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

Ridiculous, ignorant and ill informed comment from 'impurfekt'.

Yes, I did. It was bloody awful. I got my £718 back from the Trafford Centre, Manchester.

Really?? i'm just on the phone to them now and they have said that no-one has come back to them regarding this problem and that I'm the first one!!

Sylo wrote:
Really?? i'm just on the phone to them now and they have said that no-one has come back to them regarding this problem and that I'm the first one!!

Their employees are trained to say that to everyone. They said the same thing when I went thru multiple iMac's looking for one without a yellow tint on the bottom half of the screen. I never did find one, and they kept telling me I was the only one with the problem. One time I even ran into someone at the Apple store exchanging for the exact same reason. They probably told him he was the only one with a problem too.

The are fibbing. I was in their this week and I returned it for a full refund. The peniuses knew exactly what it was about AND they told me that they had dealt with many over the weekend.

Just got of the phone to them! and they said they will call me in an hour to see if they can get another one for me!

It will be as Slicecom states. A corpo damage limitation strategy. Deny all knowledge.

I hope this flares up in their face.

I bought mine in NYC and I won't be heading back out there for at least a few months. What's the chances of me getting mine swapped out by Apple, or should I contact my credit card company?

I smell a BBC Watchdog campaign if I don't get satisfaction on this one...

Message was edited by: Le Gazman

Call Apple, they will help I am sure. If they do not, use the Consumer Credit Act, to which you allude

Cheers, CC

I have gone though two units, both with significant backlight bleeding, and finally just returned the second one for a store credit. I want an iPad 2 but apparently I have to wait to get one in good working order. I was offered to keep mine and bring in back in a few months and it would be warranted but I want my warranty date to start from the moment I get one that is worth the $900 I shelled out for it. Apple has handled this very good with me but I am very frustrated and already miss my iPad 2 but I cannot justify accepting hardware with that issue.

Exactly the same position as I. I would not have accepted store credit. That cash is better sat in your account, earning interest.

I plan to try again in a month or so but you raise a good question.. now that I have this Apple Gift Card is there any way I can have that given back as cash? Not that a month will earn any interest, especially in this economy but kind of on principle (pun intended).

impurfekt wrote:
At the risk of ruffling some feathers I will suggest a majority of folks are behaving unreasonably.

If I test any of my non-CRT displays in a similar manner as the test being used to determine light leakage on the iPad 2, I will get "leakage". My $1600 Samsung LED TV, my 24" Apple LED display, my three Acer 21" LCD displays, and yes, even my iPad 2 all exhibit some form of light leakage or non-uniformity.

I am suggesting this is simply the nature of the technology. To demand perfection now, when it has not been demanded previously is unreasonable.

That said, if your display appears non-uniform during normal usage, you are certainly entitled a replacement and should request one. If symptoms only appear during "testing" I don't believe any action on your part or Apple's part is necessary. Take a deep breath and use you iPad.

I have a Philips LED 2000€,a Sony 19" TV TFT/LCD 700€ and a LG 15"TV TFT/LCD. And NON of them have a backlight leak or dead pixels or anything. Why? cause they have taken out the bad production elements. I don´t say that Apple is a bad product maker, but you can´t expect that the customers HAVE to buy the defects.

I Mean if you buy a new car of 50.000€, would you take it knowing that the engine is leaking some oil (Althought the rest works)? I wouldn´t. Now if I have spend a 1000$ on a product I expect it to be worth a 1000$, nothing more and nothing less. Now if they would advice that the Ipad could have backlight leaks, I would accept it. But I can´t accept a product that is anounced as "perfect" to be slightly faulty.
Sorry I can´t do that.
And also Apple is taking back the product without questions asked, knowing the defect. If it was perfect they wouldn´t take it back. Now I can not complain of the post-service. That one is ACE!

From my experience Apple agrees with you. Both times I took mine back they stated that what I was experiencing was not normal and a warranty issue. If someone wants to spend all that $$ and accept hardware that even Apple agrees is unacceptable then that is on them IYAM.

THIS IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT AND HERE'S WHY...

Those of you experiencing the issue, please press down on the bezel/frame adjacent to the leak and you'll see it get better or worse. Now hold the iPad 2 in landscape orientation and flex the bezel/frame from opposite sides. You will also notice the "spotlights" of leakage change, disappear or get worse as you bend and flex the frame.

The bottom line is that the light leakage is being caused by uneven pressure and stress being transferred to the LCD display from the frame and internal components. This is due to how the LCD display is mounted inside the frame and the lack of rigidity in the frame itself. This is manufacturing tolerance issue that will need to be resolved. The method for mounting the display will need to be changed in order to better insulate it from pressure points.

I believe a solution to this problem will require a revision to how the units are manufactured and/or assembled. The likelihood of Apple making the required changes is almost zero. Look at all the flack they took over the iPhone 4 and they never changed any manufacturing processes. This issue is far less public, and you'll see far less from Apple as a result.