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SR MBP LED LCD yellowish and gradients issue
- Thread starter issic
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So, did the new firmware update fixed this issue for those that have it? According to apple:
About MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3
This EFI Firmware update fixes a display issue on 2.2/2.4GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro models.
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbookproefifirmwareupdate13.html
About MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3
This EFI Firmware update fixes a display issue on 2.2/2.4GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro models.
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbookproefifirmwareupdate13.html
Thanks for that link. Im in love with my MBP. The screen is amazing. I wasnt crazy about the yellow tint when looking at an angle, but when I did the color calibration it looks alot better. I then checked out my other (3) LCD screens I have in the house, and the yellow tint at an angle is far better than weird colors on an angle that the other LCDs show.
Im sure everyone has heard this before, but most people who dont have an issue with a product doesnt come to forums/threads like this to post the good stuff.
I'm days away from purchasing a MBP. How can i tell ahead of time whether the screen is LG or samsung??? will the serial number on the box tell me??
You could give this site a try
http://www.foretellpsychics.com/
🙂
Seriously though, the only way I know how to check the manufacturer is thru System Preferences.
Are you all sure this isn't just a narrow angle range issue?
My SR MBP is a 22th week Glossy Samsung screen and 160gb drive, bough at the online Apple store and sent to Spain, directly from China. It definitely has a very slightly yellow tint in the last botton quarter of the screen, that is only noticable when I lower my point of view close to the level of the keyboard. Then, I notice that yellowish tint that otherwise is absolutely impossible to see. That yellowish tint is also noticable when I vary the angle of vision, specially in the greys - like the top white bar. But, otherwise, the whole screen is absolutely white, and very bright with brightness set to its maximum.
I wonder whether I was lucky and have a good Samsung screen or all this is just an issue of a good screen that has a very low angle range, outside of which the yellows quickly become noticeable. I'm happy with my MBP and won't ask for a replacement but it's true the 'pro' label this computer sports deserves a much better (wider angle range) screen. Just check some Vaio's and you'll understand what I mean (despite Vaio's common resolution is only 1280x800) when I say this screen has a little bit too narrow aceptable angle range.
By the way, after the MBP Software update + EFI 1.3 update everything looks the same for me, as if I didn't install anything.
My SR MBP is a 22th week Glossy Samsung screen and 160gb drive, bough at the online Apple store and sent to Spain, directly from China. It definitely has a very slightly yellow tint in the last botton quarter of the screen, that is only noticable when I lower my point of view close to the level of the keyboard. Then, I notice that yellowish tint that otherwise is absolutely impossible to see. That yellowish tint is also noticable when I vary the angle of vision, specially in the greys - like the top white bar. But, otherwise, the whole screen is absolutely white, and very bright with brightness set to its maximum.
I wonder whether I was lucky and have a good Samsung screen or all this is just an issue of a good screen that has a very low angle range, outside of which the yellows quickly become noticeable. I'm happy with my MBP and won't ask for a replacement but it's true the 'pro' label this computer sports deserves a much better (wider angle range) screen. Just check some Vaio's and you'll understand what I mean (despite Vaio's common resolution is only 1280x800) when I say this screen has a little bit too narrow aceptable angle range.
By the way, after the MBP Software update + EFI 1.3 update everything looks the same for me, as if I didn't install anything.
It's a conspiracy mate. Suddenly the hundreds of people with this issue have gone completely silent at what is possibly the climax of the whole saga.
Very disappointed.
No difference after the update.
I think it is just a placebo update. I bet Apple has done this sort of thing before to take the heat off and gain a bit of breathing space while it tries to fix the problem du jour.
I think it is just a placebo update. I bet Apple has done this sort of thing before to take the heat off and gain a bit of breathing space while it tries to fix the problem du jour.
I'm in the store buying mine and I don't notice the yellow tint at all. I also used the boxes thing on page 14. Nothing... It's a Samsung BTW. I do notice however that the backlighting is brighter in the middle of the screen. The edges are darker.
I don't have a MacBook Pro yet .. but I asked Apple Support
I just spoke with Apple Support and told them I was interested in purchasing a MacBook Pro and wanted to know if they could provide information on the 1/3 bottom yellow display issue - whether it was widespread and whether they had a solution yet.
