iPhone 3G S has yellowish tint

does anyone know if i was to plug an un-activated iphone into my laptop without an internet connection, would it register that it's plugged into itunes and take me to the home screen but not activate. I was just wondering because not activating them to test them might remove some of the "genius'" gripes with trying multiple until i get a good screen .

Apple staff keeping things secret - surely not:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/aug/03/uk-ipod-explodes

john

Guys and gals,

I've found the screen less saturated. No yelowish tint, however.

Feel free to check out my direct comparative screenshots at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2103537&tstart=0 , in the section "What don’t I like?".

Did anyone run into the same problem / found out the same? So far, I've eceivedonly one affirmative answer to this at HowardForums, telling me he (she) also had the same experience.

Your post has gone

I agree. I purchased 2 iphone 3gs's and one has a sharp bezel, the other a slightly yellow display. The local store was a total waste because they felt that it was not a big deal, and that it wasn't fair to switch it out and keep others who wanted to buy one from getting one.

I am dealing with apple's customer support and they are trying to take care of me. But the store's lack of customer service is so horrid that I refuse to shop there anymore. I am more guarded about my money now with the economy and this latest rash of quality control, or lack there of, has me rethinking doing business with apple. I dropped over 10 grand with them in the last 10 months and the service is becoming bad.

Apple, I really hope you get your act together. Cause I really do not wish to go back to PC's, but if this persists, what other option do I have? Pay more for less, or pay less for less. I already expect crap service from MS. That was the reason I switched and have embraced apple. It would seem as though they are quickly losing the customer if the focal point mentality.

Don't cover things up, admit you were wrong, make it right, and move on. I don't need a "genius" to tell me what I am seeing is in my head or "is within spec". It's like saying, my car's steering wheel is shaking violently going down the road, but the tires must be balanced because the wheels haven't fallen off. Complete rubbish!

Is there any evidence that Apple will fix this?

I've been holding off my purchase hoping that the "yellow tint" units will "fade away" over time.

I do not like the yellow screens, and I don't have the time to go through ten iPhones to get a good one.

I would prefer to get an iPhone, however my friends with BlackBerrys do not have yellow tinted screens.

With so many people trying to swap out phones or screens, Apple has got to be working on this.

Yup, I have yet to learn the rules here 🙂

So, I've made some comparative screenshots of the 3G and the 3G S. I've found the 3G S to have a more washed-out screen. (Actually, that is the only disadvantage of the 3G S compared to the 3G I could find.) A guy at HowardForums also stated he finds the screen paler than that of the 3G.

To show you what I mean, I’ve made some comparative shots using my standard photo test suite. All the shots have been taken using the largest backlight level. Incidentally, the lowest and the highest backlight levels are the same on the two models, which is definitely a plus: on many competing smartphone operating systems – e.g., WinMo –, the minimal backlight level is considerably higher with many popular models than on the iPhone, which makes some of these phones useless for bed-time Web browsing or reading. No such problems exist with the iPhones. Note that the difference in color saturation, backlight leaking, gray levels etc. are consistent with all backlight levels; I’ve used the highest so that I can easily take shots of them with as low ISO as possible. (A shot of the first image with the lowest backlight level is at http://winmobiletech.com/0720093gs/IMG_2996.JPG – hence the ISO 800 and loads of chroma noise because of my point-and-shoot. As you can see, the difference between the 3G and the 3G S is equally visible.)

First, two shots that show warm colors. It’s also here that you can easily see both the 3G S’ (the upper one in the case) having less saturated colors and backlight “leaking”. In real life, the difference isn’t this pronounced but is clearly visible, even if you don’t directly compare the two screens. On the second shot, pay special attention to the color of the hand and the egg. The original JPG's of the images are at http://winmobiletech.com/SCREENQUALITY/kotona4Lasta.jpg and at http://winmobiletech.com/SCREENQUALITY/muna.jpg .

http://winmobiletech.com/0720093gs/IMG_3006.JPG

http://winmobiletech.com/0720093gs/IMG_3011.JPG

Now, another shot showing how much better for example brown colors are rendered by the 3G:

http://winmobiletech.com/0720093gs/IMG_3016.JPG

Finally, a shot of the home screen. Here, compare the color saturation of the icons; most importantly, the iPod, Calendar, Weather ones:

http://winmobiletech.com/0720093gs/IMG_3021.JPG

(3G S on the right.)

