rMBP, I won the lottery! :D

[Sound Evolution]

Dear All,

After reading some horror stories here on the forum about different rMBP issues regarding to cosmetic damage and/or screen problems I was very anticipating on what to expect.

I know Apple's QC isn't always what it should be, and had myself multiple mac items (MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 17") with cosmetic as well screen issues out of the box.

I am perfectionist and pretty OCD. However I can accept flaws till a certain extend. Accepting doesn't mean shut my eyes for it

I ordered the rMBP 2.7/16GB/768GB. I already had everything ready including a ext. number from customer relations at apple and prepared myself on a big chance I had to send my rMBP back. If there would be any flaw I would have returned it.

So to take away some fear (for what's worth it) I can say Apple still can roll out perfect products.

-Cosmetic/case: Believe it or not, but my rMBP case is 100% flawless. Not a single scratch or chip. No misaligned screen. Perfect bottom plate. Really literally perfect. And believe me I inspected every single inch of it.

-Screen: It is the Samsung screen. No dust under screen. I did the Image Retention test, and different online dead pixel tests. No IR. No dead pixels. No backlight bleed (the backlight is the best I've ever seen. Very consistent). My only nitpick complaint could be that the screen is somewhat "bluish" in appearance, but it doesn't bother me. The screen is gorgeous with plenty of brightness, more then I ever need. Only us 4 dots from the brightness menu, else my eyes burn out. Note though I always use my screens on low brightness when working for hours behind it.

-Samsung vs. LG: With regards to the issues I am happy to get the Samsung screen. Some believe the Samsung screen is less prone to issues then the LG screens. If it comes to screen quality. I guess I am in the minority, but I think (at the end after many comparisons) I like the LG screen better. It seems the whites are more natural to me and the screen appears to be more relaxing to the eyes. Maybe slight better blacks as well. The Samsung screen however has more brightness and seems more vivid and exciting to look at. Since I am not a photographer and don't need any real life colour accuracy. I like the Samsung screen.

My conclusion is thought, both screens are very high quality, and I would have bin happy with either as long no dead pixels and/or IR.

Some last words. The Retina screen is mind blowing. I am an CAD/CAM circuit board designer. PDF's with big diagrams and plots of PCB's are really mind blowing. Never seen it so clear and detailed. Definitely this will improve my workflow.

My CAD/CAM program (cadsoft Eagle) has a (to be expected) very pixelated user interface there it isn't designed for Retina. However the VECTOR CAD screen itself if crystal clear.

What I try to say with this message is. Don't give up your hopes. Perfect rMBP's are still possible. I consider myself very lucky, this is definitely a keeper. I could't believe it either the machine to be this flawless. I feel I won the lottery!

With kind regards,
Bas

 

[jamesjingyi]

Samsung screens normally are better than the LG ones so you got the best of the crop!! Well done!!!

 

[klover]

Congratulations. It took me 5 tries but I found a perfect unit too.

• Samsung panel w/o dead pixels, yellow tint, dark spots, dust, bleed, etc.
• Perfect case w/o scratches, scuffs, misalignment, marks, dents, chips, etc.
• No creaking, wobbling, hinge issues, keyboard issues (loose keys, uneven backlighting, marks), etc.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

Mine also appears perfect. I couldn't use a 4 notch brightness though, unless in a dark room. I'm mostly on the brightest setting.

 

[BC-2]

I have virtually the same experience as you except I ordered a 2.6/16/256 and have had mine for 4 days now going on 5. I was a little worried after reading some of the issues people were having, but placed my order anyway. When it arrived, I examined the case closely for defects or damage but it was perfect. After startup and setup, I examined and tested the display for dead or stuck pixels, backlight etc.... Perfect. Ran the script to see which manufacture, Samsung.

Performance is amazing and smooth. It boots up in 12 seconds from the time I press the power button and shuts down in about 4 seconds. In and out of sleep is light switch instant.

I just installed CS6 and played around very briefly with PS but so far, I couldn't ask for anything more. Best computer I've owned by a huge margin.

 

[scotsman8]

how do you figure out if you got a samsung or lg screen?

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

Awesome unit here as well, nothing visible to complain about.

 

[Queen6]

how do you figure out if you got a samsung or lg screen?

If you are happy with your display, why worry. If the display is faulty Apple will deal with it. When the Late 2011 Air was launched there was literally a frenzy over the display, due to there being two venders LG Phillips & Samsung. Some even were even posting here on MacRumors how they could return their new Air with an LG display, before the machine had even arrived. Ironically when AnandTech reviewed the display`s they recommended the LG by a hair surprise, surprise the hysteria evaporated instantly. If by any means LG display`s are inferior to Samsung`s Apple would never use them in the first place.

When the Late 2011 Air was launched there was literally a frenzy over the display, due to there being two venders LG Phillips & Samsung. Some even were even posting here on MacRumors how they could return their new Air with an LG display, before the machine had even arrived. Ironically when AnandTech reviewed the display`s they recommended the LG by a hair surprise, surprise the hysteria evaporated instantly. If by any means LG display`s are inferior to Samsung`s Apple would never use them in the first place.

The more likely scenario is that LG are simply supplying the majority of displays, hence the sacrcety of the Samsung panel and the superficial higher failure rate of LG. Anyone. Who has read the Anandeech review will know that the LG disply is one of the best ever to grace a portable as I am sure is the Samsung disply. Sampling four or five random panels is far from definitive.

As a community dont allow baseless posts to sway your decisions on returning perfectly good systems in the hope of some visual nirvana. If your display has issue Apple will fix it or replace the machine, however if you are in false hope of receiving a superior display by getting a system with a differing vender, you are only wasting your time and many others and risk actually receiving a defective machine.

AnandTech on the Retina;
All of this is really just wrapping however, as the real gift is the MacBook Pro’s first Retina Display. It’s easily the most beautiful display I’ve had the opportunity of using. Even more impressive to me than the iPad’s Retina Display, and enough to make me actually want to use the Mac as a portable when at home rather than tethered to an external panel. The added portability of the chassis likely contributes to that fact though.

The credit Apple deserves for the display extends beyond simply pushing LG to get a panel out on time and in large enough quantities. There’s a tremendous amount of software work that Apple put into making the Retina experience work under OS X. The OS and several key applications have been updated to properly support the MacBook Pro’s Retina Display, and things can only get better from here. Mountain Lion will improve performance and I would expect at least a few key app updates over the next year to bring increased Retina awareness.

As the individual you must filter the content of the internet very carefully, everyone is a "Pro", everyone is the "expert", for the most part they are not, some are well informed, the majority are not. If you need help to make a significant purchase, or qualification on hardware, wait for a recognised source, not the kid with 10 minutes hands on in Best Buy

 

[thekev]

If you are happy with your display, why worry. If the display is faulty Apple will deal with it. When the Late 2011 Air was launched there was literally a frenzy over the display, due to there being two venders LG Phillips & Samsung. Some even were even posting here on MacRumors how they could return their new Air with an LG display, before the machine had even arrived. Ironically when AnandTech reviewed the display`s they recommended the LG by a hair surprise, surprise the hysteria evaporated instantly. If by any means LG display`s are inferior to Samsung`s Apple would never use them in the first place.

)

That isn't really true. The standard is arbitrary. If both meet the expectations of the oem, in this case Apple, they may be both be used. This doesn't mean the quality is identical, just that both are considered within spec. Manufacturing variation is always a factor even if you're comparing panels from a single vendor. Then of course assembly is another matter.

 

[scotsman8]

If you are happy with your display, why worry. If the display is faulty Apple will deal with it. When the Late 2011 Air was launched there was literally a frenzy over the display, due to there being two venders LG Phillips & Samsung. Some even were even posting here on MacRumors how they could return their new Air with an LG display, before the machine had even arrived. Ironically when AnandTech reviewed the display`s they recommended the LG by a hair surprise, surprise the hysteria evaporated instantly. If by any means LG display`s are inferior to Samsung`s Apple would never use them in the first place.

When the Late 2011 Air was launched there was literally a frenzy over the display, due to there being two venders LG Phillips & Samsung. Some even were even posting here on MacRumors how they could return their new Air with an LG display, before the machine had even arrived. Ironically when AnandTech reviewed the display`s they recommended the LG by a hair surprise, surprise the hysteria evaporated instantly. If by any means LG display`s are inferior to Samsung`s Apple would never use them in the first place.

The more likely scenario is that LG are simply supplying the majority of displays, hence the sacrcety of the Samsung panel and the superficial higher failure rate of LG. Anyone. Who has read the Anandeech review will know that the LG disply is one of the best ever to grace a portable as I am sure is the Samsung disply. Sampling four or five random panels is far from definitive.

As a community dont allow baseless posts to sway your decisions on returning perfectly good systems in the hope of some visual nirvana. If your display has issue Apple will fix it or replace the machine, however if you are in false hope of receiving a superior display by getting a system with a differing vender, you are only wasting your time and many others and risk actually receiving a defective machine.

AnandTech on the Retina;
All of this is really just wrapping however, as the real gift is the MacBook Pro’s first Retina Display. It’s easily the most beautiful display I’ve had the opportunity of using. Even more impressive to me than the iPad’s Retina Display, and enough to make me actually want to use the Mac as a portable when at home rather than tethered to an external panel. The added portability of the chassis likely contributes to that fact though.

The credit Apple deserves for the display extends beyond simply pushing LG to get a panel out on time and in large enough quantities. There’s a tremendous amount of software work that Apple put into making the Retina experience work under OS X. The OS and several key applications have been updated to properly support the MacBook Pro’s Retina Display, and things can only get better from here. Mountain Lion will improve performance and I would expect at least a few key app updates over the next year to bring increased Retina awareness.

As the individual you must filter the content of the internet very carefully, everyone is a "Pro", everyone is the "expert", for the most part they are not, some are well informed, the majority are not. If you need help to make a significant purchase, or qualification on hardware, wait for a recognised source, not the kid with 10 minutes hands on in Best Buy

the reason i ask is my rMBP had a dead pixel in the middle of the screen, which they said was a dimple in the glass and it is now at apple getting a new screen... so thats why i ask

 

[Queen6]

the reason i ask is my rMBP had a dead pixel in the middle of the screen, which they said was a dimple in the glass and it is now at apple getting a new screen... so thats why i ask

Frankly it`s an easy question to ask and not so much your specific post, however just like the Late 2011 Air you get a minority of "zealots" who will lambast one vender over the other and in general seeding doubt in many peoples mind, over numerous baseless posts. Hopefully if people are fully aware they will disregard this minority, as there is also a high potentiality for them not to even own the actual hardware.

In the case of the Retina, both are equal, both are subtly different, one looks to provide more panels and therefore has a greater perceived failure rate from the very small snapshot we see here on Macrumors. New tech, manufacturing process, if you wait a few cycles, as in weeks much will be ironed out. FWIW my own Retina has no issue.

The answer your seeking is open Terminal and paste in the following command, hit return

ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

LP is LG, LSN is Samsung

 

[VacTacks11]

I've had my rMBP since it was available, and it hadn't occurred to me to check for any of these problems. I guess because I've either 1) not had any, or 2) have been too blissfully naive about the possibility of them.

Can you give me a list of things I should be looking for? You said dead pixels. Okay, how do I test for that? White YouTube video expanded full screen?

Misaligned bottom plate? What does that look like? If it's off by 1mm, is that misaligned? Is there something I should be looking for?

Dust under the screen? Do I use a magnifying glass? I'm not being sarcastic. How do you even check for that? Or is it a case of 'when you see it, you'll know'?

Really we can create a definitive guide for known issues to check for once you unwrap the rMBP.

 

[Queen6]

That isn't really true. The standard is arbitrary. If both meet the expectations of the oem, in this case Apple, they may be both be used. This doesn't mean the quality is identical, just that both are considered within spec. Manufacturing variation is always a factor even if you're comparing panels from a single vendor. Then of course assembly is another matter.

Retina, same as the Air both panels will have subtle differences that will appeal to differing people, however this does not mean that one will is arbitrarily inferior to the other. A minority will obsess and be extremely vocal, we are already seeing the start of it with the Retina. As with the Late 2011 Air this really brings no good, only seeding doubt in peoples minds that they have been sold an inferior product, Ironically many of this minority may never have even owned the hardware in question, not sure; a poll indicates the majority of Retina owners here on MacRumors are more than happy with their systems, yet the negative posts are far more prevalent such is the nature of people.

I am not looking to say one panel is better than the other, however if these posts put one persons mind to rest and they then get on with enjoying their new Mac they will have been worthwhile. For the non technical the power of the written word on a forum by someone with a high post count is extremely persuasive, however it can equally be completely inaccurate.

----------

I've had my rMBP since it was available, and it hadn't occurred to me to check for any of these problems. I guess because I've either 1) not had any, or 2) have been too blissfully naive about the possibility of them.

Can you give me a list of things I should be looking for? You said dead pixels. Okay, how do I test for that? White YouTube video expanded full screen?

Misaligned bottom plate? What does that look like? If it's off by 1mm, is that misaligned? Is there something I should be looking for?

Dust under the screen? Do I use a magnifying glass? I'm not being sarcastic. How do you even check for that? Or is it a case of 'when you see it, you'll know'?

Really we can create a definitive guide for known issues to check for once you unwrap the rMBP.

If you have observed no issue, then you likely don't have any. If you put anything under the microscope, your going to find issue sooner or later i.e. if you deliberately look for error you will find it, these are mass produced computers nothing more, nothing less. If you conduct specific tests that will make the system fail, don't be surprised if it fails

All, See what i mean, this guy was more than happy with his/her Retina, until he/she read this post and now we have successfully seeded the doubt

 

[thekev]

Retina, same as the Air both panels will have subtle differences that will appeal to differing people, however this does not mean that one will is arbitrarily inferior to the other. A minority will obsess and be extremely vocal, we are already seeing the start of it with the Retina. As with the Late 2011 Air this really brings no good, only seeding doubt in peoples minds that they have been sold an inferior product, Ironically many of this minority may never have even owned the hardware in question, not sure; a poll indicates the majority of Retina owners here on MacRumors are more than happy with their systems, yet the negative posts are far more prevalent such is the nature of people.

I am not looking to say one panel is better than the other, however if these posts put one persons mind to rest and they then get on with enjoying their new Mac they will have been worthwhile. For the non technical the power of the written word on a forum by someone with a high post count is extremely persuasive, however it can equally be completely inaccurate.

I've never really supported this, yet my opinion remains that the units that make it to market were deemed acceptable by Apple's standards during assembly. If someone feels one of the possible hardware options would be unacceptable, my solution for them would be don't buy it. I think the flurry of exchanges is dumb. If they noticed dust or dead pixels or whatever, I can understand the irritation. I can understand examining something closer if you see something that causes you to expect fault. Some of them are just stupid. One person claimed it was bad because the display appeared dimmer and more yellow than his iphone without consideration that they may be balanced against different targets due to inherently different display designs.

If you have observed no issue, then you likely don't have any. If you put anything under the microscope, your going to find issue sooner or later i.e. if you deliberately look for error you will find it, these are mass produced computers nothing more, nothing less. If you conduct specific tests that will make the system fail, don't be surprised if it fails

All, See what i mean, this guy was more than happy with his/her Retina, until he/she read this post and now we have successfully seeded the doubt

I don't personally care for the hysteria myself. Someone on another thread left a checkerboard pattern up for several hours to see if it would suffer from temporary image persistence. That is just ridiculous, but apparently the 4th one survived it. I still do not think they have to be identical to both be sold. There will always be some amount of sample variation, so it's more practical to measure both against a shared reference standard for pass/fail tests.