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

Like many of you, I followed my iPad 2 from the moment I ordered it at the Apple Online Store (March 12th, in the morning) through the "Prepared for Shipment" and "Shipped" stages, and then via FedEx as it made its way to my house. I had an original ship date of April 11th, but Apple managed to ship mine on the 31st, which was great. It arrived at my house last Tuesday, the 5th. My hope all along was that my late production date (as opposed to the people who ordered on Day 1 and got shipments within the first week or two of release) would help me to avoid any issues with the famous "light leaks" that have been discussed on the various boards.

Well, unfortunately, that was not the case. My new iPad (White 64GB AT&T) had significant light leakage around most of the screen, with several large spots to the right of the home button, and up the right side of the screen. As a result, I could never really get close to a dark or black screen when watching movies, as the screen was always pretty bright, and much brighter in some sections than others. This condition was quite visible in any room with dim lighting (it didn't need to be "dark"), with the iPad brightness at 50%.

On Monday, after really trying to live with it for a few days, I decided that it would probably be best to see if I could get it replaced. Fortunately, I have three different Apple Stores that are all within 45 minutes of my home and work. I made a genius appointment on Monday morning at the store that was closest to where I work.

The first store didn't have any units in stock, but they offered to order one for me, and said that it would likely be in later this week. They also suggested that I could try one of the other stores, via a genius appointment, to see if they had any replacements in stock. Monday night, I made a genius appointment at the second store, and was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to hear that they had a replacement unit (brown box with just the iPad) in stock that matched my unit. The Apple genius was nice enough to take me into a supply room to check out the new device. Unfortunately, while slightly better, this new unit also had a light leak issue that was pretty bad.

After searching around for a while, the genius told me that there were two matching units in retail packaging that had never been opened in the store manager's office. They had apparently been holding both of these back there pretty much since Day 1, in case they had an issue that required an immediate replacement. We opened the first box, took it into the supply room, and saw that the new iPad was much worse than mine. The genius, now discouraged, put that one aside to be sent back as defective. We then opened the second retail box, and quickly saw that this iPad, while not as bad as the first retail unit, had an issue that was very similar to my original iPad. Like the first store, they also offered to order me a new one, and said that they'd call when it came in.

On Tuesday afternoon, the first store told me that they had received a replacement unit, and they scheduled a genius appointment for me to make the swap. I was thrilled that it came in so quickly, and went to the store immediately after work. This store, for some reason, wouldn't let me go into a back room to check out the new unit, but the genius did offer to do it for me, comparing the new device with my original one. After a few minutes, he came back and told me that the new unit was at least as bad as what I had, and he suggested that I now call AppleCare to see if they had a way of getting me a unit without the issue, rather than just ordering another replacement unit through the store.

While driving home from the Apple store Tuesday night, I decided to try the third store (approximately 40 minutes away), just in case they had something better. So, I drove up there, made a genius appointment, and then talked to them about my saga. The genius, after a quick search, told me that they had just received a replacement unit (brown box) that matched my specs. He offered to check it out in the supply room with me (not sure why the first store wouldn't do this, but the other two would), and we quickly discovered that this one was a WINNER! Three sides are completely sealed, and the fourth side only shows very minor light leakage at 100% brightness and no visible light leakage at 50-60% brightness, which is how I use my iPad. I was thrilled to finally have found a good one, and spent last night restoring my settings and files and testing everything out. So.....after lots of searching, I now have a solid unit with no light leak issues, no dead pixels, and no other apparent problems.

When I first started to read some of these posts, I wondered how much the light leakage would really matter at the end of the day. For people with only small amounts of leakage, I'm betting that it won't be a big deal at all. Most of them will probably just end up keeping the iPads that they have. For others like me, who have more significant like leakage, it seems that a replacement is the best approach. As someone who has tried both an iPad with a lot of leakage, and now one with almost none, I can honestly tell you that the difference, particularly when watching movies in dim light, is absolutely amazing. Now my black bars stay black, and the dark scenes in the movies stay dark. It's a much better overall experience!

I am still a HUGE fan and supporter of Apple, and I still believe that they design and build some of the best products on the planet. I have several iPods, an iPhone (I had an iPhone 3GS, and I now use an iPhone 4), and now an iPad, and I love how these devices look and work. I am confident that Apple will find and fix the root cause of the iPad production problems in the not too distant future. In the meantime, for those with significant light leaks (versus the people with only minor issues that you won’t ever see during “real-world” use--those people should just keep what they have), I can tell you from experience that there are some good iPads out there. I am holding one of them now.

I thought I would update this thread with my info. I had already gone through two iPad 2s due to light-leak. I returned the 2nd one.

I just tried again, bought a 64GB at&t iPad 2 this morning and this one is just as bad. It has the little splotches but it also has a corner of the screen that is basically covered in light.

Thanks for making a long post. I kind of enjoyed reading it.

Question to some of you guys:

- Why do you use 50% brightness for viewing movies in dimmed room? That's just too bright and will hurt your black levels anyway. Also it will introduce grains and picture noise. This will also show your light leakage even more.

Recommendation by goodolcheez:

- LOWER YOUR BRIGHTNESS SETTING TO 30% or LESS, depending on the level of dimness in your room.


Anyways, I have a great idea.

Why don't Apple sell "hand-picked" ipad 2's? Charge $200 more for zero light leak. And the ones with 2 or more minor leaks offer discount. Ones with severe leaks charge 10% of the ipad price.

Ol' Cheez, I hope you're kidding.. if not I feel for you. Maybe you are OK with giving 100% of the retail cost of a product and not receiving 100% (Apple reps have ALL stated this issue is NOT NORMAL and WILL BE REPLACED/WARRANTIED).

