Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

The IR on the LG screens doesn't always show up right away. It may takes anywhere from a few days to ~ 2 months before you start noticing it and it's all downhill from there....

I was lucky enough to get a Sammy on my first swap. Having said that, some Samsung screens are plagued with dead pixels that pop up suddenly after weeks, and backlight bleed !!

I just booked my rMBP (LG display) in for a replacement screen due to this issue. The work authorisation sheet I have shows 661-7171 as the part number to be used. I will come back and reply when I know what it turns out to be.

The Genius mentioned that this was a changed part number from the original ones, which does suggest that they've identified the issue and are only using known-good LCD parts. We'll see I guess!

I've just received this morning my 3rd replacement rMBP and guess what... it's another LG screen.

For reference it's a week 40 (Chipmunk) / week 41 (Appleserialnumber) and was ordered about a couple of weeks ago. Spec is 2.6 / 16 / 512.

I went to great lengths with Applecare to try and ensure that this one would have a Samsung screen but of course I was never guaranteed to get one. The only option now is either to keep this latest replacement or send it back for a full refund. These options were given to me when this latest replacement was organised by UK Applecare.

The screen on this replacement has a very cool shade of colour but whites look incredibly white albeit colours look slightly more 'washed out' compared to the one I'm sending back. Uniformity seems very even with no dead pixels or mura anywhere that I can see.

Of course the first thing I did was to run the terminal command to identify the screen and then check for IR. As with so many people who have an LG screen, there are no signs at all that IR exists at the moment but that's not to say it may / will develop later on.

I'm at a total loss as to what to do now. The trouble is that this was bought through the education store and my circumstances have now changed so it's not a simple case of getting a refund and re-ordering as I wouldn't get the educational discount. My only option on re-ordering is through the normal route which means paying about £200 - £300 more than I did when I first ordered it.

What's your advice? Keep this latest replacement or send it back for refund / re-order? Trouble is I'm not guaranteed a Samsung screen even if I did re-order and I can't request a screen 'repair' as there is no IR at present.

I'm based in the UK too - I'm guessing that a lot of people on here are based in the US so I'm not sure what that means for me.

I am on day 5 with my LG screen and so far I see no IR.

I really do not know what to do at this point.

I keep testing it daily.

I'm about to order a retina MBP so I've been following this thread since the first post.

At our local Best Buy I wrote down the serial number of one of the retina MBPs about 3 months ago.  I also placed a small piece of clear tape around the lower right corner of the display.  My hope was to see if the display was being serviced.  IE the tape removed.  Obviously someone cleaning the display units could have seen it and removed it but it was pretty small and very clear.

Periodically I'd come back and check if it was the same unit.    I wanted to know if Best Buy (or Apple) was swapping units out to make sure IR didn't show up.

For the past 3 months this one particular MBP has been sitting on the corner of the Apple table in Best Buy and my piece of tape is still there!  Either it's been missed, or the unit has not be swapped, or perhaps it was swapped the tape replaced.  Who knows...  I tend to favor that it is the same unit.

When I first tested it for IR 3 months ago I got some nasty looks from the Best Buy apple guy but he left me alone.  I basically monopolized the machine for close to an hour.  I opened two terminal windows and started intense processes in them.  Soon the fans were on full bore and the chassis was getting warm.  I would run the IR test using a checkerboard.  It was definitely there but difficult to see.  IE I had to really look for it.

Over the three months this unit has been there I've not seen the IR get worse.   Clearly the unit is on from 10am till 9pm and perhaps even over night.  Not sure about that. When I go in and test IR on this particular machine I let it sit for a long time getting quite hot, then run a manual checkerboard test.  The IR seems about the same as it was when I initially tested it.

I went through this exercise because I was curious if I purchased a unit if I'd find myself hating the screen.  I'm not a graphic artist, I'm a programmer.  I tend to open a window and it stays mostly where it is.  I don't often go from window to background which seems to be the case where IR shows the most from what I've read. 

I will say that this particular retina machine I've been beating on sure looks nice.  The display is MUCH more crisp than my older 2010 MBP. I can't comment on colors or white values as I have no idea what would be normal.  I have a favorite background I use which is like a very dark piece of fabric, IE you can see the stitching and in the dead center is one of the older colored apple logos.

