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steve62388

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2013
3,105
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So, I have just booked in my first ever appointment for a Genius Bar visit at my local Apple store and the lead time is appalling!!

The fault on my rMBP has been diagnosed in an online chat with an Apple rep and all I need to do is drop it off. I have a case number already.

The earliest I could get an appointment is one week lead time!?! This is terrible, it's a lot worse than getting a Dr's appointment here in the UK (which everyone always complains about). Why on earth should I have to wait this long just to drop off a faulty laptop to get repaired? If this is the only way to get a service repair done then Apple need to look at their systems. When I worked in a retail store it was no big deal and anybody could come off the street any time to book in repairs and pick them up.

This sucks. Any way around it?
 
So, I have just booked in my first ever appointment for a Genius Bar visit at my local Apple store and the lead time is appalling!!

The fault on my rMBP has been diagnosed in an online chat with an Apple rep and all I need to do is drop it off. I have a case number already.

The earliest I could get an appointment is one week lead time!?! This is terrible, it's a lot worse than getting a Dr's appointment here in the UK (which everyone always complains about). Why on earth should I have to wait this long just to drop off a faulty laptop to get repaired? If this is the only way to get a service repair done then Apple need to look at their systems. When I worked in a retail store it was no big deal and anybody could come off the street any time to book in repairs and pick them up.

This sucks. Any way around it?

I'm from Aberdeen. When I booked genius bar appointment on friday, I had it on Saturday and my Macbook was repaired 3 days after and ready to collect.

Try to book appointment at store and see what is the timing.
 
So, I have just booked in my first ever appointment for a Genius Bar visit at my local Apple store and the lead time is appalling!!
...
This sucks. Any way around it?

Yeah, they are busy and the long lead times. No way around it, other then another apple store that may have less of a line.
 
I'm from Aberdeen. When I booked genius bar appointment on friday, I had it on Saturday and my Macbook was repaired 3 days after and ready to collect.

Try to book appointment at store and see what is the timing.

Im from Inverness and when i ned genius appointmnt i go to Aberdeen and normally its a day or 2 at the max.

Just turn up and say you were not advisd to make appointment it was mearly to drop it off they shouldnt turn you away
 
Im from Inverness and when i ned genius appointmnt i go to Aberdeen and normally its a day or 2 at the max.

Just turn up and say you were not advisd to make appointment it was mearly to drop it off they shouldnt turn you away

This is your best bet. Just go in and ask if you can get on a list since your issue is pressing. More oft than not, there are people that just don't show up for their appointments, and if they are not too bad on time you may be able to fill in one of the voids.

I've been to my local Apple store and have done this numerous times and have always been granted a Genius to help me. It seems your store doesn't have that many cross trained employees judging by the high lead times you are stating. It may be more difficult for you than me here in Aventura, FL.
 
Im from Inverness and when i ned genius appointmnt i go to Aberdeen and normally its a day or 2 at the max.

Just turn up and say you were not advisd to make appointment it was mearly to drop it off they shouldnt turn you away

What's wrong with macbook btw?

I've had there a perfect service there. Was never happy with the screen quality of the 15inch retina. And they changed my screen once. After few months, I wasn't still happy (uneven, yellow tint) and they said that the whole logic board will be replaced along with the screen.

After few days they phoned me to say that instead of that, I'll get new 2013 retina macbook that will be shipped from china (CTO model).

What a service! Always been great at Aberdeen Apple Store. So helpful.

Good luck with your case.
 
What's wrong with macbook btw?

Dead pixels. My current display is a Samsung, and the online rep told me it will be replaced with a Samsung (I took a QuickTime video of the chat in case).

Was never happy with the screen quality of the 15inch retina. And they changed my screen once. After few months, I wasn't still happy (uneven, yellow tint) and they said that the whole logic board will be replaced along with the screen.

I'm really hoping the replacement doesn't have any of the other occasional faults you and other people have mentioned before. It does worry me a little bit, but I'll be putting the new screen through a whole gamut of tests to check it out.

I assume Apple engineers are very careful not to scratch or damage your laptop? I have looked after my rMBP very carefully and it's in immaculate condition, I'm going to take photos just in case.
 
Dead pixels. My current display is a Samsung, and the online rep told me it will be replaced with a Samsung (I took a QuickTime video of the chat in case).



I'm really hoping the replacement doesn't have any of the other occasional faults you and other people have mentioned before. It does worry me a little bit, but I'll be putting the new screen through a whole gamut of tests to check it out.

I assume Apple engineers are very careful not to scratch or damage your laptop? I have looked after my rMBP very carefully and it's in immaculate condition, I'm going to take photos just in case.

Had LG at first - 2012 model, terrible ghosting. Took pictures, brought it to apple store. It took a minutes for genius to take a decision about replacing the screen. After 3 days, got new screen fitted. It was Samsung, so I was hoping for the best but it was terribly uneven. Got it measured by i1 Display pro for uniformity, and armed with tables and graphs with results I went to the store again. That's when they replaced the whole macbook for the newer 2013 model:)

They are really good at handling the equipment. Just make sure you back up everything properly before handing it in. I've always had speck smartshell case so my macbook still looks like at day 1:)

Good luck and let us know how did it go.
 
After 3 days, got new screen fitted. It was Samsung, so I was hoping for the best but it was terribly uneven. Got it measured by i1 Display pro for uniformity, and armed with tables and graphs with results I went to the store again.

That's an interesting idea, did you know someone with the equipment? I'm not going to shell out for a testing device just for this one time though. Were the imperfections visible to your naked eye (and just confirmed with testing)? It's a long shot but do you know any free or very cheap testing software that can help me diagnose faults, preferably OSX but I have Win7 too? I was thinking about something like this:- http://www.walvisions.com/FullFields.html

They are really good at handling the equipment. Just make sure you back up everything properly before handing it in. I've always had speck smartshell case so my macbook still looks like at day 1:)

Yep, already backed up on my Time Machine. I encrypted my disk too.
 