Soooo, YOU can choose how you want to ignore severe quality issues while Apple and everyone else ensures we get what we pay for. No one needs to be told how to use their device. If Apple wanted it less bright, they had the option to NOT ALLOW it to be as bright.

Funny all the apologists here when Apple themselves will look at these iPads and admit it's bad/not "in-spec".

This is the first ever apple product I have purchased, I have spent a lot of money on my iPad and am extremely disappointed with the quality as I also have backlight bleed issues in a corner and sides.
I bought my iPad from John Lewis, Apple will still replace it right.
What are most people doing. I am just thinking of waiting a couple of months to have mind replaced by which time the problem will hopefully be resolved.

I am irritated and sad about this

I have a rather bad "light leak" problem on my new 32GB wifi. Noticed while watching a movie, then found this thread (and others). Mine seemed to get worse, so I got a case # from Express Lane and went to my local Apple store this morning. Long story short: Apple knows about this issue. They only had a white 32GB in stock so they are ordering me a new one & will call & email when it arrives. Incidentally, another guy being waited on at the same time as me has the same issue on a white 32GB. Yet another woman had a bad power supply on hers...
It's so bright in the store that I plan on bringing a black jacket with me to cover the screen on the new one to check it. Man, mine was BAD... virtually every inch of all 4 sides had the yellow blotches & light leaks!

I have a rather bad "light leak" problem on my new 32GB wifi. Noticed while watching a movie, then found this thread (and others). Mine seemed to get worse, so I got a case # from Express Lane and went to my local Apple store this morning. Long story short: Apple knows about this issue. They only had a white 32GB in stock so they are ordering me a new one & will call & email when it arrives. Incidentally, another guy being waited on at the same time as me has the same issue on a white 32GB. Yet another woman had a bad power supply on hers...
It's so bright in the store that I plan on bringing a black jacket with me to cover the screen on the new one to check it. Man, mine was BAD... virtually every inch of all 4 sides had the yellow blotches & light leaks!

I wanted to give my experience... On 4/6 purchased a Black 64GB WiFi IPad2 from an Apple store and upon setup I detected a decent amount of backlight leakage at 50%. 4 spots on the left and one on the upper right. Taking it to 100% increased the visibility of it. I tried the "weight" and "wait" trick over the weekend with no success. I compared this to an Black 3G model which had a tiny bit of leakage but the owner was fine with it. Another person in my office had minimal leakage on the one they bought (type unknown). On 4/12 I tried to get a replacement but the Apple store didn't have one so I returned the unit. On 4/13 I was lucky enough to get a new model Black 64GB WiFi IPad2. After setup I detected a bit more leakage than the first one I owned that was diffused over more of the screen. Additionally, there was a bad pixel. I scheduled a visit and took it back to the store. They switched out with one in stock and it was worse. They tried another one (their last) and had same problem and a bit less than the others.

I had confirmed during purchase on 4/13 that there was a VERY limited supply of Black 64GB WiFi IPad2s. It is assumed that there were only about 10 or 20 delivered because the manager said it was VERY VERY limited (he didn't give out exact numbers).

So based on my numbers that shipment was at least 15%-30% defective. The person behind me during purchase had the same problem and was doing a switch to get a better one. Never knew if he did but highly doubt this batch was good.

I have decided to wait a few weeks at least and try again...

Sorry to hear that. Sounds really annoying.
I'm hoping since the store had to order one for me, there might be better luck on the next batch.
Certainly the issue has been flagged by Apple @ the factory by now.
My genius authorization work paper says: Issue verified: Yes. Issue: Light leak in all four corners.

Got my iPad yesterday (ordered 25th of April) I was kind of hoping to get away with this one BUT I got backlight bleed almost all aroun the becel. Will talk to Apple support tomorrow and see what happens... Keep you guys posted.

I am on my third and while exchanging a cover for my iPad 2 I ran into the manager that has been helping me. I let him know I did the early thing and got one. He asked me if it had the same problem.. Yes, it does. I can totally return/exchange it within the 14 days but I asked him straight up (and I trust him.. great guy) if I brought my iPad 2 back in down the road when this gets resolved if he could guarantee they would take care of me.. he said yes.

I think I may just trust him, be happy not wasting gas for awhile and get it taken care of when Apple gets this issue cleaned up.

I am going to try the screen/books thing and maybe that will work. I am over exchanging as you have to transfer your at&t plan each time.

Don't waste your time with the book thing, the issue is caused by the screen being pinched. Adding more weight won't help.

Had the same problem. First iPad 2 light bleed. Returned to apple store. Received replacement, replacement has same problem. Made appointment with Genius Bar. Tech told me the same thing. He was willing to switch out the iPad 2 but the problem may still be present. He suggested to wait a month until things got resolved and then exchange the defective unit. He was very honest and a good representative of Apple.

What is the failure rate on this? I think there are a lot of people out there having the same issue. What is your guess? 95% failure rate? If so, man I am so thankful I got a good one.

RULE #1: As one of the members has suggested, if you are the first time buyer and has a little bit of light bleeding, don't try to exchange it. You will be f#@ked. Generally, the first item is the best. So keep it.

Rule #2: if you haven't bought it yet, DO NOT buy it. I know I wouldn't. For now that is.

Somebody has posted this from another thread so I posted it here for ya guys.

http://www.cultofmac.com/if-your-ipad-2-has-display-problems-do-not-return-it-he res-why/87197

Jesus, that appears to be fairly brightly lit room and you can see the severe light bleeding there. It's shocking, lol.

I love my ipad2... I got a good one, first attempt.