All,
I've done more digging to see if there is a better way to bring this to the attention of Apple. I called into AppleCare today and I discovered that Apple has actually created an internal technical bulletin, TS1258, that describes this issue. It was apparently last "touched" yesterday, although the rep didn't know if it was created earlier than that. The bulletin (which is for internal use only) apparently states that it is a known issue, but that the cause is not yet determined and that it is still under investigation.
The bulletin should be viewable to AppleCare reps worldwide, and it describes the specific symptoms of this problem (including a screenshot that is effectively the same as mine at the top of this thread). It should be much more accessible than the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) number that I posted previously.
At this point, the best way to get this issue addressed is to make sure that it bubbles up as a frequent issue to Apple. The only way to do that is to call into AppleCare (I suspect that their tracking is better than at the Genius bar) and QUOTE THE ABOVE BULLETIN NUMBER. They may not have been tracking against the ADC bug number, but the AppleCare rep assured me that they would be counting the people who referenced this technical bulletin. I also asked the rep if he could hold the case open so that it would get more attention. You can also use this number if you encounter people in the support structure who claim that Apple has not heard about the problem.
As a reminder of what Atomic Wedgie just wrote, this TS1258 bulletin describes the issue where half of the backlights intermittently fail to operate, as shown in the images at the top of the thread. Don't quote this number if you are having another problem.
REMEMBER:
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
*IF YOU ENCOUNTER THIS ISSUE, YOU SHOULD CONTACT APPLECARE AND REFERENCE TECHNICAL BULLETIN TS1258. IF YOU'VE ALREADY CALLED APPLECARE BUT YOU DIDN'T QUOTE THAT NUMBER, PLEASE CALL THEM BACK AGAIN AND CREATE A NEW INCIDENT WITH THAT NUMBER.*
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
******************************************************************************** ********************
If we all work together, we can hopefully get enough visibility to make Apple resolve the problem!
-Essd