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

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Or call tech support and ask for a product specialist/manager/tier 2 after giving a reason and s/n. Btw it will help if you are nice as well.

Worked in an apple call center for two years and that is the only way to get anything done. Tier 1 can not give appeasements or speacial "care". Generally tier2 will give you a direct call back number and ext or email to contact them if the problem persists.

Hope it helps

Purchased a black 64GB WiFi a few weeks ago, latest IOS version and S/N, pretty much perfect with very faded light bleed along the bottom left (vertical). Can't notice it, so it was definitely a relief. Today, I received a black 16GB 3G with the latest IOS and similar S/N - but it has a more noticeable light bleed just to the right of the Home button. Only noticeable with a black screen and in a dark area. Not sure if I'll make a fuss over it and deal with the hassles of getting a replacement unit that may be worse.

Phalanix wrote:

Purchased a black 64GB WiFi a few weeks ago, latest IOS version and S/N, pretty much perfect with very faded light bleed along the bottom left (vertical). Can't notice it, so it was definitely a relief.

There is no such thing as "pretty much perfect". It's either perfect or not perfect. You can say "nearly perfect" if it is not perfect, meaning you still have the light bleed. A lot of people are afraid to try out by taking their device to bathroom with no window and lights turned off. Leave it at 50% brightness and set it to black screen. The light bleed will be very apparent. Or take it outside in the balcony at night. Light bleeds will be seen very easily. The only time you might not be able to see light bleeds is if you sit on the couch between two strongly lit lamps or take it outside in the sunlight....

goodolcheez wrote:

There is no such thing as "pretty much perfect". It's either perfect or not perfect. You can say "nearly perfect" if it is not perfect, meaning you still have the light bleed. A lot of people are afraid to try out by taking their device to bathroom with no window and lights turned off. Leave it at 50% brightness and set it to black screen. The light bleed will be very apparent. Or take it outside in the balcony at night. Light bleeds will be seen very easily. The only time you might not be able to see light bleeds is if you sit on the couch between two strongly lit lamps or take it outside in the sunlight....

I said "pretty much perfect", not "pretty perfect". I'm fairly sure "pretty much perfect" and "nearly perfect" mean the same thing. Either way, when I tested it in a dark room @ 100% brightness on a black screen, I'd have to look very carefully to find the faint light dispersion. It's just not something anyone will notice unless they're anally scrutinizing the screen like a "pixel peeper". Hence I said this particular unit is "pretty much perfect" or as close to perfection as it can get.

It doesn't exhibit the usual light bleeding problem other people are experiencing, so in that sense you can say this unit is perfect.

Update on mine, I got a call from the local store to say they had a new batch in...Hmmmm

So i asked if they could open one to check before i made the trip, they called back and were very honest to say they 64GB 3G unit they opened actually had a cracked screen.

They checked another and confirmed that it does have very minor light leakage, then i got the whole glue may not be dry as it was in an air tight package and should settle down...

They also offered a full refund if i wasn't willing to accept a replacement, purchased it in April....

Update....

Had my iPad 2 replaced as previous post and have no yellow blotches on the new one...

Maybe the fixed ones are starting to filter through

I have had two iPad 2, both purchased this month. Both had minor light leaks on left side(If home button is on bottom). Both were wifi only. One 16gb one 32 gb. I wonder if only wifi versions are affected or if all versions. I got the latest one on Tuesday had to upgrade to 32gb due to stock issues. Going today to return again. Principle, should be no defective when you purchase a 600-800 device.

Obviously still plenty defects in supply chain.

On my 6th iPad 2 ( 64gb White 3G) and still have the issue! Have to say though, all the apple staff are friendly, understanding and have had no issue swapping out the iPads for me. Also the defect is only visible when in the dark and looking at a black screen. Unfortunately I use my ipad a lot for watching movies so often get a dark screen and see the leakage. Full story below.....

Apple Store Visit 1

IPad 1 - Purchased at launch, Mar 25. IPad had blotchy leakage all the way around screen, especially in 1 corner.

Apple Store Visit 2, mid May

IPad 2 - First swap out attempt failed. Genius checked it out the back and said it had the issue too.

IPad 3 - Genius also checked this one and said it had leakage but only down one side. It was the best of the three and if I wanted I could take that one and come back another day, as they were out of my model, and try again. FREE red smart cover for my trouble.

Apple Store Visit 3, 16th July

IPad 4 - Only had one of my models in stock as a replacement part. Genius checked it and confessed it had one small leak by the home button. As this area is used when playing video I hoped this would be the end of it. Unfortunately, as soon as I got it home, spotted a nice bit shiny dead pixel right in middle of the screen.

Apple Store Visit 4, 17th July

IPad 5 - Rather than a replacement part, they refunded my original transaction and gave me a brand new boxed model. Dead pixel!

