Low Retina iPad Mini Production Reportedly Due to Burn-In Issue on Sharp's Display Panels

[WestonHarvey1]

Yep.

Articles like this only ramp up the paranoia and lead to people scrutinizing their purchase to the Nth degree. Prepare yourselves for the inevitable and ubiquitous "I've returned 4 Minis and still have a yellow screen!" threads.

The "yellow tint" people (except in a couple extreme cases) never had a legitimate complaint. The iPad 3 and up have a warmer color temperature, period. It may not be to everyone's preference, but it's on the spectrum of sensible color temperatures. (It's still too bad you can't adjust it like you can on a Mac)

The screen uniformity issues are real and widespread. Screens with a dark edge or band, or screens that are pink on one side or corner and green on the other are the real issues. It's just that most people don't care even when they do notice them.

For people who care, it's a very distracting experience, especially when using the iPad to read.

 

[DTphonehome]

Apple may inadvertently benefit from this issue, as more people will be pushed to the higher margin iPad Air when buying gifts for the holidays, as the mini will probably not be available. The cynic in me says that they planned it this way.

 

[osx11]

Every product component has variation in physical dimensions, chemical composition, and electrical performance. No two pieces are exactly alike. Product yield is the result of how tolerant the design is to these variations. As component specs approach micron or atomic levels, it becomes more and more difficult to assemble components that work together.

Thanks for a serious reply. I would have expected automated machines to be able to provide a much better yield even when dealing with microscopic parts. Do you think this variation will eventually be reduced or have we reached a point where things are just going to be increasingly harder to manufacture?

 

[SusanK]

Apple may inadvertently benefit from this issue, as more people will be pushed to the higher margin iPad Air when buying gifts for the holidays, as the mini will probably not be available. The cynic in me says that they planned it this way.

Reasonable. Bean counting gone bad.

 

[dumastudetto]

If the burn-in is invisible to users, why is it a problem?

Apple strives for perfection. If manufacturing output doesn't meet their incredibly high standards then they won't let those devices reach consumers. Only Apple can do this. And that's why we all love them so much.

 

[osx11]

thicker, heavier, burn-in issues and more expensive. it even sounds cool.

An inside joke not everyone will understand....

 

[MJedi]

Apple may inadvertently benefit from this issue, as more people will be pushed to the higher margin iPad Air when buying gifts for the holidays, as the mini will probably not be available. The cynic in me says that they planned it this way.

And it must be working on me.

I want the Mini Retina, but I might just go to the Air if this report is proven true.

 

[Poisonivy326]

Apple strives for perfection. If manufacturing output doesn't meet their incredibly high standards then they won't let those devices reach consumers. Only Apple can do this. And that's why we all love them so much.

Burn-in is like IR in that it becomes worse over time. Go to the rmbp forum where users have said the IR was barely noticeable at first but worsened over time. If there's burn in before the thing ever makes it out of the box then it will become worse over time.

Also, head over to imac and rmbp forums if you think Apple has perfectly QC over screens.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

Apple strives for perfection. If manufacturing output doesn't meet their incredibly high standards then they won't let those devices reach consumers. Only Apple can do this. And that's why we all love them so much.

Sorry, that's very silly. Apple will happily sell you an iMac with a screen that is half-yellow, and then try to tell you it's a perfectly normal variance.

They wouldn't hold back perfect looking screens because of some philosophical tree-falls-in-a-forest issue.

 

[mfrohike]

Apple strives for perfection. If manufacturing output doesn't meet their incredibly high standards then they won't let those devices reach consumers. Only Apple can do this. And that's why we all love them so much.

You don't have a rMBP, right?

 

[agsystems]

This implies that there will be screens of differing technologies floating around. Really surprised Apple couldn't get this issue resolved earlier in the development cycle… it's clear there's huge demand for these, and hi-res 7" tablets have been on the market for a while now. You'd think Apple would have seen this coming. Now they're going to miss out on a LOT of holiday sales.

Uh- I am thinking the decision to go retina came in very late - maybe push by all the competing tables - now they stuck as they pre-announced the mini and now they have to produce something or Wall Street will go buck wild them

 

[Count Blah]

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do"

-Benjamin Franklin

And a good drone does not question
-- Count Blah

 

[Xgm541]

If the burn-in is invisible to users, why is it a problem?

Because its invisible to "most" users - not everyone.

 

[Count Blah]

Uh- I am thinking the decision to go retina came in very late - maybe push by all the competing tables - now they stuck as they pre-announced the mini and now they have to produce something or Wall Street will go buck wild them

That is my guess as well. People seem to forget that Jobs changed the screen on the iPhone1 at the "last minute" and I think the same thing happened here. "We're apple, we'll ship it and they will just buy it." Was going to be the motto, until every other competitor released 7" HD versions of their tablets.

