iPhone 3G S has yellowish tint

here is a good example:

[img] http://emob880.photobucket.com/albums/ac8/born_4/1248375326.jpg[\img]

Yowzer Macho_Man, very good example indeed - as yellow as the first replacement of my original 3G S (the replacement was worse than the original). That of course was replaced by another - the one I'm using now which is not yellow. Pity as it has washed out colors and very poor contrast. I sure hope that example you linked is not your phone - that's as bad as I've ever seen the excessive yellow to be.

BTW, to make a link show as a photo displayed in these forums (in case you want to try that instead) use a ! symbol in place of the img and \img.

how do i find out this info on my 3gs..i have an appointment with genius bar tomorrow morning. my first phone had a perfect screen (blue tint) but a horrible battery and failing wifi, it was swapped for a yellow tinted screen, i then had them replace it again for yet another, although less, yellow screen. i want to get it right this time. both managers i have spoken with claim to have not heard about any problems with the screen...can u help me?

here are my phone details
Factory: 88 (Shenzhen, China)
Production year: 2009
Production week: 27 (July)
Production number: 14751 (within this week)

this phone is much better than my first replacement, but no where near the look of my first phone (replaced for battery issues). my question is should i stick with this phone or suffer the iphone lottery and possibly get stuck with a worse phone. i bought the phone from at&t, and since i have already replaced it i cannot return to the att store, and obviously apple will not refund me, so i could be stuck with this phone.... any suggestions or advice would be helpful. i have another genius bar appointment tomorrow and have already spoken with the manager who may be willing to help me.

what is this "spec" they are referring to. no where on their site, no where in anything promoting the iphone does it say there may be variances on the screen... thanks for anny help

can you look up the serial number from the good phone...i am trying to find when the good "batch" was made so i may request one from that manufactor/week..thanks

link to check your phones manufactoring info

http://www.chipmunk.nl/cgi-fast/applemodel.cgi

IeonJunas,

I would recommend a simple side by side comparison of your 3G S with the Apple Store display models. To make sure you are doing an exact comparison, you must go to the Brightness settings screen on both phones you are comparing and set both to MAX Brightness, with Auto-Brightness turned OFF. Then go back one screen to Settings and compare both screens.

Look to see if yours is much more yellow than the display model. If it's just a bit more warm (slightly more yellow), this may actually be okay, and some people prefer it. Many explain that a slightly warmer screen improves the accuracy of the display colors (seen best on the Home screen). I personally prefer the slightly warmer 3G S screen like my wife has compared to my brother's 3G. Of course an excessively yellow screen I cannot accept (nor my wife - she refused to swap phones with me).

If yours is not too yellow and it doesn't bother you, then save yourself much trouble and hang on to the phone since many Apple Stores are now playing the denial game and saying "Your screen is fine - it's well within specifications" or "some variation between 3G S models is normal". If you're not happy with your screen for what YOU want, and especially if it is noticeably different than the display models at the Apple Store (since that is what they are advertising and thus, that is what you should rightfully expect to get), then you might have to return the phone for a complete refund, and get another (make sure you ask if they have any stock of the one you're returning before you return it).

Also make sure the employee "voids out the previous contract iPhone discount" so that you can get the $299 subsidized price again, instead of the full retail price of $699 for a 32GB 3G S. This is the "lottery" game many speak of here, and you may have to keep trying this "game" over and over to get a good screen. This is why I recommend if you can live with your 3G S, you might want avoid all this trouble...

+(Edit - I see you posted a couple more times since your first posting while I was composing the above message. Sorry to hear you had the phone replaced already by Apple after purchasing it from ATT. ATT may not refund you now as the serial numbers are different (this is why I ate the 10% restocking fee from ATT to avoid this problem). You may only be able to swap phones through the Genius Bar now, so long as they continue to agree your phone is "not per spec". And there is no spec anywhere to be seen or found, it's simply their opinion and that can be influenced heavily by managers trying to limit how many swaps are done by "picky customers".+

+"Good batches". We're still trying to figure this out. So far, until someone says otherwise, week 29 phones appear to be better, as do phones from Factories 83 and 87. That's no guarantee of course, and as you're likely stuck going through the Genius Bar, your choice of replacements may be severely limited.)+

Message was edited by: AntonioMX5

I think the poster that wrote about the new 3GS coating being yellow is right on. It makes sense. If the new oleophobic coating is yellowish and they are getting dipped into the solution during production, it makes sense that it's more yellow toward the bottom... I also had one of my previous replacements with a yellow spec underneath the glass at the bottom of the screen. Once again, more coating there, more chances of 'build up'.

