iPhone 3G S has yellowish tint

Hey, I'm back. I bought another 3Gs yesterday. When I look at my original iphone, you can see the warm tone difference. My sister was with me, and she thought the 3Gs screen looked great and even better than my original iphone. It is different. Everyone I show it to thinks the screen looks really great. The clerk who helped me with my purchase was very helpful, which was very nice because I had been hesitant to go back and try another phone, but my original was having problems and I didn't want to be without a phone. I will have to get used to the warm tones. The first four phones I had were very yellow. I do notice that the blacks are darker on my original, the 3Gs blacks are not as dark, lighter in tone but the colors seem brighter and some tones lighter. I think I need to keep it longer and give it more of a chance. Compared to the original, it seems brighter, not as dark. Yesterday all of the floor models except one had the warm tone like the one I bought and the one that was different the whites seemed to be whiter. I don't know anymore what makes a bad screen or even a bad battery. Can anyone here though tell me if I have screwed up my phone by using my last backup instead of setting it up as new? I hope not, because I don't want to go back to the store so soon. Any help would be appreciated.

Looks like Apple has ignore this issue. Pretty sad on many levels. It seems my phones screen has a mind of it's own. One time it will be neutral, the next time it will be green/yellow. The next time it will be white/blue w/crisp whites. I have given up trying to figure it out. It seems this affects the 32gb phones more so than the 16gb phones. Also I have notices that the 16gb WHITE phones don't seem to have this issue. It's mainly the 32gb phones.

I am seeing some people getting refurbs are getting great screens and some are not. Is this correct?

I sold mine, I get a T-Mobile MyTouch 3G is pretty good clear screen is very mine... I can customize it the way I want. Android is really good to use!!!! I recommend it, you can use you mobileme acount on it is a lot of apps free. I glad that I have a device that I like and I am really please with it. no problems with the touch screen, colors are very clear nice screen. ★★★★★ I was very upset that apple didn't change this problem. And I don't want to deal with this any more until a new device is coming.

Bought an iPhone 16GB 3GS Black from my local Apple Store and noticed the dreaded yellow/grey tint on the screen. Went back to the Apple Store to have the phone replaced. The Genuis assistant was very sympathetic and agreed there was a fault as the display iPhone was much crisper with excellent whites and vibrant colours. Anyway, tested out the replacement on the spot in the store and again, the same tint problem! He replaced the phone yet again and again the same issue with the screen. The assistant then went on to speak to his manager who recommended I get a refund and come back in a few days time as they would be getting a new batch of phones as clearly they seemed to have a bad batch.

I've got my refund but i'm really desperate for a iPhone as I need it for work. However, I can't live with such a poor quality screen. I hope Apple address this issue very soon as this whole process of exchanging phones is proving quite stressful and time consuming !! By the way the iPhones in question were week 39 and week 40.

Here is a link to a thread I posted last year http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1861532&tstart=0 It is unfortunately true that it was purposely decided to do this. Probably by the same person who decided on bitchy Gretchen as the feedback voice on iPhone. Kinda messes with the cool factor...

Yeah. They deleted my post. I don't want to fight with these people rather I found a different way to handle them.
I'm creating awareness to all my friends who buys or already own an iPhone or iPod Touch about the possible issues on the device that is called as a DEFECT by Apple Store Genius that leads to a device swap (no questions asked).
Most common issues are:
1. Dust spot under the screen (4 out of 5 iPhone has this issue. Take a closer look at the screen. You can flash an LED light on the screen to catch one dirt spot)
2. Minor cracks on the case develops near the vibrate switch.
3. Minor cracks around the dock connector.

I'll post more on my findings!

- Pradeep

Here's a possible fix. It doesn't work for everyone. And yes, you must be JB. But if you are, then take a look: http://macthemes2.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16798353

I purchased two iphones 3Gs's last weekend. Both 16GB one black for my wife and the other white for myself. My screen is yellowish compared to my wifes which is blue(ish).
Factory 88 Week 42 is the yellowish one that I have, unsure of wifes one, but hers is no doubt older as it came out of the box with older firmware revision that needed updating on itunes.
Just an FYI.

Like someone mentioned earlier here. There must be some service menue to adjust color temp? As I really prefer the wifes one with the slight blue hue.

Went to AT&T two nights ago and got my iPhone 3GS 32GB. It didn't take long to notice that the screen is very yellow and washed out compared to my 3G. At first, I thought this was an intentional change, but then I walked over to the Apple store near my work and every 3GS in there (including 3 employees') looked blue-ish normal (like my 3G). Not one there looked yellow! My new phone has a 39 in the serial number. AT&T says they will exchange but cannot guarantee the new phone won't be of the same batch. The Apple store told me to take it back to AT&T. I walked back to work and called Apple Care for advice; they said the Apple store should have replaced it, made me and appointment and I walked back over. But then the Genius at the store told me they could only service the screen, OR replace my 20-hour-old phone with a refurbished model. They said they couldn't give me a new phone because it would "affect their retail numbers."

