iPhone 3G S has yellowish tint

AntonioMX5 wrote:
You're seeing something that also confused me when I first joined these forums - a settings choice for your account resulting from how many messages you have chosen to display per page. In a nutshell, log out, then hard refresh the page. You'll see it's back to the larger number of pages as a result of it displaying the lower default number of messages per page. So, nothing devious on Apple's part here (at least not yet!).

Thanks. I should have realized it changed after I logged in.

You can ask to check your phone before they activate it and not pay a restocking fee. Explain why u r checking. If one sales rep won't do it ask for someone else. I did it today. Their policy is as long as they don't activate on your account you haven't accepted the phone.

I went to three (very busy) Apple stores. In each case the nice clerk checked with the store manager and I was nicely told that I cannot see the phone until after it is paid for and activated. While waiting, I met someone with a yellow tinted screen that was getting it fixed.

I ended up buying two iPhones that had beautiful "Cool White" displays. I can't find a thing wrong with these phones (so far). Once again I have proven that 'luck beats skill every time'. Hopefully this 'problem' has moved into the past.

I live in Athens Greece, and Iphone's are only provided by local mobile networks, I expirience the same yellow tint with my Iphone 3GS 32GB white, after half an hour comparing it with the sales rep I managed to convince him that there is an issue and sent the unit for service. I pray that they bring me a non-yellow tint one. Is there anyone else from Greece with the same problem?

Thank you.

Markie-Poo wrote:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! God be praised! There are intelligent people out there! I thought I was lost in a sea of anal blue toned retention! Hallelujah!

Dawnrazor! THANK YOU! Thank you for standing up and saying "The other thing that did come out of this is no one had noticed that their screen had a colour wash on it until it was compared to another phone, and afterwards no one cared, my wife likes her slightly yellow screen, I prefer my slightly blue/magenta screen."

Dawn....like your wife, I prefer my warm toned screen just as it is. Nice rich colors. Great blacks. I'm glad you have the sense to accept your phone as it is and to enjoy it!

Thank you again Dawnrazor! Some people are just way too concerned about this issue....er....non-issue(?)

No Sweat buddy!

If none of the screens are the same then why are all of the 3gs screens the same at every AT&T store?
I have been checking this post to find some useful information. Not to hear people complain about people who have a problem with a yellow screen. If you like your screen then what is the point in posting here. Why don’t you start a post that says come here to complain about people who don’t want a yellow screen. Then you can complain about this post all you want. I don’t go into post that I don’t care about and waste time writing how stupid everyone is for wanting there expensive phone to look a certain way. If I did I would feel like a loser and wonder why my life *****.
Anyway Im going to AT&T 08/21 to return my 3gs and get a new one. The restocking fee is cheaper than the gas to drive 5 hours to go to an apple store. If anybody has gotten a good screen please let me know where and what the first 5 of the serial numbers are. Im getting a non yellow screen or Im going back to the 3g.
And my screen is not warm with great colors and blah blah. Its yellow with ugly colors and everybody that looks at my 3gs and there 3g agrees.

I got an iPhone 3GS a couple of days ago from the Apple Store in the Liverpool ONE shopping centre and straight away I could see something was different with it and it wasn't until I put it next to my 3G that I realised the screen had a yellow tint to the white colours.

I have samples uploaded on the website below but I feel these pictures do not do it justice but before I go back to the Apple store I'd like to know what people think? I was lead to believe there should be virtually no difference in colour temperature between the 3G and 3GS but its so severely noticable I can't not leave it alone now!

Pictures: http://tr.im/wIaO

dcuk7 wrote:
I have samples uploaded on the website below but I feel these pictures do not do it justice but before I go back to the Apple store I'd like to know what people think? I was lead to believe there should be virtually no difference in colour temperature between the 3G and 3GS but its so severely noticable I can't not leave it alone now!

Clearly there is a difference between your 3G and your 3GS. The thing is, there's supposed to be. To do a fair comparison and to see if your 3GS is just a normal "by design" slightly warmer tone than your old 3G, you need to compare your 3GS with other 3GS's, not a 3G. The best place to do that is at an Apple Store. Apples vs. Apples (so to speak). Make sure when doing your comparison, that your 3GS and the display 3GS are both set to MAX brightness, with Auto-Brightness OFF.

The Apple Store 3GS displays are what they are advertising, so that is what you rightfully and fairly should expect to get. Look at the Settings and the Home screens, and look for blatant differences in contrast, color saturation and warmth tone of the whites. If your 3GS is close (some slight variations are expected) to the 3GS display models, then it's per spec, and you're fine. If any of the 3 evaluation factors are significantly different, then you've got one of the typical "off" screens and you should return it for a refund and get a replacement. Good luck, as getting a decent screen on a 3GS is a lottery.