Either way, I am now over with my hunt for the 'perfect' phone. I went through 5 3GS's a few weeks ago and after opening and exchanging 3 32gig Black 3gs's at the Apple Store all with yellow/washed out/etc. screens, I gave up. After reading here I don't know what it is, QC, hardware, software, etc.? Maybe one factory is better than the other? Who knows. The majority of the people who have the phone right now are not even looking at the tint and hence it's not a 'wide spread' issue. That's why the Apple store Geniuses say, well i haven't seen this yet!

Either way, my current replacement is a week 27 that I decided to keep. It's passed 14 days anyhow. I may go back to the store and compare again.

My question is... how come the 3GS 16gig black floor models are NOT affected? Either that or they are all defective 'together'. Meaning they all came from the same defected batch and all look bad, together. Either way, this is my first iPhone and it's amazing regardless!

thanks for your response. my concern would be that my phone is actually of less quality.... this phone is a good 20-30% less bright than other phones i have compared it to (also of the yellow tint). i am a college student and do a lot of reading on my phone, so am interested in anything that could be better on my eyes, however this screen appears to be less sharp in detail for text as previous phones i have had including several 3g... if it is slightly yellow i may accept it... but again i fear that it may be of less quality... i usually keep the brightness down anyway, but am often in bright light and need the brightness so i can actually see the phone. i also am considering a anti glare screen protector, which will cut down the brightness considerably... it is too bad that i have a phone less than 2 weeks old and have to go through all this energy to get a model i am happy with. i cannot return the phone since i bought it at ATT and have already swapped at apple. att will not accept any phone but the original phone. i will do a side by side comparison at the store.

most of all...i was so pleased with my 3g that i have got many of my family and friends to convert, and am myself in the process(or was) of switching my pc's over to macs, but through this experience with apple customer service cannot justify making the switch at this time.

again thanks for your help.

have you seen any articles that specifically talk about Kelvin rating of LCDs as they relate to color/sharpness/and visibilty?

ieonjunas wrote:
this phone is a good 20-30% less bright than other phones i have compared it to (also of the yellow tint).

Compared to another 3G S where both were set to MAX brightness with Auto-Brightness turned OFF? If yes, I would be concerned and I would return it. My original 3G S was about 20% dimmer than my wife's (plus excessively yellow).

If comparing a 3G S vs. 3G (at the default settings), I've read someone speculate that the 3G S users a more agressive auto-brightness dimmer algorithm in order to achieve the higher claimed battery life, despite having a faster processor, so a 3G S compared to a 3G (at default settings) may indeed, by design, be dimmer.

have you seen any articles that specifically talk about Kelvin rating of LCDs as they relate to color/sharpness/and visibilty?

Sadly no, and I'm not a techie in any way regarding these things. Hopefully an avid photographer or another more experienced person such as a graphics artist may see your post and comment. A comparison with in-store display models may be the best way to assess your phone. Oh, and be sure to compare them ALL since IMO, Apple now plants 1 or 2 bad yellow, slightly dimmer, heavily polarized phones in their dispaly line-up to take complaining customers to in order to "prove" there's no problem (they tried this trick with me on my last visit).

thank you i will do that... i have compared them at att and they are all nice and bright. and yes i was comparing to another slightly yellow (same tint as mine) 3gs...with autobright turned off...the battery seems much better in this model though so i may end up settling on it. thanks again for your help. i will post my final solution tomorrow

i think i read that the yellow versions have a better contrast than the bluish screen? what have you heard about color variances affecting this?

I think blaming the yellow demon on the screen coating makes for a logical story but it doesn't explain the original iPhones and 3G iPhones that suffered the same symptons. As I said before, this issue is not new. I had three original iPhones with yellow screens, washed out colors, and/or yellow tint only on the bottom portion of the screen. This is not something that happened because Steve Jobs wasn't around as much or because Apple went to cheaper screens or even because it is early in the production life-cycle of the 3GS. These yellow screens have been around since Day 1 way back in 2007.

