Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

Hi again all

I went to lakeside last night and tried out some of the rmbp's only managed to test one side but the side that I did test (left as you walk in) had three rmbps one has LG which was giving off a lovely burn in effect so I showed the guy there who said when you get your replacement book an appointment then bring it in and see if you can get them to swap the screen with a floor screen which is Samsung ;)

So will try but hopefully my replacement today has a bloody Samsung!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrr

Also to note this is the route of my new rmbp are all coming from shanghai???

Shipment Progress

What's this?

Location     Date     Local Time     Activity

Chelmsford, United Kingdom      18/09/2012      6:10     Out for Delivery

18/09/2012      5:44     Arrival Scan

Stansted, United Kingdom      18/09/2012      5:15     Departure Scan

18/09/2012      3:41     Arrival Scan

Koeln, Germany      18/09/2012      3:24     Departure Scan

18/09/2012      0:21     Import Scan

Koeln, Germany      16/09/2012      17:08     Arrival Scan

Dubai, United Arab Emirates      16/09/2012      12:41     Departure Scan

16/09/2012      10:38     Arrival Scan

Shanghai, China      16/09/2012      6:03     Departure Scan

Shanghai, China      15/09/2012      23:54     Export Scan

15/09/2012      15:27     Departure Scan

15/09/2012      12:54     Origin Scan

China      15/09/2012      1:14     Order Processed: Ready for UPS

means you get a brand new one direct from the factory

I just found something that may be of minute assistance.I wonder if all of us associated to this thread should download LCD scrub for mac.Its a screensaver application which makes the pixels go under exhaustive turn outs.Plzz give it a try,I have read about a lot of people for whom this app has generated highly satisfactory results :))

Also means my new one from that factory turned out to be a SAMSUNG! AAAHAHAHA woohoo!!!!!

2nd replacement.

Is there any evidence that these are made from a certain factory?

Good luck but me thinks i should be doing the lottery tonight!

Can you put your serial number into http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

That will tell us the build week at least?  May have some more information too.  I also have one en-route from Shanghai this week to the UK.

got these links from apple support let me know if these help anybody

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

About NVRAM and PRAM

Wow...Just wow...I am on my fourth Retina MBP, the first of which I purchased at a local Apple store and which has the LG display. This machine is positively PERFECT, but when I noticed that Apple allowed for upgrading the CPU from 2.3 to 2.6GHz and since I also preferred 16GB over 8GB, I ordered the second one. When it finally arrived, the difference in display quality was immediately visible. My girlfriend said the same thing and so I was quite disappointed to have to return this 2.6GHz/16GB model, which was otherwise working just fine.

This was my first time that I had to send anything back to Apple, so it was nice to find out how excellent and expeditious the whole swapping out one MBP for another turned out to be. About a week later, the first replacement arrived and I was initially glad that it seemed to not be as bad as the first machine...

BUT, upon further examination, I was shocked and disappointed that the replacement did not get nearly as bright as the one I have from my local Apple store, which, once again, has been working perfectly and the display is nothing short of STUNNINGLY beautiful!

Quite dismayed, I immediately returned this first replacement and went through the procedure to have another one sent to me. This took a LOT longer and frankly, it was a NIGHTMARE to have the second one sent because the return was never set up correctly, which I later found out was because someone from AppleCare set it up, instead of Customer Service. This took quite an emotional toll, but one incredibly nice and capable representative really went to bat for me and kept calling me to keep me up-to-date as far as what was going on. The 2nd replacement finally left China early this morning (9/18) and is scheduled to arrive in only 2 days, which is quite impressive in and of itself.

About an hour ago, I thought to myself that it couldn't possibly be that I would get a THIRD MBP that had screen (or any other) issues. However, that's when I found these forums by accident and until just a half hour ago, I knew nothing about the LG vs. Samsung panels.

Again, the one I have from the local store, i.e. the one that works great, but has the 2.3GHz CPU and only 8GB of RAM is an LG panel, according to two methods described here. I will try to find out what I had in the other two where the screens were bad. Obviously, I can only use the "fifth character in the serial number" method, but I am willing to bet that at least one of them was a Samsung, as I recall one serial having had a letter vs. a number and this was also consistent with the Samsung PLS screen being described here as not being as bright as the LG IPS panel. I was almost ready to keep it but then my girlfriend talked me into another side-by-side comparison and it was awful to find out how evident the difference was once again.

