MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

SonGuko wrote:

@Merch, how much does this effect every day usage?

The effect is minor since it only appears on certain colours and it's limited to the lower-left corner and it will fade away eventually. But I'm still going to try to get the display replaced at the Genius Bar in hopes of getting a display that isn't yellow tinted the way I remember my first display.

Read the last two pages after having kept up with this thread throughout the past year or so, and really disappointed there isn't a fix yet. I have a mid-2012 rMBP that has had IR issues since the very beginning. I'm apprehensive about taking it in to get it "fixed" because everything I've read since I bought it has led me to believe that it's hit or miss whether or not you'll get a screen that actually solves the problem, and of the ones that do solve it, they are not as bright.

I'm an interface designer, so having this problem is affecting not only how I work, but the work itself if I'm not careful and wait a few seconds before ensuring the color I chose was correct.

I have Applecare, but I don't know how much it matters at this point if the core problem hasn't been solved. Can anyone else that works with images/color speak to how their replacements have either been better or worse than their original IR screens? I love the whites I get on this thing, but am trying to weigh out whether or not that's worth continuing to have these IR problems for the rest of my machine's life or until they finally give us replacements that work, warranty or not.

bacas wrote:

and of the ones that do solve it, they are not as bright.

I'm an interface designer, so having this problem is affecting not only how I work, but the work itself if I'm not careful and wait a few seconds before ensuring the color I chose was correct.

I think in general those with image retention got a replacement display that is yellow tinted and "not as bright" but generally without image retention. I'm curious what your opinion would be about these yellow-tinted displays as a designer. I hate them; the whites are very far from being white and it has an overal muddy quality. Would you be able to do your work with one of these yellowed displays?

I think in general those with image retention got a replacement display that is yellow tinted and "not as bright" but generally without image retention. I'm curious what your opinion would be about these yellow-tinted displays as a designer. I hate them; the whites are very far from being white and it has an overal muddy quality. Would you be able to do your work with one of these yellowed displays?

My mid-2012 rMBP originally had an LG display which developed IR after about 3 months and started to become bothersome at 6 months. Apple replaced it with a Samsung panel. I used this thread to confirm that the Genius ordered a Samsung display by a separate part number.

It definitely has a warmer white point and its black levels are not as deep as the LG. The only time I notice the black level difference is when the brightness is cranked to 100%, such as for watching a video. For normal work it is beautiful. It meets Apple's published brightness specification (I checked with a calibrated meter), the backlight is uniform, and I can't find a single pixel anomaly with it. It's not "yellow" by any means---it just has a slightly lower white temperature. Either some folks are very anal and are greatly exaggerating this difference in white point, or there is a variation among Samsung panels.

1belvedere wrote:

Either some folks are very anal and are greatly exaggerating this difference in white point, or there is a variation among Samsung panels.

There is absolutely a great variation among Samsung panels, and LG panels, and I've got photographs to demonstrate it. And yes, I'm very anal about the appearance of colour on my displays.

Here's a particularly obvious shot:

At the end of the day everyone's monitors are calibrated differently so my OCD is my own, but I don't think I could tolerate going from the colors on the left in Merch's photo to the colors on the right. Before Mavericks, I used f.lux quite a bit while I coded at night which warms the screen to varying degrees (similar to the colors on the right), but it was absolutely not usable for design, so that image scares me.

bacas wrote:

but it was absolutely not usable for design, so that image scares me.

If you decide to get your display replaced I hope you'll let us know your opinion of the new one as a designer.

I just got my mid 2012 retina macbook pro screen replaced and it just doesn't feel right. The metal enclosure and display come as 1 whole unit so now I get the sense that something is different and this new enclosure just doesn't match the silver brightness and texture of the rest of the metal on the computer. As for the display, it is much warmer than the old one and just doesn't seem to have anywhere near as much contrast or brightness.

What can I do? My computer is out of warranty now. The only way I got the new display was by filing a claim before the warranty ran out.

VENTOUX wrote:

I just got my mid 2012 retina macbook pro screen replaced and it just doesn't feel right. The metal enclosure and display come as 1 whole unit so now I get the sense that something is different and this new enclosure just doesn't match the silver brightness and texture of the rest of the metal on the computer. As for the display, it is much warmer than the old one and just doesn't seem to have anywhere near as much contrast or brightness.

What can I do? My computer is out of warranty now. The only way I got the new display was by filing a claim before the warranty ran out.

