iPhone 3G S has yellowish tint

I've got my 1st iPhone 3GS some days ago. After activating the phone I was really shocked. Compared to my iPhone 3G the screen was less bright the colors not as vivid and there was this yellow tint all over the screen. And as described in the posts before it was even yellower in the lower third of the screen. Beside this the phone has had some more "defects" and therefore I decided to contact Apple to get it exchanged.

I've got a new one and I was really surprised when I noticed that the new one has had an even yellower screen than the 1st one. I remembered a post at the very beginning of this thread where someone mentioned that the yellow seems to fade away after some time. I got the suspicion that the screen of my 1st iPhone 3GS has lost some of it's yellow color.

So I did the following. I kept the 1st phone for one more day. I took photos from both phones showing a background image with brightness up to 100% and auto brightness switched off. At the beginning of this experiment the new iphone 3GS was much yellower as the 1st one. For the new one I bought an App which switches the screen completely white. I plugged the 2nd iPhone 3GS to my Mac, disabled the auto lock function (don't know how it is named in the english version of the phone) and started the app which makes the screen completely white. I've left it like this for some hours.

After doing so I've compared the two background images again and the yellowish screen of the 2nd Iphone 3GS was not as yellow as before. Still noticeable but much less than before. Overall the difference between the two screens was much less noticeable. Since I've had to return the 1st phone I continued the experiment and compared my iPhone 3GS with the 3G of my colleagues.

Today I can say that the screen of my 2nd iPhone 3GS is definitely much less yellow than before.
And so I've seen two iPhone 3GS where the yellowish tint has faded away after some time of usage.
(I think it is more related to the permanent usage than to the white screen app.) There is still a slight difference between my 3GS and the 3G of my colleagues but it depends on the brightness setting and the environment lights. I will stay with this phone as the other "problems" I've had with the first one are not or nearly not visible on the 2nd one.

I hope we'll get an official statement soon.

Interesting. I had mentioned that I thought my yellow tint seemed to be fading away. Sometimes I notice it more then others. Maybe it was just the room lighting that made it look less yellow.

I really shows up in sunlight. It would be nice if the problem corrected itself.

In case anyone is wondering I did not come across this topic and then suddenly realize that my screen looked yellow. I noticed it straight away after activating it. I started posting in this topic because I have a yellow screen. Well yellow at the bottom at least. I do have the right to feel somewhat disappointed.

So, I went today to the apple store and picked up my 4th replacement, and...the screen was SO much beter! Built 927 the screen looked like the previous 3G screen but not as vivid. It was evident that the other 3GS was also brighter but with the yellow tint which washed out the other colors (blues were purple). The apple staff also saw the same difference. It took four times but now I have a phone I can feel good about and I was very impressed by how apple helped me work out this issue.

Never settle for less.

SecretNY wrote:
So, I went today to the apple store and picked up my 4th replacement, and...the screen was SO much beter! Built 927 the screen looked like the previous 3G screen but not as vivid. It was evident that the other 3GS was also brighter but with the yellow tint which washed out the other colors (blues were purple). The apple staff also saw the same difference. It took four times but now I have a phone I can feel good about and I was very impressed by how apple helped me work out this issue.

Never settle for less.

Guess apple really liked you, lol but they didn't honor me a 2nd replacement, Now I'm just patiently waiting for a refund.. I didn't want a $430 phone that didn't have a descent screen which a main function of a phone. Good Luck to those who've also been through this..

Janthea, take a look at your iPhone's serial number. The 4th and 5th digit will represent the week in which your phone was built. Both my wife and I have week 23's and we had a 50% success rate with acceptable quality screens.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think the week build really matters with regard to quality. I feel it's much more a matter of which facility it was built at. Somewhere, somehow, certain factories got a bad batch of screens IMO.

How to tell which factory a given iPhone was built at, by looking at the serial number, is still something I have yet to find.

I had to exchange one that was super dark, ugly and yellow. My new one is brighter, a very soft milky warm white. My wife & I both have 32gb black week 26 phones, both model #MB717LL. Her screen is bright white, almost pinkish and blinding with very vivid colors and sharp lines. Mine only looks yellow in direct comparison to hers but it's more pleasant on the eyes (like it’s using clear type or something) & I might just stick with it, since I don't notice the yellow during normal everyday usage & it's nowhere near as bad as my old one.

I had to go through 4 phones! 1st one had scratches under the glass, 2nd phone's sleep/power button wouldn't work, 3rd one was **** stained and 4th one is acceptable to me.

My wife's phone is similar if not cooler than the one on the left. The yellow one that I returned was worse than the one in the middle. My new one looks like the one on the right:

http://www.hisreef.com/IphonePix/2G-3GS-3GScreenColor.jpg

Currently on my 3rd 3GS and each one has been different in terms of its yellow colouring. Two week 22 phones with the first being nicotine yellow-intense and the second week 22 being nicotine-yellow-intense + battery problems. The third unit (week 26) that I currently have is nicotine-yellow-lite with auto-dimming on and 'passable' with auto-dimming off set to mid-level range or above.

In terms of the pictures you linked two above I would still say mine is in the middle with auto-dimming on but and with auto-dimming off not quite cream white as the 3rd picture.. so between the two. I would still prefer a better screen as it becomes really noticeably yellow decreasing brightness.