Well, I went to the Apple Store this morning and this is how it all went down...

As I walked in to the Apple Store it was pretty empty downstairs so all the staff were standing around in a group chatting. I thought to myself "****, they have the numbers advantage", so I approached them and one of them let on to me so I got straight down to the point and told them about the display issue. I had a concierge either side of me looking at the phone and not really seeing a problem until I got my 3G out and put them side by side. Straight away they noticed the difference but tried to brush it off as a slight variance in colour temperature between the 3G and 3GS. As I was about to tell them to compare it to the display models one of them got out his 3GS and compared that and whatddya know, his looked like my old 3G (i.e. sans yellow). At this point they decided that it probably would need replacing but that I had to book an appointment at the Genius Bar to get that done as only Genius' are allowed to handle this type of thing with regards to the iPhone. No dice I told them (but I didn't say no dice, wish I did though), "I want a replacement now or a refund as I am within the legal cooling-off period" so they asked me to follow one of the guys upstairs and they would try and fit me in.

Upstairs I got told to sit at the bar and wait for a 'Genius' but only one of them was on and he was busy so one of the concierge guys I was dealing with decided to handle the replacement himself (so all that nonsense about only a 'Genius' can sort out replacements on an iPhone was tosh). He had the dodgy 3GS and my 3G and took them into the back a few times, each time coming back with another 'reason' why it was normal (he even tried to blame the screen protector on my old 3G as the reason it looked different). Each time I had a nice response as to why he was made of fail and eventually he caved and said he would give me a brand new one. At this point I'd been there 20 minutes and wasn't pleased and it took another 10 minutes to process the replacement (he had to refund the original purchase on my card and then put the replacement through as a new purchase).

After all that was over he said I had to activate it in-store. I told him when I bought the faulty one on Monday I was allowed to do it at home but he said that was not allowed and the guy who sold it to me did it wrong. Another five minutes to do that and finally I had a brand new 3GS in my hands. I said to the guy I am checking it over for issues and although he probably was sick of me by now I had to make sure it was ok and thankfully the screen is virtually the same as my 3G and seems rock solid. He then tried to shill some more products at me and possibly for the first time ever one of them was useful. My MobileMe account runs out next month and he said if I extend it now he will take off 25%, so I proverbially snapped his hand off at that deal.

All in all I would rate the experience as a 7 out of 10. They got me sorted eventually but the process is far too long-winded and their excuses for why you should accept clearly faulty hardware are laughable.

Very well done dcuk7 - you handled the situation perfectly by being firm and politely insistant and using your option to return the defective 3GS for a full refund as leverage. You saw through their B.S. and on top of all of this, got a 3GS with a screen that satisfies your needs on your first try (it took me 4 replacements for 5 total screens to get one that nearly matched the display models). What's interesting is that you successfully acquired one that is even close to your old 3G - now THAT is an even harder feat - Congrats! 🙂

Thanks Antonio, the key really is being firm without being rude. The screen on the new one is not as bright as my old 3G but that I actually prefer. The main thing now is that white actually looks white. This new one is from the same factory and was made the same week (factory 86 week 30) so it seems the screen process really is hit and miss.

Glad you finally got yourself sorted, can't believe it took that many attempts though!

I got mine today after my frustation,, I sold my original iphone 3gs white 32 gigs and I decided to try ot again... but luck mine I get one that has a perfect screen compared with the other iphone on the floor and this one is pretty!!! is week 32 factory 88 white 32 gigs.. I think apple has knowledge of the problem and i think the screen are now better thant day 1!!!!!!

This is actually very much possible as I follow this topic here and it looks like more and more people "get lucky" and receive iPhone with normal screen that can produce true whites. I guess I'm going to give it a shot and try purchasing one again next week.
Wish me luck! 🙂

Hmm..

Well I got my week 33 factory 88 today and while the whites are true the colors are very washed out and the blacks are grey! Im getting so fed up

I turn up the brightness the blacks go grey and hazy colors yet if I turn it down to get true blacks the colors are to dim!

I DID IT!!!!
The war is over. I retuned my 16 gb black 3gs today to AT&T and got a 32 gb black week 32 factory 87 and its great. Whites are perfect. The screen is slightly warmer than the 3g but I dont have a problem with that. The walpapers that came with the phone look better than the 3g. Im so happy. I hope the battery and everything are ok because this phone is great.
DONT GIVE UP. There are good screens out there

@ MJPearce: What a wonderful feeling of complete relief it must be to finally have found a decent screened 3GS that you like. Having gone through this (5x) myself, I agree with your choice of using the expression "The war is over." That's exactly how it felt for me. Congrats!