iPhone 4 Screen Blotching Resolves Itself as Bonding Agent Dries?

[MacRumors]

Yesterday, we reported that a number of iPhone 4 users have noticed yellowish or brownish splotches on their device's screens, obviously causing a fair amount of concern for some of those users.

According to a forum post at AppleInsider, however, the issue should resolve itself over the next several days, as it is claimed to be caused by a bonding agent in the screen that has not yet fully dried following the manufacturing process.

Apple is using a bonding agent called Organofunctional Silane Z-6011 to bond the layers of glass. Apparently, Apple (or more likely Foxconn) is shipping these products so quickly that the evaporation process is not complete. However, after one or two days of use, especially with the screen on, will complete the evaporation process and the yellow "blotches" will disappear.

How do I know? I was involved in pitching Z-6011 to Apple.

The veracity of the poster's claim has not been verified, but it does offer some hope to those affected by the issue. Adding to those hopes are reports from users that their blotches are in fact fading with time and usage, indicating that affected users should probably take a wait-and-see attitude for a few days rather than rushing out to their local Apple Stores in hopes of exchanging for new units.

I had major yellow spots on the bottom corners of the iPhone 4 this morning when I received it (as shown in the other thread) and as of right now they have COMPLETELY faded away. I have no idea what caused this but it happened. So keep an eye on it over the next day or so if you have the issue. . . It just seemed like the more I used the phone today the more it faded. It's really odd but I'll take it.

Article Link: iPhone 4 Screen Blotching Resolves Itself as Bonding Agent Dries?

 

[ChazUK]

Great news if true!

When were the new iPhones built and how long does the bonding agent take to dry?

 

[OneEyedSpaniel]

No BLOTCHS here!!!! Loving the new iPhone

 

[RHatton]

Good to know. It seems like all the issues have been resolved. There is a fix for the network issue and now the discoloration. Thats encouraging since I am receiving mine today. Please come Mr. FedEx guy!

 

[s1nt4x]

What kind of cheep factory did apple build this phones in ? , and how long dose a glue take to try ? as far as i know no glue takes weeks to dry , but for the persons who have this problem i hope it`s the glue and it fixes.
And let`s hope the glue will not solidify in a bad position or leaving marks or something.

 

[SteveSparks]

Actually that seems reasonable.

 

[forza1976]

Good to hear!

 

[chrisk1]

Perfect screen here!

 

[talkingfuture]

That is certainly good news. I wonder if it came up in testing or just since they ramped up to full production. I wonder how long it takes to make an iPhone anyway?

 

[kangaralph]

cool to hear that

 

[Nicky G]

Mine from store pickup today seems fine, no reception issue at all, either, in fact reception seems GREAT. I don't know how to say it other than Apple has totally hit it out of the park with this one. Amazing. LOVING the black bumper, adds no real heft to the phone but seems protective enough for those rare drops. This thing is WILDLY awesome, the screen has to be seen to be believed, it is like digital high-quality glossy paper but MORE vibrant, like nothing I've ever seen.

 

[Aldaris]

Devils advocate

Or you just got so used to the yellowish blotches they seemingly disappeared for you...

Good to hear it's not a huge issue if true!

 

[Crispy Duck]

There is a fix for the network issue and now the discoloration.

What is this fix you speak of? Link?

All I hear is the loss in reception when you pick the phone up... no statements or fixes from Apple as far as i am aware of...?

 

[DylanLikesPorn]

I wonder if the douchebags at Gizmodo will run this story. They seem to love disparaging the iPhone 4.

 

[leegordon79]

waiting

Sitting here drinking a beer. Took the day off to wait for my delivery. Come on FedEx! At least I'm not standing in line on the street. They said by 3:00pm...lets hope so!

 

[djellison]

You mean they've making them so fast they don't even have time to dry?

What does that say about production QC? Clearly they can't check the quality of the screen if it's still flawed like this during the drying process.

 

[RRX209]

See it is magical.

It heals all by itself

 

[bredell]

So that's how you tell if an iPhone is fresh.

 

[phoneorpda]

Not for me!

The yellow spot went away overnight, but it seems to come back after using the phone for few minutes, every time, with the same intensity as yesterday.

I really hope it's a temporary issue, but it doesn't seem to get better in my case...

 

[angemon89]

Ugh, mine has a yellow spot near the bottom right corner also.....

Well this sucks.

 

[spice weasel]

What kind of cheep factory did apple build this phones in ? , and how long dose a glue take to try ? as far as i know no glue takes weeks to dry , but for the persons who have this problem i hope it`s the glue and it fixes.
And let`s hope the glue will not solidify in a bad position or leaving marks or something.

I'm not an expert in adhesives, but "drying" and "curing" are two different but related things. A glue may dry enough to offer good adherence in a short while (minutes), but may take much longer to cure and harden completely.

 

[dante@sisna.com]

What kind of cheep factory did apple build this phones in ? , and how long dose a glue take to try ? as far as i know no glue takes weeks to dry , but for the persons who have this problem i hope it`s the glue and it fixes.
And let`s hope the glue will not solidify in a bad position or leaving marks or something.

I have a degree in Chemical Engineering and have worked in the field. Let me add some experience to your questions and suppositions:

1. What kind of cheep [sic] factory did apple build this [sic] phones in?

The factory, and it's construction (cheap - )will have little effect on organosilicate glue.

2. Who long dose [sic] a glue take to dry?

This depends on a lot of factors. Temperature, humidity and it depends on whether UV light was used to assist the curing. The process can take from minutes to days.

Remember, these phones are being built and air-freighted to the consumer in days, and not weeks.

Apple's explanation is within reason.

 

[Wurm5150]

Bad Batch Of Apples...

Sone people I think just got the shipment of bad iPhones. Just like a batch of bad apples or a batch of bad hash brownies.. Sorry for all you affected ones. I sure don't have any discoloration and reception problems with mine. I held it like the way those videos recently popping up, put it right next to a bunch of keys and other metallic object, NO SIGNAL DROP FOR ME..

 

[CalebF]

Um... what happened to this being a great big made up global conspiracy from Gizmodo because they're jealous of Apple and want to sabotage them?

 

[phillipduran]

What kind of cheep factory did apple build this phones in ? , and how long dose a glue take to try ? as far as i know no glue takes weeks to dry , but for the persons who have this problem i hope it`s the glue and it fixes.
And let`s hope the glue will not solidify in a bad position or leaving marks or something.

Probably Foxconn and they aren't a cheap factory.

They probably would let these things sit and dry under normal circumstances but due to the demand, someone probably made the call to ship everything they have now so long as it's assembled and can go into the packaging.