So...in a couple of days, I'll get my 3rd BTO 2.6GHz/16GB Retina MBP, but as I am writing this, I am getting anxious and even a little angry at all of this, because I felt horrible asking for yet another brand new unit and the person helping me was so super nice and totally on the ball. It is also infuriating to find out that there are yet other issues that have evidently come up with yet other screens, such as ghosting or artifacts, etc., none of which I encountered. Instead of being able to look forward to receiving my new MBP, I am now dreading it, and, knowing myself, I will LOOK FOR problems with the screen and it won't be pretty if I find a THIRD Retina MBP having issues!

Sorry for the long post, but what do you guys suggest? How is the Samsung (PLS?) panel worse or better than the LG IPS one??? I used to buy Thinkpads and back then it was also a crapshoot as to whether you got an LG or a Samsung screen, and at that time, you were considered to be lucky if you got an LG over a Samsung LCD.

The issue simply is that I want the 2.6GHz and the 16GB RAM, but I want the screen to be as IMPECCABLE as the one on my 2.3GHz w/ 8GB is from my local store. GRRRRRR!???? :-(((( What do you suggest that I do or don't do? I know, I know. There isn't much that I CAN do, but I'd love to hear some comments. Thanks again for listening!

Mad_Mac_Man wrote:

 

...

 

I am willing to bet that at least one of them was a Samsung, as I recall one serial having had a letter vs. a number and this was also consistent with the Samsung PLS screen being described here as not being as bright as the LG IPS panel.

 

...

From what I've read here, it's the opposite. The LG is not as bright as the Samsung.

Just received a call in response to my email to Tim Cook, and I'm sorry to reporting fairly disappointed.

The guy basically said that as per the KB article, this is normal behaviour for IPS displays and that I should use a screensaver. I retorted that this level of image retention isn't present on any of Apple's other IPS products, eg the iMac, Thunderbolt Display, iPhone, iPad etc., and that clearly it's possible to make an IPS display that doesn't suffer from this issue after only a few minutes, and that the Samsung displays used in these laptops don't suffer from this issue. He replied that its normal for Apple to use multiple suppliers and that neither screen was superior to the other, which is clearly not the case.

In the end he said he'd email me his phone number and email address, and that he'd put a note linked to my serial number noting this issue, suggesting this might assist with any requested repair, but he didn't seem able to ensure I could get a Samsung screen through repair or replacement.

Overall: disappointed. And the posting of the KB article looks like it might scupper our hopes of a firmware update, and more importantly I think it'll make getting a repair outside the 14 day windows much more difficult. Looks like a trip back to the Apple Store for me tonight to take this back.

I hope my journey ends here.

I let Apple replace my display for the second time. The first two times I had LG displays, both times with severe image retention. The first time I let the Apple Store in Munich replace the display (not satisfied, two screws on the bottom weren’t screwed in properly, for example), the second time I sent it in (to Regeneris, a company Apple partners with in Germany) – and they replaced the screen and gave me a Samsung screen! Unbelievable!

So, it seems that even if you get a repair (i.e. they switch out your screen), it’s possible to get a Samsung screen. At least I got one.

it will help

<Edited By Host>

OK....I am about to hit the roof! I have some more BAD NEWS and the Xanax I took after writing my last post is clearly not enough because the crap is about to hit the fan and I am livid.

I was able to find out all serial numbers of the 4 Retina MacBook Pro's, the 4th of which being the one that is currently in transit to me! That's right, based on the warranty expiration and the ship date of each MBP, I know which serial numbers belong to which MBP's.I triple-checked doing side-by-side comparisons, etc.

So, assuming that the 5th slot of the serial number is a NUMBER, the MBP has an LG IPS display and when it has a LETTER, it appears to indicate a Samsung PLS panel. I can tell you that whatever that ends up having, in my case, those MBP's that I have had, have returned and the one I have coming all have a consistent pattern: WHen the 5th spot is a NUMBER, it was a GOOD THING and when it was a LETTER, it was not.

FIRST MBP: The one I am writing this on is my 2.3GHz w/ 8GB RAM that I purchased from the local Apple Store. PERFECT screen, NOTHING wrong with ANYTHING. The serial has a NUMBER in the 5th slot! Does this mean LG? I do not know, but some here have argued that. Anyway, in my case: NUMBER equals GOOD screen!

