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

[iSunrise]

I think it is more so in this case. The reasons are pretty clear.

[*]Not everybody with an LG display is having an issue!

Customers don´t care about quality issues only some people have. Everyone wants a high-quality screen and everyone has a right to if you spend the same amount of money on it.

[*]Apple will replace defective screens upon demonstration of a problem.

You probably haven´t even read why the guy considered to take a class-action lawsuit in the first place. But great job defending Apple and faulty products.

[*]IPS screens in general have been known to have this issue so nothing happening here is unusual for the industry.

That´s marketing BS. Yes, IPS has negatives like any other LCD technology currently available, but using that as an excuse, when every sane person that has actually seen these issues, is just not tolerable.

IPS screens have variations and the pure nature of such an eletronic device means to manufacture it with as less of a variation as possible to that it meets the high standard the company markets it´s products. If you don´t you obviously don´t have the same high standard as you want people to believe. But you still sell it at a premium price.

Same case with iPads, when you compared a perfect iPad 3 (Samsung) screen to a faulty one, everyone that is not toally blind could see it easily.

[*]The retina screens are a rev one product. By definition customers are buying a product that is not mature and thus may have issue in mass production that they may not care for. It isn't really Apples fault if you dive into a rev one product and then can't deal with the imperfections.
[*] Nobody is forcing anybody to buy retina!!!! The fact is Apple kept the conventional notebooks around so that rational people had a choice.
[/LIST]
So yeah greatly overblown.

Are you actually for real? So it´s the consumer´s fault if they buy products that should "just work" and especially, they should work like they are/were advertised? I can´t believe I´m reading this. I simply have no words for this.

 

[thedarkhorse]

There lawsuit is a little late. Apple just posted a firmware update that fixes what this lawsuit claims they have not worked on fixing as of yesterday afternoon.

what are you talking about? the firmware update was for framerate issues in video games. nothing to do with image retention on faulty panels.

 

[wizard]

The problem isn't that they're not giving you a replacement for free, because they are and that's great, but it's such a waste of both time and money, for both the consumer and Apple, to keep going to Apple Store and ask for a replacement because they installed a faulty display.

So what percentage of the LG screens do you think are bad 0.25%, 5%, 20% or something different. LG could be selling Apple a few hundred thousand per quarter. The whining on this forum doesn't indicate the severity of the problem. Further many have reported perfectly fine LG screens.

Like someone else said, unfortunately today, the only way to actually make a company change the way they handle something is by taking legal action against them. Send an email? You'll get ignored. Talk to someone at Apple Store? They have no say in how Apple build their computers. Take legal action? HOLY HELL, something must be wrong with their products, maybe it's time for a change? Awesome.

If Apple addresses the problem there is no need for legal action. Frankly the problem here as I've stated before is that people jump on the bandwagon because they need to be part of a parade. If it wasn't for the nonsense in this forum they wouldn't even think their is a problem.

Again, why should we, the consumers, pay our hard earned money on a product that may or may not be what Apple is advertising it to be? That's like buying a car and maybe, just maybe, you'll get the one with 400 horsepowers like they advertise it to be.. ooor maybe you'll end up with a faulty one with only 150 horsepowers.

Give me a break LG screens are working fine for 100 of thousands of retina MBP owners. They bad ones get replaced it isn't a big deal.

Beyond that I've been around "screen" since the day when black and white was your only choice, every iteration of screen technology has had its problems. It is absolutely silly to think we have arrived at perfection in screen technology. Beyond that I see image retention in all sorts of displays these days, it is there if you look hard enough.

Also keep in mind that if the consumers have to keep going back and forth to Apple Store to get replacements over and over again, it will also result in a very unsatisfied customer and unsatisfied experience when buying Apple-things. Would you really want to play that gamble again when you're purchasing a new computer? Could lead to less sales for Apple..

If the customer ends up unhappy Apple will feel it down the road. The fact of the matter is that most customers aren't unhappy at all. In a nut shell Apple should suffer if they where leaving customers unhappy. Look at this head though, a good portion of the people complaining have never bothered to try to get the problem corrected. So who is fooling whom here?