For whatever reason there has been a wide variance with these screens for 2+ years now and Apple has accepted it. I thought for sure Apple would fix the screens back in 2007 because the yellow tint was widely talked about here and in other forums. I alone returned three yellow units in Oct. 2007. Nothing has changed and I don't think anything will change until they use a different screen. And who knows, a new screen may be yellow too. C'est la vie.

Naddie,

Your posted review you linked to is absolutely outstanding - extremely comprehensive and detailed.

When I read the updates at the end of your article, I started having flashbacks of similar experiences that happened to me. I think many of us might be suffering from the new PT3gSSD syndrome (Post-Traumatic 3GS Stress Disorder).

I also like the way you expressed how the usefulness of the iPhone is like "drinking Steve Jobs Kook-Aid". I myself am so hooked that I keep putting myself through this replacement misery, hoping against hope that EVENTUALLY, I'll find an acceptable 3G S that is close to what my wife got on her first try.

Given how useful and convenient you clearly found the 3G S to be, I'd really like to know what you end up doing - giving up on Apple altogether or trying again (and again, and again) as many here are still doing in the quest to find an acceptable phone that really is "within specifications".

ieonjunas wrote:
i think i read that the yellow versions have a better contrast than the bluish screen? what have you heard about color variances affecting this?

My personal experience is very limited. But FWIW, here's how things played out on the 5 screens we've had:

1) Wife's 32GB Black 3G S purchaesd from ATT on launch day: Perfect screen. Slightly warmer than a 3G. High contrast screen with blacks looking black, bright, non-polarized screen. It "POPS" as another describes the 3G doing. Compared to my brother's 3G, I like her screen better (easier on the eyes and more natural colors than his bluer screen). We're both VERY happy with her 3G S. God help us if it ever gets stolen or dropped or malfunctions hehe.

2) My original 32GB Black 3G S purchased from ATT on launch day: About 20% dimmer than my wife's. Polarized screen (dimmed over 50% at a slight angle). Excessively yellow throughout. High contrast screen with blacks looking black. Returned to ATT, eating a 10% restocking fee.

3) My 2nd 3G S - purchased from the Apple Store: Dark, dirt-brown (not yellow) stained, dim screen. Poor contrast, polarized. I demanded a refund on the spot 15 seconds after it was activated it was SO bad - worse than the original one I returned to ATT for heaven's sakes!

4) My 3rd 3G S - "different batch" according to Apple Store employee who had just taken back the brown stained phone. Looked great at first - very bright screen, not very yellow (much better than my first 3G S but still a bit more yellow than my wife's but not so bad). I thought I was going to just live with that one as a compromise. Then I noticed the contrast issue - blacks weren't black, more dark grey. Colors also were not vivid - somewhat washed out. It lacked that "POP". Retail guy said he wasn't allowed to open any more phones for me so I accepted a Genius appt.

5) Screen Replacement - My 3rd 3G S with washed out colors and poor contrast screen taken to Genius. He admitted nothing, saying it was within spec, but would replace the screen as it was obviously very important to me. Replacement was nice and bright, and very white! Beautiful high contrast blacks and vivid colors. This was like my wife's! But wait, the polarization was HORRID. Very bad dimming at a slight angle. ***! Had the Genius swap it back to the original washed out, poor contrast screen I've got now since #1 thing I can't stand is a polarized screen (makes it unusable for my family).

I WAS thinking to live with this one considering how much TROUBLE all this replacement business is, and how most replacements are WORSE so far. But the screen swap resulted in a big spec of dust being stuck on the INSIDE of my camera lens that wasn't there before. So it's going back this week.

So there's the details. Short version? Um, well no real pattern sadly. In general, from what I've also read, it SEEMS that these yellower phones TEND to be better on the contrast. It SEEMS for the whiter screens, that they TEND to be more susceptible to having washed out colors and poorer contrast. Polarization SEEMS to be random, affecting about 1/3 of the phones I've seen.

Sadly, according to what Jng65 has reminded us (I keep forgetting as I only entered this iPhone world on June 19th of this year), this random yellow screen issue has been around since the 2G and nothing has ever been done to admit it or address it, so it's now and apparently will always be a lottery. As most customers have no idea their phones are so varied, what they don't know apparently is not hurting them.

For you, I'd basically assess the replacement(s) you get with what your needs are - lots of reading in whatever light condition you need. Maybe a slightly yellower screen will be easier on your eyes for longer-term reading, so long as the contrast is good (I assume that would be important to you). Perhaps polarization won't be an issue for you at all which gives you more flexibility.