Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

I haven't been on this thread in about a month and a half, maybe two, and I can see that unfortunately nothing has changed. Just the same conversation perpetuating. If Apple could please address this we could all move forward.

My 13" mbpr is just 13 days old. I noticed slight flickering of the monitor 2 days ago.
This morning I grabbed it by the top left corner when it was shut and noticed a click sound. Don't know if it is the screws... I don't hear the click noise any other corner I grab/press...

Took it to the apple store just now and they told me to send it back 'if it really bothers me'.

Hm.

Called Apple and they said they are going to send me a replacement.
Does 'replacement' mean refurbished? lol.

They are def. scaring me into buying Applecare...

Rolled the dice and had my LG screen replaced. While I was in the apple store, I did some detective work. What I observed:

(When I say brighter below, I mean at 100% brightness, white background and stock apple color calibration profile for the screen... additional brightness equavalent to 1-1.5 brightness keyboad clicks)

1. Not all retina screens are equal. Some are definitely brighter than others. I originally had a samsung... it was brighter than the 2 LG screens I've had. The 2 LG screens were equivalent to each other in brightness.

2. In the apple store I went to, the 13 inch MBPr display models were all brighter than my new LG 15" replacement display. There were 2 15" MBP retinas on display that were brighter than mine with the new LG screen.

(Tried to ID the different screens in the store via. command line, but was unable to do so due to a change in apple hardware or not having admin priv.) I wonder if the additional light output is due to a different manufacturing process with LG vs. Samsung and resulting light transmission characteristics. Suppose it could be the LED lighting. Regardless, there is a difference.

3. My samsung never had the image retention behavior. It appeared on my second replacement LG screen today after cleaning with a damp lint free cotton cloth, and then returned to normal after 15-20 minutes, which leads me to believe that it is possible that *moisture* plays a role in image retention issues with the LG screens (never had this issue with the Samsung, ...ever) Just a casual observation.

4. The second LG screen seems to need a different color calibration to achive the same results as the previous LG screen, which further leads me to believe that standardizing these screens to a level where an astute observer can't tell the difference must be currently next to impossible from a manufactuing standpoint (LG at least). The calibration is also very different from my original samsung screen.

5. It ***** to feel like I have a possibly inferior product to the one I originally purchased and to not really be able to ascertain if I do. It clouds the mind and creates doubt. When sourcing from different manufacturers, the customer shouldn't be able to tell a difference. This is very wrong in my opinion (and is obviously causing apple problems, hence this thread). The main selling point of the retina MBP is the screen for God's sake.

6. I sucked it up and bought applecare for the first time. It appears that buying applecare directly from apple is a rip at $349... did a seach and bought applecare from B&H camera, saving myself $100... got it at $244 + 19 rush shipping. Do yourself a favor and search around. Universities have the lowest prices in some cases if you are a student or faculty member.

So, my take is if you buy a MBPr, you really don't know what you will get or will end up having and you had better factor applecare in to the actual purchase price of the product (not as a luxury).

Good night and good luck:)

syoung_c wrote:

 

Hi. I am in a pretty much the same situation with you.

I have mid 2012 15 rmbp and currently having the same issue which you but, my apple care have ran out,

Do you think, is there any chance of getting a screen replacement without a fee?

You mean your standard 1-year warranty ran out, not Apple Care, correct?

Apple Care lasts for 3 years, so, if you had that, you would still be covered.

I have a 15" rmbp purchased in Dec 2012, 3 months out of warranty. Ghosting only became apparent now, likely because I only use the machine once per week. I already tried figiding with the sleep and screensaver settings. It didn't work. I don't want to pony-up the replacement cost. Any suggestions?

I have one more thing to add. I feel unhappy about the display problems. I feel unhappy that I felt I HAD TO BUY APPLECARE.

But... a rep called me from Apple today while I was having the nastiest customer service dispute of my life with Simple finance corp...  Simple.com

That really put things in persepective.

I felt like a human that mattered to Apple.

I felt like I was a piece of trash to Simple, even though they appear to be trying to portray themselves as a Apple of finance.

So, am I joyous about the MBPr display issues, NO. But being treated like a human when things get really ugly matters. More than I realized. And Apple is generally good at making sure things don't get REALLY ugly in the first place.

