Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

elemento73 wrote:

 

could you tell why it's important to known the build week of the machine?

I thought that the only thing that matters for this case is if is a LG or a samsung display!?

Some people are trying to keep track of build weeks to correlate with the problem.  Early on (a couple of weeks ago) we thought that maybe it was just a bad batch of LG screens and an attempt was made to match build weeks to see if all of the rMBP with bad screens were built around the same time.  However, this turned out not to be true and it's looking like many LG panels (most? all? it's hard to say since this thread only represents a small sample of owners) have the problem regardless of build week.

Now the point of tracking build weeks is to see if there is a week after which the problem stops happening, in which case we'll have a good idea that they fixed something.

All that being said, knowing the build week doesn't really help the end-user directly.  It's just extra info.

cs22ms wrote:

 

I spoke to a senior advisor or whatever next, and he said that the engineers are aware of the issue, and that a firmware update would be released in the next week or two to resolve this. I'm doubtful. Oh, and in the mean time, he suggested that I use a solid white desktop image until the firmware comes out. I just started laughing...

I think the senior advisor was just feeding you a line, but if it does turn out to be true that Apple issues a firmware 'fix' for the problem, then I think it's up to us to be very stringent in testing the fix.  Someone should take a high-speed video of the screen after the fix to ensure that Apple is not playing shenanigans with the display like showing white frames occasionally (although I don't think that's really going to end up being the fix, because I don't think it would work; but I can't even guess what kind of firmware 'fix' could possibly address the issue).

Also, I think that someone with the tools to do so should take some really good measurements of their display before the 'fix' and after (colors, brightness levels, etc) so that we know what the possible downsides to the fix are.

I will write Anand at Anandtech again, maybe he can help.

bjiibj wrote:

 

 

I will write Anand at Anandtech again, maybe he can help.

I wrote to Anand again.  I offered to lend him my rMBP with LG panel and image retention to use in his analysis if he needs it.

Good. It's about time this gets some visibility on the tech sites.

Hey, is anybody on this thread a CNN iReporter?

If so, maybe you could do a story, with video.

http://ireport.cnn.com

P.S.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Hey,

I just thought of something. Has anybody tried verifying whether or not the IR issue persists even after a hard shutdown (not a restart)? The reason I ask is because it may shed some light on whether or not a firmware update will even do anything.

It's possible that some of the LCD panels' electronics are not reset when the laptop itself is reset, but are only cleared after a hard shutdown. So, if the Samsung and LG panels come with controllers that are manufacturer-specific and the firmware on these chips can be updated by the Mac itself, then it's possible (I still think unlikely) that a firmware change might resolve this. I know that the IR issue persists even after a reset, but if it completely clears after a hard shutdown, then I'm a bit more optimistic (but not much) about a  firmware fix.

Anyway, I'm not near my rMBP right now, so I can't check.

Nah, a hard shutdown doesn't change a thing IR still persists after boot up from a hard shutdown

I tried that, doesn't work. Even leaving the machine shut down overnight didn't help.

I'm waiting for my 2nd replacement (3rd machine), hoping it will be a good Samsung (my last one had a pressure mark). Just wanted to share one positive experience with Apple Online Store Support - they sent me a free Superdrive to compensate for my troubles - really nice of them! Now I just need a defectless computer to connect it to

OK, well, I guess that theory is all shot to ****.

As someone mentioned earlier, we'll need to be very suspicious of, and investigate thoroughly, any firmware "fix" that Apple releases to address this issue. As an engineer who works with video, I am 100% convinced that this is a hardware design problem and/or a manufacturing yield issue on the part of LG. This has nothing to do with firmware...period. Any proposed solution involving a firmware upgrade will likely be "shenanigans" and smoke-and-mirrors to quell the discontent on this thread. They may find a way to stop the IR problem, but they will likely degrade other aspects of the display's performance, which should become even more apparent when compared with Samsung displays.