Nevertheless, the screen quality is still good – and, of course, the new anti- fingerprint coating is working great. Fortunately, the other parameters of the screen (most importantly, the viewing angle) hasn’t changed and you surely won’t run into polarization problems like on the Dell Axim x50v / x51v and several other Pocket PC / Windows Mobile handhelds / phones.

(Disclaimer: the above links are strictly JPG links. I don't know whether it's possible at all to include inline images here; hence the links. The host where they are hosted is just a database end without any activity. I get absolutely no money for putting my files on it and, then, posting links to it as the site has no active homepage any more - I've stopped updating the front-end some 3 years ago.)

My phone looks exactly like yours (the yellow or the "warmer" one). What I don't understand is that people around me are getting 3GS iPhones with perfectly white "colder" screens. And I really don't understand why the iPhone in the advertising's and on the homepage are all showing a real "white".
If this yellow ("warm") screen is in spec, so it would be nice if Apple could replace the advertising with phones showing the yellow "warm" screen. Maybe a note @ the technical spec page would help as well.

I have had a perfectly iPhone 3G with a perfect screen, a well fitting bezel and great battery performance.

I've lost all of this with the new 3GS. The only thing I got is a faster phone with more flash.

Yes, I know it is just a phone. But it is one of the most expensive phones I know. So is it wrong to expect that an 3GS (which has been greatly introduced as the best iPhone ever) provides at least the same quality as the older 3G?

I'm not looking for perfection. But I'm expecting quality that relates to the price I've paid for the phone.

Finally!

For the last and FINAL time today I replaced my black 32GB 3GS. This is the 11th phone I have had. Yes, you read that right. The 11th phone. People were calling me crazy at this point. My brother was telling me NOT to switch it out again. However, I could NOT deal with the phone I had. Washed out colors, yellow for white and gray blacks.

I am happy to say, my new phone is as perfect as I will ever get. It's like I have my 3G again! The whites are crisp and clean, the colors POP and the best thing of all - the blacks are BLACK. Not gray. This seems to be a problem. I can also tell that the glass on my screen does not have any funky colors when it's turned different angles. You know, like the heavy yellow/brown color.

I was ready to just give up and call it quits. Thankfully I did not! I won Apple - I FREAKING WON! BWAHAHAHA! Yeah, it only took me 11 tries!

Guess what week this perfect phone is?? Week 23. Go figure. It replaces a week 30 phone.

Now here is some info for you all..

1 - Factory number means nothing.
2 - The week made means nothing.

I have had the following weeks.. 21, 22, 23, 24(x2), 25, 26, 27, 28, 30(x2)

Like some have said - it's a lottery. Good luck playing it. I won't be doing this next year. Either Apple has an OLED screen or I am not buying. Period.

SpurtSpanker wrote:
Finally!

For the last and FINAL time today I replaced my black 32GB 3GS. This is the 11th phone I have had.

Congrats. But honestly, no force on earth could compel me to return any consumer item 11 times. MAYBE 3 times and that's a stretch. After the 3rd return I'd figure "This must be how they are supposed to be" and forget about it, or get a refund and buy a different item all together.

Not for nothing, but returning a phone 11 times to get a "good" one seems more than a bit odd to me.

Micah D. wrote:

SpurtSpanker wrote:
Finally!

For the last and FINAL time today I replaced my black 32GB 3GS. This is the 11th phone I have had.

