iPhone 3G S has yellowish tint

I set my 2G and my 3Gs to full brightness and switched oof auto-brightness. I went outside and took some photos and ferns. At first glance the colours on my 3Gs seemed truer then my 2G. On closer inspection I noticed less detail and a slight washed out image on my 3Gs. My 2G NON auto-focus camera picked up more detail then my auto-foucus 3Gs camera...

Not very happy right now.

I spoke with Apple Technical Support today and was told there should be no noticeable yellow tint on the 3G S display.

I was advised to return it and get it exchanged (or Apple would send me a replacement handset, which would have taken longer but still the offer was there).

I am now on a week 24 with an absolutely lovely screen and battery life is much better on this unit too.

Very pleased

my iPhone 3GS also has a yellowish tint and 3 dead pixels!

I called Apple and just shipped out my iPhone for an exchange. I got my iPhone 3GS on Saturday, sending them back on Wed..... I only had the phone for 4 days!!!!

iPhone 3GS uses TN panel, so the viewing angle is low. I can't believe such an expensive phone uses cheap LCD panels.

I went to my genius appointment and the "genius" took it in the back and told me that my screen is within specs and therefore they will not do anything. I can't get a refund as I got it online and that original had a yellow screen. It was a week 25 production. The apple tech on the phone had told me to go to my apple store and compare and show them. I did as I was told and a manager swapped me my original iphone for a week 24 one that he said looked free of the yellow. It wasn't, and had a problem with the sleep/wake mode. That is when I found out that I can not send it back and get a refund and now the store will not help me any further. I have called and called and talked to many people all to no avail. I am now reconsidering ever buying something from Apple again. I am disappointed. Good luck to those of you still with problems. I am surrendering reluctantly and with a financial loss.

I had much the same experience. I spoke to 3 different people at the genius bar, including the store manager, and got the same story that it is within spec when it is clearly yellow compared to both my 2G and the store managers 3GS and other phones on display (even after comparing with the manages phone, he saw the difference but still kept trying to tell me mines okay)

I finally got them to try swap for a service phone but after looking, they found they had none left so I could not do that, although they had retail phones which are suppost to be the same as its so new... I was glad however after he explained that with a service phone I would lose my return rights, and if that screen was worse I would have to live with it. They would not even take a return in the store, I have to mail it back.

My worst experience with Apple by far, the screen clearly should not be like this. As I use safari and email a lot where this problem is most apparent, I cannot live with it, I will return the phone and go back to my 2G

I'm on my 2nd 32GB 3GS (week 24) as I returned the first for dead pixels. I noticed that my screen was a bit on the warm side compared to my old 3G, and after I read this thread I thought I might need to take it back. Today at work, though, I compared my 3GS to a coworkers that he just purchased, and his is actually yellow. Compared to his mine actually looked like a 2G! So needless to say, I'll be keeping mine and not returning it. As far as differences on the same screen, my bottom half might be like a 1% difference than the top, but they are almost identical and I only noticed because people in this thread complained about it.

Having said that, now that I've seen a true yellow 3GS, I definitely would take it back if mine was like that. I didn't look warm, it looked yellow!

I know I can terminate the contract, but I am still out the money I paid for the phone, and I won't have a cell phone. And my sister is on my phone plan. I lose big time, and the money grubbers win. I used to think more highly of Apple and their customer service. But no more. Sorry guys, just frustrated at losing my money and still having a problem phone, that the "geniuses" dictate as being within specs. By the way, none will show you their iphone 3Gss. Very interesting, I think. I'm calling AT&T tomorrow. I don't know what I will do with this iphone though. Have fun, dealing with the yellow screens. It has me beat.

There is no doubt this is an issue for some, but I have a feeling that many even with just a slightly warmer screen are bringing them back and wanting some sort of resolution. There is very little doubt in my mind that there are some of these being brought back that truly aren't bad enough for Apple to feel they need to do anything. This isn't to say that some aren't very, very yellow and should be handled properly by Apple. None the less I keep thinking knowing how folks are and you can bet these stores are being bombarded with folks that have display that are a bit warmer and the fact is they have never really seen one that is truly yellow.

Apple should do the right thing by these folks and I think eventually they will because these things just have a way of biting companies.

Mine was made in the 24th week and when I compare it to some iPod Touchs's a couple of other friends 3G's I can see it is warmer, but the screen is still bright and crisp and I really don't even see that it is slightly warmer unless I am side by side with someone that has one that is more blue. I have compared and I think this warmer screen looks better for reading and my photos and videos look good.

Again this isn't to say that there aren't some of you that have an "REAL" issue. But I also think some are bringing these things back just because they are slightly warmer than their previous G3 or orignal iPhone and now these stores are getting harder on the issue.

I wish all of you that truly do have a problem the best of luck in resolving. Those of you that only have a slightly warmer display... need to just deal with it, because your screen just like mine IS indeed likely within specs. If you just can't handle it then take it back for a refund, but I suspect these warmer displays like mine are here to stay!

