Significant light leakage, few light botches on sides/corners - defective?

Weird, I'll try reposting with this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/celestprof/5643498050/

P.S. I contacted Apple. They had me hard reset the iPad, then checked the iOS version, then had me restore to original state. Color issue was still there. Since I am so far from an Apple Store and a UPS shipping store, they are sending me a box to return the defective iPad and they will send me a new one 3-5 days after they receive it. Provided that I have not exposed it to water or damage, which I have not.

I did look at in the dark and I saw significant light leakage around most of the edges. But I did not claim light leakage as my issue. I told the rep it was noticeably more yellow on the left and more blue on the right.

Message was edited by: Dominar

I have had three bad iPad 2's. The Apple store gave me a gift card, so I ordered another replacment online. Ordered on April 1st. It was supposed to ship on April 29th, changed to 27th, then I received an email today saying it shipped April 23rd and I will receive it April 27th. The UPS tracker says it shipped from China. I don't know what my chances are to receive one that is defect free. Hoping for the best. We will see. I will post when I receive it.

From CNET:

Manufacturing problems led to the shortfall of the iPad 2 during the first quarter, IHS iSuppli said yesterday, prompting the research firm to trim its forecast on Apple's tablet shipments for the year.

As iPad buyers have run into sold-out stock at Apple stores and long wait times ordering online, questions have arisen over why supplies of the new tablet failed to come close to demand.

Though it raised the specter of supply chain problems caused by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, IHS iSuppli doesn't see the disaster as contributing to the iPad shortfall. Following the earthquake, Apple quickly moved to ensure that it would have the necessary components to ship the iPad 2 last month. Instead, the firm pointed to manufacturing problems with specific components.

"IHS iSuppli sources indicate that Apple's production was stymied by manufacturing difficulties, which--combined with strong demand--led to short supplies of the popular tablet," noted the firm's report. "Those issues, according to the sources, included quality concerns with liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, production shortages of the new speaker, lamination issues with one of the touch suppliers, and end-unit production shortfalls."

(Italics mine)
Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-20056497-243.html

I am now on day three with my brand new iPad 2 and this things is sick!!!! I haven't noticed one single thing wrong with it either, I have had it in the dark with the brightness cranked up and the screen looks black to me without any "leakage." Even if I was unfortunate enough to get a "bad one" with light shooting out of every crack and crevice of this thing, I still wouldn't care because this this is ridiculously amazing!!! Looooooove it!!! :-)

Did you receive your iPad fron an online order or did you buy somewhere else? Getting my 3rd replacement from online order in a few days and was just curious if I should expect a "quality" unit. thanks........

Hi, this is "gadgethoarder" I'm just signed in with a different email. Anyway, I ordered it directly from Apple. I honestly can't see any light leakage what so ever. I cant believe how many others are getting units that have light issues, like I said mine seams to be perfect! It kind of ***** though that Apples build quality this time around appears to be sub par, I've always thought of their products as top notch and solidly built. I really hope they fix this issue before it really scars their amazing reputation. Wishing you all the best of luck getting a good one so you can move forward and enjoy this otherwise stellar tablet! Hope you all are having a great weekend! *gadgethoarder*

Guys,

I posted a couple of days earlier. It took 3 days for Apple to send a replacment unit to the Apple store. I just picked it up. I'm happy to say the replace is a keeper.

There is a slight leak in one area, but it is a huge improvement over my first one which had at least 6 areas of leakage with various different colors. I was going to wait a couple of months until they ironed out the issues but I decided to take my chances and see. ***** that it happend, but glad that I got a replacement.

Where was the replacement iPad sent from?

I'm not sure where the iPad came from. Is there a way to tell.