 

[prowlmedia]

If a manufacturer acknowledges a faulty product, they need to execute a recall of that product, not shifting that responsibility to customer.

In this case, Apple doesn't acknowledge a faulty product

Not all of the screens have the issue do they. Not saying they shouldn't work out the ones that have that problem... But who knows how many batches have the problem.

The point is a class action only benefits the lawyers in the end.

 

[XtraSmiley]

Maybe at first, but the problem gets worse over time. By 2 months my LG would ghost text from an email I may have spent give minutes composing so clearly that it could be read over the arabesque screensaver.

Interesting. And you were unable to get warranty service from Apple for it? If not, then maybe the lawsuit is needed. It just seems that if it were this bad, you would be able to get it repaired.

 

[HiRez]

Its only when you are on 100% brightness and on a static screen for a while...it goes away pretty quickly when you go to another website/app.

Absolutely unacceptable in a professional product such as this (it even has "Pro" in the name right?) Flipping from some high contrast image to say a blank grey rectangle is something designers do all the time, this issue would drive me nuts. I'd say it's not even acceptable in a non-pro laptop, but especially at this price, in a machine that's supposed to have the best screen in the world, no way. I'm a huge Apple fan and an AAPL shareholder, but if this issue is widespread, they knew about it, and have been covering it up, I hope they lose this lawsuit, that is a flat out product defect. I wonder if any of the Cinema Displays have this issue.

 

[iSunrise]

So what percentage of the LG screens do you think are bad 0.25%, 5%, 20% or something different. LG could be selling Apple a few hundred thousand per quarter. The whining on this forum doesn't indicate the severity of the problem. Further many have reported perfectly fine LG screens.

No one cares about how much screens there actually are that are of intolerable quality. The guy with the class-action lawsuit obviously had one and he probably had a lot more reasons to go all the way.

If Apple addresses the problem there is no need for legal action.

You got it backwards. There´s a class-action lawsuit, because Apple doesn´t address that as a problem.

Give me a break LG screens are working fine for 100 of thousands of retina MBP owners. They bad ones get replaced it isn't a big deal.

Obviously there a big issues, otherwise there would not be such an outcry. Problems like the antenna reception problem would have never been fixed (iPhone 4) if people would just stay quiet about it. A class-action lawsuit is nothing bad per se, it´s a consumer tool to tell a company that something is going wrong if the company doesn´t listen.

Beyond that I've been around "screen" since the day when black and white was your only choice, every iteration of screen technology has had its problems. It is absolutely silly to think we have arrived at perfection in screen technology. Beyond that I see image retention in all sorts of displays these days, it is there if you look hard enough.

Well then, if you´ve been around screens since that day, you should have seen the quality issues with iPads first. And also with some Macbooks Pros. I get the impression that you actually haven´t even seen the issues people are talking about. Otherwise you wouldn´t defend Apple like that.

If the customer ends up unhappy Apple will feel it down the road. The fact of the matter is that most customers aren't unhappy at all. In a nut shell Apple should suffer if they where leaving customers unhappy. Look at this head though, a good portion of the people complaining have never bothered to try to get the problem corrected. So who is fooling whom here?

Again, if that one costumer has a problem with Apple that is waranted, he is free to file a class-action lawsuit and let Apple defend it. No one just files such a lawsuit that at least has some info at hand. Otherwise it would be pointless. And Apple will finally respond to it, one way or the other, which is probably the one thing that the guy wants to see.

 

[/dev/toaster]

I would join this lawsuit ... I have a Retina Macbook Pro that experiences very bad ghosting. I have been to the Apple store twice and called them about it, the answer I got was that it is normal.

Which is a ******** answer.

I have honestly, only had 2 return problems with Apple. The rMBP issue and my original Macbook Pro that had *AWFUL* overheating issues and would burn your skin to the touch.

 

[mcewangus]

How do I know what screen my 2012 retina MacBook is using.

