I am sharing my extremely bad experience with Apple recently, for your reference in case you are about to buy an iPhone SE. This is excessively long, but I just want to tell my own story.
Background
I having been using Android phones for years. I swapped once for my Nexus 4 due to dead pixel; then spent 1.5 year on it. Later I swapped to an ASUS phone and never needed a swap, still using it. Lately with the price dropped on SE I wanted to make a try. I have been using iPad for a good while, the 2, 4 and then Air 2. I swapped once for the Air 2 as there was a blur somewhere, then with the 2nd one I have been a happy owner for 1.5 year.
1st Phone
The first phone I got last Thursday was a black SE, 64 GB. It initially looked amazing, while with more use, especially to a point when I was able to scroll on Facebook or emails, I could see a pretty obvious transition of color from normal to yellowish when text/picture approached the top of the screen. (Night shift was OFF if that helps)
Then searching on the web I realized people also talked about the yellow screen problem, and some were having the same thing where the top of the screen was particularly discolored.
2nd Phone
So I decided I could try another, which I also switched the color to gold, that's the one I meant to buy but was out of stock earlier. Getting home, spending an hour to set it up and recovering the profile, then I could see a very similar result as I could on the first phone, yellow transition towards the top. The yellowing happens only at the top and wasn't anywhere else.
I thought it might be normal, why don't I just bring it back to Apple and check with the ones in the showroom?
As I did, the other phones shown there were virtually free from this yellowing (side by side, both with a while background), at least not as pronouced.
3rd Phone
By the time I got there 2nd phone was 4 days in use, which should have been good for any glue talks to be dismissed (I won't wait two weeks for glue).
It took me some effort to convince that there was the issue, while I personally found it to be obvious and I was open to any blind tests. I was exchanging for another Gold SE 64 GB, hoping it would be better. The guys offer to help me with personal setup and that's what I did. On site the third phone's monitor looks fine. I didn't find any yellowing on the screen when comparing to the showroom's.
However, I could feel a clear rattling sound in the vibration, and I immediately found the difference when I set up the touch ID. Talking to the tech, the very impolite guy toggle the vibration button 5 times in a seconds and said it's all fine. Fine. I was convince it's OK to have some craps in it, despite I can't believe how these guys in store were treating customers, my phone was like junk from his point of view.
As you are aware, the light in Apple store is rather bright, which indeed makes defects on screen harder to be spotted, and that's the case for the 3rd phone.
After I got home, under normal lighting of a living room, I immediately noticed there was a mark under the screen, which I certainly cannot erase from the glass.
You can check out the video I took:
https://goo.gl/photos/bxbieAGwBuZcSQ6q6
Bringing this to the store, a senior sales guy, or someone like a manager was checking on it. He said he couldn't see the mark while I still could, but that was understandable given the light being so bright. He was asking why he couldn't see it here while I could at home, like I am taking video of a different phone. I told him to check it at the back, but he kind of dismissed that.
I requested the 4th phone, and that would be my last call, enough time wasted. I have already bought a few more accessories and they would be useless, so I wanna give it the last chance.
4th Phone
I got the 4th phone, figuring that it means nothing to rush the check in-store, I left and unboxed it at home. On first glance the screen looks OK, except for a small mark when viewed from an angle of 170 degree, I was sucking it up. However, later on after I had set it up fully, where I could start browsing Facebook and checking emails, if my eyes were to follow the mails/messages, I could clearly see a shadow at the middle, on the left edge of the screen. I then tilted the phone and checked what happened there, and you can see the attached photo. There is dark dent over the edge where the shadow was spotted, dead LED, or something else was blocking the light. This is rather annoying so I decided there was no way I could accept it.
So I went back to the store just to return the phone, as I was fully convinced that I won't get a fully functional phone from Apple, at least for the SE. The sales took it on, check my photo above, but didn't bother to check the phone and he started the return. Then the manager spotted me, came over with a rather concerned tone asking me what's the problem with the phone. I showed him the picture, and he was kind of annoyed about how little an issue like this was. He spoke to his subordinates, saying that "return the phone, and don't sell him any phones", then he left. I was speechless, as I was the one who already told him last time I won't make a fifth try.
The story ends here, and so does my trade with Apple. Being a tech guy I know I wouldn't get the best tech spec for the price if I go for Apple, but it was the quality of service, and quality control of products which I was buying into. It ends up, this is the quality of product, and this is the quality of service that they are trying to sell.
To sum up, as a friend later mentioned to me, phones like 5C, SE exist for a "reason". If one wants to make sure the product is normal, go for 6S or above.
