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Backlight bleeding

iCU said:
no, it's even worse with lower brightness.

it is not nice to look at, especially after having worked on my macbook pro.

the white is really brownish/yellowish. Since the display is the one outstanding part of iPads, there should really be a better quality control in the future.
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Is the yellow just spots or the entire screen? If there is a yellowish tinge to the entire screen then it isn't a QC issue it is just a different screen manufacturer. My replacement is considerably warmer than the first but there is very little bleed. There are many posts about the warmer versus cooler screen.
 
Wait to Exchange?

Hello -

I, too, have noticed some light bleeding on my iPad 2 and wanted to seek advice as to whether it is worth gambling with an exchange at this point or whether I should hold off. I bought the iPad exactly 13 days ago, which means I have one day left in the 14 day period. I understand some replacements have been worse than the originals - are the new batches considerably better or is it still a mixed bag? I have attached a few pictures of the problem - the first two are at 100% brightness, the third is at about 65% brightness. The problems appear to be largely confined to the bottom of the iPad, near the Home button. In view of these photos, should I: (1) gamble with a replacement now, or is mine on the "lesser" end of the spectrum and I risk getting a worse one; or (2) wait until the problem is definitively resolved? Any advice from people who have swapped? Is there any advantage to doing this during the 14 day period or can I just wait?

Thanks so much
 

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Seleur said:
Hello -

I, too, have noticed some light bleeding on my iPad 2 and wanted to seek advice as to whether it is worth gambling with an exchange at this point or whether I should hold off. I bought the iPad exactly 13 days ago, which means I have one day left in the 14 day period. I understand some replacements have been worse than the originals - are the new batches considerably better or is it still a mixed bag? I have attached a few pictures of the problem - the first two are at 100% brightness, the third is at about 65% brightness. The problems appear to be largely confined to the bottom of the iPad, near the Home button. In view of these photos, should I: (1) gamble with a replacement now, or is mine on the "lesser" end of the spectrum and I risk getting a worse one; or (2) wait until the problem is definitively resolved? Any advice from people who have swapped? Is there any advantage to doing this during the 14 day period or can I just wait?

Thanks so much
Click to expand...

if that was mine, i would return it for a cash/credit full refund. then use that refund to buy a new ipad and get another 14 day full refund exchange period. this is what i did.
 
Well looks like mine has the same terrible light leak as almost everyone else. I bought mine March 27th at my local Best Buy in Jackson, TN.

All they had when I was keeping tabs on stock was a 64gb WiFi iPad 2, I went ahead and snapped it up thinking I could hang on to it until a 32gb came in. I ended up deciding to keep it and go ahead and use it. First off mine was missing the protective new plastic that comes on the front and back of the device, so right off I'm thinking I got a previously used iPad, then I go to notice a couple of small scratches on the back and a black spot (sharpie mark?). I cleaned it off with rubbing alcohol which it came off fine. I went back to Best Buy over this and got a 12% refund on the unit (max Apple allows) so that saved me $38 bucks off of it.

After a good couple weeks of use I noticed one night watching a movie some light leak on the bottom which prompted me to check it out and low and behold this was the result below. I've called Apple and it seems they'll trade it out of course but what's guaranteeing I get a good one, should I wait? Is that the consensus here until we confirm the process is fixed for sure.

For a $751.78 I'm not being picky or OCD, I'm wanting a good solid product. One of the reasons people buy Apple or other big names versus chinese knock-offs is that they don't want this junk with cheap LCD screens that look like crap (with terrible leaking, etc.). I paid good money and I expect a flawless product. Heck my Verizon iPhone 4 looks perfect in every way screen and all (no light leak) so I know it's not normal even on "new" product runs.

5642869033_9c934bb647.jpg
5642870025_c6dff7fb0f.jpg
 
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TheMarkness said:
Well looks like mine has the same terrible light leak as almost everyone else. I bought mine March 27th at my local Best Buy in Jackson, TN.

All they had when I was keeping tabs on stock was a 64gb WiFi iPad 2, I went ahead and snapped it up thinking I could hang on to it until a 32gb came in. I ended up deciding to keep it and go ahead and use it. First off mine was missing the protective new plastic that comes on the front and back of the device, so right off I'm thinking I got a previously used iPad, then I go to notice a couple of small scratches on the back and a black spot (sharpie mark?). I cleaned it off with rubbing alcohol which it came off fine. I went back to Best Buy over this and got a 12% refund on the unit (max Apple allows) so that saved me $38 bucks off of it.