 

[MN7119]

No tks!!!!! The new iPad Air is amazing and made me forget about wanting an iPad Mini.

 

[GarobeD]

Apple may inadvertently benefit from this issue, as more people will be pushed to the higher margin iPad Air when buying gifts for the holidays, as the mini will probably not be available. The cynic in me says that they planned it this way.

Agreed. I had to hold myself to not buy the iPad Air yesterday. But the smaller screen is a plus for me...

 

[agsystems]

How reliable is ETNews? Or have people decided anything that gets reported is fact these days?

I understand what you are saying but for a completely made up story - there are lots of details - at a minimum - the fact that Apple hasn't given a ship date tells you that they are having a really hard time

 

[Tiger8]

Apple said November. They had no reason to say that if they were not sure.

They do have a reason: Nexus 7, second generation

Apple have typically done this when they are introducing something that will not canibalize their own products, but will affect competition:
1. iPhone announced in Jan released in June, because Apple did not have any phones. But starting with 3G it is annouced days before release
2. iPad announced in Jan released in April

Apple announcing the Retina Mini (and keeping the original Mini) means those who want the original Mini will still get it, those who were considering Nexus 7 or other ultra-high-res small factor tablet, will hold off.

It's business.

 

[comatose81]

Apple may inadvertently benefit from this issue, as more people will be pushed to the higher margin iPad Air when buying gifts for the holidays, as the mini will probably not be available. The cynic in me says that they planned it this way.

This is embarrassing for Apple, especially the part about going to Samsung, so I highly doubt that this was planned or intentional in any way. If they wanted to force people to buy the Air, they could have just released the Air, with no update to the mini. People would whine and then go buy an Air.

 

[threelions]

I've had an iPad 3 since it launched and I don't know what you're talking about. Besides a little light leakage in one or two places around the edge of the display (only visible at extreme angles), I've had no issues with my display. Ditto the "no issues" part on my iPad Air display.

Then again, I'm not sure I want to know what you're talking about -- if I haven't noticed it, I probably don't want to go looking for it.

You realise that just because you got a good one it doesn't mean there wasn't an issue right? An issue doesn't have to affect the majority just enough to make it a significant issue.

My advice(I wished I'd followed) never buy a first batch of any product from any company give it a month or two and you will have a perfect product. The first batches always have some issues.

 

[Donka]

People do realise that Apple are currently stock piling a supply for retina minis ready for launch. I have no idea how fast they are being produced and what level they want to get to before launching but there may already be 5 - 10 millions units boxed up ready to ship. Less than what Apple would have wanted but still a fair amount to ship out globally.
I personally will be grabbing one as soon as I can. It's unlikely to have a screen defect and even if it does, I know Apple will swap it out. I got an iPad 2 launch day even though there were supply constraints and still managed to get it swapped out twice in the first week at the Apple store for screen yellowing until I got a perfect one.

 

[rGiskard]

This is ridiculous. There are several competing tablets with similar resolutions and similar sizes that have been out for some time. Nexus 7, LG G Pad, ect. Many people including myself have been waiting for a retina iPad mini for a year now. How many companies have customers that will wait a YEAR for a product when competitors have flooded the marketplace with alternatives?

If Steve Jobs were still CEO, there the hallways of Apple HQ would flow with the blood of bozos.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Apple may inadvertently benefit from this issue, as more people will be pushed to the higher margin iPad Air when buying gifts for the holidays, as the mini will probably not be available. The cynic in me says that they planned it this way.

Or it might do the exact opposite and push people away from the iPad or cause them to just delay purchase until the rMini 2.

You are assuming consumers are iPad or bust, but sales date suggests otherwise. It's quite likely the people in the market for a 7" tablet prefer the mini but if not available will look at Android alternatives either because of price or size/weight.

I can say from personal experience that my Air is not a substitute for the mini because of the size. 7" and 9"/10" may not seem like a huge gap on paper, but in the hand it is.

 

[bunnicula]

I got a feeling I'm going to need to stay away from this one and wait for Mini Retina 2.

Yeah. This development doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

This is ridiculous. There are several competing tablets with similar resolutions and similar sizes that have been out for some time. Nexus 7, LG G Pad, ect. Many people including myself have been waiting for a retina iPad mini for a year now. How many companies have customers that will wait a YEAR for a product when competitors have flooded the marketplace with alternatives?

If Steve Jobs were still CEO, there the hallways of Apple HQ would flow with the blood of bozos.

This is a very different screen than the 7" screens that were available. It is a 7.9 inch QXGA resolution screen (and it needs to be to maintain iPad compatibility), and no one was making those until very recently. You don't just take a pair of scissors to a big roll of LCD screen and cut out the size you want.