The SECOND MBP was also PERFECT! (I failed to mention this one in my earlier post, but as you will see, it is also consistent) This was a BTO w/ 2.6GHz/16GB that I purchased but which I had promised someone already, so that one I had to let go. Again, PERFECT screen and you guessed it, it also has a NUMBER in the 5th slot of the serial!

The THIRD MBP had the worst screen of them all and is one of the two that I immediately returned. Guess what, 5th spot in the serial is a LETTER!!! (i.e. BAD)

Now, for the most disturbing part: My Retina MBP that is en route and has the serial already attached to my Apple ID profile, so I know what's coming:: 5th spot in the serial number: A LETTER! Again, assuming the whole "5th spot in serial" is a true measure of the source of the screen and the consequences of what this means at the moment, then I am looking at another BAD SCREEN. I am SOOOOO angry right now. Obviously, no matter what manufacturer makes the screen, they are all supposed to work the same, but that is clearly not the case.

There is history with this kind of stuff happening at Apple, by the way. Another example would be the 2010 MacBook Air's, which also stirred up controversy, because some of the MacBook Air's SSD's inside those were either a Toshiba SSD or one from Samsung. Toshiba was found to have MUCH SLOWER drives than the Samsung SSD. Yes, in this case, Samsung was a good thing.

JacksterD's news regarding IPS screens was even more disconcerting, because it means that Apple is not acknowledging this and/or doesn't care. IPS (in-plane switching) is the most advanced LCD technology to date. OLED is crap compared to IPS. AMOLED is crap as compared to IPS. Super AMOLED HD, which is used in the Samsung Galaxy SIII, for example, is again, INFERIOR to the IPS screen on the iPhone 4 and 4S and presumably the upcoming iPhone 5. I have seen it with my own eyes and almost every last review says the same thing. While it is true that the response time (the refresh rate) of some IPS panels is longer than your average crap TN screen that you will find in every cheap monitor, most laptops, netbooks, etc., it does NOT mean that there is ghosting, or any of the other non-sense that the Apple representative tried to sell you on. It makes me angry that anyone at Apple would attempt to mislead a customer like this.

In closing, I am looking at my next Retina MBP having a screen that may very well be INFERIOR to the one I have now. What would you do???? Let's say, the screen is once again not as good as the wonderful display that I have here as part of my lower-spec machine (2.3GHz/8GB RAM) vs. the 2.6GHz and 16GB RAM) that I have coming but according to the serial number pattern, for that MBP to be flawless would HAVE TO break the consistency that IS undeniably there. How can I really accept anything less than the stellar screen I have on my entry-level machine and enjoy that machine??? What the **** is the matter with this non-sense??? I don't like wasting resources like this, but you know what, I could just continue to send one back after another after another after another, and believe you me, they will NOT turn me down! What advice do you have for me?

I've a MBr 2.6ghz 16gb ram.

After 1 week I noticed IR effects on the display. I brought my MBr to the Milan Apple Store, and they changed the whole LCD clamshell.

After 1 day I started to notice same IR effects again, and now with the checkboard image after 2 minutes my LCD appear like that:

Today I went to apple store they offered me to replace again the LCD or to wait 2 without the Macbook in order to get a new one (because my macbook pro it's BTO).

So I called Apple Care they offered me only again another clamshell substitution.

Later I will return in the Apple Store and they gonna change my LCD again, but I guess they will mount again one LG with IR effects identical to the one they mounted me , and the same to the one Apple shipped me with the notebook.

15 years that I'm proud Apple Mac user , I never experienced something like that. I'm more than ******.

FYI

FIRST MONITOR

McCoy:~ scruch$ ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

Color LCD

LP154WT1-SJA1

DCN22630ELYDMJ0AQ

SECOND MONITOR

McCoy:~ scruch$  ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

Color LCD

LP154WT1-SJA1

DCN231507U3DMJ0AE

McCoy:~ scruch$  ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6

Mad_Mac_Man wrote:

 

So, assuming that the 5th slot of the serial number is a NUMBER, the MBP has an LG IPS display and when it has a LETTER, it appears to indicate a Samsung PLS panel.

I just looked at my serial #.  The 5th slot is a letter and it's an LG panel.  So much for that theory.