This is my first time calling Apple and they were pretty friendly and accommodating.
They said that they are aware of the issue and believe it is isolated to a particular manufacturer of the display (that they wouldn't name) and that they are phasing them out.
She said that when you buy a laptop, it has usually been manufactured within 90 days and that to her best knowledge the new laptops should not have this problem.
She said that because the laptops are so new that they have had to just do a blind exchange until they could isolate the issue.
Also if you have this issue, you can return it for exchange/return if you buy it from an Apple Store or Apple Store online.
So the trick I guess is to now find a laptop that was made very recently.
PS: I also inquired about the hissing noise on the audio jack that people are complaining about. They said that they don't have an official solution in their internal database on the issue yet - so they would attempt to repair the laptops on a case by case basis. However they are aware of the numerous posts on Apple's own Support forums at http://www.apple.com.
She said that they monitor those forums quite frequently.
Sounds like big issues like these ought to be reported to those forums in large numbers so that Apple is aware and can respond more quickly.
Hope this helps.
I just spoke with Apple Support and told them I was interested in purchasing a MacBook Pro and wanted to know if they could provide information on the 1/3 bottom yellow display issue - whether it was widespread and whether they had a solution yet.
This is my first time calling Apple and they were pretty friendly and accommodating.
They said that they are aware of the issue and believe it is isolated to a particular manufacturer of the display (that they wouldn't name) and that they are phasing them out.
She said that when you buy a laptop, it has usually been manufactured within 90 days and that to her best knowledge the new laptops should not have this problem.
She said that because the laptops are so new that they have had to just do a blind exchange until they could isolate the issue.
Also if you have this issue, you can return it for exchange/return if you buy it from an Apple Store or Apple Store online.
So the trick I guess is to now find a laptop that was made very recently.
PS: I also inquired about the hissing noise on the audio jack that people are complaining about. They said that they don't have an official solution in their internal database on the issue yet - so they would attempt to repair the laptops on a case by case basis. However they are aware of the numerous posts on Apple's own Support forums at http://www.apple.com.
She said that they monitor those forums quite frequently.
Sounds like big issues like these ought to be reported to those forums in large numbers so that Apple is aware and can respond more quickly.
Hope this helps.
Block
macrumors 6502a
Good news that they are working on it. I hope they don't neglect the second manufacturer completely though, since I've had screens by both, and both have suffered from the problem. Others have reported the same. Well there is hope. I hope the AppleCare lady was telling the truth.
powermac_daddy
macrumors 6502
This is ridiculously annoying. I am starting to wonder if there are ANY non yellow at the bottom of the screen MBP's out there. I've gone through three computers, all of them having yellow on the bottom of the screen. My friend, who got his first computer the same day that I got mine, showed me his computer thinking it was non yellow and it turned out that it was yellow at the bottom of the screen but he just didn't notice it until I showed it to him.
This whole experience has really turned me off to Apple. I am going to be a college freshman and I intend to have this computer for the next four years of my life. I really want a MBP, but I shouldn't have to settle for a yellow tint at the bottom of my 2500$ computer.
This whole experience has really turned me off to Apple. I am going to be a college freshman and I intend to have this computer for the next four years of my life. I really want a MBP, but I shouldn't have to settle for a yellow tint at the bottom of my 2500$ computer.
When I first read this thread, I thought I had the issue also. After playing with the color calibration utility, everything looks great. It makes me wonder if this problem truly is as bad as some people make it out to be. I have yet to see an image that shows how bad the yellow problems is. Im not saying I dont believe there is an issue, I just think its odd that the problem isnt isolated to a batch of MBPs, etc.
powermac_daddy
macrumors 6502
i feel you my friend. i have a feeling that my second MBP replacement is going to have the yellow tint problem again; if not, maybe something else is screwed up. apple should do a recall...
