Q: Strange vertical stripes - Continued

Maybe I'm being too optimistic but I am planning when the new MBP's come out soon to file an Apple Care repair claim and not accept anything but a new MBP replacement.

I'm disappointed to discover the news that the MacBook Pro has a defective screen! While I'm relieved to have discovered the issue BEFORE purchasing a new MacBook Pro, it is frustrating because I'm hesitant to get a new Apple laptop.

I just replaced the hard drive in my ancient PowerBook G4. I was looking forward to getting a new MacBook Pro in September, especially since I'm still running on 10.4.11 and many of my programs have moved on to Leopard, discontinuing development for Tiger. BUT, I suffered through the "White Spots" on my PowerBook, with Apple replacing the LCD twice before getting it fixed. At first, as everyone knows, Apple denied the issue then. An Apple Genius at the Michigan Avenue store in Chicago told me to my face he didn't see the white spots, even though one of his colleagues had already acknowledged the problem. So now Apple is at it again?!

It is very disheartening to read these posts and see the same quality control issues recurring. What is most maddening is Apple's arrogance.

I need a new laptop for my desktop publishing and photography business. My PowerBook is showing its age. But after reading these posts and other articles on other Mac sites, I'm going to reconsider making the purchase.

Apple, if you're listening, you've just lost another sale. Until there's an official announcement of a permanent fix for this problem, I'm opting out. Maybe if the word gets out and enough of us creative professionals choose NOT TO BUY APPLE, they will take notice and do something.

This is very sad news indeed.

GYamane, you're being too optimistic.

I suffered through the White Spots problem with the Aluminum PowerBooks back in 2003. Apple would not replace the PowerBook with a new one then, and I doubt they'll replace your "Early 2008" MacBook Pro with a "Fall 2008" MBP now. You can talk until you're blue in the face, Apple will not give in. They may offer you a free battery or free AppleCare or some other enticement, but don't count on getting a new "Fall 2008" (or whatever they'll call the new MBPs) to replace your defective "Early 2008" MBP.

I hope I'm wrong. But if I were you, I'd get it repaired as soon as possible so you can get on to using your MBP.

I'll continue working on my old PB for now. This problem has scared me off. Living through one defective LCD issue is enough for me.

To me, this issue is not enough reason to not buy a Macbook Pro.

Yes it's an annoying problem but as long as I can easily get rid of the problem by using the methods outlined above (it takes 2 seconds) and it's not permanent, I can live with it. When the problem happens, I just reset the screen and it instantly goes away.

If it became a permanent issue that I couldn't remedy, I would indeed have a big problem with that!

Had to join the thread, as I experienced my first 'stripes' this morning. Have had my book since April. I am very thankful for the excellent posts. Good info. I am joining in the spirit of adding to the statistics. Hopefully, Apple will come up with a suitable remedy.

Quick Question: Are the 17" MBPs experiencing the same issue?? I presume not but, I am not clear about it. If not, perhaps it would be best to push for a credit/upgrade from the onset, rather than beating my head bloody with the 15.4. I wince to think of waste of case/backpack though.

I guess this is a me too post! I bought a 2.5 Macbook Pro and have the same exact issues as everyone else. It would be nice if Apple would at least acknowledged that this problem is real and they are working on a fix. It seems if it's not iphone or Mobile Me related it gets no attention.

Apple needs better quality control or something. The last 2 Macbook Pro's I've bought had problems. One with a loud buzzing noise and now this brand new one with the screen issue.

Message was edited by: NSXG5

Ok i was one of the original poster on the other thread which i have just spent a while catching up on........ im shocked at what i read over there!

anyways im just here to stamp another me to onto the list.

Me too =(

This is another "me too" post.