I got in trouble for bringing this background in and placing it on "my test unit".  The Apple guy asked me what I was doing and I carefully explained it to him and he said, look we really don't like people bringing in files to put on our display units.  When I showed him the background he asked for a copy of it so I gave it to him.  Problem avoided.  

So yesterday I loaded my background and heated the unit up for close to 30 minutes with all 4 cores at 100% then I brought up windows like I would use in my work.   When I closed a window I could barely see, if I really looked hard the image of the window but on the fabric background it was very difficult to see.

So while I firmly believe there are issues and if you are a graphic artist, photo editor, etc and you need to see trule colors then this would be an issue for you.  But at least on this one test machine with an LG display for a guy like me that writes software and works with normal windows mostly staying in position, if I choose the right background the IR seems almost not noticable.

Sure I wish the problem wasn't even there and I'm frustrated that Apple seems not interested in dealing with this issue in a way becoming of Apple.  But I think my advice for people that read this thread is that you really need to decide for yourself if IR is going to be a problem.  For me I don't think it will.  I hope I don't eat my words a few months after I place my order!

As far as buying a different brand well that's not an option for many of us.  I have a fair amount invested in OS X based software.   Sure I could get a Windows based laptop for a lot less but by the time I purchase all the pieces of software I need to work under Windows it would cost just about what the cost of the MBP retina will be.  So that's not an option for me.

I'll keep watching this thread. I hope to order mine sometime in the next week.  Good luck to those of you dealing with Apple on replacements.  I wish you the best.  I know how frustrating it is to buy something that costs this much and have it not be perfect. 

MarkRHolbrook wrote:

 

I'm about to order a retina MBP so I've been following this thread since the first post.

 

At our local Best Buy I wrote down the serial number of one of the retina MBPs about 3 months ago.  I also placed a small piece of clear tape around the lower right corner of the display.  My hope was to see if the display was being serviced.  IE the tape removed.  Obviously someone cleaning the display units could have seen it and removed it but it was pretty small and very clear.

 

Periodically I'd come back and check if it was the same unit.    I wanted to know if Best Buy (or Apple) was swapping units out to make sure IR didn't show up.

 

...

Great post. Thanks for doing this investigation. I've wondered if the persistence of the IR gets worse over time, and many have said it does. But, as you say, it could well be different between different systems, and the significance of it might be different to different users as well.

I have slight IR on my system and have a replacement coming to me. If it's an LG display, I don't know what I'll do. I might make the assumption that my current system won't get worse enough over time to matter to me and just keep it. Heck, it's a georgeous display.

rrahimi wrote:

 

 

I've got a 2.7GHz model and I routinely see temperatures of around 100'C on my CPU cores! I'm using "Temperature Gauge" from the Apple App Store to monitor everything. What kind of temperatures were you seeing before you had them replace the thermal paste?

 

 

Hmm. Fans should kick in and bring that 100C down quickly. In fact I thought they wouldn't let it get that hot.

 

On my MBP, fans keep the temp below 60 most of the time. Maybe it's expected behaviour on rMBP.

I have noticed that the fans don't quite kick in like they should. I have been using SMC Fancontrol to setup different RPM settings. Apple defaults to around 2100 RPM for the fans but I have noticed that I need the fans to be at 3300 RPM when under heavy loads to keep temps between 65-75C. The fans will eventually kick in but IMHO they should kick in a lot sooner. Maybe an SMC update will fix this. I had this same problem with the first Intel Macbook Pro that ran quite warm. I run at about 39C idle at default setting of 2100 RPM.

I am on day 5 with my LG screen and so far I see no IR.

I really do not know what to do at this point.

I keep testing it daily.

Since you have 14 days, don't spend too much time testing. If you notice it during regular usage, you will know. If not, run the test on the final couple of days instead.

Either way, by Apple's own admission IR is a feature of the technology so it will show up. Unless you get a Samsung in which case you'll be missing out on this awesome feature.

