How common is yellow tint screen problem for MBP retina?

[vmflapem]

I have just requested a replacement for my MacBook Pro Retina because the one I originally received had a minor problem with the keyboard.

But after reading a few threads, I am thinking that I should have kept the old one so I don't risk getting a new MacBook Pro that has a yellow screen problem.

How common is this yellow screen problem for MBP retina? Is it fixable just by replacing the LCD later on?

 

[chetzar]

I have a 15" with the 750m and it has no yellowing or IR issues. It was also the first and only one I got from the store.

 

[Kelmon]

I confess I hadn't heard of this issue before ordering my rMBP a couple of weeks ago but I don't seem to have such a problem. Yay!

 

[maflynn]

My 2012 rMBP has no such issues, and I really don't see too many reports of this on the interwebs but I will confess, I'm not looking for the problem as well.

 

[Brian Y]

What was the keyboard problem? If you're worried, cancel the return and ask an Apple store to put a new top case on instead.

Tbh though, yellow screens are pretty rare. Outside of a forum environment, where things will be heavily biased towards units having problems, it's a very small percentage.

 

[Martin82]

Strange. I have exchanged 4 Macbooks pro due to screen issue. All have or yellow tints on one side or reddish whites. Visible on white screen (internet pages, calender etc). I gave up.

 

[cairene2011]

Actually, I notice a pink hue on the top quarter of my new rMBP's screen, whereas the bottom is more neutral. Funnily, also the Apple logo on the back is pink.
I just spent a week without a computer while waiting for this one to ship and can't bother with another wasted week (work is piling up and deadlines are closing in), so I'll keep it nevertheless. 🙂

 

[SarcasticJoe]

Back when I got my first mac in 2007 I remember people showing their machines with clear yellow tint on the screen. Since then the "yellow tint" has gone much less yellow and when people talk about screen defects, or "yellow tint", it's generally about absolutely tiny colour imbalances that nobody but a really well trained eye can see.

I've seen lots of pictures showing these "bad" screens where I personally couldn't find anything wrong with them. Only with a side-by-side comparison could you see that the two had slightly different colour calibrations, but nether looked to be faulty, just calibrated differently which is understandable because one of the machines is usually colour calibrated.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if a large part of these "bad screens" are just some kind of reverse placebo effect kicking in when they're used to colours being displayed a certain less accurate way on a less accurate TN panel.

 

[MrGimper]

Back when I got my first mac in 2007 I remember people showing their machines with clear yellow tint on the screen. Since then the "yellow tint" has gone much less yellow and when people talk about screen defects, or "yellow tint", it's generally about absolutely tiny colour imbalances that nobody but a really well trained eye can see.



I've seen lots of pictures showing these "bad" screens where I personally couldn't find anything wrong with them. Only with a side-by-side comparison could you see that the two had slightly different colour calibrations, but nether looked to be faulty, just calibrated differently which is understandable because one of the machines is usually colour calibrated.



I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if a large part of these "bad screens" are just some kind of reverse placebo effect kicking in when they're used to colours being displayed a certain less accurate way on a less accurate TN panel.

True. I have a retina imac, a 13" rMBP, and a Lenovo work laptop. Each on their own looks good, but when comparing them the Lenovo is too blue, the imac too yellow and the rMBP too pink lol.

 

[Xeridionix]

A few of my friends have Retina MacBook Pro's and their displays looked perfectly fine to me, and I have a knack for picking up on things like that rather quickly.

You need to keep in mind that when browsing through forums and whatnot that it's kind of like a hospital... you don't see a bunch of healthy people kicking around there all the time, right? Those who have no issues with their computer tend not to post whereas those who do have an issue will typically post about it, so the results are always a bit skewed. Worst case scenario you purchase one and if it does have an issue with the display you can take it back and have it swapped out.

 

[wct097]

Happened to my first MBP, a 2011 non-retina version.

 

[Martin82]

Back when I got my first mac in 2007 I remember people showing their machines with clear yellow tint on the screen. Since then the "yellow tint" has gone much less yellow and when people talk about screen defects, or "yellow tint", it's generally about absolutely tiny colour imbalances that nobody but a really well trained eye can see.

I've seen lots of pictures showing these "bad" screens where I personally couldn't find anything wrong with them. Only with a side-by-side comparison could you see that the two had slightly different colour calibrations, but nether looked to be faulty, just calibrated differently which is understandable because one of the machines is usually colour calibrated.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if a large part of these "bad screens" are just some kind of reverse placebo effect kicking in when they're used to colours being displayed a certain less accurate way on a less accurate TN panel.

I can't agree. I just read a text and I see the left side white, the right side yellow. It's not the problem of different screen calibration and 100K differences. U can't calibrate an area of the not uniform screen ie. one side of the screen.

 

[technosix]

I'm on my fourth MacBook Pro Retina. They've been delightful, yet I'd be lying if I said yellowish tint that's predominant on some isn't an issue.

Luckily I'm thrilled to report my 15" 2012 MBPR is completely free of yellowing.

It's a fully maxed out top of the line model that runs cool even under heavy loads.

The very best MBPr I've bought new, this one is a keeper. 🙂

 

[MayaTlab]

I'm not sure getting a globally yellowish screen is that common nowadays or too much of an issue, as it can be calibrated, at least to an extent.

The real issue is that Apple is completely unable to build retina displays to the uniformity standards of their own TFT screens.

The RMBP 13" I now use is the fifth one (I exchanged it four times) and I decided to keep it as it isn't as rubbish as the other ones.

There are three common issues :
1) black point luminance unevenness. Also known, sometimes, as backlight bleeding. This is not related to IPS glow.
2) white point luminance unevenness.
3) colour balance unevenness. That's IMHO the worst of the lot. Of the five RMBP I got, three had totally unacceptable colour heterogeneity, going from sickly yellow in one corner to magenta in another one. It was obvious, and I never ever had an issue to demonstrate the existence of a problem to Apple's staff. It's that bad. The other two were begrudginly acceptable in that regard (but the first had a massive issue with luminance heterogeneity).

The main point of contention is that when one buys the MBA, nobody expects to be able to to any modicum of photo / graphics editing on that display, as the technology itself is problematic, but that, at least in theory, RMBP displays should be good enough for a limited number of editing uses, and yet, in practice, because of Apple's inability to rein in their wide manufacturing tolerances, only a very small subset of these displays is actually any good for those uses.

 

[Acronyc]

I've been using my mid 2012 15" rMBP since I bought it in November 2012. I had no yellowing, but a few months after I bought it IR showed up (LG panel). Apple replaced it (Samsung panel) without a problem and I've been happily using it since without any yellowing or IR. Good screen and great computer, hope to get at least a few more years out of it.

 

[cairene2011]

Actually, I notice a pink hue on the top quarter of my new rMBP's screen, whereas the bottom is more neutral. Funnily, also the Apple logo on the back is pink.
I just spent a week without a computer while waiting for this one to ship and can't bother with another wasted week (work is piling up and deadlines are closing in), so I'll keep it nevertheless. 🙂

I'd just like to update that I notice it less and less each day. I come from an MBA screen (which in comparison is more neutrally coloured, possibly even slightly yellow) and work a lot with actual paper, hence this was the "white balance" in my brain and the rMBP initially seemed very pink and off. The more I use it and get used to it, however, the less this becomes noticeable. 🙂