Well, you can't do anything, unfortunately. Apple considers these "warmer" displays normal, so I've been told 3 times. The only way I got my "warmer" display replaced was by complaining 3 times since Apple has a "OK, we'll exchange it for you just this one time" policy. But the replacement to the "warmer" display was another "warmer" display (see picture I posted a few days ago). My hypothesis is that Apple is using these orange-coloured displays because they are less prone to image retention and the image retention problem seems to get more noise than the colour problems. So I'm afraid you're stuck with it, and even if you got a replacement, it would be the same. As for the difference in the metal texture, Apple's probably not going to care about that so long as the display works. The only chance you might have is if your display develops another problem like stuck pixels. I'm having odd pixel problems and I'm going to try to get my 4th display replaced and hope that my 5th display looks like my first display did, but it probably won't. But I'm also still under AppleCare.

I bought my rMBP in aug 2012 and everything has been running perfectly... Up until last month. I thought it was just a sort of transparency with the display but of course it is getting progressively worse with the IR. I only need to have a window open for 10 seconds and already there is burn in.

Naturally I took it into Apple, failed the IR test and was told that this happens with all LCDs and IPS technology. I was told screensavers were created to prevent IR so I should set one and put my computer to sleep asap. I emphasised how ridiculous the IR is so the genius ran the test for 7 seconds and even agreed, then suggested that I just need to keep moving the pixels and not leave things on for so long and put it to sleep to get rid of it. So basically after watching a 3 min youtube vid, I should put it to sleep for 3 mins? 😠

I'm out of warranty and if I really needed to replace the screen, I'd have to spend £500. Might as well just get a new computer entirely..

Does anyone know what replacement screen I'd get? Currently it's LG but after a bit of reading on this, it seems Samsung ones are being given out. I'm not really keen on getting a "warmer" display and all the issues of dead pixels and what not, but it would certainly be less annoying than IR and I could easily adjust to the colour.

I don't know if there's any point replacing it either.. What's to say IR pops up again or other display issues! I am disappointed with Apple and have even considered switching back to windows...

Oh, also! In jan 2014 Apple made me replace the motherboard, because it was going to inevitably fail. Don't know if this has any relevance but I had no IR or display issues before then 😟

amylee23 wrote:

I only need to have a window open for 10 seconds and already there is burn in.

Naturally I took it into Apple, failed the IR test and was told that this happens with all LCDs and IPS technology.

WOW!! This seems like a situation where they should just quietly take care of it, or at least split the cost. My girlfriend's MBP from 2007 had its graphics chip fail 3-4 years ago, WELL out of warranty, and Apple replaced the whole logic board because it was a known defect with the graphics processors and not, for example, wear and tear. That sort of positive experience is part of why I came back for another Mac.

My Samsung panel is not yellow by any means---it just has a warmer white point than the LG, and it seems like the contrast is a hair lower. It's still a very nice panel that looks bright white in normal office lighting. It also brightness meets Apple's published specification of 330 cd/m2 almost exactly. I can't find a single dead pixel, and my replacement was a year ago. The Apple part number ordered by the technician was 661-7171.

If you have the capability, a video of the effect posted here might be helpful to your case. You never know.

What do you mean the logic board was "going to inevitably fail" ? My machine was built the same month as yours. What's that about?

I got the exact same response over the phone when I called apple support. How does it make logical sense to set my screensaver to less than 3 minutes when mac os x allows the user to disable it? In other words, it’s like we need to use our operating system in a restrictive way as a workaround to IR.

I can easily demonstrate IR within a few seconds so does that mean I need to set my screensaver to less than 15 seconds now? =/

It’s been about a year since I last posted on this forum about this issue and how it affects HIPPA compliance. I’m still waiting patiently for apple to fix this problem and that’s why I still receive these forum updates via email.

Fixed as in, maintaining the same or better screen quality, but without IR because this is one of the reasons why I bought my rMBP.

1belvedere wrote:

What do you mean the logic board was "going to inevitably fail" ? My machine was built the same month as yours. What's that about?

No idea, it was exactly what I was told. I went into Apple about a faulty charger and it came up on their machine that I urgently need a replacement or it'll eventually become unusable. At the time I'd never even heard of a logic board. If nothing was said about yours then maybe there was a batch of MBPs with dodgy logic boards *shrug*

Maybe I'll wait a few years and hope they're more sympathetic but I guess a graphic chips fail isn't really fixable. Maybe I'll actually have to wait until the IR burns into my display forever >.>

AppleRPh wrote:

I got the exact same response over the phone when I called apple support. How does it make logical sense to set my screensaver to less than 3 minutes when mac os x allows the user to disable it? In other words, it’s like we need to use our operating system in a restrictive way as a workaround to IR.

I can easily demonstrate IR within a few seconds so does that mean I need to set my screensaver to less than 15 seconds now? =/

Yeah I agree. Fair enough that IR happens after a prolonged time but this is ridiculous. We shouldn't have to take steps to avoid the problem, especially considering the price we paid.

I paid 3700 USD...got a $100 itunes giftcard though! yay...

So i picked up a mbpr13 yesterday... no signs of image retention yet but seriously considering returning it and getting a 13" air instead.

Am I crazy or is this problem still going on?

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