So I think I came across the solution people!!! I did a restore on the 3gs and that solved the yellow tint problem and the color is back to being up to par to my 3G. I did the restore through itunes. i dont know if this solution will work for everyone but it worked for me and my friend who both have both the 3g and the 3gs. its nice and crisp again. YAYYYYYY.

My problem is the variation of tine from the top to bottom. No LCD should have warmer colors on one side of the screen while looking dead on. Something is broken. Either the LCD or backlight or whatever was messed up in production.
I have another appt today.

Perhaps I can try to collect a few facts together here which would be helpful. Having seen 5 3GS phones all lined up and on the settings screens I can make a few observations

- 3 of them were very similar in colour to the old 3G, and very similar in colour to each other. The slightly warmer colour was perceptable, but not as a yellow tint. 2 of these 3 had slight un-evenness in backlighting, perceived as differences in brightness but also minor differences in colour. The un-evenness was most obvious in the lower half of the screen, particularly bottom right corner
- Two had yellow tints. On one of them, it was worse at the bottom of the screen
- All of the phones were black 16GB 3GS's, weeks 21-25. The two tinted screens were on a week 21 and a week 24. This is not a large enough sample size to make any claims about manufacture date and likelyhood of tint.

So, some conclusions:

- The warmer colour may be by design, but the yellow tint is not it
- Uneven-ness in colour across the LCD (not uncommon in backlit LCDs) is likely an issue in some screens, whether affected by the yellow tint or not. It is not confined to the tinted screens
- Most importantly, if the genius can see a tint in comparing one phone to another, he/she will change the affected phone. Feedback from someone requesting a new phone based on unevenness welcomed

For me the most important observation is that the tinted screens are not "normal" and surely are not intended.

Message was edited by: Thetechnogeek

The genius saw it, agreed the tint on one side is not acceptable(as did others) and is ordering a new one overnight to be here tomorrow or Saturday. Hopefully this shipment will be from another batch.

There are definitely a few things at play here:
tint on one side (not ok)
difference in warmth and brightness from 3G (ok) especially with autobrightness
difference in saturation and contrast ie "washed out" (not ok)

all the units they replaced for me have been week 24. Ending in NR.
Black 32 GB

I am very suprised these made it through inspection...

So if you aren't happy, take it in. If you still aren't satisfied, take it in again. These issues will not be corrected otherwise unless we communicate with apple about the issue.

Just for info... I have an iPhone 3GS, and I don't think I've noticed a yellow tint. My serial number's 4th+5th digit indicates week 22. I didn't previously own an iPhone, but do have a 1st gen iPod touch purchased in the USA January 2008. Whilst just settings things up, transferring apps, I did think my iPhone looks a little washed out. I'll compare when I get home for that, and the yellow tint too (though still don't think mine has a yellow tint).
Purchased on launch day from Carphone Warehouse in Manchester, England (and no queues mid morning, and plenty of stock!).
Unfortunately I have a dead pixel though, which I would like to return it for a replacement (I HATE dead pixels!!). I'll probably end up with a yellow tinted screen *eye roll*

Message was edited by: r-m

Thank you for the update Shaun. Good luck with the new iPhone. Let us know how the screen looks when you get it.

I suppose I'll have to make an appointment as well. I have no other problems other then the washed out somewhat yellow screen. I'm afraid I'll get a replacement phone with other problems.

I also just had a bad experience with Apple and their pee colored displays - then happened to stumble upon this thread.

I contemplated for a week whether it was worth shelling out the cash to upgrade to a 3GS model from my perfectly fine 3G. I took the plunge - I found a store that still had stock, drove an hour away, stood in line, and paid $560 to upgrade.

The display had an obvious yellow tint compared to my 3G and even my fathers new 3GS, which he purchased 2 days before I did. My phone's display was lower quality in terms of color (and detail if comparing pictures). I spoke with an Apple tech on the phone who walked me through rebooting and restoring the phone to factory settings, which neither made a difference. I then made an appointment with the Genius bar over at the store in Pasadena, CA.


The "Genius" tried to explain to me that this was a gamma change done intentionally by Apple in the new 3.0 software. I showed him the difference on my 3G phone, which also had the 3.0 software loaded onto it.

He then changed his explanation and said it was only done to 3GS models. I explained that my father had also bought a new 3GS model and didn't have this problem, and he said the display should look like my 3GS.

I asked him why would Apple lower they quality of their displays from the 3G models. He said they are not lower quality, it's because the 3GS models come with new screens.

I argued and ask him to explain why my 3GS is different than my fathers. He told me that Apple gets their screens from different manufacturers, and there might be differences between units.

I told him that if I'm paying $500 for a phone, I want a guarantee that I will get a good screen. He told me, "Oh well, get used to it or return it".

So I did just that, returned it. I'm very unhappy with the way Apple handled my situation, and the "Genius" was a ****** bag. My phone was from week 25 BTW.