A call matters as well as customer service training.

Simple finance told me to go fck myself (in so many words) though text. Apple CALLED and offered to replace the screen again. Big difference.

What is the rhyme or reason for why Apple will replace some displays under warranty and screw others over by saying "it's normal" even under warranty?

I am having the same issue here. Barely used my 15" Macbook Pro and now it is ghosting. I am also out of warranty and do not feel it is right to have to pay 600 dollars for a new screen

I have to complain here.  I bought the late 2013 rMBP 13" and noticed serious light leakage on the display.  I took it to the Apple store and they agreed to replace the display although they denied there is a problem.  I got the display replaced and found out the display has yellow tint, very different from a normal display.  I talked to them again and they agreed to replace it again for me although they keep saying this is the Apple standard display and they do not think there is a problem with the display. They replaced it again. I got my MacBook back today and checked whether they fixed the issue at the Apple store. Guess what, the display still has the yellow tint.  I talked to them right after, they refused to do any further repairs. They keep denying there is a problem and saying the display with clearly yellowish tint is Apple standard and normal everywhere. If that is normal, why did I have never seen other laptop manufactures selling the display with yellow tint and all the MBP displaying at the Apple store dont have the display with yellow tint? If that is the Apple standard, why do we spend twice as much money on a machine comparing to other laptops have the same spec?  I think Apple lost its great quality and great customer service.  I will keep talking to them and keep this post updated.

hzhao1 wrote:

 

I got the display replaced and found out the display has yellow tint, very different from a normal display. 

Thanks for sharing your story, hzhao1. It's a story we've heard several times: people replacing their first display due to image retention or some other problem and getting a replacement display that has a noticeable yellow tint. Personally, I'm on my third yellow-tinted display after a nice clear first one. I've complained to the Genius Bar 3 times and they tell me it's normal; I've talked to senior Apple support people on the phone and they just tell me to go to the Genius Bar. Apple says that these displays are normal. The only thing we know for sure is that the displays that Apple sells are not identical; they can very a lot in their colour representation and whether or not they have defects like image retention or backlight bleeding or bad pixels or any other problem. It's really a gamble what kind of display you get and unfortunately you can't assume that it's going to be a good display just because it's on a machine that cost over 2000 dollars. Clearly Apple doesn't care about image quality or colour accuracy. That's what they've told us. If we buy Apple products we need to be prepared to inspect them and return them if we got a broken one. But if it's a replacement display then we're stuck with them. Buying an external colour calibrator helps marginally; I also calibrate it to 7500 K so that the display is hideously blue instead of hideously yellow which makes it a little less horrible to look at.

Very important issue (i dont know if any other one have tested it before but i findout this now )

I have tested Image Retention test on Samsung galaxy s4  and LG G2..  and both of them have had IR after 10 min !!!!

maybe any display will have IR after 10 min..   I did this first on LG G2 and when i see the IR i thought it is because of lg , then i made the test immedietly on my mother's phone ( Galaxy S4 )  and i was shocked...  S4 super Amoled display have IR too...

You can count Dell and Lenovo in too.

I have got A022 display model what does that mean ?

Hi,

i received my MBPr (15 inch, late 2013, iGPU, 16gb ram, mmod say model A022). And at first i checked the burn in. nothing to see . But then i checked the yellow tint problem. Bc i cannot trust my eyes i did a photocheck ...

This is a picture of my screen at 2 lower than max brightness showing a white picture. I used the standard calibration and turned up the saturation in photoshop to 100%. Should i get a replacement or is this "normal"?

I also think that the highest brightness is kindof dim. I compared it to my MBP 13" mid 2010 which is as bright as the MBPr which shouldnt be as LED get darker over time ...

SonGuko wrote:

 

I compared it to my MBP 13" mid 2010 which is as bright as the MBPr which shouldnt be as LED get darker over time ...

The best thing to do would be to put your 2010 MacBook Pro and your 2013 Retina MacBook Pro side-by-side and take a picture and it should be obvious if your 2013 Retina MacBook Pro has a yellow tint. It should also be obvious on its own. Post the picture here for us to see.