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iPhones with the negative black screen issue

I just purchased a week 29 unit today and the screen is perfect. I got it from the AT&T store and I had to go to 3 of them to get a pre-week 30 phone. Nobody had the slightest idea what I was talking about but they were all very helpful.
 
Success

So took my second refurb 8gig iphone into the a second Apple Store. The second phone I received had way more problems than the first 8 gig refurb that I originally purchased.. it had the negative screen and man deadpixels. The apple store had a 2.5 hour wait. People were getting all kind'sa stuff repaired. I finally got help an hour after signing up. I sat down, said "Dead-pixels" and the genius stopped me before I can even begin talking about the horrible negative display, He stops me and says "No need to say anything more!" He calls a manager to open the iphone case and whips out with a brand spankin new 8 gig ipod. (I initially had a refurb) They ran out of replacements... I got lucky. Apparently, apple has a 2-3 dead pixel limit for laptops and imac screens and a zero deadpixel full replacement iphone policy. So if you have ONE DEAD PIXEL, they'll replace it... but they do not have specific replacement rules yet for the negative issue, since apple hasn't implemented any recalls or anything. I got a week 32, 7 series screen which isn't as perfect as my friends week 29, 5 series screen but it's nothing like the last two. The took the dood's business card and I will definitely write a "Thank you" letter to that store for this. P-O mode finally off. Now it's time to sync everything and download all the softwares I need. Good luck everyone!
 
I have a week 28 7-series screen and i definitely see the issue. Dont feel like haggling with the genius bar but ill wait a bit to see if apple addresses the issue at all
 
DaLurker said:
8gb Week 38 iPhones don't have this problem! Get an iPhones with Week 38 or later!
Click to expand...



I have a week 38 iphone and it not only has the negative effect, but now i have dead/stuck pixels, and i have the CHECKERBOARD white dots. I officially am having waaay to many issues with this phone. 4th iphone btw. GOOOO :apple:!!!!
 
Okay so i went back and got a week 37 and wow the display is AMAZING..i am VERY please. but now my youtube doesn't work...so we'll see if i can fix this, cuz i really dont want to send this one back. this is a version 7, but is different...

it is version 7459072

and and by the way, my friend has the 5 series screen 4GB from day of launch, and this specific 7459072 model LCD looks WAAAY better. it is flawless. i just hope i dont scratch it or break it now. 🙂

not one single sign of negative black effect, and no checkboard effect. the only issue is a couple dead pixels, but you win some, you lose some..and then you love some (iphone) LOL
 
I went to the Apple store and had my iPhone exchanged for the 8gb version. It took a long while before they let me walk out of the store with the new phone. Unfortunately I received a week 38 phone which uses the 7 LCD panels and it still shows the negative black along with light leak. So I guess I made off with more problems than I started off with. I think I have another two weeks to try again for one that's problem free.
 
ibuyufo said:
I went to the Apple store and had my iPhone exchanged for the 8gb version. It took a long while before they let me walk out of the store with the new phone. Unfortunately I received a week 38 phone which uses the 7 LCD panels and it still shows the negative black along with light leak. So I guess I made off with more problems than I started off with. I think I have another two weeks to try again for one that's problem free.
Click to expand...




me thinks, the golden week is week 37...at least for me. honestly my week 38, besides making me feel good it was a week 38, when i brought it home, it was an absolute MESS. i was like, hold shi*t. now i have a phone that shuts off in the middle of a sync, checkerboard screen, negative effect screen, and about 10 dead pixels.

NOW i have my week 37, NICE LCD, couple dead pixels, but it is awesome. i like this :apple:iphone
 
infinitethrill said:
My dilemma -

I don't have the money to get at&t service yet, so I used the iPhone Tool to bypass activation. It works just like an iPod touch now.

Now, If I were to restore it and bring it into the Apple store, how would I show the problem? Can I bring it in with bypassed activation, and they will still give me service? (does bypassing activation void the warranty?)

Also, there is one stuck pixel that doesn't really bother me too much, but it just adds on to the problem with the negative black...
Click to expand...

When the phone is not activated it will have a picture of the world on the main screen. Hold down the power button. the phone should now show a red slider at the top. The world is in the back ground but shaded black.
If you cant see the clouds turn the phone side to side, you should see it sorta shimming like a negative effect and then barely see the clouds. This means the phone has the negative black issue.

Compare that phone with the new one they give you BEFORE they enter it into the system. If looks the same ask for a new one.

Also you can get into the service menu of any un activated iphone by sliding the emergency bar and then typing in *3001#12345#* there you can check the lcd version.