Do like I have, return the 15" mbp and get the 17" mbp high res. I love the high res and brightness is not an issue at all! I brought my high res over to my cousin who has the 15" led mbp and at full brightness it looked exactly the same. I remember I told him I wanted to bring my 17" over to compare and he said he remembers the 15" led being much much brighter and he was like its your funeral and your gonna end up crying that you exchanged it~~ then when I brought it over and compared I could tell he was a little weary about his 15" because originally he wanted the 17" but chose the 15" because of the led and also,
1. the 17" was just as bright and the colors looked accurate with no yellowing compared and he did have his calibrated properly with non apple calibrator using spyder 2 and comparing side by side, the 15" led made the whole colors looked like a yellow tinted glass was covered infront of the whole panel and mine looked like it was just a clear glass covered in the front with white backlight. I did check and the white led is made with a blue led light on top with a yellow phosphor light on the bottom and if you check closely like I have on all 5 even including my cousin's 15" led tilt your screen where you can see the top of the screen and you can see that the backlight on the top is white and when you tilt your screen down to look at the bottom of the edge you can tell there's yellow backlight bleeding and I think that's where all the color difference of shifting is coming from.
2. The high res and glossy made the 17" look phenomenal and like a totally different next gen machine.
3. The screen looks just as uniform and evenly lit but I heard that the 17" non high res had alot of uneven lighting but nope not on the 17" high def with totally different panels.
4. Sure it has ccfl backlighting but then again so did previous powerbooks and macbook pros and they all are more than enough in brightness. I keep my 17" at 6-8 notches bright out of 16 and its plenty bright and will still last 10+ and still be bright enough so as to the led's backlight life its pretty useless compared to the ccfl, only advantage the led has over the ccfl is that it consumes less power which I dont see too much a difference since it gives you 30 min at the most in battery life and that 90% of the time I use my laptop plugged in. And that in led goes instantly full brightness without waiting the usual 1 minute in my opinion but it looks plenty bright still awake on the ccfl and only adjust being a bit brighter a min later~
The huge number 1 reason that I returned my 15" led is due to the yellowing I saw on all 5 of the exchanged I did and all the 7 I saw at the apple store and the ones that the geniouses used and they all didnt notice it because it was in a well lit store and they were surprised too. Even one of the geniuses was saving enough to buy the 15" led and they were turned off by it and thanked me lol. Anyways the part of the number one reason is that apple will not do a recall in this case because remember the 15" screen issues with the horizontal line problems just back 2 years ago, yep~ they never recalled those and I noticed that all the 15" always has some of the problems first and always fixed when it is incorporated to the 17". I have a feeling in january when the 17" led models are silently upgraded at the store that these will not have the yellowing problem. So pretty much you have 2 choices wait until january and get the fully problem fixed led 17" or get the high res 17" now and enjoy your mbp without your eyes getting warry because of the odd color uniform of the 15" I sure as hell am happy and will still keep my 17" even if the 17" led comes out backlighting doesnt seem like a huge difference =D and I've owned both for more than 2 weeks I had the 15" led for a full month going through 5 exchanges telling my self that I dont see the yellow and tried to ignore it but once your eyes start shifting left to right then you notice the different color shifting on either side of the screen and it annoys the hell out of you but nope not with the ccfl looks more uniform in colors all same around and backlighting looks even and good as well =) hope this helps to anyone trying to make a decision.
p.s. the 1st 15" mbp led that I had was a samsung panel and it had a horrible very noticeable yellowing band on the bottom where the dock is and I returned that one and the rest 4 I had was all LG models the 9c67 and they were all very hard to find the yellow in a bright lit room but once your in a darkness or a dim area and looking at webpages you'll notice especially in this forum where the black text are black but behind where these black text are it is suppose to be white but for some reason it shifts being white-yellowishwhite and it looks like a world of difference. also try reading comic books online as well when the white bubble of the characters say something you can tell that the white bubble on some of the characters are cream white and some are yellowish tinted white. Also it doesnt matter if its the lg or samsung panels its just the way the backlighting of the led's are made yellow at the edge of the bottom where it saids macbook pro and on the top edge of the panel has a white led that is the cause of this little problem I am 100% sure of that. Also look and google around on how led backlighting is made its white led light with a yellow phosphor lighting.
