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MacBook Air 2011 "Gradient" Effect at Bottom of Display

J

jackyyeow

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2011
262
0
Hope you guys can help me to check if this is normal:

After a month of using this machine, I started to notice 2 yellowish patches at the bottom of the screen. I'm not sure if it's the gradient effect discussed in this thread, they're faint but still noticeable patches when I'm on light color pages like MR forum or displaying fullscreen solid white images.

I've had an anti-glare screen protector applied, not sure if it's the screen protector or the problem with the display itself. Anyone of you experienced yellow tint patches on your display?

Or if you have had any experiences on screen protector giving false alarms that there's a problem with the display? The AG screen protector is kinda like a no name brand though it did a good job on AG with little grainy effect on the display (not like cheaply made AG screen protector.
 
mikethebigo

mikethebigo

macrumors 68020
May 25, 2009
2,288
1,177
Does anyone notice specific darkening in a certain part of the screen? My 13" Samsung has a dark patch coming right up the middle bottom of the screen (right over the "ook" in MacBook Air). It's really quite distracting, it goes about an inch up and makes everything in that area a different color. It's almost like the led backlights on both sides are pointing diagonally away from the middle of the screen.
 
vitzr

vitzr

macrumors 68030
Jul 28, 2011
2,765
3
California
Diatribe said:
Seems like these Air screens won't ever be trouble free. So sad.
Click to expand...
Very true. It's a reflection of Apples decline in quality.

I've been lucky, both the 11" & 13" MBA's I have are fine. Yet several people at work have the problem with theirs. I've looked at them and it really is quite noticeable. One can only surmise that Apple has a very wide range of what's acceptable & what's not.

One of my friends took his in to the genius, we used mine to do a side by side comparison in the store. The genius called his "within specs" even though next to mine it's dreadful. Even worse, I'm the one who suggested he buy an MBA when he asked for advice.

Oh well, I didn't build the bloody thing.
 
mikethebigo

mikethebigo

macrumors 68020
May 25, 2009
2,288
1,177
Pic to illustrate what I was describing above:
 

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J

jackyyeow

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2011
262
0
mikethebigo said:
Does anyone notice specific darkening in a certain part of the screen? My 13" Samsung has a dark patch coming right up the middle bottom of the screen (right over the "ook" in MacBook Air). It's really quite distracting, it goes about an inch up and makes everything in that area a different color. It's almost like the led backlights on both sides are pointing diagonally away from the middle of the screen.
Click to expand...
mikethebigo said:
Pic to illustrate what I was describing above:
Click to expand...
EXACTLY the same thing I was asking about. That small mountain, and another patch on the right of that (I think left side also a display a little of similar patch).

However your picture does look worse than mine when seeing it in real life, it does make everything within that area a little darker/duller/yellow'ish, but it's quite faint not like what exaggerated in your picture, though.

I'd also like to point out that, this phenomenon does not seems to show up clearly all the time, sometimes when I boot up I can see very clearly, even after I enter the OS, and open up safari and browsing MR. However, as of now, I can't really see it as it's quite faint but it is there if looked closely, after shut down the machine and switch it on again after I was away for a while.

I think it's some sort of the inherit problem of the panels. Guess we'll have to wait for Apple to stick in IPS panels instead (they can make iPad 2 so thin with IPS, SURE they can make it on the MBA?).


h00ligan said:
Are you talking about upper right?
Click to expand...
No, pay attention to the dark patch like a mini mountain at the center of the bottom most part.
 
J

jackyyeow

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2011
262
0
Brandon0448 said:
My 13" has the same thing, it doesn't bother me at all really though. If you turn up the brightness it goes away.
Click to expand...

No it does not, even when I'm on like 70% of brightness, it's still there, although it's getting less and less when brightness is turning up.

It's not a problem I'd say for what I do, but whenever I browse MR or websites with similar color scheme I can see it. Not a problem with my old PC laptop that's more than 4 years old though albeit the color and contrast is nowhere near the MBA. The display of MBA is otherwise beautiful and flawless without those gradients and patches. We can't have the best of both world can't we? When Apple's going to implement IPS screen as an upgrade option?:confused:
 
J

jsolares

macrumors 6502a
Aug 8, 2011
844
2
Land of eternal Spring
jackyyeow said:
No it does not, even when I'm on like 70% of brightness, it's still there, although it's getting less and less when brightness is turning up.

It's not a problem I'd say for what I do, but whenever I browse MR or websites with similar color scheme I can see it. Not a problem with my old PC laptop that's more than 4 years old though albeit the color and contrast is nowhere near the MBA. The display of MBA is otherwise beautiful and flawless without those gradients and patches. We can't have the best of both world can't we? When Apple's going to implement IPS screen as an upgrade option?:confused:
Click to expand...

You should take it in, mine has some gradient but it's like a wave on the bottom 4-5 pixels, it's only really noticeable full screen with a white background.
 
J

jackyyeow

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2011
262
0
jsolares said:
You should take it in, mine has some gradient but it's like a wave on the bottom 4-5 pixels, it's only really noticeable full screen with a white background.
Click to expand...
Well from where I live we don't enjoy the same 14 days return period like like US/EU countries, moreover I'm way pass the 14 days of owning the machine. I doubt they'll do anything though since it's not that obvious, I don't think people in the service department will ever notice it with their usual strong indoor lighting where the backlight most probably needed to turn way up.

