iPad Pro 12.9 Screen Light Bleed

Yes, it is ... especially because it's supposed to be a premium product.

When I went to have the unit replaced I met a snarky "genius" from the "genius" bar.

Me: I found a thread where other people reported the same issue.

Her: Yes, you can find a thread for anything these days

Me: So do you think this issue is going to occur in the new unit as well?

Her: I don't have a crystal ball.

I showed restraint 😂 but no mercy when I rated my experience with apple support.

I guess replacing the unit is the best I can do just before the warrant expires.

I am still very curious to know whether they changed the hardware at one point in these models. I don't know how it works: how many units of one model are produced, when do they stop producing a model, do they always use the same hardware for a model, even after reports of issues emerge from customers?

Given your experience where the replacements end up having the same issue, it seems to me that they didn't fix the issue.

I guess the best punishment is not to buy their products anymore when that time comes.

since this post was made in 2019, considering you still have the iPad. Has the bleeding gotten any worse or still the same? I’m at a similar situation evaluating my options. The bleed currently doesn’t bother me. But I don’t want it to increase to an unusable state.

No, it doesn't become unusable; all the stagelights eventually merge into a continuous bar of light down the hinge-side of the screen. It's non-uniform backlighting along one edge, but honestly it looks better than the isolated stagelights did.

It's easily-ignored unless you're doing color-critical work along that edge of the screen. Still not cool for a four-figure flagship device, though...I just wish the newer models were available with white bezels.

...my before-and-after pictures were about four months apart, but i think my very first tiny stagelight defect manifested perhaps a year before that and it's still not quite complete if you look at the upper-left corner...much more tolerable than it used to be, though, or perhaps i've just resigned myself to it as my ipad gets older...

Hi! I'm from India and I've been using my Ipad 6th gen for last 2 years. Suddenly I am seeing this light bleeding problem without any apparent cause or misuse. With warranty period over what possible solutions are there for me to avail. From discussions in this forum it is clear that if I spend money to get the display changed there is no surety that the new display will work well for the foreseeable future.

By the way I had my iPad exchanged about a month after my purchase for a freezing issue where the screen randomly went black and I had to restart the ipad to get it working.

Really disappointed in Apple...

Exact same issue here: Bought my 12.9" 2nd Gen iPad Pro in the September of 2018. Had it replaced in September 2019 and now, since September 2020, the exact same issue. The employee at the Apple Store already knew what the issue was before I even showed him the iPad - all I did was tell him I have a problem with my iPad Pro and he immediately said "ah yeah, the backlight bleed right?".

Only problem this time is that I am FOUR DAYS over the 2 year legal warranty in Germany and AppleCare Service and the flagship Apple Store in Frankfurt refused to help. Employee said that he doesn't understand how Apple can let something like this happen, especially with the most expensive iPad they sell, but unfortunately he wouldn't be able to help me.

My hopes are low though. Extremely disappointed. I have owned and still own pretty much the entire Apple Ecosystem of products for the past 10 years and this is absolutely disheartening.

[Edited by Moderator]

This is unreal for the price of these units. Thank you for showing others what yours looks like. Mine was not as bad as your first image on the original purchase and still not as bad on its replacement but still... it should not happen at all without someone attempting to rectify or even acknowledge that there is a problem.

My followup is I have a rep on lock for if this 3rd unit should start acting up as I escalated it whomever is the topmost Apple support. I explained the entire scenario and the DC trip inclusive. Without making this long winded, stay on it and Ask for a supervisor. Keep track of everything related as best you can. Document names, times and resolutions or not. There’ IS a solution but you have to push past regular or bottom level support. I’m in the US and don’t know if international owners have the same rights but try anyhow.

Reading how an expensive replacement offered at the Genius Bar at my local Apple store could develop the identical problem, I decided to keep my 2nd gen iPad Pro.

Living with the light bleed is possible, even as it spreads gradually across the entire left (vertical) side, although it is a daily reminder of how Apple's quality and customer service has changed.

Thank you, before replying I do have to say that I am a little concerned given that freedom of speech in actually getting Apple to do the right thing does not seem to exist. My original Post contained (pretty much exactly) the following paragraph, which was deleted by a moderator:

I am certain that the only legitimate, lawful and right thing for Apple to do, is to extend the warranty on this particular issue indefinitely, or at least up to 4 or 5 years. I have previously had an issue with the anti-glare coating on the display of my 2015 MacBook Pro and when I took it to an Apple-Certified dealer, they notified me that Apple had extended the warranty for displays of this generation to over 5 years. Apple does know about their design and product faults and there is an option for this to be handled the right way.

To LadyDi 102: I have already been on the phone with Support several times for a total of almost 4 hours and the maximum I have received was the answer that nothing could be done, that Apple could not possible handle this in goodwill (note that I am FOUR days over the legal warranty) and when specifically asking for their supervisor or manager, that no such person exists and that they are the highest ranking employee there (even though they often took breaks to consult and ask whether something could be done ...?!?).

When in the Apple Store, I was speaking to the kind employee for over an hour and he really tried to help me, but when he asked his supervisor and he came to speak to me, I was told that there was simply nothing they could do and that for some reason all warranty claims, even this one which is quite clearly a case of a production flaw, would lie with the Apple-Certified Store that ordered a replacement unit from Apple to act on behalf of Apple and Apple's warranty duties, telling me again that the iPad is out of warranty and there is nothing that can be done. They could of course not give me this in writing and he told me to call AppleCare again so they could verify that his legal interpretation is correct - which it wasn't and AppleCare told me today that there was nothing they could do because it is a replacement unit.

Do you know any ways to get someone higher at Apple to speak to? No one I have yet spoken to in this odyssey has seemed to have the competence or power to actually do anything other than say that the product is out of warranty...

Thanks in advance, I am a little relieved that others have this problem and that it is still an ongoing thing and not forced to rest (yet)

[Edited by Moderator]

For now this seems to be the best and only option, especially as the Trade in Value for 1000€+ iPad Pros is below 300€.

What really upsets me is that Apple is certainly aware of their product defect and this is a case that leans into the legal frame of deceit and malice fraud, at least by german law. It cannot be that customers, especially in this age of consumer protection law across the EU and further, are being treated in this way simply because the finance and legal departments see it as the cheapest way to act instead of offering cheated customers the product and service they purchased when entering a contract with Apple.

Again, my post was censored so i'll try over:

Apple does know about their design and product faults and there is an option for this to be handled the right way, but the only way to get there is to somehow, all of us affected by this, report the fault to Apple and/or hand in a jointly proposed complaint.

This sentence does not violate the Apple Support Communities Terms of Use, it is merely a repetition of what others have posted, stating that all those affected need to report and complain in this issue.

It’s sad but only one right way is to sell an iPad and buy another one from any of last generation. I had luck and sell it for 620$ and the buyer was awared about this issue but he bought it anyway. Wish anyone who can’t come to term with it find a same buyer who didn’t care about it.

I see what you are saying and have red quite a few posts about the issue, internationally and in the US. I am speaking as a US person and I have resourced a source in Apple support that assured me IF this should happen again, no matter the time frame, something would be done. Do I believe it? I am on a "wait and see" timer with the unit and Apple. I know that there are "EYES" reading for Apple and for other sources and I wish everyone who has the issue a eventual resolution across every forum/platform this is being discussed upon. (wink)

LadyDi102 wrote:

I have resourced a source in Apple support that assured me IF this should happen again, no matter the time frame, something would be done.

If true, I am aghast, as a manufacturing or design defect ought not to be addressed only if it happens a second time.