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New Macbook Pro 17 but Same Design Problem as mid 2009

J

JKCT

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 6, 2010
17
0
Hi,
Just bought my brand new MBP 17 i7 with Antiglare and so far loving it except for the same issue I had with my older mid 2009 17 incher.
This is the issue; When loading up processor/GPU intensive applications and when the fans actually do kick in, there will be 2 distinct 'aura' marks above where the fans are located (Left and Middle) on the LCD. This aura marks seems/looks to be backlight leakage/uneven backlight proportional to the amount of heat/volume of air the fans are exhausting.
This phenomenon has been documented in the past and I guess Apple can't seem to get it right. Thinking this could be a one off lemon in the 2010 line, i went to the Apple store and got it replaced and guess what, the same issue.
Would like to post this for anyone that has noticed this issue and say you are not alone on this one :) It will continue to be there until they find a way of expelling the hot air from the sides and not onto the LCD. Kudos Apple!
 
Hmm, I never knew. Though this is mostly likely due to the fact that my processor hardly ever runs fult tilt (well, other than when my browser gets bogged down with Flash). :)
 
I owned the previous gen 17 hi res antiglare as well and had the same issue where under the discrete graphics the bottom of the screen will have the markings from the heat.

This is one of the first test that I've done with the i7. I had the i7 running at max by throttling the CPUs to 100% and checked the screen in a 100% black background in the dark. And for me there is no more mark!

I thought that Apple had fixed that issue but I guess that I was just lucky? Try getting an exchange because I'm not having that issue whatsoever.

I've even went as far as playing mass effect 2 for an hour and checked under a black background. I know exactly what to look for as I had this issue on the previous gen 17" antiglare model.

One thing that sets apart the differences from the previous gen 17" and the i7 17" is that on the previous gen 17" I clearly remember when the cpu/gpu was at high temperatures and when you touch the bottom portion of the screen with the top portion of your hand, you can feel that the bottom of the screen getting very warm/hot. On my i7 17" the bottom of the screen is not hot anymore no matter how hot the temperature gets.
 
Thank you for the response. After playing with it now for more than 24 hours, it seems you are right that the temperatures are not as high as my previous 2.8GHz 9600 combo. The screen however is not cool but warm but certainly not hot. The 'aura' marks used to be concentrated at the bottom, but if you max out the brightness in a very very dark room, you will see the backlight uneveness as two vertical stripes on the left and in the middle. I guess Apple tried to do something about the issue but only works sometimes?? It has become not so obvious now but unfortunately still present.

I took your advice and got a third replacement (Thank God I can just swap the HD out!) and it is still there. What are the odds that the fourth one won't have it. Maybe you were very very lucky :) I wish I was.

PS.
Anybody else having issue? My ambient temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius.
 
I've heard many stories about people struggling to get replacements, and you're getting them like hotcakes (lol i don't know an idiom specifically for a situation like this)...good luck or are you very persuasive; or is you local Apple store very generous?
 
YES, thank you.. I thought I was crazy for thinking there was something wrong with the screen.. that is if the problem you are describing is the same as mine: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/897203/

Basically there are two oval areas towards the middle bit of the 17" screen which are lit up brighter than the rest of the screen.. very noticeable on black images (I noticed it while watching LOST when the LOST logo came up).

Now the killer question for me is: Is this a 17" screen issue only or does the 15" do the same thing? If it's 17" only, I'll try to get an exchange for a matte 15" MBP.
 
JKCT said:
when the fans actually do kick in, there will be 2 distinct 'aura' marks above where the fans are located (Left and Middle) on the LCD. This aura marks seems/looks to be backlight leakage/uneven backlight proportional to the amount of heat/volume of air the fans are exhausting. QUOTE]

Could you please post the photos so that we can check ours? Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Hi,
My local Apple store (Melbourne, Australia) has plenty in stock. So getting a replacement is easy. Getting a working unit is not :(
I gave up today and going to process an exchange for a 15 inch HiRes instead.
Here are some photos taken this morning. The 'aura' is on the left and in the middle.
 

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Just emailed Apple Australia regarding this issue and also included some photos evidencing this. Was surprised to get a reply from them within the hour. Their response; "this is within spec", "backlight bleed is normal and is expected", "please consider a glossy screen for better color reproduction" and "the photos do not indicate a malfunction".
Well, I guess they are aware of the issue. Anyone with a 15 inch HiRes having this issues? In the midst of hunting for a HiRes at the local shops :)
 
JKCT said:
In the midst of hunting for a HiRes at the local shops :)
Click to expand...

I'm in San Jose, California... They told me I could only get the Hi-Res 15" by ordering it online. They don't expect to have them in the store any time soon. So, good luck with finding them in store, in Australia.
;)
 
I have a 15'' mid 2009 15'' mbp. Mine does this too, even with the glossy display. It's just bad design. Not a defect. Unfortunately, this is what the heat does to the lcd. It doesn't seem to be permanent though. The dark areas go away after cooling down. Gotta live w/it :(
 
Huh...I always thought this was some side effect of having a fluoro backlit LCD and would go away after the backlights warmed up.
 
Jottle said:
I have a 15'' mid 2009 15'' mbp. Mine does this too, even with the glossy display. It's just bad design. Not a defect. Unfortunately, this is what the heat does to the lcd. It doesn't seem to be permanent though. The dark areas go away after cooling down. Gotta live w/it :(
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I also have a mid 2009 17 inch and I managed to 'live' with it. I would have thought, being a design problem in the past, Apple would look into it, but i guess there is so much you can do when you exhaust hot air onto the LCD :eek:

And you are right, once it cools down, it goes away. I would guess the 15 would have this 'aura' on the left and right of the screen? Man, this is bad engineering :D. I have to choose between having the aura in the middle or the right of the screen... I choose the right, thank you :rolleyes:
 
JKCT said:
Hi,
My local Apple store (Melbourne, Australia) has plenty in stock. So getting a replacement is easy. Getting a working unit is not :(
I gave up today and going to process an exchange for a 15 inch HiRes instead.
Here are some photos taken this morning. The 'aura' is on the left and in the middle.
Click to expand...

Interesting.. your problem seems to be the opposite of mine: your screen gets darker at those spots, mine gets brighter at two spots in the middle. I am guessing it's not the same problem then (?).. I am definitely getting an exchange.. and if that doesn't work I'll get another exchange to 15" anti-glare. (I've had so many lemons in the past, Apple can go screw themselves if they complain about me getting exchanges all the time.. seriously apple, get your quality control right).
 
JKCT said:
I know what you mean. I also have a mid 2009 17 inch and I managed to 'live' with it. I would have thought, being a design problem in the past, Apple would look into it, but i guess there is so much you can do when you exhaust hot air onto the LCD :eek:

And you are right, once it cools down, it goes away. I would guess the 15 would have this 'aura' on the left and right of the screen? Man, this is bad engineering :D. I have to choose between having the aura in the middle or the right of the screen... I choose the right, thank you :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


Yep. On my 15'' there are darker areas where the two fans are located at the left and right edges of the screen about 2 inches from the edges. It's not so bad if the screen is open during high gpu/cpu activity, but I run in clamshell mode most of the time. So playing games for 1+ hour and then switching over to the mbp's screen makes this more evident, especially if there's a black screen up. You can put your hand on the screen and feel the extreme heat build up from having the fans blow hot exhaust air on the screen. Since it does no long term harm (as far as I can tell), apple probably said "eh, good enough"
 
Does this happen with the glossy mbp 17" also? figured i should ask before i put my 08 15" up for sale to get a new 17" i5

thanks...
 
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