After a good couple weeks of use I noticed one night watching a movie some light leak on the bottom which prompted me to check it out and low and behold this was the result below. I've called Apple and it seems they'll trade it out of course but what's guaranteeing I get a good one, should I wait? Is that the consensus here until we confirm the process is fixed for sure.

For a $751.78 I'm not being picky or OCD, I'm wanting a good solid product. One of the reasons people buy Apple or other big names versus chinese knock-offs is that they don't want this junk with cheap LCD screens that look like crap (with terrible leaking, etc.). I paid good money and I expect a flawless product. Heck my Verizon iPhone 4 looks perfect in every way screen and all (no light leak) so I know it's not normal even on "new" product runs.

[url=http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5141/5642869033_9c934bb647_b.jpg]Image[/url]
iPad 2 50% brightness by shreddermiller, on Flickr [url=http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/5642870025_c6dff7fb0f_b.jpg]Image[/url]
iPad 2 100% brightness by shreddermiller, on Flickr
Click to expand...

just the fact that urs didn't come with the plastic wrapping... i would interpret that as an used ipad... :(

edit: and the sharpie mark... not for me...
 
head honcho 123 said:
if that was mine, i would return it for a cash/credit full refund. then use that refund to buy a new ipad and get another 14 day full refund exchange period. this is what i did.
Click to expand...

Did you find that you had the same issue with your replacement product? My concern is that I get it replaced and the replacement is even worse than my current one.
 
Seleur said:
Did you find that you had the same issue with your replacement product? My concern is that I get it replaced and the replacement is even worse than my current one.
Click to expand...

i mean there is always a chance that it could be worse, but i would imagine that the probability of you getting a better one than a worse one would be higher because "hopefully" apple will try to improve the quality control as time passes...

i still have not received my new replacement device:
Ships: May 3
Delivers: May 4
 
Genius or Apple Care

What's the better approach for going about requesting a replacement - walking into the store or calling Apple Care? If I do the latter, will they give me a case number so I can get it swapped down the line once the problem is fixed?
 
Can those who have say they have zero light bleed also post that they checked it in the dark with zero ambient light and brightness on 100. The reason I ask is that I'd like to know if it's really zero or just various degrees of light bleed that isn't showing under "normal" brightness.
 
14 Day Return Policy

I bought my iPad exactly 13 days ago and want to try to swap it due to the light leak problem, but unfortunately I can't make it to the store until tomorrow night due to work scheduling. When the return says "14 days," does that mean I can return it at the end of the fourteenth day? Will they give me trouble over that?
 
Seleur said:
What's the better approach for going about requesting a replacement - walking into the store or calling Apple Care? If I do the latter, will they give me a case number so I can get it swapped down the line once the problem is fixed?
Click to expand...

I went to the store and the Genius person was a jerk about it and told me that they would only swap this out for me for this issue once. They said they could not guarantee that the replacement would not have issues and I couldn't just keep swapping until I got a good one.

I'd recommend going with Apple Care telephone support. They were a lot nicer.
 
I just received my iPad 2 today--ordered on March 26th.

My iPad has a very very very tiny amount of light bleed IF I turn the brightness all the way up to 100% and turn all the lights off. If I put it back on auto adjust for brightness (which is what I always keep my iPhone on and probably with my iPad as well) I can see a really really faint trace of it, but nothing that I would have ever noticed if I wasn't looking for it. Certainly nowhere near as bad as I've seen in the pictures here.

So yes, I'm assuming this is a newly manufactured unit, but the bleed is so negligable I just don't care. I don't want to get into the vicious return cycle like I did with my iPhone 4. It's the definition of insanity.
 
I just received my iPad 2 shipment from Apple today. My unit has the light bleeding issue also. No pics right now, but it is very noticeable in the bottom left corner, even with the brightness level at around 45%.

I'm not going to worry about it right now. I'll wait and see if they get this fixed and then get it swapped out for another unit when they do.

It's kind of frustrating that I had to wait one day short of a month to get it, and then there is a flaw once it does arrive.
 
My original iPad had bad backlight bleed. Went and got it replaced at the Apple Store. Got home and found that the new one was even worse than the original and found scratch marks on the back.

Went back to the apple store to ask for another unit and the first comment from the genius was "well what do you want me to do about it." I simply said that I was looking to get a unit that was not defective. I was then told that they "didn't think the iPad was the right product for me" and then insisted on giving me a refund rather than giving me another unit. When I asked for the manager, she simply said that "I wasn't worth opening another unit."

Up until today I was a huge fan of Apple and told everyone to buy their products because of the excellent customer service they provided. After today though I realize that their policy is now... "accept the defects in our products or go away"

Incredibly frustrated.