1. the 17" was just as bright and the colors looked accurate with no yellowing compared and he did have his calibrated properly with non apple calibrator using spyder 2 and comparing side by side, the 15" led made the whole colors looked like a yellow tinted glass was covered infront of the whole panel and mine looked like it was just a clear glass covered in the front with white backlight. I did check and the white led is made with a blue led light on top with a yellow phosphor light on the bottom and if you check closely like I have on all 5 even including my cousin's 15" led tilt your screen where you can see the top of the screen and you can see that the backlight on the top is white and when you tilt your screen down to look at the bottom of the edge you can tell there's yellow backlight bleeding and I think that's where all the color difference of shifting is coming from.
2. The high res and glossy made the 17" look phenomenal and like a totally different next gen machine.
3. The screen looks just as uniform and evenly lit but I heard that the 17" non high res had alot of uneven lighting but nope not on the 17" high def with totally different panels.
4. Sure it has ccfl backlighting but then again so did previous powerbooks and macbook pros and they all are more than enough in brightness. I keep my 17" at 6-8 notches bright out of 16 and its plenty bright and will still last 10+ and still be bright enough so as to the led's backlight life its pretty useless compared to the ccfl, only advantage the led has over the ccfl is that it consumes less power which I dont see too much a difference since it gives you 30 min at the most in battery life and that 90% of the time I use my laptop plugged in. And that in led goes instantly full brightness without waiting the usual 1 minute in my opinion but it looks plenty bright still awake on the ccfl and only adjust being a bit brighter a min later~
The huge number 1 reason that I returned my 15" led is due to the yellowing I saw on all 5 of the exchanged I did and all the 7 I saw at the apple store and the ones that the geniouses used and they all didnt notice it because it was in a well lit store and they were surprised too. Even one of the geniuses was saving enough to buy the 15" led and they were turned off by it and thanked me lol. Anyways the part of the number one reason is that apple will not do a recall in this case because remember the 15" screen issues with the horizontal line problems just back 2 years ago, yep~ they never recalled those and I noticed that all the 15" always has some of the problems first and always fixed when it is incorporated to the 17". I have a feeling in january when the 17" led models are silently upgraded at the store that these will not have the yellowing problem. So pretty much you have 2 choices wait until january and get the fully problem fixed led 17" or get the high res 17" now and enjoy your mbp without your eyes getting warry because of the odd color uniform of the 15" I sure as hell am happy and will still keep my 17" even if the 17" led comes out backlighting doesnt seem like a huge difference =D and I've owned both for more than 2 weeks I had the 15" led for a full month going through 5 exchanges telling my self that I dont see the yellow and tried to ignore it but once your eyes start shifting left to right then you notice the different color shifting on either side of the screen and it annoys the hell out of you but nope not with the ccfl looks more uniform in colors all same around and backlighting looks even and good as well =) hope this helps to anyone trying to make a decision.
p.s. the 1st 15" mbp led that I had was a samsung panel and it had a horrible very noticeable yellowing band on the bottom where the dock is and I returned that one and the rest 4 I had was all LG models the 9c67 and they were all very hard to find the yellow in a bright lit room but once your in a darkness or a dim area and looking at webpages you'll notice especially in this forum where the black text are black but behind where these black text are it is suppose to be white but for some reason it shifts being white-yellowishwhite and it looks like a world of difference. also try reading comic books online as well when the white bubble of the characters say something you can tell that the white bubble on some of the characters are cream white and some are yellowish tinted white. Also it doesnt matter if its the lg or samsung panels its just the way the backlighting of the led's are made yellow at the edge of the bottom where it saids macbook pro and on the top edge of the panel has a white led that is the cause of this little problem I am 100% sure of that. Also look and google around on how led backlighting is made its white led light with a yellow phosphor lighting.
Well, I reluctantly returned my second 15 inch MBP SR today. Both showed the yellow tint on the bottom of the screen (both were Samsung panels). The second MBP was a little better, but after a lot of thought I decided to get a refund. At first, the Apple store employees claimed not to see the problem, but I showed them the image that was posted many weeks ago here with the white boxes on top and bottom. At that point, they saw the discoloration and gave me a refund. I'll monitor this forum to see what develops before taking another plunge into Apple Land.
