Really getting annoyed with screen QC

[rz-jacks]

I'm with you... either tomorrow or saturday I'm heading over to the apple store to hopefully exchange my last one. This one I got is good except the screen had a mix of pink and green tints diagonally... others had a mix of dust, backlight bleed etc. I did have the chance to own what I consider a perfect screen ipad, to bad Verizon didn't work for me.

 

[Macdude2010]

Talked to an AppleCare person on the phone just now, says this isn't normal at all and the only thing I can really do is keep exchanging or give up

 

[bam88]

Assuming 1 out of every 2 iPads produced are defective (very very conservative estimate):

Probability of going through 8 defective iPads = 0.5^8 = 0.00390625

I guess it is a lot more probable that the defect lies with the customer's mentality.

 

[davedvdy]

FYI, the 64g LTE is the slowest moving variant in terms of sales. You might be dipping your hand into the same jar of bad cookies. My brother bought two iPads for the third batch of launch in Malaysia during his visit and both were perfect!

Inaccurate if this site's figures are true. Top selling models are the baseline 16 GB and the 64 GB LTE models. I remember seeing this last year on another site too in a different pool.

http://www.simplysliced.com/2012/03/ipad-3-white-vs-black-verizon-vs-att-east-vs-west/

 

[ixodes]

With Apples focus on mass producing & marketing millions & millions of iOS devices, it's time to lower ones expectations.

I'm not advocating for Apple, but rather stating the obvious. It's all about Apple profits now more than ever. Quality is bound to suffer.

 

[ZipZap]

I swapped mine out earlier this week for a replacement. Mine was a launch day iPad.

Only problem with inspecting in store is that the bright flourescent lighting is not always conducive to checking display flaws.

Do these pinks and greens show up in normal use or do you have to force the ipad to reveal them.

I get a yellow hue from the glue being annoying as you can see it in normal use, but can you see the other colors?

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If Apple opened every box for inspection at the POS the multiple returners would likely reject any number of iPad's, rendering them unsaleable, before settling on a screen. This may seem to be an ideal, however these same returners would then likely get home and start reading these forums and then checking their screen for X, Y and Z faults which they would likely find and fret about resulting in them ultimately returning their iPad to begin the cycle again. On the flip side I guess Apple could allow them to inspect the screen at POS and if they agreed that the screen was sub par allow them to open another box, however if Apple felt the screen was fine then they would be within their rights to say "we regard this screen as fine, you can either accept it or we'd be happy to offer a full refund.

It's seems to be a bit of a debate wether there are so many defective screens out in the wild but I'm sure their are some - however returning 10, 12, 18 iPads seems borderline obsessive and can one individual be that unlucky to get so many "defective" screens. Surely they have ultimately deprived themselves out of the sheer enjoyment of using the iPad as even when they "settle" on a screen there's that niggling thought "is my screen perfect"

I disagree with your POS statement. They have to start opening them and inspecting them IF these issues are really valid reasons for a return. AND thats the real question here...will Apple exchange an ipad due to yellow/green/pink hues, or 1 dead pixel?

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this wouldn't be the case if they had left the restocking fee on there. someone on their 14th? why try 15...that really going to be the one?

Not true if the issue is a real fault. Apple would then have to fix or replace under its warranty.

Apple is being very strategic (as they have for all of the issues) and keeping quiet on this.

 

[spcdust]

I disagree with your POS statement. They have to start opening them and inspecting them IF these issues are really valid reasons for a return. AND thats the real question here...will Apple exchange an ipad due to yellow/green/pink hues, or 1 dead pixel?

I'm not sure what the ratio is on iPads but one dead pixel would likely technically be within specification - I'm not saying that wouldn't bug me but the truth is unless it was in a prominent position of the screen it would pass. Saying that Apple are generally relaxed about exchanging such a screen for those customers who this does bother and to be fair I would likely be one of those customers.

The whole yellow/green/pink hues.....well obviously if this was so blatant it's a dud but the question here is what level is it considered to be faulty. My display seems great and fortunately no edge bleed. I'm sure in different ambient lighting with the brightness of the display at 50% with a pure white screen and me holding the iPad at various crazy angles maybe I would detect a hue, but then again I'm sure that the power of suggestion reading these threads would have some bearing. Ultimately my iPad is a keeper.