Good luck
 
I had the same problem with my 8GB iphone. Just went to the Apple store today. They weren't aware of it, but he compared the Jay-Z album art to his computer and then realized the problem and said he would exchange it. I asked for him to try to get the most recent one and he had no idea how to do that. I tried to show him the serial number 4th and 5th characters, but he basically didn't believe me. Which I don't blame him, I'm coming into his store and telling him I know more. Thats tough to swallow. Anyway he got a manager and he did look for me, but the newest they had was a 35. I told him I would try it and it is perfect. Screen looks great! Just for reference though this is a refurbished unit. Maybe it was originally built in week 35, then refurbished with a newer screen. So anyway here's the details:

Serial# ***35****** (refurbished)
LCD Panel ID: 7459072
Perfect screen!
 
Oh hell. My friend in SF is supposed to buy my iPhone today and ship it to me. But after reading all these posts I dont know if thats a good idea though😡. I cant send the iPhone back to US if mine has a problem. And checking the week number does not look like a great idea too since there are mixed results with all weeks and display series🙁.
 
I am on the same boat. After skimming through this thread, vikas is right as picking another iphone with no black issue will be random. I am going down to apple today, hopefully it will be better or the same as what my current iphone has.
 
Why would'nt you be able to send the screen back to the US?

My screen is version 7459072

and it looks amazing. bought Sunday 23rd..
 
ummm, anyone returning their phones UNLOCKED? I unlocked my iphone and realized I have this negative black screen... looks like it was built week 36....

Is this covered warranty? Do I have to pay a restocking fee? Thanks
 
I am assuming we would have no problem exchanging for a new one if we are under the 14 day and there should be no restocking fee as we are not returning it but an exchange.
 
duceduc said:
I am assuming we would have no problem exchanging for a new one if we are under the 14 day and there should be no restocking fee as we are not returning it but an exchange.
Click to expand...

but mine is certainly unlocked, using Summerboard..... Should I revert it to stock before exchanging?
 
So is it safe to assume that panel id 7459072 has no issues?

Im in the UK aswell still waiting for the phone to arrive. Its a week 37 but no idea what panel ID it has.
 
Yeah... you should always revert back to default settings because if you don't, it gives apple a reason not to accept your phone speculating that it's the hackedness of the phone causing the problems... you don't want that on your list of mistakes... As far as it being unlocked... I'm not sure if they look too hard at that... There are some genius' that take the phone in back and have several people look at them and than there's the ipod genius booths that some Apple stores have where the guys there are THE SECOND opinions and do exchanges without need someone else to check it out.. It all depends on the person you're dealing with..
 
UPDATE:


Ok, so I took my iPhone down to the Apple Store for an exchange. I removed Summerboard, but kept the phone unlocked (my service provider said "cingular"), and told them about my screen issue. After viewing some pictures, the Genius still couldn't see the negative issue (he had glasses, and admitted he had terrible vision), most likely due to the intense lighting in the Apple Store. Anyway, he said I was within the 14 days, so i could exchange it. No problems at all, just swapped me for a week 37 unit... hopefully it will be better... now I just have to unlock this mofo and we'll see how it went...
 
mcgmark said:
Why would'nt you be able to send the screen back to the US?
Click to expand...

Shipping costs. Time wasted. No iphone for atleast 15 days. Force my friend to waste time waiting for a genius. And still You cant be sure if yours will be replaced and there wont be no issue due to unlocking. And who knows I get a piece worse than the first one. Too much trouble.

So I`d be left with no other choice but to ebay it for 200$ extra😀 and get myself another one from US since the wait will be the same.
 
Just thought i'd update some people on my situation. I had an iphone purchased end of july fist week of august. I was finally fed up with the blacks on screen and only reading more about it proved i wasnt seeing things. I made an appointment today with the genius bar. I knew from the start the "genius" i was lucky enough to get had an attitude problem as well as giving off the impression he didnt want to do **** for me. Anyway I begin to tell him about how my blacks are off and i believe its the same problem the touch is experiencing. The bright light in the apple store made it a little more difficult to prove my case. The genius says the screen looks fine and it may just be a different panel but its nothing they will give me a new iphone for. After battling a little bit I told him i guess its something I must live with. He continues to make me feel like an idiot and refuses to help me. I make one last attempt and load a picture through my browser of the jayz black album. This catches his attention and he pulls out his iphone to pull up the same picture and compare. He then says how mine does look a little different but its nothing more than "aspect ratio" or something like that and its no big deal. One of the other genius guys walks over to see whats going on. He whips out his iphone to compare and immediately says wow its experiencing the same problem as the touch and begins to show the other genius what i have been trying to say. the genius says "well you swap it out then". This new guys says fine no problem and goes gets another unit from the back for me and swaps it out for a new phone. Apparently my problem wasnt only visible with my eyes and luckily this guy backed me up. I checked the screen on the new iphone and its perfect. The jayz picture and greyscale chart test are much much much better tha my previous phone. Just thought this story might give some of you hope that there are newer units/refurbs thatwork perfectly and that if you fight your case hard enough you should be able to convince the so called geniuses. Definetly present a picture or chart to show some hard evidence.
 
topdog, what serial number is your new phone (first 5 digits)? and moreso, whats the LCD Panel id?

Dial *3001#12345#* and please let us know
 
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