I'll wait and see if any other user reporting this problem, I'll just bite and use it and if it ever get worse I'll send it in for a display replacement instead.
 
I

ihji

macrumors newbie
Aug 17, 2011
10
0
Mine also has this problem. MBA 13 inches from Apple online store, two days old. I've decided to return it. By the way, I've stopped by Apple store during launch hour and found out every single MBA displayed there also has same gradient problem. Really disappointed. Maybe I should wait late 2011 MBP refresh.
 
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N

Napolke

macrumors member
Aug 6, 2011
75
0
Napolke said:
I did exchange mine 13" today and new one is much much much better, almost
perfect.
Click to expand...

I am taking this back.
I think all 13"s have a huge screen problem, it's just leaking at the bottom!
You could see it sometimes on a white background with particular light, but
the ultimate test is black background in the dark room.

I'll try to exchange mine second time tomorrow, but I predict it would have the same problem.

If it is, Apple no more.
 
H

honggil

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2011
50
1
I'm not sure of the answer, but if someone can answer that'd be awesome! :)

Do the returned macbook airs definitely become 'refurbished' products once they're back in the market? Or are they sold as 'new' again after tweaking it?

I'm wondering because the 2011 macbook airs seem to have a lot of returns lately lol...
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,031
7,872
honggil said:
I'm not sure of the answer, but if someone can answer that'd be awesome! :)

Do the returned macbook airs definitely become 'refurbished' products once they're back in the market? Or are they sold as 'new' again after tweaking it?

I'm wondering because the 2011 macbook airs seem to have a lot of returns lately lol...
Click to expand...

I think they are resold as refurbished unless the shrink wrap is still sealed. It is possible some resellers would sell them as open box. I wouldn't be too concerned about returns. Most buyers aren't going to return them based on the brand of SSD or LCD screen (if they even know how to check that). There were a fair number of 2010 returns reported here, but I doubt it was anything unusual as far as Macs go.

That said, if you are looking to purchase a refurbished unit when they come out, you should be able to find one. The 2010 refurbished units started coming out the day after Christmas (or about 2 months after the product was released). That would suggest late September or October availability. I'd guess October if there is an iPhone update in September. After October, the holiday season kicks off, and that's better for new product sales than refurbished units.
 
H

honggil

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2011
50
1
KPOM said:
I think they are resold as refurbished unless the shrink wrap is still sealed. It is possible some resellers would sell them as open box. I wouldn't be too concerned about returns. Most buyers aren't going to return them based on the brand of SSD or LCD screen (if they even know how to check that). There were a fair number of 2010 returns reported here, but I doubt it was anything unusual as far as Macs go.

That said, if you are looking to purchase a refurbished unit when they come out, you should be able to find one. The 2010 refurbished units started coming out the day after Christmas (or about 2 months after the product was released). That would suggest late September or October availability. I'd guess October if there is an iPhone update in September. After October, the holiday season kicks off, and that's better for new product sales than refurbished units.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I'm not looking into getting a refurbished unit, I was just curious :) In my opinion and from what I've seen, refurbished units don't really knock down prices by that much. That being said, there is market pool for refurbished units.
 
J

jackyyeow

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2011
262
0
Napolke said:
I am taking this back.
I think all 13"s have a huge screen problem, it's just leaking at the bottom!
Click to expand...
There isn't any problem with the backlight leaking on my unit. Viewing black image full screen doesn't show any leakage even on full brightness. I think there seems to have no single panel that's flawless. Even iMac's IPS display also suffer from yellow tint issues.

Funny that I never had these kind os nitpicking problem when I was still on PC laptops.:D
 
N

Nioxic

macrumors regular
Aug 13, 2011
230
0
Denmark
I see the gradient effect when i go fullscreen with my browser etc. But i dont seem to be able to notice it on the dock when just running stuff normally..

neither have i noticed it in starcraft 2.

I think its intentional... (doesn't look bad, honestly.. looks so precise that it can only seem like a design decision ... not that its a good one. But i dont mind. Who looks at the bottom few pixels anyways?
 
I

ihji

macrumors newbie
Aug 17, 2011
10
0
Nioxic said:
I see the gradient effect when i go fullscreen with my browser etc. But i dont seem to be able to notice it on the dock when just running stuff normally..

neither have i noticed it in starcraft 2.

I think its intentional... (doesn't look bad, honestly.. looks so precise that it can only seem like a design decision ... not that its a good one. But i dont mind. Who looks at the bottom few pixels anyways?
Click to expand...

No it is NEVER be intentional. It's rather a manufacturing flaw and I suspect that new film-type screen design causes this problem (panel and LED backlight are separated by layers of very thin films)

refer here: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/inside-the-new-macbook-airs-screen/8523
 
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T

tsdeng

macrumors newbie
Aug 8, 2011
28
0
Guys! Let's face the truth. To mass produce screens so thin like that, it requires much more techniques to make it GOOD. Even a very small flaw will be amplified.

Apparently, Apple can create a notebook so thin and so eye-catching. But they are not capable of mass production and ensuring the quality at the same time.

I have returned several MBAs including 11 and 13, some are better and some are worse. I am settled with my current 13 inch MBA. It still has the problem which we discussed. But among the ones I used, the screen of this one is neither the best nor the worst. So.........I don't want to talking to those stupid geniuses anymore. But if it's getting worse, I would definitely fight for my inerest :mad:

Let more people know about the issue before purchasing, hoping apple could find a way to ensure their display in the future..................
 
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