That's an interesting idea, did you know someone with the equipment? I'm not going to shell out for a testing device just for this one time though. Were the imperfections visible to your naked eye (and just confirmed with testing)? It's a long shot but do you know any free or very cheap testing software that can help me diagnose faults, preferably OSX but I have Win7 too? I was thinking about something like this:- http://www.walvisions.com/FullFields.html



Yep, already backed up on my Time Machine. I encrypted my disk too.

No, I own i1 Display Pro. Use it to calibrate external Eizo display, as well as retina display.
Yes, I did see the problem. One side of the screen was yellowish, and the other one was bluish. Clearly visible. I don't think that any software can measure physical screen properties. This is impossible. You need a sensor to do that.

I don't suppose you need that much evidence with you. As long as you explain it clearly to the genius, he should be able to follow your leads and to find out what's wrong with the screen.
 
If you don't like the wait time, can't you just take it in to a third party specialist that doesn't require you to set up an appointment?

Where I come from we don't have official Apple stores (closest one is in a neighboring country) and every time I've had issues with my machine I've taken it to a local store where it gets diagnosed the same day or the next and fixed as soon as the spare part arrives. The only reason for the wait on the spare part is because Apple won't allow service centers to order spare parts in advance.
 
No, I own i1 Display Pro. Use it to calibrate external Eizo display, as well as retina display.
Yes, I did see the problem. One side of the screen was yellowish, and the other one was bluish. Clearly visible. I don't think that any software can measure physical screen properties. This is impossible. You need a sensor to do that.

I don't suppose you need that much evidence with you. As long as you explain it clearly to the genius, he should be able to follow your leads and to find out what's wrong with the screen.

Anarti, if you're reading this please keep on because I have a question at the end of this post.

Some background on all of this. My rMBP is 25 months old. I do not have Applecare. My rMBP developed some very visible dead pixels in the center upper left of the display.

In the UK we have some strong consumer protection law called the Sales of Goods Act which states that 'goods are of satisfactory quality if they meet the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking account of any description of the goods, the price (if relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances'. This covers you for up to six years. The obvious argument is that a reasonable person would expect a £3000 top of the line laptop to be free of such faults for a period longer than 25 months, and in my discussions with Apple they agreed it would be covered under what they term 'consumer law'.

My display was a Samsung and I requested a Samsung replacement which was acknowledged.

I had my appointment on Wednesday the 3rd of September. The first Genius I spoke to told me that it was a cluster of dead pixels because it was clearly visible, a single dead pixel would not be visible on a Retina display (which is something I had wondered about for a long time). A second Genius took a look at it through a magnifying glass and stated that the screen had a chip in it and would not be fixed free of charge. This was a shock to me as I had not noticed any physical defect before, but sure enough if you ran your finger nail across the screen you could feel an absolutely minuscule blemish. The implication was that I had damaged the screen through misuse.

I went away to have some lunch and did some research on the topic. I discovered that rMBPs have been known to suffer from 'pixel explosion'. This is where pixels suffer a violent catastrophic failure and leave small pitting in the surface of the display. Here is a link where the authors put some pixel exploded displays under a microscope. http://www.mikcx.com/macbook-pro-retina-exploding-pixels/

I went back to the Apple Store that same day to to question further. Interestingly the Genius mentioned the phrase 'pixel explosion' before I did, so it's something they have heard of. Once again I was declined service.

So it came down to whether I damaged the screen and that killed the pixels behind it, or exploding pixels caused damage in the screen surface. I can't 100% rule out the fault being mine, but I take exceptionally good care of my laptop and even the Genius remarked he thought it was a 2013 model and it was in the best condition he had ever seen. I felt I had a case and once again spoke to Apple Care. I had to take it all the way through three different advisers each more senior than the last, but Apple finally relented and agreed to replace the screen.

I trudged back to the Apple Store on Thursday the 4th and they took in my Macbook for repair free of charge. They asked that I leave my own personal case because my laptop was in very good condition and they felt it would help protect it. It was ready and I picked it up on the 9th. I was very pleased that they looked after it very well, no damage was done and even so far as all the screws being in perfect condition (it's common for other technicians to strip screws which is a pain).

Unfortunately the replacement screen was not as I requested a Samsung but is a LG. In the bottom left hand corner it has quite a bit of light leakage, becoming particularly apparent watching letterbox movies. For the longest time I have wanted to calibrate my own plasma television so I decided to take the plunge and purchase the i1 Display Pro. It's very good and I can highly recommend it.

I have used the i1 to check the uniformity of the display so you can see it it is an objective measurement, not my subjective opinion. Is this an unacceptable amount of light leakage? Anarti, is this the sort of information you went to Apple with? Do you think I should request a replacement screen?

Thank you.
 

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Steve,

Let me take a lookt at that once I get back home from work. I have screenshots of how it looked before they replaced it and I can do another measurment of how is it now (late 2013 model).

Will get back to you with some answers.

They usually replace screens to Samsungs but this is not the rule. They have never told me that they will give me a Samsung as they simply can't secure that. They can't also officially say about 2 screens manufacturers and stuff although they know it.

UPDATE:
Steve, this was my screen before
Calibration_02.png


My current screen:
Zrzut%20ekranu%202014-09-22%20o%2017.25.54.png

Zrzut%20ekranu%202014-09-22%20o%2017.26.12.png

Zrzut%20ekranu%202014-09-22%20o%2017.26.01.png

Zrzut%20ekranu%202014-09-22%20o%2017.26.06.png
 
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