I work with Windows machines and VMWare ESX all day, and frequently nights and weekends. When I get home, I don't want those hassles. I payed the additional price for my iMac, my new Mac Mini (two weeks ago), and now this 3GS because of the hassle-free reputation of quality; in a nutshell, to avoid THIS.

I'm taking the 3GS back to AT&T tonight, paying their restocking fee, and going back to my 3GS which I like so much better. I really hope the next iPhone is more consistent.

Well I went to my local apple store and they exchanged my 5 day old phone for a refurbished unit. The screen is much better. Now the phone looses signal all the time and states on occasions no service even though my wifes iphone has signal and service. Tried all the resets and restores to no avail. I suspect the refurbed unit that I was given was originally sent in for the same reasons!

My first experience with an Apple product and thus far it has not been so good. I guess my options are limited. Either go back to Apple store and get another refurb, perhaps yellow one again or return phone to AT&T for refund. If I chose the latter would I lose my ported telephone number? I came from T-Mobile?
Thanks,

Just a follow up to my earlier post. I called Apple Care to inquire one last time about the yellow tint and they escalated me to an engineer. The engineer was very nice and explained that the screen color change is intentional and is not considered a defect in any way. At this point, some of the 3GS' out there have blue-ish screens and some have yellow-ish screens due to design change. Basically for me, it came down to personal choice. I like the added memory and features of the 3GS but I SO MUCH prefer the blue-ish tint on my 3G, that I returned the 3GS to AT&T today and paid the restocking fee. Despite the fact that it's all scratched up and a year and half old, I have such an appreciation of my 3G now. A new Incase cover and Zagg screen protector and it's beautiful with it's blue-ish tint.

If there never had been a blue-ish screen to compare to, I probably would have thought nothing of it. And knowing that this is not an abnormality helped me make a clear choice rather than trying to exchange it. I'll wait for the next phone release. Apple, the blue-ish screen looks clean, clear, and modern. The yellow-ish screen looks dirty and dark; it just doesn't provide the same experience by comparison. On the next iPhone, please stay with the blue backlighting/display. Thank you...

Any news on this?

My screen seems to change color. One day it's dingy yellow, the next it's a rich white/blue. Sometimes it's so nasty, I want to throw it at a wall.

I was thinking of going to the Apple store and have them replace it, but the last time I did that, they scratched the **** out of the back of the phone and gave me a screen that was nearly unreadable because it was so dark and yellow.

I have to say, unless Apple resolves this issue in the next phone - I will not be getting it.

I've ordered two black 3gs 16gb as I was afraid ordering one might not be enough to get a good screen. As it turns out ordering two didn't help much either, both are from different build weeks (39 + 40) and factories, but both have a display that starts out acceptable on the top but goes yellowish on the bottom.

Imo this is the worst case, as even a yellow tint could be acceptable if it was uniform, but with one third being yellow that's just crap.

So I'll have to return both to the dealer. Servicing them at apple is not an option as they are imported (you can't buy one in my country if you don't buy a 2 year data plan as well) and therefore can't be sent in in the country where i live due to apples product policy. And sending them back to apple in their origin country via my dealer would leave me with no phone plus a good chance of getting back a similar or even worse screen after a few weeks.

I'm not quite sure how apple manages to keep this poor display quality for such a long period and even so consistently, but on a device that cost me 700 euros (that's more than 1000 usd) this is unacceptable for me. I wonder why apple seems to think that iphone users will accept such a screen. I'd consider them to be more into image processing than any other consumer group, therefore having higher standards concerning panel quality. But maybe that's just a myth.

I had connectivity problem with my 3gs(brand new but connectivity issues) and got a replacement. Now that i have both the handsets with me (defective one should be returned within 10 days), the replacement 3gs has a yellowish screen whereas the defective one has bright n crisp whiter screen which is more appealing! and now I'm going to get replaced with a brand new one this week at apple store after speaking with the apple assistance!! People! Its the manufacturing fault! nothing to do with the firmware or whatsoever!

If its truly a manufacturing fault then why does Apple state that the yellow hue was / is a intentional change.

My personal belief is that it is a fault and they are covering it up. If the yellow hue was legit then shouldnt it be uniform ? Instead of the lower half just being yellow?

Like I said before, we bought two at the same time. Mine was yellow, wifes wasnt. When I went for a replacement all if not most of them had a yellow tinge, some more than others. Infact the Genius's own unit was so yellow, it seemed it had yellow fever. He duly fobbed it off as being " normal" and that no two LCD panels are exactly the same.