iPhone 3G S has yellowish tint

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.

Lilyskip - any chance you can post pic comparing the two?

Thanks!

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.

to the above poster ^^

turn off auto brightness and examine the viewing angle while looking at white menus. You will see that the yellow dinge is more noticeable from extreme viewing angles and from some orientations more than others.

**some of this may be related to inconsistencies in the polarization process im thinking. **

Message was edited by: wintermutefa

Yeah, I have been playing with it since I got it. This is the better of the 4 phones I have had. Different angles give me different views and saturations. I am not sure if that is right, but it seems pretty inconsistent really. I never had this much of a problem with my 3G.

I know depending on how you hold the phone, angle, portrait, landscape, tilted or whatever, yellow will be present or it will be crisp, clear and white. It makes me wonder what the problem really is. Is it the LCD or the screen itself? Perhaps its both causing the issue?

I don't know. It is rather annoying.

I've now discovered the battery is screwed on the only iPhone that had a good screen. It jumps from 100% to 70% in 10 minutes, then back up to 98%, then slowly drains to about 70% at which point the battery dies. I've done a full charge and full drain to reset the battery calibration but to no avail.

I just can't believe it. Out of all eight 3GS iPhones not one of them is any good. Apple has some serious quality control issues with these new phones. I'm getting rid of all of mine and will be pinching my perfect old 2G back from my other half. Sort it out Apple!

Picture of all six phones (one has been exchanged and the other sold):

http://i30.tinypic.com/33oqy4h.jpg

Picture of the 3GS with the prefect screen on the left (I've changed the system font by the way) and the worst of the bunch on the right:

http://i32.tinypic.com/j0z9zs.jpg

It's very difficult to capture the yellow whites with a camera but the blue's really show the difference. The yellow whites are as obvious as the blue's when looking at the phones in person.

That's horrible. What makes it worse is the fact that people say it's "normal" yet you have phones that look exactly like the 3G ones, crisp, clear, white. This is terrible.

Even the "good" 3GS you have there has yellow at the bottom of the screen. I am noticing this even on the phones people say are "good". I NEVER noticed this on my 3G and I can tell even the slightest of color change. That's what annoys me the most.

I am hoping most of this can be resolved with a firmware update, but I don't know at this point. I expected much more from Apple - hence why I bought the new 3GS. The 3G was my first ever Apple product and loved it.

Now it pains me to think they don't care since there has been NO response from them.

Yes I have noticed the same thing. Sometimes my screen looks great and sometimes it does not. I think it is a combination of ambient lighting and viewing angle.

The lighting at work makes my screen look pretty good but if I go outside I can see the screen problem. My yellow tint is not as bad as some of the photos I have seen.

Right now in my house the bottom of my screen looks slightly brown. I don't see it when I tilt the phone.

The fourth iPhone (reading left to right) is a 3GS?? Wow, I would say that is on par with the old 3G color temperature/contrast. I thought I was going to live with a yellow half tinted display, but after seeing that, I am really ticked off. I had to pay the full upgrade price (which is fine), but I would expect the "upgrade" from 3G to 3GS to be better. I have another replacement phone coming tomorrow (fingers crossed it isn't the nicotine yellow display).

iaTa please clarify if the 4th one is a 3GS or an older model. Also, what was the week build - even though there may be no correlation.

Yes they are all 3GS models. The good one is a 32GB week 23 from China. The second picture shows the good phone (fourth from left in first picture) on the left and one of the two very bad phones (second and third from left in first picture) on the right. All phones are still set to the default brightness with auto brightness turned off. The slight yellowing towards the bottom of the good screen is hardly noticeable.

I'm just gutted that I found a good screen but it has a knackered battery. It's unbelievable actually. Out of all the 25+ phones I saw in stores none had a screen as good as this one.

If I were you I would have apple just swap out the battery. Keep the good screen as we know its a lottery to get one. They should be able to monitor your battery to prove its bad with some carrier setting install.

My husband and I both got phones, but his is the bright blueish tint and mine was the yellowish tint. I switched it out today and the new one is still yellowish but less so. My husband got his the first day it came out. I got mine the second. So regarding the yellow tint issue. It is definitely a toss up.

I have such a love and hate relationship with the phone and Apple.

Did you purchase all 6 just to compare? how much did you end up paying for each one?

Compare to find a good one for me yes, and then sell the rest after having the really bad ones replaced by Apple.

£440 ($717) for each 16GB (x4) and £538 ($877) for each 32GB (x3).

Total: $5499

sandchoi wrote:
My husband and I both got phones, but his is the bright blueish tint and mine was the yellowish tint. I switched it out today and the new one is still yellowish but less so. *My husband got his the first day it came out*. I got mine the second. So regarding the yellow tint issue. It is definitely a toss up.

I have such a love and hate relationship with the phone and Apple.

Friend of mine who with a less warm display purchased his on day 1 and is week 20. The phones I have had experience with since (purchased the week after and beyond) have all had much more intense 'warm' level to them and as a result stand out in any direct comparison with less warmer units.

Strangely, I am possibly coming to the conclusion now more so than ever that the more 'warmer' level we are seeing on 3GS (beyond 1st and 2nd Gen phones) might be the *_correct level_*.

The 'glaring whites' we have been used to on our monitors and 1st Gen phones, etc. is not the recommended form any longer and a move to even warmer settings is recommended for correct movie calibration on our HDTVs (Warm2 on most TVs is recommended) .. So if we have been used to web-pages and our screens with retina burning whites will force things to stand out - largely because its such a change.

I think possibly using the phone without comparison to any other device for a few days before deciding that we hate it might be the thing to do; because the more you use it the more you appreciate that colours and images do actually look better than on 'colder' display units.

I have had 3 phones and all have been the same level of warmth. I think those with a more 'colder' setting may well be the ones with the faulty units.

Whites should not be 'blaring white' in this day and age.. they are supposed to be warm if you take you wish to have 'proper calibration'.