Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New 15 mbp-dead pixels

Similar thing happened to me. Bought a new 15" MBP 2.8 and opened it up and it looked perfect. Then I opened and closed the lid a few times and must have shaken a dust particle loose that ended up behind the lcd right in the middle of the screen. Definitely not a dead pixel since you could tell it was at a different layer than the pixels.

Took it to the apple store and they immediately agreed it wasn't right and exchanged it right there. The new one is great and has no problems so far.

I love Macs but the quality control really sucks. 4 out of 5 macs my family has purchased in the last 2 years have had defects (dust, power mgmt failure, stopped charging, dead hard drive (happened 2x on same computer)).
 
I'm on mac number 6 (or is it 7?) in 5 weeks.

Made the conversion to mac just over a month ago, several went back due to pixel problems, and then apple swapped my 2.4 for the new 2.53 (MBP 13's).
Nothing more annoying than a new bit of kit that's not quite right, and nothing better than anew bit of kit thats perfect!

Regards
CR
 
When I bought it in store, I made sure to check for dead pixels and excessive light bleeding. I can't imagine them telling you that its normal and they can't replace it.
 
The more I look at the gray dot (middle of LCD), the more I think its a piece of dust. The Red Dot is about 2.5 inches from the bottom in the middle.
 
captain-rossco said:
how long have you had it?

Regards
CR
Click to expand...

I bought it last night around 6pm. And I'll say, this is a very nice machine. Coming from the 2.33ghz which kept on shocking me. I already had the glossy display so I'm used to it, which isn't too bad with this guy. I was going to only buy the 13.3" but the wife said no, get the 15".
 
Take it back, it'll do your head in otherwise.

The dust will probably drop out of sight if you hold an ultrasonic toothbrush against it. That said, if apple expected people to do that, then they'd sell ultra sonic bloody toothbrushes!

Run it back and change it over, i opened mine in store and stared at it until my eyes got sore.

Apple quality control may be sporadic, but the products (as i'm now finding out) are absolutely mind blowing.

CR
 
captain-rossco said:
Take it back, it'll do your head in otherwise.

The dust will probably drop out of sight if you hold an ultrasonic toothbrush against it. That said, if apple expected people to do that, then they'd sell ultra sonic bloody toothbrushes!

Run it back and change it over, i opened mine in store and stared at it until my eyes got sore.

Apple quality control may be sporadic, but the products (as i'm now finding out) are absolutely mind blowing.

CR
Click to expand...

My appointment with the genius is at 6pm. I'm going to go in a little early and see if I can find my original sales person to see if I can get this done through him. If not, I'll work with the genius.
 
Dear djinn,

I can understand your frustration over dead pixels. Believe me I was a insane perfectionist for long, and it would eat on me. However, people change and I changed. Like you know from my MBP 17" topic I suffer 2 red stuck pixels and I accepted them. At first it feels suck. But then if I get more objective, I realize that every I really have to seek for more then 5 seconds to find the stucked pixels and It don't affect my work or movie experience in any way.

With other words. I am happy with my machine and I accepted it. The risk of getting back a macbook pro with other damages, nicks or backlight bleed is there, so I rather be like "I know what I have and don't know what I get"

But I am sure if you go to the Apple store they exchange it for you. But be wise and open the box in the store and check your machine. Download a program to test for dead/stucked pixels.

With best regards,
Bas
 
Take it to the salespeople, not the geniuses, because the geniuses will try and get around you returning it in any way they can.
 
Vikz said:
There's a say: just because you do not know the law your not expempt by it.

and I bring that because apple's policy for us technicians in ordered to exchange lcd for dead pixels are described by Knowledge Base article 112125: Service Diagnostics Matrix, has the LCD Tester Diagnostic Utility that will generate these patterns on the screen.

Using a jeweler’s loupe, pocket microscope, or other magnifying device, identify and count each pixel anomaly:
• Bright subpixel anomaly = subpixel that is always on
• Dark subpixel anomaly = subpixel that is always off

The number of acceptable pixel anomalies for this system is:

Acceptable Number of Subpixel Anomalies:
Bright Up to 3
Dark Up to 5
Combination Up to 7

If the number of subpixel anomalies exceeds the acceptable number listed in the above chart, replace the display panel assembly.

Bright 4 or more
Dark 6 or more
Combination 8 or more
If the number of subpixel anomalies is acceptable, explain to the customer that the pixel anomalies are within specifications, and no repair is necessary.

Important: Do not release the specifications to customers. Instead, inform them that a certain
number of subpixel anomalies are considered acceptable, and these factors apply to all
manufacturers using LCD technology—not just Apple products.

When speaking with customers, please use the following explanation:
Active-matrix LCD technology uses rows and columns of addressable locations (pixels) that
render text and images on screen. Each pixel location has three separate subpixels (red, green,
and blue) that allow the image to be rendered in full color. Each subpixel has a corresponding
transistor responsible for turning the subpixel on or off.

There are typically millions of these subpixels on an LCD display. For example, the LCD panel used
in the Apple Cinema HD display is made up of 2.3 million pixels and 6.9 million red, green, and
blue subpixels. Occasionally, a transistor does not work perfectly, which may result in the affected
subpixel being turned on (bright) or turned off (dark). With the millions of subpixels on a display,
it is quite possible to have a low number of faulty transistors on an LCD. Therefore, a certain
number of subpixel anomalies are considered acceptable. Rejecting all but perfect LCD panels
would significantly increase the retail price for products using LCD displays. These factors apply
to all manufacturers using LCD technology—not just Apple products.
Click to expand...

