So I figured I'd start an "anti"-thread that goes against the norm here, which is either complain about issues on the rMBP, or praise it non-stop. I'm doing the opposite. I'll talk about the issues, and then I'll tell how I resolved them.
So... what are the issues?
1) Image Retention: it does exist. I was very skeptical, because my LG display did not show it at all for a long time. Then 3 months passed by, and magically, I finally saw it. Though just a tiny little bit. I did not think of it much since I had worked extensively on that day (same Eclipse window open for 7 hours straight). If anything, I thought my eyes were burned with the Eclipse window and that I was seeing things. But then it got gradually worse, and by around 2 or 3 days later, I could clearly see imprints of my work windows left in Mission Control. Not good...
So... IR is real, and I'm not going to claim that it happens to all LG displays, but... it did happen to mine after exactly 3 months. Please keep that in mind. I was warned, but I did not heed the warning.
2) Performance reduction via EFI: I have seen this personally myself. I actually had a period where I had to constantly restart EFI every few hours just to be able to keep performance up to par in iOS Simulator and Android Virtual Device. It also brought my computer to a crawl whenever I had to view anything in AutoCAD or Maya. Needless to say, it was a very huge show stopper.
Scrolling in Safari and XCode were also affected as well. That's the lagging part. So EFI bug does exist, and it does actually affect the overall performance of the computer.
Now, for the solution:
1) I did not bring my rMBP to the Genius Bar for a whole week immediately after seeing IR because I had work I needed to finish. As soon as I saw a small opening on my schedule, I immediately rushed to the Genius Bar. "It'll take up to 5 days since we are bombarded with iMac hard drive replacements", said the Genius that I conversed with. No problem. If that was what it'd take to fix a "problem" (it really is a problem since you can't "un-see" what has already been seen). I picked the computer up today. No IR. No dead pixel. Checking panel manufacturer returned this: LSN154YL01001
So it looks to me like Apple is indeed replacing rMBP displays with Samsung panels that don't have IR. I'd recommend anyone considering an exchange for their rMBP to just ask for a display replacement instead. By the way, I did not have to specifically ask for anything. I talked to the guy, told him that I saw residues of my workflow after some hours of work, and he proceeded to set me up for a display replacement. He didn't even do any check on it. Looks like the store I visited (Los Gatos, CA) already dealt with a good number of this. But either way, I'm very happy with my rMBP now, and I'm very thankful to the helpful Genius (and tech guy who did the replacement) for making the experience a brief and effective one for me. I was on a very tight schedule.
But bottom line: it was a hassle-free, easy, and timely replacement. I don't think I could have asked for more. By the way, the replacement checked in at approximately $700, so I think that's something to take into account for those of you wondering how much it'd cost to replace a Retina display once you break yours outside of warranty.
2) Somehow, the EFI bug just... vanished on my computer. That was before I sent it in to the Apple Store. Don't know how I did it, but I can't seem to be able to reproduce it now.
Some afterthoughts:
I did not believe in some of these issues at first, but now that I have seen it all, I can confirm that they do happen. If it happens to yours, don't go and exchange the next 14-20 computers. Just get the display replaced. Seriously. It took me 1 try.
As for the EFI bug, since... I don't get it anymore (hopefully it won't resurface sometimes later). That's as much of a solution as I can get, I guess.
For those wondering, the new Samsung panel is actually very comparable to the LG panel I had before. I can't really detect any change at all in white balance, color temperature, contrast, saturation, etc... everything seems the very same. It's almost as if they took the old display and calibrated a new display to make it look as close to the original as possible. Not sure if that's the case, but I honestly can't see anything different.
Except for brightness. The new Samsung panel seems to be one notch brighter. It's blinding to look at at maximum brightness.
So... what are the issues?
1) Image Retention: it does exist. I was very skeptical, because my LG display did not show it at all for a long time. Then 3 months passed by, and magically, I finally saw it. Though just a tiny little bit. I did not think of it much since I had worked extensively on that day (same Eclipse window open for 7 hours straight). If anything, I thought my eyes were burned with the Eclipse window and that I was seeing things. But then it got gradually worse, and by around 2 or 3 days later, I could clearly see imprints of my work windows left in Mission Control. Not good...
So... IR is real, and I'm not going to claim that it happens to all LG displays, but... it did happen to mine after exactly 3 months. Please keep that in mind. I was warned, but I did not heed the warning.
2) Performance reduction via EFI: I have seen this personally myself. I actually had a period where I had to constantly restart EFI every few hours just to be able to keep performance up to par in iOS Simulator and Android Virtual Device. It also brought my computer to a crawl whenever I had to view anything in AutoCAD or Maya. Needless to say, it was a very huge show stopper.
Scrolling in Safari and XCode were also affected as well. That's the lagging part. So EFI bug does exist, and it does actually affect the overall performance of the computer.
Now, for the solution:
1) I did not bring my rMBP to the Genius Bar for a whole week immediately after seeing IR because I had work I needed to finish. As soon as I saw a small opening on my schedule, I immediately rushed to the Genius Bar. "It'll take up to 5 days since we are bombarded with iMac hard drive replacements", said the Genius that I conversed with. No problem. If that was what it'd take to fix a "problem" (it really is a problem since you can't "un-see" what has already been seen). I picked the computer up today. No IR. No dead pixel. Checking panel manufacturer returned this: LSN154YL01001
So it looks to me like Apple is indeed replacing rMBP displays with Samsung panels that don't have IR. I'd recommend anyone considering an exchange for their rMBP to just ask for a display replacement instead. By the way, I did not have to specifically ask for anything. I talked to the guy, told him that I saw residues of my workflow after some hours of work, and he proceeded to set me up for a display replacement. He didn't even do any check on it. Looks like the store I visited (Los Gatos, CA) already dealt with a good number of this. But either way, I'm very happy with my rMBP now, and I'm very thankful to the helpful Genius (and tech guy who did the replacement) for making the experience a brief and effective one for me. I was on a very tight schedule.
But bottom line: it was a hassle-free, easy, and timely replacement. I don't think I could have asked for more. By the way, the replacement checked in at approximately $700, so I think that's something to take into account for those of you wondering how much it'd cost to replace a Retina display once you break yours outside of warranty.
2) Somehow, the EFI bug just... vanished on my computer. That was before I sent it in to the Apple Store. Don't know how I did it, but I can't seem to be able to reproduce it now.
Some afterthoughts:
I did not believe in some of these issues at first, but now that I have seen it all, I can confirm that they do happen. If it happens to yours, don't go and exchange the next 14-20 computers. Just get the display replaced. Seriously. It took me 1 try.
As for the EFI bug, since... I don't get it anymore (hopefully it won't resurface sometimes later). That's as much of a solution as I can get, I guess.
For those wondering, the new Samsung panel is actually very comparable to the LG panel I had before. I can't really detect any change at all in white balance, color temperature, contrast, saturation, etc... everything seems the very same. It's almost as if they took the old display and calibrated a new display to make it look as close to the original as possible. Not sure if that's the case, but I honestly can't see anything different.
Except for brightness. The new Samsung panel seems to be one notch brighter. It's blinding to look at at maximum brightness.