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

You will get:
Color LCD
XXXnnnnnnnn

XXX = LP, means you have a LG monitor
XXX = LSN, means you have a Samsung monitor

 

[dbyway]

Sigh, another stupid lawsuit. Just take the thing back, I'm sure Apple will refund you.

Everyone wants a piece of the Apple pie these days.

I had ghosting issues when I got mine. I sent it back to Apple and had a brand new one after 5 days.

 

[wizard]

The difference really is shocking. We keep hearing about these IGZO displays from Sharp. Apple seem to have been on the verge of using them for a few years now. What the hell is going on with these IGZO displays.

I'm sure Sharp knows! The thing here is lets say Apple adopts IGZO, do you honestly believe that they are some sort of superior display without characteristic issues? The fact is all display systems have issues associated with the way the displays are built. We may not know what those issues with IGZO are but it is certain they exist. It is no different than OLED screens that have issues with life span and color balance. Nothing is perfect.

Are they real or just vapourware? The sooner Apple sorts out this mess the better. It's one thing going to war with Samsung but replacing quality components with inferior ones from LG and SanDisk is absolutely not on. Apple are taking the piss with this.

Please cut the bull crap! There are a huge number of retina machines out there with LG screens that are working fine for their owners.

I cancelled my order for the recently refreshed MBP-R and I'm going to wait for the Haswell update. I just hope to god Apple have sorted out all these issues by them. The MBP-R is an expensive top of the range machine. It should have the best components not inferior crap.

It has state of the art screens they are not crap. Do the screens fail more than desired, probably but you don't get state of the art for free!

Say for discussion the Haswell MBPs come with Sharps IGZO screens, will you jump at the chance to buy one or will you sit back and let the dust settle a bit before buying one? If you jump at the chance to buy a rev one IGZO screen then you are the test monkey and may get put down by whatever undiscovered faults might exist with the screens.

 

[mcewangus]

I would join this lawsuit ... I have a Retina Macbook Pro that experiences very bad ghosting. I have been to the Apple store twice and called them about it, the answer I got was that it is normal.

Which is a ******** answer.

I have honestly, only had 2 return problems with Apple. The rMBP issue and my original Macbook Pro that had *AWFUL* overheating issues and would burn your skin to the touch.

You are right, it isn't normal. If you *REALLY* want your monitor exchanged I suggest you argue what I did: liability.

I explained what happened to me after I bought my rMBP. A customer saw a drawing I was working on for another customer as ghosting when I opened my rMBP and the logon screen came on.

Apple is potentially liable for this unwarranted disclosure of information. As I said in previous posts, when I showed them this, there were absolutely no questions asked, and I was offered a replacement screen. This screen has not ever been faulty, and is indeed a Samsung.

 

[wizard]

Lol, your rationale actually made me laugh. If you can't deal with it, don't buy it ha, hilarious.

At this point anybody buying a retina MBP that can't deal with the image retention issue is a complete idiot.

Some of the most compelling arguments I've seen yet, "no one forced you to buy a rmbp", wow, powerful argument.

No one force anybody to be an uninformed consumer either! The image retention issue is well known at this point so if you buy a rMBP be prepared to deal with it. Dealing with it includes getting the screen replaced if need be.

Gosh, I guess we should all tuck our tails between our legs and take it.

Again don't be an idiot. People should get the problem fixed or buy the right hardware for the job. If you don't buy the right tools for your trade don't come running to this forum expecting moral support for your screw ups.

I mean if you bought something that doesn't work right it is your fault after all. No one forced you to buy it. Eat it consumers, eat it!

As a professional you are expected to buy the right tools for the job. If a carpenter goes out and buys a ball pean hammer and has trouble driving nails with it is the fault his or the hammer maker?

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

This lawsuit is silly. Why? Because companies like Apple, Nokia, Motorola and others procure supplies from multiple vendors in order to ensure a stable supply chain. The "burn-in" issues were not the big deal some make it out to be, and if you have the problem then Apple will replace your screen and/or computer. What is there to sue Apple over? How were any customers damaged when Apple is actively replacing these units under warranty?