So far I'm on my second REFURBISHED Macbook Pro, Matte Screen, standard 2.4Ghz configuration.
The technical staff at Apple Australia had never heard of the problem but were quick to declare the product dead on arrival. (DOA) They made this decision after a PRAM reset failed to fix the problem (I was glad I made them stay on the line whilst I reset the device three times to check)

Now I'm wondering what the **** I should do. This is my first laptop and I really wanted to go Mac for the purposes of editing and that I couldn't find a PC laptop with comparable battery life - but now what? From the looks of it I could ask for another replacement and then one week later, after calibrating the system and migrating all of my files over the problem will likely happen again. Or even worse, the problem might not happen until a month or two later (outside of the 14day return period) as it has happened with many others!

From a company that has the nerve to charge as much for their products as they do, a problem like this is unacceptable. Once you've been convinced to pay "premium pricing for a premium product" then that's what you expect to receive - if I wanted hard ware failures and DOA products I would've gone with a DELL.

I have already posted on this issue. I have a new MBP. The control/shift/eject solution doesn't work every time for me. Nor do the stripes show up every time I turn on the computer.

But my question is this: Does Apple pay attention to these discussions? If they do listen, and decide to come up with a solution to this problem, how do we find out about it? Should we have a place to register our complaints with Apple? I already called the support line but the person who answered had never heard of the problem.

I've forwarded these discussion threads to Apple Australia (Order Management) who I've been dealing with so far. So if anybody hears Apple Australia say they are not aware of the problem in the future, that is an outright lie. (Something else I'm getting used to when dealing with Apple)

I'm yet to decide what I should do now - order another replacement and expect the same problem? Or get a refund and switch back to PC in search of reliability? (Ironic, i know)

As for my personal theory on the cause, I wonder if it may be temperature related. At best it is only 16 degrees Celsius in my house and the problem exhibits itself at least 3/4 restarts/sleeps. Yet when i had the first MBP with the problem and took it to my parents place, which was consistently at least 20-22 degrees Celsius the problem did not occur once. (out of at least 12 restarts)

I also have someone dealing with my case from Executive Relations at Apple. I forwarded them the link to this thread and my pictures of the stripes. She said that Applecare is level 2 and she will go straight to level 3- The Engineering Team to get an answer on this particular issue before proceeding. I'm just hoping that team acknowledge this issue as she is not technically trained so will not compromise with me if they deny it.

Techno Monkey wrote:
As for my personal theory on the cause, I wonder if it may be temperature related. At best it is only 16 degrees Celsius in my house and the problem exhibits itself at least 3/4 restarts/sleeps. Yet when i had the first MBP with the problem and took it to my parents place, which was consistently at least 20-22 degrees Celsius the problem did not occur once. (out of at least 12 restarts)

Temperature may have an effect, but it's been 25 to 30 degrees Celsius here and I have the problem multiple times per day. One thing that definitely makes a difference here is what the screen brightness is set to. Full brightness reduces the incidents, while medium brightness levels aggravate the condition. The brightness effect on the symptoms has been true on the two defective screens I have had (and still have).

So here I sit with a 2 day old MBP 15" with the 2.4g CPU. Brand new... I close the lid to put the unit to sleep. Ride my motorcycle out to my customers site, flip the lid open, wham... I have dark lines on my monitor. Just like in the pic posted here, but not as drastic.

I have found nothing to set it off other then putting it to sleep and waking it back up.

I called the store and they have setup an appointment for me to see someone on Sunday. I have taken a pic of this with my iPhone to show them as well... Just in case it does not want to act up for me.. But it seems that there is a real problem.

I have installed ALL updates to the OS, I use spaces as well, the problem is on all spaces, so I doubt it is anything more then the lights not turning on correct.

John

Further to my complaint, I have been informed that the Engineering Team confirmed to the woman working on my case that there was a faulty batch of LCD screens in some Macbook Pro saying that it was around the time I purchased mine. She agreed with me that I shouldn't have to go and get a new LCD fitted when the machine is only 2 months old and shouldn't be having major issues like that. They specifically told her it has nothing to do with the graphics card. I can now decide what I want to do and get back to her i.e. refund or replacement as she assures me there will be new batches produced now that don't replicate the previous issue.

I zapped my PRAM and now haven't had the problem since (knock on wood). I'm not saying doing so fixes the problem, just that it may make it not occur as often.