Thank you for taking the time to type all that out. I am sure it is very interesting, but I did not want to waste my time reading it. The simple fact is, that I and many others, have had MBP with dead pixels exchanged. In my case it was just one dead pixel.

Unless you are telling me the whole thing was a dream. :rolleyes:
 
Why don't you try using one of those freeware programs that can fix/reset dead LCD pixels by flashing colors on the display first
 
Spoke with my sales guy and he showed the genius and manager. They exchanged it and I did boot the new one in the store. So it's all good. Thanks everyone for the replies. :D
 
w00t951 said:
I can't see any dead pixels in my screen, but then again, I don't spend my time examining the screen to check for these kind of things. However, the Apple Genius people at my location really do a lot for you if you buy them all caramel mocha lattes. (The manager likes caffe mocha) But, in a screen that is basically made of 1,296,000 light bulbs, there should be at least one malfunctioning pixel in the display. Thankfully, I don't see any so mine might be in the corner or somewhere like that.
Click to expand...

No there shouldn't be any, apple needs to work on their quality control example:macbook air revs b and c with their lines issues
 
Yeah, there is a "# of dead pixel" policy, but it never holds true. Heck, even the iPhone has that same policy, could you image have 6 faulty pixels on your iPhone and nothing you could do about it?!

I've probably returned 8-9 Apple products and they all only had a single spec of dust or a single dead pixel. And BTW, Apple MUST replace anything with dust under it the screen, it's not in the same category as pixels, and is clearly a defect.

In this day in age, you would think they would change that policy, 1 dead pixel is unacceptable for how advanced LCDs have become.

And yes, I LOVE apple products, but I can't remember the last time I got a product from them 100% in good shape. They always have have dust under the screens, some faulty button, or some other tiny problem that's enough to exchange it.
 
ArcAngel66 said:
And yes, I LOVE apple products, but I can't remember the last time I got a product from them 100% in good shape. They always have have dust under the screens, some faulty button, or some other tiny problem that's enough to exchange it.
Click to expand...

Sadly that is truth, and I share your opinion. It is not like the past anymore when u open the box and unpack your perfect Powerbook.

For above reason I stopped keeping exchanging and exchanging. Because the product that replace yours could be even worser.

With best regards,
Bas
 
Unprocessed1 said:
Well, 3 pixels is BS for such a product. They shouldn't give you trouble exchanging it. Demand a brand new laptop it SHOULD NOT be going out for repair.
Click to expand...

This makes no sense.

Everything but the LCD is fine.

In this day in age, you would think they would change that policy, 1 dead pixel is unacceptable for how advanced LCDs have become.
Click to expand...

You'd think so. In the quantity of LCDs I get, I am just now noticing how many have dead pixels across different manufacturers and wholesalers.

Depending on how awesome a quantity discount I am getting in relation to what I charge, I either eat the cost and put a new one in or send it back. FWIW, of all the LCDs I buy, I have never had a dead or stuck pixel on a Samsung model, and yet have had tons of LG models, which ironically were the brand whose wholesalers touted the whole class differentation LG supposedly makes at the factory so I don't get pieces with dead pixels.

No there shouldn't be any, apple needs to work on their quality control example:macbook air revs b and c with their lines issues
Click to expand...

The only real "quality control" that can be done here after LG ships you "class A" stuff that is supposedly free of defect is to have someone sit and personally test the machine prior to packaging. Even at Apple's prices, this is not economically feasible.

I have a broken 13" I keep around that has a FUBAR logic board I use to test new shipments of screens. If I get a box of 30 LCDs in, I sit down and put the screen in, turn it on, open up a few different full screen PNG files of different colors and observe. Then I turn it off, take LCD out, put new one in, and try again. the dead pixels go in the "steep discount" pile. This is with supposedly grade A LCDs. If there were a more modern way around this, I'd love to hear it, since this wastes a whole afternoon.
 
spaceboots06 said:
That's ridiculous. Standard for the industry my ass. I doubt Steve Jobs or any other of his minions run around with faulty laptops.
Click to expand...

Maybe.

I once e-mailed SJ about iPod touches having dead/stuck pixels and he wrote back as follows:

"X,
Its not technically feasible to make displays with no bad pixels in the numbers we require. The industry standard for a good display is a few bad pixels. So I'm afraid that either you're going to have to lower your standards to a more realistic level or do without an iPod touch.

All the best,
Steve"
 
djinn said:
Spoke with my sales guy and he showed the genius and manager. They exchanged it and I did boot the new one in the store. So it's all good. Thanks everyone for the replies. :D
Click to expand...

Good stuff! So the new one is perfect then? How are you enjoying it?
 
l.a.rossmann said:
This makes no sense.

Everything but the LCD is fine.
Click to expand...

You missed the point - he bought the laptop yesterday. Why the heck would he have to ship out the laptop when it was a manufacturer's defect from the second he opened the box and he still had 13 days to return the laptop? He shouldn't wait 2 weeks just to fix the problem when they can simply do an exchange for a perfect pixel MBP. And that's exactly what they did, as they're supposed to. ;)

I think you missed the point about the timeframe of when he bought and discovered the problem w/ the LCD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back