it (although it seems many are being denied).

 

[Digital Dude]

Nope, you have I think 2 weeks to return anything for any reason right?

I just got off the phone with sales and they said that I can return it if I get an LG screen within 14-days. Yes, even if it's a CTO. The salesperson is a former tech-support person and stated there is no way to specify a Samsung screen on a special order. She said its' just the luck of the draw.

I was already to place my order when I saw this thread so now I don't know. I'm not really in the mood to ship the damn thing back if I end up with an LG. Worst yet, Apple could just tell me tough luck - it's normal. I have no idea why Apple would go with LG displays in the first place.

----------

as i wrote before i have brand new rMB Pro 13 with new Core i7 3.0GHz working w/out problems.The screen is looking very well but i can't check the manufacture in order to tell you whether is Samsung or not.

I'm currently using a Mac Pro but I'm fairly sure if you simply go to 'About This Mac' and then 'More Info...' and then 'System Report' it will indicate the display name next to 'Graphics/Display'.

 

[Ifti]

Are new units still coming with these issues?

 

[derbothaus]

I'm currently using a Mac Pro but I'm fairly sure if you simply go to 'About This Mac' and then 'More Info...' and then 'System Report' it will indicate the display name next to 'Graphics/Display'.

No. You have to run this in terminal for Macbook screen info.

ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

LP is LG and LSN is Samsung.

 

[dazed]

My 2007 MBP became unusable right before the RMBP became available. What should I have done, told my employer I couldn't do any work until another generation came out?

My comment was directed more to those that must have the latest model even if they don't need it. It's unfortunate that yours died so you were forced to get a v1. Hopefully Apple will sort everyone's issues out for once, and not wait until they lose a court case.

 

[derbothaus]

My comment was directed more to those that must have the latest model even if they don't need it. It's unfortunate that yours died so you were forced to get a v1. Hopefully Apple will sort everyone's issues out for once, and not wait until they lose a court case.

Could have bought a 'classic'. No problems.