oh and one more thing I've had both samsung and lg screens and I can tell you that the 1/3 yellow tint issue is not due to lg or samsung panels. My cousin has a samsung and it doesnt have the exaggerated yellow tint but my lg did have it and i exchanged it for another and it was another lg but did not have the yellow on the 1/3. But they all do have a slight yellow tint on the bottom 1/3 but not the big band of yellow that my first had. And the whites and greys and other warm colors even calibrated properly with 3rd party programs not the ones that apple gives you does not fix the slight yellow tinge problem. Also the panel itself does not matter whether it is samsung or lg because only one manufacture currently makes the backlighting for the mbp's forgot what company it was but was from japan. my cousin knew and gave me the name but forgot what it was called will post again once I ask him again and I remembered I checked out their website and it shows you how they make their led lighting and its by adding a blue led light with yellow phosphors and that is your culprit there. I would wait a good 6 months until 17" mbp have the leds and I heard they will incorporate them in sometime jan. 2008 and I believe the led backlight system will be fixed by using a different means of white led. If you google on how led backlighting system works they say that there ware 2 ways either using a blue led with yellow phosphor which are currently in use or the other way is just a straight white led all across the screen which some manufactures use but not the company that the mbp's have.
Well, I won't take anyone on the phone seriously until Apple officially recognizes the problem on their website, or makes it an option to get a replacement. There are so many inconsistencies with reports that no one knows who is right or wrong.
Well based on the recent posts it sounds like the jury may still be out. However, I'm going to give the Apple support lady the benefit of the doubt and I'm going to go check out an Apple store this week to see if I can find a recently manufactured unit and test it in store.
BTW - Perhaps if all the people who are experiencing these problems could fill out this form, Apple might get a better idea of how widespread this problem is and send out that 'official word'.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html
Cheers
BTW - Perhaps if all the people who are experiencing these problems could fill out this form, Apple might get a better idea of how widespread this problem is and send out that 'official word'.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html
Cheers
I'm confused. So do ALL of the screens have at least a slight yellow tint at the bottom? I traded in my computer for the THIRD time to get another computer with the yellow tint. This is ridiculous. I should say though that the first one I had was by far the worst.
4np
macrumors 6502a
I've got the impression that the yellowness has decreased a bit after the update. But of course this may just be a placebo effect 😉
On June 10th I ordered a 2.4 MBP matte display with a 7200 hard drive. A few weeks lately I received a computer with a very obvious yellow tint at the bottom of the screen. I sent it back to Apple for a repair, only for have it to return with a new screen in the same condition.
I then decided that dealing with a custom machine would be too much of a hassle, and that I'd just buy a stock MBP from the store, and upgrade the hard drive at some point in the future. So I returned the repaired MBP and bought a stock 2.4 matte from the store. It had a yellow tint, although it wasn't as bad my first machine. And then I returned that one, only to get another one with the same problem.
I have a friend who thought his screen didn't have the yellow tint, but once we compared computers in person he saw it on his own screen, although he wasn't annoyed by it.
After going through one repair and two replacements, I am very frustrated and tired of dealing with Apple. I would really LOVE to have a new MBP, but if I'm spending 2500+ on a new computer I don't see why I should have to settle for yellow on the bottom of the screen. I wonder if people who think they don't have the yellow really do have it but just don't notice it or care.
Hmm, I'm a bit confused about what to do. Although I love the mac operating system, I'm very seriously considering just returning this computer and getting a thinkpad.
I then decided that dealing with a custom machine would be too much of a hassle, and that I'd just buy a stock MBP from the store, and upgrade the hard drive at some point in the future. So I returned the repaired MBP and bought a stock 2.4 matte from the store. It had a yellow tint, although it wasn't as bad my first machine. And then I returned that one, only to get another one with the same problem.
I have a friend who thought his screen didn't have the yellow tint, but once we compared computers in person he saw it on his own screen, although he wasn't annoyed by it.
After going through one repair and two replacements, I am very frustrated and tired of dealing with Apple. I would really LOVE to have a new MBP, but if I'm spending 2500+ on a new computer I don't see why I should have to settle for yellow on the bottom of the screen. I wonder if people who think they don't have the yellow really do have it but just don't notice it or care.
Hmm, I'm a bit confused about what to do. Although I love the mac operating system, I'm very seriously considering just returning this computer and getting a thinkpad.