Also, Apple does not need to disclose the manufacturer of its components in its advertising. It's too bad some of the screens had problems, and those are going to get replaced by Apple. This is just another case of an ambulance chasing attorney trying to make a money grab.

 

[iGrip]

Image retention isn't burn in at all. We have two entirely different issues here.

Oh. OK. So is Image Retention an issue that apple should be dealing with? Or is it an issue that they should refuse to deal with absent a judge ordering them to do so?

 

[leroypants]

Wouldn't be surprised if Samsung is behind this. Would be a business strategy that is quite typical for them. Tax evasion, bribery and price fixing - why not a proxy lawsuit to smear two competitors in one go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-became-the-giant-that-ate-korea-8510588.html

Nice article describing what happens to you if you speak up against Samsung in South Korea.

I can't tell if you are trolling and making fun of the Apple zealots or if your serious...

 

[lebbeus]

Glad to read this is happening.

I had to return 2 MacBooks before I got a Samsung screen. The LG is simply inferior- a darker more saturated display with ghosting right out of the box. For such a premium product it's inexcusable but problems can happen, that's fine however Apple have lied and dragged their heels about this one at the customers expense. I'm dyed in the wool apple but when store clerks lie to me about there being 1) a problem and 2) that they have no way of knowing the components of a laptop from the barcode, I just think ***** you. You got to be one of the largest companies in the world by creating trust with your customers. They sure lost me with this episode.

 

[iSunrise]

At this point anybody buying a retina MBP that can't deal with the image retention issue is a complete idiot.

Again, you´re trying to blame the people instead of the real problem.

Apple is the idiot, because they cut back on Samsung screens that had the screens Apple originally wanted to build the Retinas with. But since they´ve let patent cases cloud their judgement, they now needed a replacement for Samsung which is not able to meet the same high standards.

No one force anybody to be an uninformed consumer either! The image retention issue is well known at this point so if you buy a rMBP be prepared to deal with it. Dealing with it includes getting the screen replaced if need be.

Oh, now it´s a well known issue. Some posts ago you tried to argue about that it´s a small issue only a small percentage of rMBPs have. And you´re starting to blame people again.

No one forced Apple to sell laptops with intolerable screens built into them.

 

[iGrip]

They actually wont replace your display and berate you about "screen burn being the trade-off for the great contrast and colors"

I cant believe the customer service i received at the genius bar the other day. This is a $2500 computer that i use in a very video/photo intensive professional workplace at saturday night live. I explained that I can't have screen burn overlaying the videos i am trying to edit. The "genius" had the balls to say well you can just buy the normal macbook pro, thats why we still have them...

Such a ridiculous new approach Apple is taking. Its as if they think they can do no wrong. And what sucks is, of course im not going to buy any other computer and they know that. Would be nice to have some support though on a known problem for a customer who has spent probably 20 grand on their products.

Also the genius kept saying he knows nothing about samsung vs lg or who the suppliers are but continued to pretend this wasnt a problem.

sorry for rambling. very upset with apple right now

Why would Apple care about somebody who needs a precise screen? They sell plenty to people who see the high resolution and go to heaven. The professional market is way too small to make a product that will be satisfactory to them. They are way too fussy, and Apple products are built for the thick middle of the market, not the narrow edges of the bell curve.

Sorry to break it to you. Your ilk don't give Apple enough profits. They don't care. Sue 'em.

 

[John Gore]

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

You will get:
Color LCD
XXXnnnnnnnn

XXX = LP, means you have a LG monitor
XXX = LSN, means you have a Samsung monitor

When i do this i get blank. No info, no nothing.

 

[inlinevolvo]

At this point anybody buying a retina MBP that can't deal with the image retention issue is a complete idiot.

No one force anybody to be an uninformed consumer either! The image retention issue is well known at this point so if you buy a rMBP be prepared to deal with it. Dealing with it includes getting the screen replaced if need be.

Again don't be an idiot. People should get the problem fixed or buy the right hardware for the job. If you don't buy the right tools for your trade don't come running to this forum expecting moral support for your screw ups.