I should note that I was very polite throughout the conversation, did not demand anything and simply asked for a replacement or exchange under warranty.
 
ilugram said:
My original iPad had bad backlight bleed. Went and got it replaced at the Apple Store. Got home and found that the new one was even worse than the original and found scratch marks on the back.

Went back to the apple store to ask for another unit and the first comment from the genius was "well what do you want me to do about it." I simply said that I was looking to get a unit that was not defective. I was then told that they "didn't think the iPad was the right product for me" and then insisted on giving me a refund rather than giving me another unit. When I asked for the manager, she simply said that "I wasn't worth opening another unit."

Up until today I was a huge fan of Apple and told everyone to buy their products because of the excellent customer service they provided. After today though I realize that their policy is now... "accept the defects in our products or go away"

Incredibly frustrated.

I should note that I was very polite throughout the conversation, did not demand anything and simply asked for a replacement or exchange under warranty.
Click to expand...

I would write a email/letter to Apple and you should of got the name of the store manager and the genius's name as well and make sure you let them know in your writing how disappointed you are with there service. It seems like everyone has better luck just going through the phone support and exchanging your unit that way then going to an Apple store. The only plus thing about going to the store is obviously you can walk out making sure that the replaced unit isn't worse as the previous one.
 
vkuber said:
I would write a email/letter to Apple and you should of got the name of the store manager and the genius's name as well and make sure you let them know in your writing how disappointed you are with there service. It seems like everyone has better luck just going through the phone support and exchanging your unit that way then going to an Apple store. The only plus thing about going to the store is obviously you can walk out making sure that the replaced unit isn't worse as the previous one.
Click to expand...

Anyone know what e-mail address to contact. I can't seem to find anything. I'm in Canada by the way. Thanks.
 
ilugram said:
My original iPad had bad backlight bleed. Went and got it replaced at the Apple Store. Got home and found that the new one was even worse than the original and found scratch marks on the back.

Went back to the apple store to ask for another unit and the first comment from the genius was "well what do you want me to do about it." I simply said that I was looking to get a unit that was not defective. I was then told that they "didn't think the iPad was the right product for me" and then insisted on giving me a refund rather than giving me another unit. When I asked for the manager, she simply said that "I wasn't worth opening another unit."

Up until today I was a huge fan of Apple and told everyone to buy their products because of the excellent customer service they provided. After today though I realize that their policy is now... "accept the defects in our products or go away"

Incredibly frustrated.

I should note that I was very polite throughout the conversation, did not demand anything and simply asked for a replacement or exchange under warranty.
Click to expand...

Have to agree that what the Genius & the store manager did to you were simply unacceptable. :mad:

However, I can't help but think that this light bleeding issue must be very, very, very common. :( So common that that Genius & store manager had gotten so sick & tired of doing numerous exchanges for everyone that they "slipped up" & "took it out on you". :(
 
My iPad 2 finally arrived today from Fedex! I ordered it a Black 32GB Wifi on April 1st after returning my White 16GB Wifi because of backlight bleeding. But sad to say this one has it to! All along the left side. But I'm just going to keep it because it's to aggravating trying to find one and having to wait so long when you order one! Also the 4th letter of the serial # is f.
 
My experience

I originally purchased a 16GB at launch with minimal bleeding. Decided to sell it and upgrade to the 32GB. Purchased the 32GB from and online retailer and was disappointed to find that it had significant backlight bleeding.

I didn't want to return it so I kept it to see if the bleeding would really bother me in day to day use. After three weeks I decided to make an appointment at my local Apple Store and see how the Genii would address the situation.

As I expected the very helpful Genius acknowledged my backlight bleeding and said it was pretty bad and not acceptable. He agreed to replace my iPad with a service unit. The new iPads screen is near perfect. If I want to be a stickler there is only one slight area of bleeding but I think I would be a little OCD to cry about it. The only unfortunate thing is my new model has the smallest scratch on the back but I'll take it with how good my screen looks now.

I still have to say the Apple Stores, although crowded and overwhelmed at times are one of Apples best resources for their great customer service.

Update: For those of you speculating on this fourth serial number F thing. My replacement model that looks great is an "F".
 
Rumor is service units are looking better & better. My plan is go give it a week or so and do the service unit thing. Satisfied with how Apple is treating me and handling this.
 
im planing on taking it to a store in about two weeks and asking for an exchange and hoping to get a bleeding-free unit. also hoping the apple geniuses won't turn me down..mine has not terrible but still noticeable bleeding. I already went once and was offered an exchange but since back then everyone seemed to getting bleeding all the time I decided to opt out and wait. they said I could go back anytime and get a replacement if I wanted to..
 
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