Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

Back with an Update.

Great News for Washington residents, and all props to the University Village Apple Store near UW for helping me keep my sanity. You guys are awesome and definitely step up to the plate to represent the quality customer service that Apple is (was, depending on who you are) known for.

Now my story.

I discovered my IR issues last week, and called 1-800-My-Apple (DO NOT CALL THEM FOR THIS ISSUE. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE AND WILL TOSS YOU AROUND UNTIL YOU FEEL LIKE HANGING UP). I was told that outside of 14-days, nothing could be done and that nonsense. I was then insulted by being told that I may be using it at a weird angle (as mentioned in a previous post) and other nonsense that would make any rMBP owner furious.

Fortunately, I went back to the apple store I bought it at (University Village Apple Store, Seattle -- BTW YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY ROCK!!!! THANKS FOR my new SAMMY Screen). So I previously had an LG, week 23 unit. It would have IR within 10 minutes of a static screen.

I showed them the ghosting issue, and in my case (graphic design) I work with static images that remain on my screen for 5-10 minutes at a time whenever I am fabricating. I did a mountain drop landscape on a white background with gray/black brushes. My intial mountain outline stayed visible for about 5-10 minutes after my initial adjustment, so definitely a horrible IR issue...especially if you are like me and your "bread and butter" is kind of dependent on not having unusual artifacts in your work, while you work.

While waiting for my appointment, I checked the 6 rMBP displays. 2 Samsung and 4 LG. I checked one LG, and both Sammys. My LG, the display LG in the store both showed ghosting within 10 minutes. The Sammys had the image up for 20 minutes respectively and absolutely no IR.

Again, I seriously owe this particular apple store a gigaton. These guys heard me out (unlike 1-800-My-Apple) and they kept my unit for further testing because of the readily ghosting issue. It seems most apparent whenever I am in graphic design, but never an issue when playing a movie or editing a movie.

Based off of my last week of research and use, the ghosting seems to be a large issue to individuals like myself who regularly work with static images (and for ghosting to happen after 10 minutes is completely unacceptable in regards to QC).

Luckily the first unit that got swapped happened to have an LSN vs. LP serial number, so I can safely say I now have a week 32, Samsung screen and I have left it on a checkerboard for the last hour and am happy to say there is no ghosting whatsoever.

Long Story Short, it looks like a hit or miss for most customers which *****. But I can say politeness and factual evidence went a long way in my case (though I was venting about my 3000+ cost before I spoke with a genius )

Again, if any Apple Stores around are watching this board, you should re-evaluate your "managerial words" especially when there is clearly a QC issue at hand.

University Village Apple Store in Seattle... YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY are the BEST...SERIOUSLY!!! Thanks for hearing out my issue and verifying it, and even agreeing to a replacement 2 weeks outside of the 14-day.

(I will update back if I notice issues with my sammy display, but seems awesome so far)

no, I meant they wont offer me refund or exchange on my third faulty unit. I can buy more for sure, but why the heck would I want to do that?

Vertigro, surely they will offer repairs for you, right?

I mean, they did offer you some sort of solution, even if they won't replace or refund the unit?

they told me that the IR on my screen wasn't actually an issue that warranted attention, and they weren't going to spend any more time on me because I'm causing the IR on my screen. Thats literally what they told me. No repair, no return, even though i was on day 1 of my 14 day period. I tried to be polite but the genius was shutting down everything I said, pretty much ignoring all my points.

I called apple care and they told me they couldn't help me because I had to go through the store. The store repeated the same to me.

I stil have to try applecare again, but geez im exhausted.

Vertigro, surely they have to do something!

If I understand correctly, this is a brand new computer. It is covered by a private business policy and also by the laws of whereever you live.

I'm sure you can suggest a follow up through a lawsuit, they might not feel like this is warranted and offer you a better alternative...

That's what I have done the last few times I have had issues with businesses such as Dell, Bell Canada, and Apple. It's amazing how responsive store managers and customer services are when you send them a formal notice for a lawsuit...