IPad 6 - Another new boxed model, no dead pixels.... the assistant checked for leakage in the store and said it was clean...... get home...... leakage all the way up the left hand side, right where i don't want it for watching movies. One particular blob is really bad. FREE, kept the charger and cable from the new box and got a free dock for my trouble.

So now what? Each time i go to the apple store its 2 hrs of my life and a 60 mile round trip!

If the next one is fine I will have gone though £3,960 worth of faulty iPads and received over £100's worth of free accessories. All I want is an iPad free of defects BUT can apple deliver one?? I honestly think that apple must have a HUGE quality issue for me to get 6/6 defects.

Will be calling Apple Support tomorrow and asking for some special help. Can anyone else beat 6??

I went through 5 before I gave up...Honestly at this point it's not even worth it anymore. A lot of sites are saying that there's going to be a new iPad out around september -- one that has a better screen resolution than this one (I guess it's not going to be called the iPad 3 -- but it will be like a "plus" model iPad 2) -- I would just wait until then. I don't live that far away from the nearest apple store as you do, but I realized that I was wasting far too much time explaining the issue to what I would call "fake dumbfounded" techsupport and in store geniuses who every time I told them about it they acted as though they never heard of the problem before. Now how in the world could that be with all the posts and views on these forums? They were still nice and exchanged it _every_ time for a new one, but it was such a hassle going down there and wasting my time....finally on the 5th try I brought a cardboard box thing with me so I could test it for light leakage right in the store (there's no bathrooms in the store near me and no dark areas) -- I tested all their floor models -- every single one had extremely bad leakage, and every one they unpacked for me had the same exact problem too. Finally they just said maybe it would be better just to give you a refund -- I guess with the problem staring them in the face they would rather get me out of the store than accept that all their products that they had on display even were ALL defective.

Also -- not to be overly speculative but I am thinking the _exact_ reason why they are even releasing this "plus" model ipad 2 in the first place is because of ALL the problems with the screen on the original iPad 2.

Still, really makes me mad -- online orders taking 1-2 months to arrive, people waiting in lines -- all to have a "plus" model come out 6 months later. Apple usually has yearly product refreshes, which seems like a good enough time to wait for me...but I guess when you screw up a product so bad at it's launch you really do have to get in a refresh at 6 months.

Same thing with the last macbook airs -- everyone wanted the nehalem series core i3\i5\i7 cpu but apple went with a 2 year old core 2 duo (lol) at the last mbair refresh last fall..now they are getting another refresh next week.

Now, granted there have been a lot of credible reports from news sites that say the ipad 2 launch was really not apple's fault. There have been many many reports that the components needed to make the device are in extremely short supply -- and foxxconn could just not keep up with apple's orders. LG even announced that they were the reason behind the defective screens...Now let's just hope they get all of this stuff settled before the next ipad launch...I think they will. I think they learned a lot of lessons from the iPad 2 launch.

My new one also has light leaks on left side. That's 4. I guess there are zero perfect iPad 2 out there. I think even people that say they don't have them probably have small light leaks.

What to do?

LeedsDG wrote:

My new one also has light leaks on left side. That's 4. I guess there are zero perfect iPad 2 out there. I think even people that say they don't have them probably have small light leaks.

What to do?

If you're that picky about it, I'd recommend buying nothing as no consumer device is likely going to stand up to your scrutiny, even most LCD HDTVs have slight light leaks, and they're much more likely to be watched in a darkened room.

Me, I have an iPad 2 I ordered online and it has no light leaks I've been able to detect, but even if it did unless they were pretty severe they'd not detract from my ability to use the device.

For what it's worth, my first one was pretty bad - light leaks on all sides.

I sent it in for repair and the one they sent back has no light leakage or light blotches, I checked using a black image in a dark room with brightness turned up. I posted a pic somewhere in this thread, its just black picture though since there is/was nothing to see, which I guess was the point.

I am picky too, plus it is frustrating to get an expensive new toy and have it be faulty, but for my part Apple made it right. Just thought I would relate my story so you know getting a "good one" is possible.

don't blame you,

first of all let me express how sorry I am for this and how I can help.

If you would email me @ The_App_Creators@yahoo.com I will explain to you everything you need to know about taking charge and making sure this never happens again. dont worry I wont ask for any personal information.

just consider please. Think about how happy you will be with a working product.

Thanks for listining

J-

Update - just returned an ipad2 and the screen bleeding problem is gone in this brown box replacement. Was told that it was a glue drying problem. It was worth it to bring it in and the staff didn't have a problem exchanging it out. Based on some other posts was expecting denials but they admitted to the problem right away. If you still are seeing a problem, it may be worth it to swap it out before the warranty expires. The staff we dealt with were very polite and professional.

Seems like someone got the memo. Good work apple.

Regards