AFAIK all the iPad 2's came directly from Shenzhen (China) -- regardless if they were shipped to your home / business or directly to the Apple store(s) \ best buy, etc...They didn't have a chance to set up distribution like they did with their other products because the supply is _so_ low its unbelievable. Look at Tim Cooks comments about how many sales they lost out on due to mfg problems...so yeah afaik they've all shipped directly from China probably fresh off the Foxconn 12cents\hr worker assembly line with no quality control -- but hey; it's designed by apple in california! Made in China...thats what you get...cheap POS.

If our government \ economy wasn't so screwed up and corrupt, we could have electronic component manufacturers opening factories in the USA and have them made by american workers.

Wow...where do I begin?

Yes, all iPads are manufactured by Foxconn and I don't know about you but my experience with Apple products and their quality has been on par if not better than most of the electronics one buys today save for the very high end of the spectrum. So I do not share your opinion that they are "cheap POS".

In any manufacturing scenario one has a certain % failure / defect rate and most modern manufacturers have gotten pretty good at having this be a low number.

A simple way to truly express your displeasure with Apple is to not buy their products and expend your energy in a positive way perhaps on the forum of your newly discovered high quality product instead of getting yourself all worked up over this issue. Yes, I have the bleeding issue on my second iPad 2 and am awaiting another one but it's an issue that they will either resolve to my satisfaction or not but I'm not going to continue to bash them until I see what the end result is and I believe Apples intention is to make each and every one of their customers happy. Go buy an Android Tablet and see if there is ANYONE who can help you with your tablet that comes close to the way the Apple Genius Bar can help you...that kind of service doesn't exist anywhere in consumer electronics right now except at Apple.

As for the "government / economy" being screwed up..that's for a whole other discussion, but specific to manufacturing, it moved overseas a looong time ago. Would I love to see America make most of what it consumes? That's a BIG YES, but it's a much more complicated issue than we have time for here and is certainly not for this

forum.

So....all that to say...flame suit on as you and some others will probably attack me...go ahead..but I close with this...

It's unfortunate that Apple and in turn some of us are experiencing this problem with an otherwise FANTASTIC product but let's keep it in it's proper perspective and if you are so unhappy with Apple go get a tablet from another manufacturer that is comparable to the iPad...guess what?? In my opinion....it doesn't exist...so I'm sticking with Apple.

it's not necessarily "made in china", more like assembled in China. i agree, i don't like that either but it's not cheap crap. like i said several pages back, the device has a relatively minor display problem (yes it bothers me too and i plan on getting a replacement). it was designed quickly and obviously the manufacturing process didn't do it any favors. they should have a chinese guy that sits in a broom closet checking samples for backlight problems haha

Thank you for your sanity, NYVette. Let's attempt to boil this down, gang. I think the problem here is two-fold.

1: Low yields of useable displays from the supplier (T. Cook basically admitted this in the earning report conference).

2: The glue and/or glue process is flawed or being applied unevenly to the bezel. This would explain why light leaks in one spot (like a micro-flashlight) in some spots and it's "dark" right next to it. Perhaps the process for the first few batches was to "bead" the glue to the bezel instead of applying an even layer to the entire bezel. *Still should've been caught by now though!

I'm on #2 with the issue, going to wait a couple more weeks to swap again. Already made a case # using ExpressLane. This (annoying) issue aside, iPad2 is a freakin' KILLER product so, let's cut the horse hockey and stay on topic in here, huh?

They don't need to be sitting in a broom closet, I've seen tons of videos where the yellow blotches are even visible in normal every day lighting conditions. Here's a good example:

http://r.phonedog.com/shared/images/2011/3/150934-ipad2leakage.jpg

Also, I'm not bashing China as a whole -- check out what a REAL chinese manufacturing facility is like:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/01/exclusive-a-day-trip-to-meizus-factory/

Very good videos that show a good chinese manufacturing facility -- unlike Foxconn (aka suicideconn).

Ugh!

If I felt so negatively about a company, I just would not do business with them.

I'm done with this foolishness...I will advise once I get my replacement, hopefully it will be resolved.