Finally, a suggestion for the multiple returners, you need to change tactics as clearly this strategy of serially returning your iPads is not working and is just causing stress and disappointment. My advice would be to get in touch with Apple Executive Care, build a relationship with them and suggest that it's in no one's interest that you continually return so many iPads. Then see if they will allow you to keep your current iPad for say 3-4 months and then allow you to do an exchange at a later date for a new one (not refurb). Justify it that by then you feel any production issues will be sorted and you would be happy to try again then. By contacting Apple Executive Care you have one point of contact and they keep case notes of what has been discussed and agreed.

 

[Fattytail]

Assuming 1 out of every 2 iPads produced are defective (very very conservative estimate):

Probability of going through 8 defective iPads = 0.5^8 = 0.00390625

I guess it is a lot more probable that the defect lies with the customer's mentality.

Ordinarily I would agree with you, but not in this case. I'm a guy whose launch day iPad 2 had dust under the screen and a noticeable scratch on the back. Didn't bother returning it and never thought about it thereafter.

The screen quality on the two new iPads I have is horrendous for the price we're paying.

 

[VFC]

Assuming 1 out of every 2 iPads produced are defective (very very conservative estimate):

Probability of going through 8 defective iPads = 0.5^8 = 0.00390625


I guess it is a lot more probable that the defect lies with the customer's mentality.

Or the shipments to a particular geographic area were from a certain factory and date range that had a problem with manufacturing yields rates.

 

[nicoplanet]

I get a yellow hue from the glue being annoying as you can see it in normal use, but can you see the other colors?

The yellow hue is note glue-related since there is no glue between the panel and the digitizer. This yellow glue only occurred on iPhone 4/4S, and fade away in a couple of days... It is a totally different issue here.

 

[Giov]

Inaccurate if this site's figures are true. Top selling models are the baseline 16 GB and the 64 GB LTE models. I remember seeing this last year on another site too in a different pool.

http://www.simplysliced.com/2012/03/ipad-3-white-vs-black-verizon-vs-att-east-vs-west/

I seriously doubt so. I did ask the genius in the store and he said the 16 and 32 wifi variants are the best sellers. He said 64gb LTE is going slowly that's why they have stock all the time. He was the one who suggested I wait for a little longer for the 64gb stock to clear before coming back in in a month or two. A check with sites like John Lewis and HMV also suggested the same trend.

 

[s15119]

Really, the nerve of people to continue to post about craptastic screens on a product that is advertised as "Resolutionary" and "with a screen this good". They should post about all of the other "non repetitive" topics discussed ad nauseum here. Yep, nothing to see or complain about, just move along.

Sorry you missed the point. It's not that you shouldn't post about your perception that a screeen is craptastic (millions of people disagree with your perception) - the point is there are already plenty of threads to post this to. There is no need to clutter the forum with yet another thread.

 

[Macdude2010]

Does anyone really care about the Dead pixels? because I find those much more annoying then this uneven screen tint, so when everyone is exchanging for the tint, does anyone check for dead pixels and have you found any?

 

[Giov]

Does anyone really care about the Dead pixels? because I find those much more annoying then this uneven screen tint, so when everyone is exchanging for the tint, does anyone check for dead pixels and have you found any?

Tint is fine with me as long as it's uniform. But dead or stuck pixel pisses me to no end. Didn't bother checking until I saw a big one on my new iPad when I booted it up to the language start up. It was on the language selection tabs! so yes, definitely check it!

 

[nicoplanet]

My advice would be to get in touch with Apple Executive Care, build a relationship with them and suggest that it's in no one's interest that you continually return so many iPads. Then see if they will allow you to keep your current iPad for say 3-4 months and then allow you to do an exchange at a later date for a new one (not refurb). Justify it that by then you feel any production issues will be sorted and you would be happy to try again then. By contacting Apple Executive Care you have one point of contact and they keep case notes of what has been discussed and agreed.

That is exactly what the Geniuses told my yesterday: obviously, there is no uniform displayS out of production (risk is to get worse ones!), so the best way is to wait a bit (a month or two). He also wrote a note at yesterday's date to acknowledge that my screen is faulty and to ge an exchange when needed. we'll see...