Dr Sly

Thanks so much! I decide to return this beauty. Get tired to go through the whole rMBP thing.

BTW, I uploaded a new clear version of video. Anyone should be able to see the right corner of the window will tear as moving. All operation was done under Recovery partition with the latest version of Mountain Lion 10.8.

http://vimeo.com/47688245

ps. video should be available after 25 mins.

Hi "Vertigro",

That totally ***** that you're having to go through this.

Shame on you Apple!

Apple's response reminds me of Steve's "you're holding it wrong" explanation when the iPhone had those antenna issues a couple of years back. Totally lame!

However, since Apple did eventually own up to the design flaw that caused that issue, maybe there's still hope that we'll be able to resolve this problem we're experiencing.

Do you know what bugs me the most about this?

Unlike the iPhone, which undoubtedly is owned by more PC users than Mac users, I'm quite sure that the majority of people buying this new Macbook Pro with Retina display are loyal and die-hard Mac users.

C'mon Apple! Almost $4000 for a fully loaded Macbook Pro with a display that starts looking like an 80's-era bank machine's screen if you leave a static image on for too long (granted, it does go away, but it's still totally unacceptable).

Solve your manufacturing issues Apple. For God's-sake, Chinese labour is cheap! Put a dozen or so workers in a room full of test jigs and batch test these screens for image retention before you install them into a machine. Better yet, get LG to do that and refuse to buy any more LCD panels from them until they've fixed the problem.

You, Apple, are in danger of really ******* off the professionals who've helped bolster the idea that Apple makes quality machines.

Fix this!

Regards,

Peter

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2807

I have a question about IR and how the images are.  So if I was to do the test and theres a ghost image,  is it suppose to go away after a couple of minutes or does it stay on there permanently?  I've done the test and IR is there, but after a minute or so, its not there anymore.  Would that constitute me having a bad screen?

DrSly/Picnaut - yea, if apple care won't help I will probably do that. and if that doesnt work, I will do all I can to spread the word about that specific location. There is an excellent location 7 or so miles away that I wouldn't mind driving to for good service, and I'm sure others will feel the same.

I'll keep you all posted...thanks for the support people!

Received my rMBP 2.7/16/768 today.

Been reading these posts for days now, couldn't wait to test. Somehow I knew it was going to be an LG display, not sure why, guess I'm just pessimistic.

Sure enough, it is. I'm week 33 as well.

Having followed the travails of everyone here, my inclination is to just return it and not go through the hassles. Right now, the screen looks beautiful, but for many, the problem presented after 14 days. Also, even if IR doesn't occur, I don't have a Samsung for comparison with regard to color/contrast/brightness. I don't want to have an inferior screen, even without IR.

Would you guys recommend returning it? My concern is how long do you wait to re-purchase. It seems clear that you cannot request a Samsung, and I don't like the lottery of hoping you get one. It seems clear that many have had MULTIPLE replacements, all LG. Do you wait for a formal recall from Apple (that will likely never come), or do you just wait several months until they have worked this out. Not sure of the right answer.

I should add that I have an iMac currently, so it's not my primary computer.

Thanks everyone!

Yes, from what you describe that is a screen with Image Retention sensitivity.

It's not normal for a screen to do that after such a short period of time. When you bring it back for replacement, whatever they tell you, just remember - it is not normal.

best of luck!

vpxdough

I have a question about IR and how the images are.  So if I was to do the test and theres a ghost image,  is it suppose to go away after a couple of minutes or does it stay on there permanently?  I've done the test and IR is there, but after a minute or so, its not there anymore.  Would that constitute me having a bad screen?

A screen where the IR lasts a long time.    If you crank the brightness up, pick a medium grey background, launch safari and disable auto dimming I think in most cases you will see a barely visable image of the safari screen still showing on the medium grey background.   It should completely vanish in a few minutes.

So if it goes away, theres no IR, is that correct?

no, if it comes and then goes away, it is Image Retention. if it stays, its called Image Burn (not retention). Image Burn was a very common issue on earlier plasma displays