White Border around the screen? 1/2 inch...

Tke the machine to an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider for evaluation. You're right: that's not acceptable.

Michael: Backlight leakage around the perimeter of the screen is unacceptable whenever it occurs. Don't just look — complain! The problem is common but not universal, and you're entitled not to have it, or to have it corrected. And the merchants who are displaying defective machines should have the defect pointed out to them, so they won't overlook it and can't pretend not to see it.

Read this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8544523#8544523

As I've responded in other threads, my 15" MBP (9C85) leaks on the left and right sides. I've lodged my complaint directly -- and hope that everyone with the same problem will also -- and continue to monitor and respond to these discussions, in hope that Apple will realize that a broad resolution to the issue is needed! I'm standing by waiting for some indication that sending in the MBP will be worth the trouble.

Do I understand this correctly? You've decided to keep a machine that two vendors acknowledge is clearly defective because you're afraid a free replacement might also be defective?

Not to speak for Michael, but I'm doing about the same thing. I have AppleCare for the next three years, so there is no imminent deadline to get this problem fixed. Since it's apparently such a crapshoot to attempt a repair/replacement at this time, I'm opting to wait -- and in the meantime hoping to join as many others as possible, hounding Apple support until there's a direct acknowledgment of a problem with a specific remedy.

"Don't like that one? Try this one. . . . No? How about THIS one?" -- is not an acceptable solution.

Hi, Weejun. If your decision is to wait and see how Apple's response to the problem evolves over time, rather than to accept the current unacceptable state of affairs as final, then it makes good sense. There is obviously a fairly good chance that a replacement machine you get now will be similarly defective. No one here knows what percentage of UMBPs has the 9C84 display vs. the 9C85, or how they are geographically distributed. And it isn't clear (at least not to me) that only the 9C85s suffer from backlight leakage, although most if not all of the problems reported in these forums have been with that display.

There have been a number of Apple repair and exchange programs in the past for defective Mac products. Each such program has been preceded by months of angry rants and complaints in these forums from users who feel stuck with problematical machines. Each such program has been announced by Apple only when fully operational. Apple has never announced them in advance and risked getting customers' hope up, only to dash them when some unforeseen delay arises.

I have no information at all about how Apple will decide to handle this light leakage problem, and I won't speculate. But if the past is any guide, there won't be any public announcement on the subject until Apple is ready to swing into action and confident that it has the right remedy. So the fact that we don't hear anything now does not indicate that Apple is ignoring the problem.

Michael: I'm sorry our experience has been so miserable, and I completely understand your losing patience and giving up after many bad machines in a row. That is inexcusable.

However: just as there is no visible evidence that Apple is working on the problem behind the scenes, there is likewise no visible evidence that Apple isn't working on the problem behind the scenes. There is simply no basis for an opinion on the question, either way. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Oops — that was supposed to say your experience in the first line above. My own experience has been happy, but I know that's no help to you.

If this problem is fixed at all, I'll bet it won't be until a new lot of displays is made, either by a new manufacturer or (more likely) under more stringent standards by the same manufacturer(s). I've heard that display sources have become very limited, and suspect that Apple has had to settle for lower quality than they would prefer. Maybe Apple can only handle complaints as they arise because there aren't enough decent replacements. But a barrage of complaints might force it to demand better quality from its contractors next time.

Bottom line, I'm hoping for a C86 or C87 to show up. Maybe that's hoping for too much.

The lack of information, feedback, confirmation, etc that apple is famous for is exactly why I am deathly afraid of ordering the new 17" mbp. I have been stealing my girlfriends' peecee to catch up on emails and websites since I sold my old 15" mbp a couple months ago.

I was just about to pull the trigger and buy the new 17" mbp until the "delay", again no specific information given out by apple. Some people were charged secondary charges and had ship dates of the day of the announcement of the delay - which would logically dictate that there were plenty of machines that had to be un-packed, cracked open and "updated". So with all the unibody related issues, all the 9600 related issues, and all the screen issues of the 15" led, I am not sure i'll be able to play guinea pig for apple... yet again...

Weejun wrote:
If this problem is fixed at all, I'll bet it won't be until a new lot of displays is made, either by a new >manufacturer or (more likely) under more stringent standards by the same manufacturer(s). I've >heard that display sources have become very limited, and suspect that Apple has had to settle for >lower quality than they would prefer. Maybe Apple can only handle complaints as they arise >because there aren't enough decent replacements. But a barrage of complaints might force it to >demand better quality from its contractors next time.

Bottom line, I'm hoping for a C86 or C87 to show up. Maybe that's hoping for too much.

I hear ya. For better or worse, Apple has us hooked, even when it mistreats us. As Irving Berlin wrote in a song, How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm After They've Seen Paree?