I have noticed that the fans don't quite kick in like they should. I have been using SMC Fancontrol to setup different RPM settings. Apple defaults to around 2100 RPM for the fans but I have noticed that I need the fans to be at 3300 RPM when under heavy loads to keep temps between 65-75C. The fans will eventually kick in but IMHO they should kick in a lot sooner. Maybe an SMC update will fix this. I had this same problem with the first Intel Macbook Pro that ran quite warm. I run at about 39C idle at default setting of 2100 RPM.

Interesting. Assuming these laptops are all functioning within specs and have no soft/hard defects, my only guess would be that some of them have been built with higher tolerance, better natural air ventilation, better/larger heatsinks, etc. Basically fans don't play as important of a role on some.

That doesn't explain the comparison of same models though. Going with the same basic assumption, it might be environment temperature playing a role. E.g. fans wait until a mixture of components as well as the casing reach a certain temp and then start the cooling. In a colder environment that would result on different fan response times.

I've been following this thread for a while, but decided to pick up a rMBP from a local Apple store last night from their fresh shipment. 

And....it has a Samsung display!  Maybe they've decided that LG has too much problems and switched production?  Not sure, but if I were getting one now, I'd go to Apple store since they're more likely to have a fresh stock rather than one that's been sitting around for a while--and thus hopefully with a Samsung display.

Productionweek?

Congrats! What is your week number?

Stanigu wrote:

 

I've been following this thread for a while, but decided to pick up a rMBP from a local Apple store last night from their fresh shipment. 

 

And....it has a Samsung display!  Maybe they've decided that LG has too much problems and switched production?  Not sure, but if I were getting one now, I'd go to Apple store since they're more likely to have a fresh stock rather than one that's been sitting around for a while--and thus hopefully with a Samsung display.

I forgot to mention, I have 2.6Ghz/16GB/250GB rMBP. I just think they could have better temp management with fans or at least the option to control it. I mean this is an i7 and with hyperthreading on - these chips run hot.

Unfortunately the only other i7 I have to compare to is a desktop i7 920 2.66Ghz overclocked on water to 3.9Ghz and it runs 39C at idle and never goes over 80C. Considering these chips per Intel have CPU Tjmax = 105C, I wouldn't want my machine getting anywhere near 100C and I have caught mine in the high 90s when encoding video.

Going to do a SMC reset to see if that helps since the latest SMC update. Otherwise, I have been manually adjusting the RPM using SMC fancontrol when I know I am doing intensive video or photo editing.

All considering though, its an i7 that can hyperthread and in my case goes up to 3.6Ghz and it is on air not water cooled. Heat is not nearly as bad as I was expecting, just be aware you have a beast under the hood and it can get hot depending on what type of user you are.

rrahimi wrote:

 

 

I have noticed that the fans don't quite kick in like they should. I have been using SMC Fancontrol to setup different RPM settings. Apple defaults to around 2100 RPM for the fans but I have noticed that I need the fans to be at 3300 RPM when under heavy loads to keep temps between 65-75C. The fans will eventually kick in but IMHO they should kick in a lot sooner. Maybe an SMC update will fix this. I had this same problem with the first Intel Macbook Pro that ran quite warm. I run at about 39C idle at default setting of 2100 RPM.

 

 

Interesting. Assuming these laptops are all functioning within specs and have no soft/hard defects, my only guess would be that some of them have been built with higher tolerance, better natural air ventilation, better/larger heatsinks, etc. Basically fans don't play as important of a role on some.

 

That doesn't explain the comparison of same models though. Going with the same basic assumption, it might be environment temperature playing a role. E.g. fans wait until a mixture of components as well as the casing reach a certain temp and then start the cooling. In a colder environment that would result on different fan response times.

Although temperature regulation may seem off-topic here, it's actually not because we've established (somewhat) that heat seems to come into play with the image rentention issue. Anyway, no one's complained about this being OT, but I thought I'd get that out there.

As for the temperatures I was seeing, I actually don't think it's normal to see routinely see an average CPU temperature of 100'C. I'm not too worried about damage, because there's a built-in safety shutoff for that.

I have good news though. As suggested a couple of pages back, I reset the SMC and now my temperatures seem normal. My current average CPU temperature is 53'C and my CPU proximity temperature is 43'C.

joekljk wrote:

 

"Going to do a SMC reset to see if that helps since the latest SMC update"

Please tell us your results after the SMC reset.