iPhone screen showing negative/shimmering black/dark areas

I had to go throught this and it wasn't as painful as some. (Though some genius people are jerks to deal with. Technical skills vs. Customer skills - hmm. Which would you choose?)

I love my iPhone. Love it, love it, love it.

Now, you might consider waiting until Jan as there may be an announcement around MacWorld.

I wish I could get a good picture of it. I tried a few photos last knight but I can't get a good one. This might be because the camera I'm using kind of *****. I'll try but I'm not sure. The picture I referred to is just a photo I took of someone with the iphone in a poorly lit room so the shimmering shows up in about 1/3 of the photo. If you have the problem and want to try to get a good piece of evidence, I would try doing the same.

I was actually trying to get a photo so I could print it and send it with the phone for repair to help my chances of the repair person recognizing the problem, but, besides the poor quality camera, I don't really know how to get the lighting right to take a decent picture, but I'll try some more today and post it somehow if I get a good one.

As far as replacement of the phone, a warranty replacement is going to get you a refurbished unit. I suppose that you just got lucky by getting a new one. The two apple guys I have dealt with were really nice and even apologetic for my having had problems. I find that if you're trying to get warranty service and you encounter resistance the best strategy is to be demanding. I had to go on quite a rant once with dell, but it gets things done. If an employee is being rude or obnoxious you should keep in mind that you have the upper hand because there's a line they can't cross because of the threat of losing their job. So just one-up them and be rude back, and it helps to speak loudly so everyone can hear. Yeah, you might end up looking like a d-bag, but it's just in front of strangers and sometimes you have to do this to get what you deserve. I'm not saying insults or cursing is good idea, you just have to let them know that you're going to get what you are asking for. In any case they are obligated to honor the warranty, which includes manufacturing defects. Since apple has fessed up to this problem with the new ipods, it's really only a matter of enforcing your rights under the warranty agreement.

Asking to speak with a manager also helps. To me, the "when are you guys just going to be happy.." comment doesn't make sense anyway. Nobody with these issues is trying to get something undeserved; we just want a phone that is of the qualify that it should be. And it did cost $400...

I'm sending it out for repair today and I'll give an update concerning the outcome in a few days when it comes back.

The white boxes are refurbished.

I got my phone yesterday, came across this forum and got MORTIFIED... I added that picture (Thanx much RobertBreeding1) and my phone is fine. I also checked out the Field test mode (Thanx much prozcrito) and my LCD version is also 7455232 and I don't seem to have this problem (At least I don't think I do, I didn't see anything)...

I'm a little comfused as to witch have these problem and witch not... /:-|

Here's a pic I took of two iPhones (one good, one bad). I dont think I have to tell you which is the bad one--but I did have an awful time explaining it to the jerks at the Garden City, NY Apple Store.

http://gallery.mac.com/frozo#100030

Oh yea... My iphone DEFINATELY doesn't have that problem! (Eufff!)
But of course, I'd Love to know the root of this problem or the fix to it...

Well, for what it's worth, the Apple Store "cashiers" told me that there were 2 manufacturers of the screens and it was a matter of luck which one you get, but both are within spec. I told them that one of those manufacturers arent doing a very good job--they said it was within spec and that I should consider myself grateful that they are not charging me two restocking fees (because the first replacement they brought out had the same defect). The manager was overly confrontational when I tried to reason with him too. Bad, bad vibes from that store.

I finally got a new replacement phone and the screen looks great. There is a little bit of light bleeding along the top, but no dots or negative black problems. I'm super happy that after nearly 2 months of my initial purchase I've received a good one. Apple really came through on this one and set me up with a "special replacement," or something like that.

I was able to compare the 2 phones side by side and the negative black issue, at least in this case, can be seen even from the earth picture at start-up. The difference is astonishing! So, thanks Apple, you came through for me in the end. Now that my confidence has been restored, I've got my eye on a macbook pro. Now all I need is $3k.

That is great to hear. As troublesome as it can be, I encourage anyone to work with Apple Retail or Applecare to resolve this issue. The result is that you will be 100% satisfied with your iPhone purchase and Apple. No remorse. After all, it is a remarkable device. I was a Newton owner from the beginning and was wowed by that product when it came out. Now that the Dev Center has opened, http://developer.apple.com/iphone/devcenter/, the iPhone has even more the potential to be that essential, single device that everyone should have. Mine, at least, is my constant companion.

I ended up caving since i've been to both the Apple Stores in a 20 mile radius and got a little white box. The Mac genius I dealt with at the second store was much nicer although the manager said to get a new one, i would need to pay a $40 restocking fee or go with one in a white box which he explained could be brand new or a refurbished one. How completely unfair and appalling that i need to pay $40 for a new iphone when i demonstrated clearly the difference between the 5xxx and 7xxx series which is a manufacturers defect. This crap about it 'being within specs' is f'n crazy!!!! How is it within spec when i can't watch certain tv shows or movies that have a lot of dark scenes. Try watching 'Pitch Black' on a troubled iPhone. If that is the case there should be a warning label on the back that says "Warning: Some video may not be watchable due to the inability for the iPhone to display black or close to black colors." Would you buy an iPhone if you couldn't watch %40 or so of the video out there? In any case, before I switched my iPhone out for a new one, i wanted to inspect the one in the whitebox just to see. The thing looked brand new and had the 5xxx series screen and looked f'n beautiful. Like i said, I caved and got the one in the white box cause a) the brand new one probably would've been a 7xxx series and b) I'm not giving Apple a dime after this crap that i went through. $400 for a device and I expect the quality that my $400 dollars buys me. Apple.....W T F?!? I was almost converted to buying a Macmini or Macbook.....almost. So f'n frustrating that you guys are on the cusp of being the best tech company out there, but i'm not gonna pay extra money to help you achieve that goal.

Message was edited by: prozcrito

I am just posting to see if there is a fix for this......


Here is what happened to me:

I have a defective screen with the negative effect and I called apple about it and they sent my phone in for service. I left the gradient image on it to show them and left a note.

They sent my phone back today saying they cant replicate the problem!! Seems like a cop out to me!

Why I am so upset is my first iPhone didnt have that problem and I sent it in for a Mic issue and they sent me a new one.. I thought that was good, until I noticed the screen!!!! Now they refuse to fix this?!?!?

I was one of the $600 people... I hope Apple listens because I am very unsatisfied.

What should I do now?

I went to the Apple store (2 different ones actually) the first mac genius replaced my iphone but it had the same issue. The second mac genius was a real jerk about it. The 3rd mac genius at the 2nd store gave me another new one and it didn't have the problem. So my advice to you is, replace it until you're satisfied. I'm %100 satisfied now with my iphone. But apple needs to take care of it's customers or else the newly converted Apple fans are gonna bail especially with Google's phone coming out soon.

I just activated my phone last night and noticed I have that shimmery black effect as well. I was going to try and switch it out at the apple store today but when I upgraded to 1.1.2 this morning, it seemed to fix the problem!

Did anyone else have their problem fix with the 1.1.2 upgrade? Is there a list of fixes in the 1.1.2 upgrade to make sure that this issue was targeted?

Will someone please tell me why Apple says that 1.2 will fix the shimmering effect on my iphone and it still hasnt fixed this issue for me?!

I'm wondering if anyone is experiencing the 'Gradient' issue with the 16gb iphones. Here is the link to the test site.
http://appleservedup.com/

Thanks