MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

Hello everyone,

I have the same problem with the image retention as everyone else here. I also have two questions:

1. Did anyone notice that the image retention gets worse over time?

2. Since I live in a country in which we do not have Apple Stores (we only have Apple Premium Resellers), I am wondering if there is a way to return the MacBook to Apple in order to have the screen replaced, or replace the MacBook with a new MacBook?

I know it must be funny for most of you, but since we don't have official Apple Stores in my country, I am not very familiar with Apple's replacement policies.

Thanks!

saso.jadrovski wrote:

1. Did anyone notice that the image retention gets worse over time?

Many people have reported that the image retention does get worse over time. Hoping someone else can answer your second question.

Not sure in which country you are in but my understanding is the following: there is a 14 days no quibble return policy.

If in doubt return it and ask for a new model. If you have got IR on a brand new model is not a good sign. IR will not get less over time. In fact people here have reported it will worsen over the course of the lifetime.

Ask for a new model and not just for a new screen.

MacOSX10.6 wrote:

Not sure in which country you are in but my understanding is the following: there is a 14 days no quibble return policy.

If in doubt return it and ask for a new model. If you have got IR on a brand new model is not a good sign. IR will not get less over time. In fact people here have reported it will worsen over the course of the lifetime.

Ask for a new model and not just for a new screen.

The bad thing is that I bought my MacBook Pro Retina 15" Mid 2012 in November/December 2013 and I noticed the retention back than but I was not sure what to do... Now I am afraid that it is too late. I live in Macedonia, and the MacBooks here are very expensive meaning that I will not be able to afford a new one for a long time. For instance, my MacBook cost 2000 euros which is an equivalent of ~ $2700 😟 I thought that I would be able to "get over it" but since it gets worse, it starts to really annoy me (especially because I am also into graphic design).

I am very sorry about your IR problem, hope you will find a solution, <edited by host>

Yeah! I noticed this in may 2013.

I mailed the retailer and they said apple was aware of it and it should be changed.

Due to travelling (in work) and deadlines I had no time to get to the retailer until yesterday. 46 days after the warranty expired.

So Apple refuse to send a new screen since they was not aware of the problem (since I only mailed with the retailer).

If I could I would change to another computer manufactor, but it would complicate a lot with my work.

Guess I must get myself a new profession where I do not need a Mac.

Don't feel like I want to pay 2000 dollars every second year to a company that doesn't fix what they screw up.

Sad, because I used to have good experience with Apple...

Looking for some advice... I purchased a new BTO haswell 15" rMBP last week from Apple, 16GB/1TB SSD, etc..

Right out of the box, I noticed that the screen was dimmer than I had expected;

I had to put it at full brightness, or just one below, in regular indoor lighting to get what I felt was a decent picture.

I've also had a hard time calibrating it; the i1 claims that it is coming up with a good 6500k profile, but just eyeballing it, it looks much dingier than the other MBPs we have around the office (including a 13" rMBP); I feel like I can't trust the color output by this Mac.

My machine has the LG SJE1 panel, if that makes any difference (and no image retention, that I can see as yet.)

I'm still within the 14 day period; should I mail the machine back to Apple for a refund, or swap it for a new machine? Are any of the panels considered OK these days?

Kind of sad to see a $3000 laptop perform this way.

adwolf11 wrote:

I've also had a hard time calibrating it; the i1 claims that it is coming up with a good 6500k profile, but just eyeballing it, it looks much dingier than the other MBPs we have around the office (including a 13" rMBP); I feel like I can't trust the color output by this Mac.

I assume this is what you're experiencing, adwolf11, as shown in this photograph comparing a 15" Retina MacBook Pro (left) to a 15" Classic MacBook Pro (right). The Retina display looks "dingy," which is a good word compared to the bright and vivid Classic display.

This is a common complaint but curiously, not all Retina displays look the same. Some Retina displays look fantasic! I know because my first display looked fantastic that I regretfully replaced due to muras. Now I'm on my third yellowed display. Here's another comparison photograph with two units of the same model of Haswell Retina MacBook Pro. On the left, an in-store unit, looks pretty good. On the right is my dingy display. The display model numbers are different, but I can tell you that the same display model number can look different between units.

Unfortunately, this is just how Apple is selling computers. I suspect that these "dingy" displays are less susceptible to image retention and that could be why they're using them because I don't think I've heard of a display that has both yellow-tint and image retention. My Spyder4Elite couldn't remove the "dinginess" either.

Apple considers this colour variation normal. The Genius Bar won't take them back. I've spoken to senior Apple support people on the phone twice and the best advice I got was to take the display in to an Apple store where they would just tell me it's normal anyway.

If you're within your 14-day return period you could return it and get another display that is also yellow tinted. Or you could get one with image retention or other defects like stuck pixels or muras. This is just what Apple is selling these days for $3,000. Please confim if my photographs are representative of the problem you're describing or if I'm way off.

Thanks for this, you are correct, that's exactly what i'm seeing with my SJE1.

The SJE1 (at least this one) is dim relative to other displays i've used, and I agree with your conjecture, that this may be b/c they are trying to prevent image retention. But who really knows.

Whatever the reason, having to run the screen at full or one-notch-below-full brightness is unacceptable to me, as it defeats the purpose of using Haswell (long battery life.)

Even worse, LEDs get dimmer over their lifespan, so the machine could become really aggravating to use within 1-2 years.

I am an optimist by nature, so i'm going to give 'em another shot & do an exchange. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the results are a bit better the second time around!

adwolf11 wrote:

I am an optimist by nature, so i'm going to give 'em another shot & do an exchange. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the results are a bit better the second time around!

Let us know how your replacement is when you get it.

Will do!

I have never exchanged anything with Apple before, but i'm guessing that they want the old machine back before they mail a new one (?) If that is the case, it could take weeks before I can report back, as this is a BTO machine.

adwolf11 wrote:

...The SJE1 (at least this one) is dim relative to other displays i've used, and I agree with your conjecture, that this may be b/c they are trying to prevent image retention. But who really knows...

I have raised the flip-side of that conjecture a number of times: that operating the screen brightness wide open or close to it encourages IR, and, perhaps, that's the reason I haven't developed IR (yet?) in an early 2013 rMBP with an LG SJA2 monitor. I set the brightness about 1/3 of the way up on the brightness slider (at 6 of the 16 levels when using the keyboard for brightness control). I could set it high enough for a sunburn but I don't.

I wonder if the "dinginess" is just a built-in limit to the brightness level to one that doesn't encourage IR.

The problem is that if you leave the SJE1 that I've got here at 1/3 power, the screen is unusably dark. Forget about proper calibration at that brightness.

Either mine has a particularly weak backlight, or LG really is trying to solve this problem by making the screens dark. We'll see how the replacement looks....

After reading a good 13 pages of this discussion, I'm wondering if you guys think it's worth the purchase?

I'm planning on buying a new 13" Pro (Replacing an '09) and had my heart set on a Retina. Is it worth all the exchanging/Genuis Bar visits for this machine? or should I just go cMBP?

Thanks~

Sasame wrote:

After reading a good 13 pages of this discussion, I'm wondering if you guys think it's worth the purchase?

I'm planning on buying a new 13" Pro (Replacing an '09) and had my heart set on a Retina. Is it worth all the exchanging/Genuis Bar visits for this machine? or should I just go cMBP?

Thanks~

If you get a good screen it will be the most amazing thing you ever saw. But the question is if you'll get a good screen.