Shame there is such difference between units. It would be more than acceptable if everyone had the same levels.. but to vary widely so much is not right.

Does anyone know for sure (or IF) or can anyone confirm that Apple has staff who might see this and who will care enough to report it back to Apple. If you're reading Apple, or one of your more intelligent staff, PLEASE take this matter seriously and don't pass it off as something that will just "sort itself out"....

*Raising my hand* to second what alsheron just said. ANY feedback to at least give us some hope here Apple?

By the 19th I'm out of time and I'm sure my phone going back by that day won't be the only one...

I have the very noticeable yellowish tint also. Mine is from week 26 and it seems to be the same problem as previous posters noted. It also looks all washed out compared to my old 3G. (Both are on the exact same brightness with auto-brightness disabled of course)

Both defects (yellow tint, and washed out colors) are VERY VERY noticeable and it is completely unacceptable. (and don't even try to give us any BS about "thats how its supposed to be..." because its not. Period.

Luckily my bud at the apple store swapped it out for one that was a bit less yellow, and now its at least usable. (...but it still looks terrible compared to the good 'ol 3G.)

PLEASE APPLE! FIX THIS SCREEN DISCOLORATION PROBLEM!

My advice to others is to go to your local Apple Store and swap it out for an acceptable iPhone 3GS. Raise **** but be polite about it.

I have a yellow tint 3GS as well (and battery problems to boot). Week 26 phone.

As far as getting Apples attention, I am sure this thread already did considering it has nearly 46,000 views at the time of my post.

I also have a week 27 black 16GB 3GS. I don't see the yellow tint, but it does seem very BLUE compared to my previous 3G, and also to my wifes current 3G which I purchased at the same time as the 3GS. The colors also seem very dull and flat, and the brightness is not nearly as bright as the 3G at 100% I can live with the blue but the lack of contrast and pop in photos and the OS graphics make things look terrible. Off to the Apple store this weekend to see if I can find a screen with contrast and a decent color temp.

How many of you are restoring backups from previous 3G phones? I wonder if that is carrying some settings over from the 3G that os causing the yellow tint for everyone...

Frankly I think Apples QC has gone downhill the past couple of years due to their tremendous growth. Totally unacceptable.

One thing to bear in mind for those who have kept an "acceptable" unit:

The issue with the screen yellowness and other assorted QC issues is MOST likely to be a hardware fault. Gamma can be modified in software, but I very much doubt that yellowness/unevenness can. That's the main reason I've returned mine now and am waiting. If you've kept a phone that's "good enough" then be clear that any remaining issues probably WON'T be sorted out by firmware updates.

Interestingly, the only thing that makes this situation livable for Apple is quite a few people now who are settling for "good enough" even when comparing their screens to a 3G with proof right there that there is a problem with their "acceptable" 3GS. The more people accept "just about good enough", the LESS incentive Apple has to fix this problem or take it seriously. We all have different ideas about what "good enough" is, for sure, but the effect of your decision might be interesting to consider.

I do wonder now if it's worth it to re-sign up for an 18 month contract with O2 after having to wait 1-2 months for this Quality Control mess to (hopefully) get addressed. By the time I re-sign up, if I do, it won't be all that long before the NEXT revision will be released. I mean 9 months IS a long time, but is it TOO long to wait out now for the next version.

Off topic(ish) but I have a SNEAKING suspicion that the next version will include an OLED screen for a few reasons:

1) By then, OLED will be more dependable in terms of longevity (or maybe not - this is Apple after all)

2) OLED will allow Apple to INCREASE battery life which might be essential next time due to an increase in processor speed etc.

3) OLED will also (and I think this might be a bit factor) allow Apple to release a RE-DESIGNED handset which is SLIMMER because of course OLED doesn't need a back-light. The Samsung Jet, an amazingly specified but horribly GUI'd phone uses OLED already.

I, for one, can't wait for a time when screens are a no-brainer in that they will ALWAYS be of a specific standard unless there a GLARING faults. The problem here is the erratic quality issues, which are often subtle and hard to explain/point out.

Shall I wait or shall I dive back in?

I just got my first iPhone (week 26) last night. With all the posts about yellowing, overheating, and battery life, I put off the decision for a few weeks to see how things shaped up.

My screen looks great and I haven't noticed any yellowing. I have been using a 1g iPod touch for the last year, but my iPhone screen does not seem remarkably yellow by comparison. The screen does look "warmer," but not in a recognizably yellow or bad way. Today's my first full day using it, so I'm not sure what battery life will be like. I unplugged it at 7:45am, and I'm at 82% with 46 minutes usage, 2 hours 50 minutes standby. I'm not gonna be too picky about the battery life until it's gone through a few recharge cycles.

Haven't noticed any overheating, either, even though I have a Power Support case on it. I haven't played any high-intensity games on it yet, though, so I guess we'll see.

Maybe it's just me - or not, but can anyone else confirm this... It seems that sometimes my phone will look dull and washed out, then later on it looks crisp, clean and vibrant. The colors pop and all is well. Then it goes back to being duller and "warmer". I know I am not crazy and I can't tell what the deal is but I know it also can't be just me. Anyone else notice this? It's just really strange.