3 oval "halos" in the center of screen

I have never seen crop circles on a mac before...I would certainly take it in. I would not be surprised if they told you that there was physical damage that they are not responsible for.

I just noticed the same thing in my early 2008 15" MBP display. I have one large half circle in the center of the display with a horizontal lines extending out on either side. It looks exactly like the images you've posted.

I've taken immaculate care of this machine, so I can't imagine it's physical damage.

Actually, looking again at your photos — the one right of the arrow looks exactly like mine. The placement is almost exactly in line with the apple logo on the front of the laptop.

Something is going on here...

Jason, you may not be talking about the same thing as the original poster. You've noticed the Apple logo in the lid glows when the screen is in use. The same thing that allows it to glow also allows light to shine through it the other direction.

If you were to turn the screen brightness down to zero and then hold the MacBook up to a really bright light, like a bare light bulb, you would see light shining through the Apple logo backwards and the logo would show up on the darkened screen. This is normal and expected.

Thanks, BSteely. I just mentioned the logo as a way of describing the location of the "blemish" — it's definitely a physical defect and it just appeared in the last week or two. A screen shot of the area doesn't capture it. I've taken a few pictures which look very much like Andy's. They almost look like a ring stain left by the bottom of a cup on a table.

I haven't had anything heavy resting on it, dropped it, or exposed it to extremes of temperature. I work from home, so it sits on my desk all day, pretty much every day.

Here's some photos of my MBP's screen (You can see the half-circle blemish in the middle of the screen):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/236524/DSCF0003.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/236524/DSCF0006.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/236524/DSCF0007.JPG

Jason, wow, your pictures are quite a bit more dramatic than are Andy's. So this issue appeared suddenly?

You might be able to argue it's a latent problem that came about from a processing error when the LCD panel was manufactured. Something like that happened a few years back with a very large number of Samsung panels used in PowerBooks. But generally, if that were the case, it wouldn't affect just one panel and there would be a lot of people posting the same type of pictures here having he same complaint. That's what happened in the case of the PowerBook problem.

I dunno. I'd take it to Apple and ask them, even if you don't have a warranty any longer.

I bought it from the apple refurb store and it's still covered under Applecare. I'm hoping they won't dispute it — I've had good luck with Apple in the past. I'm going to bring it in, but need to wait until I get back from a work trip week after next. I'll post a follow-up once I get some info from Apple.

I'd like to know more about the defect. What exactly is it? Is it a bubble?

Thanks for your help.