iPad mini Grey area at side of screen

[polyphenol]

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a mini 6 in a shop - their display model. And was somewhat perturbed to see an area along one side which looked very wrong. The right side in portrait mode - about 5 to 7 mm wide, an area that looked quite grey. The grey area had a somewhat uneven edge and didn't reach the bottom edge of the screen. Of course I checked that if you rotate the device, the grey area remains on the same physical side of the device.

Rather assumed it was a hardware issue - possibly from being dropped many times, or whatever happens to display models. Not sure whether it could be the backlight rather than the pixel layer?

Yesterday, I went into another shop, an entirely different retailer. And saw almost exactly the same issue. Just a very slightly different shape/extent of grey area.

Chatted to one of the staff - who was generally very well informed. He said they too had thought it was just the one device and was surprised that the same issue had been seen elsewhere.

Maybe it truly is something that only happens when it has been slammed down and dropped hundreds of times?

Am considering a mini 6 - once a replacement has been announced so I can assess the differences and know the prices.

 

[polyphenol]

Just returned to the first shop and took a couple of photos:

And closer/zoomed in:

 

[ZachsMacDaddy]

I saw the same thing on a Mini 6 at a Best Buy today.

 

[polyphenol]

I saw the same thing on a Mini 6 at a Best Buy today.

View attachment 2269383

Thanks - I thought I was going mad.

Surely this cannot be on two separate mini 6 devices in two shops 25 miles apart and nothing to do with each other. Now a few thousand miles away!

Abuse or a widespread failure mode?

 

[MiamiBeach]

This looks like some sort of liquid damage. The side of my iPhone SE screen looked very similar to those iPad minis after it fell in water several years ago.

 

[ZachsMacDaddy]

Thanks - I thought I was going mad.

Surely this cannot be on two separate mini 6 devices in two shops 25 miles apart and nothing to do with each other. Now a few thousand miles away!

Abuse or a widespread failure mode?

I'm thinking since these are display models in shops, they get beaten up a lot and this is likely a side effect (no pun intended). Dropped on the table, twisted, punched, maybe a drink sat near or on them...

 

[polyphenol]

This looks like some sort of liquid damage. The side of my iPhone SE screen looked very similar to those iPad minis after it fell in water several years ago.

Seems odd if three so well separated all had liquid damage. But certainly not impossible.

 

[MiamiBeach]

Seems odd if three so well separated all had liquid damage. But certainly not impossible.

I thought the exact same thing while creating my post. What are the chances of this happening?

I just figured with the amount of people trying out the display models each day, many of them likely walking in to the shop with a coffee or an ice cold soda with at least some condensation on the cup, if not an outright spill may have caused this damage.

If this was a widespread issue, we would have seen more posts on here with people talking about it. Either way it definitely is a strange situation.

 

[rui no onna]

Seems odd if three so well separated all had liquid damage. But certainly not impossible.

I wouldn’t be surprised if people everywhere are careless with display models. Besides, these things are probably 2 years old. Plenty of time to accrue damage.

I know the Kindles I’ve seen at a few Best Buys I’ve been to all look like they’ve gone under the bus.

 

[polyphenol]

I wouldn’t be surprised if people everywhere are careless with display models. Besides, these things are probably 2 years old. Plenty of time to accrue damage.

I know the Kindles I’ve seen at a few Best Buys I’ve been to all look like they’ve gone under the bus.

You could very well be right.

However, both the specimens I have seen were far from scruffy and one of the two shops is always very smart, clean and tidy. (There are other shops about which I certainly wouldn't say that!)