 

[Macdude2010]

Just an update: i went to the store friday to look at floor models, as far as I can see examining each one, 7 out of 11 have some sort of dead pixel/dust problem, that is a 63% pixel fail rate from this sampling, if you add the 8 I've opened, that's a 15:19 ratio, or 78% pixel fail rate, not what I expect from apple, I think this display tech is 1 year too early, and they need to figure out how to put these into production with a low fail rate before it should have been implemented. While I was there, I was about to do an exchange, but since the store was closing and that was my 13th day, they just renewed the return date until the 11th and told me to come back to get it sorted out, as that isn't normal (this is the customer care im used to), as a responce to the uneven screen, I think all of them had it to one extent or another.

 

[mcdj]

millions of people disagree with your perception.

I have no doubt that many people are happy with their iPads, but the concept of millions of people disagreeing with those complaining about screen issues is completely unproveable. Stating it as fact is no less far fetched than stating that most iPads are flawed (which has been my actual personal experience)

Do you have actual personal experience or other data to back up your claim? Oh, and I don't consider a poll of 800 people who got an iPad within 2 days of being polled is accurate. We've seen several people here who previously thought their iPad was perfect, only to have the screen issues show themselves after the initial joy and newness of ownership wore off...a week, two weeks, a month later.

In all the threads I've read relating to screen issues, I've seen multiple posters, (yes, sometimes the same ones, but lots of singular ones too, and a growing number on other forums) with identical complaints, many of whom are experiencing these issues in iPad after iPad, and are observing the same issues on in-store display models, and friend's/family member's/coworker's iPads.

The majority of iPads may in fact be flawless (I don't believe this to be the case), but in terms of data points, those who have a "good" iPad tend to have experience with exactly ONE iPad. Those of us with complaints have collectively had FAR more iPads pass through our hands and in front of our eyes.

Furthermore, millions of people, satisfied or otherwise, are not on macrumors discussing iPads. They're not discussing them anywhere. So how anyone could know that millions disagree with anything is a complete mystery.

 

[TheWheelMan]

I have no doubt that many people are happy with their iPads, but the concept of millions of people disagreeing with those complaining about screen issues is completely unproveable. Stating it as fact is no less far fetched than stating that most iPads are flawed (which has been my actual personal experience)

Do you have actual personal experience or other data to back up your claim? Oh, and I don't consider a poll of 800 people who got an iPad within 2 days of being polled is accurate. We've seen several people here who previously thought their iPad was perfect, only to have the screen issues show themselves after the initial joy and newness of ownership wore off...a week, two weeks, a month later.

In all the threads I've read relating to screen issues, I've seen multiple posters, (yes, sometimes the same ones, but lots of singular ones too, and a growing number on other forums) with identical complaints, many of whom are experiencing these issues in iPad after iPad, and are observing the same issues on in-store display models, and friend's/family member's/coworker's iPads.

The majority of iPads may in fact be flawless (I don't believe this to be the case), but in terms of data points, those who have a "good" iPad tend to have experience with exactly ONE iPad. Those of us with complaints have collectively had FAR more iPads pass through our hands and in front of our eyes.

Furthermore, millions of people, satisfied or otherwise, are not on macrumors discussing iPads. They're not discussing them anywhere. So how anyone could know that millions disagree with anything is a complete mystery.

Don't you mean a growing number of people "claiming" to have the same complaint?

 

[mcdj]

Don't you mean a growing number of people "claiming" to have the same complaint?

Not sure what you're implying. That people are hallucinating? Lying?

 

[r-sparks]

I thought I'd weigh in with some perspective.

I don't know how experienced people here are with Apple products but Apple's quality control has ALWAYS been poor, going right back to the Power PC days. And they've always relied on people not noticing, or not caring, or being so caught-up in the marketing spell that they believe it's acceptable.

Some examples of my own:

- Apple G4 iBook had a screen with such screwed-up colour accuracy and screen brightness that it caused colleagues to laugh out loud. I took it back to an Apple repair agent. They put it side by side with another that had identical issues and said that's the way it is.

- MacBook Core Duo (the first Intel MacBook): The CPU whistled, so I had to use a program called ShhhMBP to stop it. After a year of use the screen somehow got dust behind it.

- iMac (white): The CPU fan made a tica-tica-tica-tica noise when idling, which was most of the time. Copying a very old Apple III trick, I slightly blocked the vent with a piece of tape, causing the fan to work a little harder and thereby remove the tica-tica-tica.