I can't wait until this is over, because I'm feeling ripped off right now, and sitting here waiting, not knowing if there's actually going to be a satisfactory resolution, is exhausting.

Yesterday I left my rMBP at the Apple Store for repair, after arguing for more than 40 minutes with a genius and the store manager. Both were very kind in telling me all they could do was a display change and a thorough inspection for eventual problems.

I'm just hoping here...

Canuck1970 wrote:

 

As someone mentioned earlier, we'll need to be very suspicious of, and investigate thoroughly, any firmware "fix" that Apple releases to address this issue. As an engineer who works with video, I am 100% convinced that this is a hardware design problem and/or a manufacturing yield issue on the part of LG. This has nothing to do with firmware...period. Any proposed solution involving a firmware upgrade will likely be "shenanigans" and smoke-and-mirrors to quell the discontent on this thread. They may find a way to stop the IR problem, but they will likely degrade other aspects of the display's performance, which should become even more apparent when compared with Samsung displays.

 

I can't wait until this is over, because I'm feeling ripped off right now, and sitting here waiting, not knowing if there's actually going to be a satisfactory resolution, is exhausting.

I'm also very worried about a possible firmware fix, because I think there is a good chance it will just mask the underlying issue while degrading performance in some way compared to what is possible with the Samsung screens. Additionally, if they do a firmware fix, I'd guess that it would also apply to the Samsung screens, meaning that they could be degraded in the same way (for consistency) even though they don't need to be.

That said, due to the costs of replacing all of the problemmatic LG screens, I fully expect Apple to attempt this sort of firmware solution even if there is degraded performance against what could be possible with Samsung screens. They probably don't quote any specs on refresh rates or anything else that would be affected by the changes, so nobody would have a valid return/repair claim against them for the degraded performance. This could be similar to how they might respond to an overheating GPU issue by tweaking the clock speed of the GPU to avoid overheating...since they never claimed the GPU would run at max speed, you can't claim harm if they make changes to it.

It's crazy that some of us have to fight with Apple to get the problem resolved while others are getting free stuff for their troubles.  This situation would benefit from consistency.

Listen, for anyone considering dropping off your display at a repair location, please make sure that you run the terminal command before and after your repair, and write down everything regarding your old display and the new display. Then, share those details with us on this thread. Also, it might not be a bad idea to try to put a small identifying mark on your display, hidden along an edge or something. If you use a small-point Sharpie to make some small distinct marks, but put the markings in a non-obvious location, where you actually have to look for it, it will help to confirm that they've actually replaced your entire display assembly and have not just opened it up to load some custom firmware or something other than a full replacement. I asked the tech at my local Apple repair shop how they do it and he told me that they replace the entire thing, hinges and all, and not just the LCD panel, so don't settle for anything else. 

My trust in Apple right now is kind of shaken, so forgive me if I sound a bit paranoid. 

BRanger wrote:

 

It's crazy that some of us have to fight with Apple to get the problem resolved while others are getting free stuff for their troubles.  This situation would benefit from consistency.

I agree 100% A statement directly from Apple is definitely warranted (like with the iPhone 4 antenna issues).

The guy at my apple store was more than happy to replace my computer (even though I had it for over a month). He said, "I wouldn't want my 1 month old computer to be repaired, so we are just going to give you a new one."

JustSayNo wrote:

 

"Additionally, if they do a firmware fix, I'd guess that it would also apply to the Samsung screens, meaning that they could be degraded in the same way (for consistency) even though they don't need to be."

That is a really good point!

If there is a firmware update and it requires that we run a patch application  (i.e. Apple doesn't just sneak it in as part of one of their 10.8.X OS update packages), then I suggest that none of us perform this firmware upgrade until we can confirm that it's reversible. I'd hate to see one of you lucky guys with Samsung displays get screwed over because of some duct-tape solution designed to fix LG's crummy display issue. Also, don't forget that firmware is not the same as the software on your SSD drive, so you likely won't be able to reverse it with Time-Machine afterwards.