As a professional you are expected to buy the right tools for the job. If a carpenter goes out and buys a ball pean hammer and has trouble driving nails with it is the fault his or the hammer maker?

I think you have it wrong. See, by filing the class action this owner is making use of the free market. There is no indication that this individual purchased their comp yesterday and refuses to return it. The rmbp issues may be document or visible to some but there are plenty of Mac owners that never visit this site. It's not like the device is advertised possibly defective at the point of sale. The owner doesn't have to deal with it, he or she can sue. Doesn't matter how frivolous or whiny you find the issue, we have judges and juries to make those decisions. You are welcome to deal with defective hardware, but some of us don't. I personally have no issues with mine, and it sounds like you don't own one, but telling people to deal with it and then getting angry when they exercise their voice in the free market is asinine. In a sense this person is dealing with it, by suing apple.

 

[mentaluproar]

Not true. Apple stores will replace your ghosted screen for free.

I had a ghosting problem on my 24" iMac a few years ago. I was told this is normal operation and it would not be covered.

-finger-

 

[wizard]

No one cares about how much screens there actually are that are of intolerable quality. The guy with the class-action lawsuit obviously had one and he probably had a lot more reasons to go all the way.

There is nothing said about this guys motivation. He could be a lawyer for all we know.

You got it backwards. There´s a class-action lawsuit, because Apple doesn´t address that as a problem.

Yet we have endless post here indicating that Apple does address the issue when it is real.

Obviously there a big issues, otherwise there would not be such an outcry.

It is the Internet people make mountains out of mole hills all the time.

Problems like the antenna reception problem would have never been fixed (iPhone 4) if people would just stay quiet about it. A class-action lawsuit is nothing bad per se, it´s a consumer tool to tell a company that something is going wrong if the company doesn´t listen.

More BS! Apple improves its hardware with ever revision. Beyond that I've never have had an antenna issue with my iPhone 4 which I use everyday by the way. The antenna issue was another example of something getting blown way out of proportion and people looking for or creating faults just for the hell of it.

Well then, if you´ve been around screens since that day, you should have seen the quality issues with iPads first. And also with some Macbooks Pros. I get the impression that you actually haven´t even seen the issues people are talking about. Otherwise you wouldn´t defend Apple like that.

I own an iPad 1 and 3 and have not seen an issue on either. As for ghosting I've seen that on many different screens at work, it is not something that is unique to Apples retina screens.

In any event I'm not so much defending Apple as objecting to some of the stupidity raised in these forums. I'm not surprised at all that some of these people are from the NY City area as you can see their sense of entitlement coming through. You can't expect to sit back a passively whine on a public forum and expect to get your problem fixed. That requires people to get off their dead behinds and actually engage the support people at an Apple store.

Again, if that one costumer has a problem with Apple that is waranted, he is free to file a class-action lawsuit and let Apple defend it.

Class action lawsuits are about lawyers making lots of money. If he had real issues he could take it to court without the fan fair of a class action lawsuit.

No one just files such a lawsuit that at least has some info at hand.

Are you that gullible?

Otherwise it would be pointless. And Apple will finally respond to it, one way or the other, which is probably the one thing that the guy wants to see.

We really don't know what this guy expects to get out of this non sense. I know what the lawyers expect to get though. If this was a real issue the case could have went to small claims court in some states. If not small claims a more involved case would be in order. Most people don't want to take the time or spend the money on a lawyer to do that. Some lawyers specialize in these sorts of class action cases simply because they see it as a way to make big bucks off Apple. The actual consumer ends up with very little from the whole farce.

So again the whining here is baseless, everyone that purchased a retina machine had the option of not buying one in the first place. The lack of due diligence before slapping down the money is not Apples problem.

 

[tech4all]

Samsung 4 life

There's something you don't hear everyday about Samsung.

Sigh, another stupid lawsuit. Just take the thing back, I'm sure Apple will refund you.

Everyone wants a piece of the Apple pie these days.

Quit sticking up for Apple.

 

[lebbeus]

When i do this i get blank. No info, no nothing.

only works on 15inch AFAIK