There are loads of other stories like this, such as cracks in the G4 Cube, or overheating of the 3S iPhone. Some are caused by design faults. Others are just poor manufacturing. I suspect the iPad 3 screen issues are both.

There was even a popular site at one point that tracked faults in all Apple products but it died about five years ago, presumably when the author realised he was fighting a losing game and pissed off to buy a Dell.

I think the difference between Apple and other companies like Dell or Sony is that they have a very wide range of products, and all are mostly made from commodity components. There are very few bespoke parts. Apple is a little more daring than this, which is what we all love, but there's a price to pay. As fans of Apple, we know what that price is.

 

[Macdude2010]

Yes, of course there have been faults in the past, but they were much less reoccurring, now it seems to be a bigger problem because of how many they made.

 

[thekev]

Are these hues displayed uniformly across the entire display? That could just be an issue in the way they tweak the levels per display panel during assembly once the backlight is fit to the panel. I don't know their assembly method though, and I don't know how much warmup time the displays are given before this. A few years ago Dell had complaints of such a thing on one of their displays, only toward the edges. The rumor was that they only ran their color tests in the center, and this was not a uniform problem. Displays can be really time consuming to test, and doing it without any shortcuts could add a lot of assembly costs and lower yields. None of us really know their testing methods or level of tolerance, and there is always a level of tolerance used to determine if something is within spec. I imagine it's a combination of that and testing method. Apple may be a little loose with it to sustain shipping volume if returns aren't high enough to make this backfire.

I'm not sure what the ratio is on iPads but one dead pixel would likely technically be within specification - I'm not saying that wouldn't bug me but the truth is unless it was in a prominent position of the screen it would pass. Saying that Apple are generally relaxed about exchanging such a screen for those customers who this does bother and to be fair I would likely be one of those customers.

The whole yellow/green/pink hues.....well obviously if this was so blatant it's a dud but the question here is what level is it considered to be faulty. My display seems great and fortunately no edge bleed. I'm sure in different ambient lighting with the brightness of the display at 50% with a pure white screen and me holding the iPad at various crazy angles maybe I would detect a hue, but then again I'm sure that the power of suggestion reading these threads would have some bearing. Ultimately my iPad is a keeper.

I have to wonder what the tests look like on a colorimeter or radiometric device in a controlled environment. I mean I get that it's perceived as being one color, but color contrast can throw your eyes off quite a bit. I recently found this . While testing one doesn't mean much in terms of consistency, their test suggests the potential is quite good. I kind of disagree on datacolor spyders. They don't make the most consistent devices by any measure.

 

[s15119]

I have no doubt that many people are happy with their iPads, but the concept of millions of people disagreeing with those complaining about screen issues is completely unproveable. Stating it as fact is no less far fetched than stating that most iPads are flawed (which has been my actual personal experience)

Do you have actual personal experience or other data to back up your claim? Oh, and I don't consider a poll of 800 people who got an iPad within 2 days of being polled is accurate. We've seen several people here who previously thought their iPad was perfect, only to have the screen issues show themselves after the initial joy and newness of ownership wore off...a week, two weeks, a month later.

In all the threads I've read relating to screen issues, I've seen multiple posters, (yes, sometimes the same ones, but lots of singular ones too, and a growing number on other forums) with identical complaints, many of whom are experiencing these issues in iPad after iPad, and are observing the same issues on in-store display models, and friend's/family member's/coworker's iPads.

The majority of iPads may in fact be flawless (I don't believe this to be the case), but in terms of data points, those who have a "good" iPad tend to have experience with exactly ONE iPad. Those of us with complaints have collectively had FAR more iPads pass through our hands and in front of our eyes.

Furthermore, millions of people, satisfied or otherwise, are not on macrumors discussing iPads. They're not discussing them anywhere. So how anyone could know that millions disagree with anything is a complete mystery.

Funny, you took my quote out of context. You claim the screen is "craptastic".

yawn.

 

[mcdj]

Funny, you took my quote out of context. You claim the screen is "craptastic".

yawn.

funny, you don't even know who quoted you. yawn.

 

[MacAuditor]

OP, great thread. I love it whenever I see threads like this. Please keep up the good work.

Look at Apple's marketing priority:

"When a screen becomes this good . . . "

Is it unrealistic to want a good quality screen when a screen "this good" is the selling point?

Awesome post. +++++++++++1