PS: I changed the title as it looks I was making a bold statement with a tiny sample pool.
tag: yellow monitor, yellow edge, dead led, mark under monitor, defective screen monitor, iPhone SE, bad quality control
Background
I having been using Android phones for years. I swapped once for my Nexus 4 due to dead pixel; then spent 1.5 year on it. Later I swapped to an ASUS phone and never needed a swap, still using it. Lately with the price dropped on SE I wanted to make a try. I have been using iPad for a good while, the 2, 4 and then Air 2. I swapped once for the Air 2 as there was a blur somewhere, then with the 2nd one I have been a happy owner for 1.5 year.
1st Phone
The first phone I got last Thursday was a black SE, 64 GB. It initially looked amazing, while with more use, especially to a point when I was able to scroll on Facebook or emails, I could see a pretty obvious transition of color from normal to yellowish when text/picture approached the top of the screen. (Night shift was OFF if that helps)
Then searching on the web I realized people also talked about the yellow screen problem, and some were having the same thing where the top of the screen was particularly discolored.
2nd Phone
So I decided I could try another, which I also switched the color to gold, that's the one I meant to buy but was out of stock earlier. Getting home, spending an hour to set it up and recovering the profile, then I could see a very similar result as I could on the first phone, yellow transition towards the top. The yellowing happens only at the top and wasn't anywhere else.
I thought it might be normal, why don't I just bring it back to Apple and check with the ones in the showroom?
As I did, the other phones shown there were virtually free from this yellowing (side by side, both with a while background), at least not as pronouced.
3rd Phone
By the time I got there 2nd phone was 4 days in use, which should have been good for any glue talks to be dismissed (I won't wait two weeks for glue).
It took me some effort to convince that there was the issue, while I personally found it to be obvious and I was open to any blind tests. I was exchanging for another Gold SE 64 GB, hoping it would be better. The guys offer to help me with personal setup and that's what I did. On site the third phone's monitor looks fine. I didn't find any yellowing on the screen when comparing to the showroom's.
However, I could feel a clear rattling sound in the vibration, and I immediately found the difference when I set up the touch ID. Talking to the tech, the very impolite guy toggle the vibration button 5 times in a seconds and said it's all fine. Fine. I was convince it's OK to have some craps in it, despite I can't believe how these guys in store were treating customers, my phone was like junk from his point of view.
As you are aware, the light in Apple store is rather bright, which indeed makes defects on screen harder to be spotted, and that's the case for the 3rd phone.
After I got home, under normal lighting of a living room, I immediately noticed there was a mark under the screen, which I certainly cannot erase from the glass.
You can check out the video I took:
https://goo.gl/photos/bxbieAGwBuZcSQ6q6
Bringing this to the store, a senior sales guy, or someone like a manager was checking on it. He said he couldn't see the mark while I still could, but that was understandable given the light being so bright. He was asking why he couldn't see it here while I could at home, like I am taking video of a different phone. I told him to check it at the back, but he kind of dismissed that.
I requested the 4th phone, and that would be my last call, enough time wasted. I have already bought a few more accessories and they would be useless, so I wanna give it the last chance.
4th Phone
I got the 4th phone, figuring that it means nothing to rush the check in-store, I left and unboxed it at home. On first glance the screen looks OK, except for a small mark when viewed from an angle of 170 degree, I was sucking it up. However, later on after I had set it up fully, where I could start browsing Facebook and checking emails, if my eyes were to follow the mails/messages, I could clearly see a shadow at the middle, on the left edge of the screen. I then tilted the phone and checked what happened there, and you can see the attached photo. There is dark dent over the edge where the shadow was spotted, dead LED, or something else was blocking the light. This is rather annoying so I decided there was no way I could accept it.
So I went back to the store just to return the phone, as I was fully convinced that I won't get a fully functional phone from Apple, at least for the SE. The sales took it on, check my photo above, but didn't bother to check the phone and he started the return. Then the manager spotted me, came over with a rather concerned tone asking me what's the problem with the phone. I showed him the picture, and he was kind of annoyed about how little an issue like this was. He spoke to his subordinates, saying that "return the phone, and don't sell him any phones", then he left. I was speechless, as I was the one who already told him last time I won't make a fifth try.
The story ends here, and so does my trade with Apple. Being a tech guy I know I wouldn't get the best tech spec for the price if I go for Apple, but it was the quality of service, and quality control of products which I was buying into. It ends up, this is the quality of product, and this is the quality of service that they are trying to sell.
To sum up, as a friend later mentioned to me, phones like 5C, SE exist for a "reason". If one wants to make sure the product is normal, go for 6S or above.
PS: I changed the title as it looks I was making a bold statement with a tiny sample pool.
tag: yellow monitor, yellow edge, dead led, mark under monitor, defective screen monitor, iPhone SE, bad quality control
Last edited:
