I've seen three - all from the first week of release. Two bought from Apple store and one bought from Apple online. The two from the store had yellowing, one was returned and we kept the other as it genuinely is minimal but may get swapped out at a later date if it annoys. The one ordered online from Apple seems perfect to me - no screen yellowing or light bleed and the screen is uniform. I've returned iPads in the past for screen issues but the very moment I set eyes on this retina mini, I knew it was a keeper as your eyes becomes tuned to what to look for. I don't think going for later weeks is a guarantee of getting a better screen, I genuinely do think it is just the luck of the draw.
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iPad mini rMini Yellow on one end of the screen white on the other?
- Thread starter lindafus
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I guess apple will be aware of all returns and yellow screens, and I guess take the necessary steps to resolve it, so I say that wait can be guaranteed to have a better screen.
I tried a Nexus 7 but found the contrast poor (text faint) and the screen had distinct yellowing. It's also a very odd shape to use. Too tall and thin.
Its not a perfect device though, the screen is a bit narrow as you said and the colors are not as vibrant as iPads (but you get used to it).
Also the Google Play store is not a good as Apple (but catching up)
I've never been able to bring myself to buy any Android device because I didn't want to get tied into Google. I'm probably just being paranoid and I know no online data is safe, but isn't Google's entire business model based on selling ads and user data?
I agree it is just luck of the draw. I bought an rMini in Dec and it has a good screen which I attributed to being a week 48 possibly. I bought 2 rMinis on launch day online for my niece and nephew for Christmas and I was worried about how bad those screens might be. When they were opened at Christmas both had good screens - no yellowing that I could see. We didn't check for backlight bleeding or image retention.
I think Apple is aware of the yellow screen issue and will do or not do what is able to be done without acknowledging the problem. Yellow screens have been an issue on some unknown percent of retina screens since the iPad 3 was introduced. If the issue had a simple fix I doubt we'd still be seeing this problem. I love the iPad and have been willing to exchange a few times to get one with a screen that is not perfect but acceptable to me. I don't mean to suggest that anyone should keep a screen they are not happy with, but it may be a long wait for a guarantee that they will all be good.
According to the Apple Store employee told me to wait about two weeks, because it would be a different and possibly the problem will be corrected consignment, but I think the employees have no idea what happens in the factory.
I think you are right and if they do they will never admit it.
I think the best advice I got from an Apple employee when I was returning an Air with a yellow screen was to try another store as their current supply was likely all from the same lot.im just about to give up..
i've beat the other guy that went through 9 and gave up..
I went through 11 and we couldnt find a single good screen. The apple genius agreed it looked horrible compared to the ones in the store and kept on trying to help me find a good one. I want LTE so i went through tmo, AT&T, and verizon units and all had the yellow screen. Another apple employee came up and at first he couldnt see it till we compared the keyboard next to a store display model and he was like OHHH I SEE IT.. OMG what a huge difference.. One was bright and pristine white and one was jsut a washed out muddled yellow. I'm not sure if all the LTE models are like this from this batch but it appears to be that way.. I might try a wifi only model. I have one last attempt to order from apple.com and hope for a different batch.
i've beat the other guy that went through 9 and gave up..
I went through 11 and we couldnt find a single good screen. The apple genius agreed it looked horrible compared to the ones in the store and kept on trying to help me find a good one. I want LTE so i went through tmo, AT&T, and verizon units and all had the yellow screen. Another apple employee came up and at first he couldnt see it till we compared the keyboard next to a store display model and he was like OHHH I SEE IT.. OMG what a huge difference.. One was bright and pristine white and one was jsut a washed out muddled yellow. I'm not sure if all the LTE models are like this from this batch but it appears to be that way.. I might try a wifi only model. I have one last attempt to order from apple.com and hope for a different batch.
It probably has nothing at all to do with wifi or LTE. The screens are produced in bulk by Samsung/LG/Sharp and then shipped to Foxconn/Pegatron for assembly. Whether or not there's an extra LTE chip in an iPad probably has no bearing on what screen is used.
yup agreed...
but they might do a run of all wifi models and use a certain screen and just by chance all the LTE models might have the crappier screen for this lot. Guess I will just wait a bit and try my luck. It sucks Apple doesnt regular their suppliers or their standards are not strict enough for their display vendors
I have an F4, good screen. NO IR or any standout obvious defects. The faintest hint of flashlight in the lower left upon boot up for like half an inch horizontally but thats not a deal breaker, especially after seeing a handful of screens in this thread.
It appears theres more DL than F4.
And more bad DL than good, whereas more good F4 than bad. Hard to say if the smaller sampling size has something to do with it, and luck? But on iPhone 5, I thought there were more good DN (though I've seen a lot of good DN, I also saw one or two stinker DN's also) than F1 and F2. who knows.
I remember there was a certain week run of first gen that almost all didn't have negative black effect, but a small select few did.
It appears theres more DL than F4.
And more bad DL than good, whereas more good F4 than bad. Hard to say if the smaller sampling size has something to do with it, and luck? But on iPhone 5, I thought there were more good DN (though I've seen a lot of good DN, I also saw one or two stinker DN's also) than F1 and F2. who knows.
I remember there was a certain week run of first gen that almost all didn't have negative black effect, but a small select few did.
My rMini is the 128gb Cellular version. All 4 have had no dust and no dead pixels.