Congrats. But honestly, no force on earth could compel me to return any consumer item 11 times. MAYBE 3 times and that's a stretch. After the 3rd return I'd figure "This must be how they are supposed to be" and forget about it, or get a refund and buy a different item all together.

Not for nothing, but returning a phone 11 times to get a "good" one seems more than a bit odd to me.

I agree with you 100%. However, I have several reasons for doing it. I love the phone. Nothing compares period. I have AT&T and just switched my entire family over. The main reason I have AT&T is the iPhone. I have been a very happy customer up until this whole BS 3GS yellow screen problem.

Another reason for doing it is I had a good screen 4 phones ago. It had to be returned because the battery was pure crap. Not even lasting a day. My brothers phone is PRISTINE. So I know there HAD to be a good phone out there.

Anyways, I am not going to kid myself. I got lucky again. Thankfully. If I was not so lucky, I would have been done and accepted defeat. I would have waited to see if Apple resolved the issue a few months down the road.

It just got to the point where the screen was just so crappy, I didn't want to look at the phone. That's how bad it got. So I decided to try 1 last and final time. I am thankful I did.


Some might call me crazy for doing it 11 times. call it what you want but I strive for perfection and that's what I want. Within reason. My past phones have been so sub par - it's not even funny.

If i had an apple store near me I would return it till I got a good one too. I cant even get an apple rep to call me back. They keep saying there puting a ticket in and will call me back but I have not gotten 1 call. I may have to suck it up and drive 2 1/2 hrs to get this done. I mean if Im going to pay 400.00 It needs to look at least as good as my 3g.
If I go to the store will they activate so I can look at it? Or will they just hand me a box and tell me to leave. Cause I might have to go thru several to get a good one. And Im not driving back home without a white screen.

mjpearce023 wrote:
If i had an apple store near me I would return it till I got a good one too. I cant even get an apple rep to call me back. They keep saying there puting a ticket in and will call me back but I have not gotten 1 call. I may have to suck it up and drive 2 1/2 hrs to get this done. I mean if Im going to pay 400.00 It needs to look at least as good as my 3g.
If I go to the store will they activate so I can look at it? Or will they just hand me a box and tell me to leave. Cause I might have to go thru several to get a good one. And Im not driving back home without a white screen.

They will activate it in the store. Especially if you are swapping out. As far as getting a new phone, not sure. I think they just give you the box and you activate at home. However I am sure they would be happy to do it at the store as well.

Good luck. ***** that this is even happening to people. Believe me - I know the time, energy and frustration.

Congrats spurt! I'm happy for you. You stuck to your guns and got what you paid for.

@ SpurtSpanker: Congrats man. 11 phones, ouch. 5 was a horror story for me - I can't even imagine 11...

mjpearce023 wrote:
If I go to the store will they activate so I can look at it? Or will they just hand me a box and tell me to leave. Cause I might have to go thru several to get a good one. And Im not driving back home without a white screen.

To see (test) another you'll have to pay for it. So if you're going to go this route, prepare to return the phone for a full refund. Be sure to check with the store by phone to make sure they have stock of your preferred color and capacity.

So basically you'll return your crummy screen 3GS for a refund. Then you'll buy a new one and the Apple retail guy will activate it on the spot for you. That's your chance to quickly examine the screen, comparing it to the store displays if necessary (make sure both are max brightness with auto-brightness OFF).

If the new replacement phone is defective, say so (comparing to a display phone to make your case). If it's obvious, the guy will likely not argue. He'll refund you and then open up a new one and go through the same process. If the next is also bad, be prepared to be told you'll have to go through the Genius route, as they "can't keep opening new boxes all day long".

At that point your situation is going to get complicated if you're only going to accept a screen that is white to your eyes. You may have to either take what you've got in your hand by the 2nd swap or go to another brand or try another store (which doesn't sound like an option). Perhaps a slightly warmer screen than you prefer is not so bad as you may not have much choice...