I finally have a nice screen, still has slight image retention, but this disappears far faster than the last screen. 2hrs gaming on GTA San Andreas on my first and second iPad had no image retention but had very bad backlight leakage and 30% of the bottom was yellow, top pure white.
3rd rMini had a pretty uniform screen but the 2hrs gaming on GTA San Andreas caused severe image retention, this took around 30hrs to fully disappear. The 4th rMini takes around 1hr, this is only visible on a dark grey background anyway so that's fine as it's far less visible than the 3rd one was.
This was the previous 3rd rMini, I loaded this grey image straight after 2hrs gaming.
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After 12hrs you could still make out the on screen controls.
![]()
Here was my first rMini, the room was lit up with a 40w desk lamp, rMini was on roughly 30% brightness.
Looks a little worse than in person as the phone used took at it 1600 iso (5s)
![]()
Here is the current 4th rMini,
Backlight on 100%, this time in the dark, in person there is zero backlight bleeding, due to the high 2500 iso you can see patches, but in person it's pure black.
![]()
All white screen (100%).
![]()
3 different angles with the split keyboard. Looks whiter in person.
![]()
![]()
![]()
This gives a better idea of what the black looks like at 100% in the dark, you can see around the border there is no leakage at all. I am very happy with this iPad.
![]()
There are good ones out there. Shame the quality control is so bad, then again what quality control.
I finally have a nice screen, still has slight image retention, but this disappears far faster than the last screen. 2hrs gaming on GTA San Andreas on my first and second iPad had no image retention but had very bad backlight leakage and 30% of the bottom was yellow, top pure white.
3rd rMini had a pretty uniform screen but the 2hrs gaming on GTA San Andreas caused severe image retention, this took around 30hrs to fully disappear. The 4th rMini takes around 1hr, this is only visible on a dark grey background anyway so that's fine as it's far less visible than the 3rd one was.
This was the previous 3rd rMini, I loaded this grey image straight after 2hrs gaming.
After 12hrs you could still make out the on screen controls.
Here was my first rMini, the room was lit up with a 40w desk lamp, rMini was on roughly 30% brightness.
Looks a little worse than in person as the phone used took at it 1600 iso (5s)
Here is the current 4th rMini,
Backlight on 100%, this time in the dark, in person there is zero backlight bleeding, due to the high 2500 iso you can see patches, but in person it's pure black.
All white screen (100%).
3 different angles with the split keyboard. Looks whiter in person.
This gives a better idea of what the black looks like at 100% in the dark, you can see around the border there is no leakage at all. I am very happy with this iPad.
There are good ones out there. Shame the quality control is so bad, then again what quality control.
Radeon12345
That screen is perfect.
I'll buy it
If it is not too much to ask that serial number is? could you look at that week of production, in which production etc?
Any way to know which brand of screen is?
That screen is perfect.
I'll buy it
If it is not too much to ask that serial number is? could you look at that week of production, in which production etc?
Any way to know which brand of screen is?
Radeon12345
That screen is perfect.
I'll buy it
If it is not too much to ask that serial number is? could you look at that week of production, in which production etc?
Any way to know which brand of screen is?
Serial begins DLXLR
The first and second rMini were week 47, the third one with severe image retention was week 41, this fourth one is week 48.
First was a new one from the Apple website (UK), the second, third and fourth were brown box replacements.
Nice Name: iPad mini Retina (2nd Gen - Cellular)
Family name:
Group1: iPadMini
Group2: WiFi-Cellular
Generation: 2
CPU speed: 1.3GHz
Screen size: 7.9 inch
Screen resolution: 2046x1536 pixels
Colour: Silver
Production year: 2013
Production week: 48 (December)
Model introduced: 2013
Capacity: 128GB
Memory - flavour: xx
Factory: DL (China - Foxconn)
I've had a week 47,49,50 and 51 and all bad. to see if in 2 weeks when I go get it and are manufactured in 2014
I just received mine today, week 51 from Foxconn. The bottom is definitely more yellow than the top, though it's generally not too noticeable unless the brightness is dimmed. It's most obvious when the keypad is visible though... then the keys definitely look more yellow than the rest.
What I actually noticed more was the fact that when the screen is all white, it doesn't look very clean or smooth. It kinda has subtle patches of uneven white.
I debated on what to do with it, but decided to keep it after all - mostly because it looks a ton better than a lot of other pics I'm seeing with yellow bottoms and also because I don't know if an exchange would yield me a better screen. Plus I dislike the fact that I'll end up with a refurb in a brown box.
Besides, everything else is fine. No dead pixels, and there's only a very very subtle backlight bleeding on the two bottom corners that I'll never notice unless the room was pitch dark and my screen is displaying a black image.
So all in all, I'll be keeping this and hope I'll be happy with it in the long run!
What I actually noticed more was the fact that when the screen is all white, it doesn't look very clean or smooth. It kinda has subtle patches of uneven white.
I debated on what to do with it, but decided to keep it after all - mostly because it looks a ton better than a lot of other pics I'm seeing with yellow bottoms and also because I don't know if an exchange would yield me a better screen. Plus I dislike the fact that I'll end up with a refurb in a brown box.
Besides, everything else is fine. No dead pixels, and there's only a very very subtle backlight bleeding on the two bottom corners that I'll never notice unless the room was pitch dark and my screen is displaying a black image.
So all in all, I'll be keeping this and hope I'll be happy with it in the long run!