You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

💡 Did you know?

⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >

⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Green glow on iPhone 5 unlock screen?

I've had my iPhone 5 for a few days now and I've noticed this issue more and more. Whenever I wake my iPhone there is a split second where a green glow around the edge of the screen is visible. It's a bit like light leakage but its green and only appears for a fraction of a second after you turn on the screen. It is also sometimes activated by using the slide to unlock, which makes it glow brighter.

Does anyone else have this happening with their new iPhone? I don't know if this is the start of a defect or not... I have had very rare graphical flickering and tearing of the keyboard UI, but that's only happened once or twice and only for a second, as soon as I started typing it went away.

It looks like this might turn into a trip to the Apple store, I just wanted to know if anyone else has noticed this weird phenomenon on their new iPhones.

iPhone 5, iOS 6, Black - 64GB

Posted on Sep 28, 2012 10:26 AM

Reply
215 replies

Nov 27, 2012 1:46 PM in response to The_kiza

We all paid same .. and definitely this is not normal behaviour.. When they decided to make phone case out of metal, they should also think at metal properties to conduct electricity. However, as I see from your pics .. your phone's behaviour is way worse than what others here experienced. My phone only blinks in that green way when I touch it on a big surface while holding it in the other hand. Yours, i see it on a blanket, and screen is way worse than what I see on mine .. So yours needed to be sent back, and you will probably receive a new one, at which you will notice the behaviour we are experiencing because I am sure all phones have this issue but its pretty hard to notice by an average user .. I noticed it by mistake because I wanted to clean the screen with my wrist. Its not usual but not normal either..


Hopefully .. Apple will do something

Nov 27, 2012 1:54 PM in response to Hazza42

I was thinking sending mine New York for replacement since I bought it there and I live in Greece where the warranty is not valid here. I went to 3 stores and saw the demo they had and imagine what... All the devices had the green glow but only me was able to show it with my arm trying to electrifie the screen , so I m not sending mine for replacement cause I m sure the new one will have the same problem.

Nov 29, 2012 1:17 PM in response to tomyiiii

So it isnt static then?


I got my phone about 10 days ago, instantly noticed this. I presumed it was just the screen 'warming' or something, but after a random google, I'm a little bit more worried. I wouldn't say I've noticed it getting any worse and the only way I get it to do it again is to leave it off for a bit. Same as everyone else it just fades away.


Is there anyone here that gets it that got the phone on launch? To see how much grows etc. If it stays the same, as in the corners, and fades in two seconds, im ok with it, but like everyone else, I'm worried about the long term. Also, I take it apple wouldn't replace mine as I got it through a network carrier?

Nov 30, 2012 11:08 AM in response to Hazza42

Got my black iphone 5 a month ago and noticed the green glow a few days later. I'm from the north of Italy and there is no Apple store, so I called Apple and they substituted my phone. Immediately I noticed that also the "new" phone had the same issue, So I called them again and got a third replacement phone. But also this one now has the issue with the green glow, and it seems to get worse.

I'm getting a bit annoyed and am really at a loss: how can it be that Apple does not know anything about the problem, in the internet you find just a few sources who mention it, and all 3 phones I got are affected? Would be thankful for suggestions. Should I call Apple again, or do i simply mistreat my iphone?

Dec 4, 2012 7:22 AM in response to Hazza42

Had my iPhone 5 black for over 3 weeks now and this has been annoying me for a while.


Went to the apple store today (Regent St., London, UK) and when I went to the genius it obviously didn't happen. Could not replicate the issue and therefore he didn't see anything green but he told me he's heard of it before and he would swap my phone anyway.


Phone swapped. Quick test, all good. Restore from iCloud, walk back to the office and the first thing I try is to touch the lock screen and there it is. All green again... wonder if all phones will be there same?


Not very happy with it.


😟

Dec 4, 2012 7:46 AM in response to guicane

Could it be that restoring it with iCloud might have something to do with it? Because I had exactly the same experience as you, I got my iPhone swapped out and it worked fine in the store but that evening, after restoring it from iCloud, the green glow appeared...


For anyone else going to get their iPhone swapped out, maybe try restoring it through iTunes instead of iCloud just in case? Also, let us know if this fixes/prevents the issue.


Personally, I haven't tried restoring my iPhone through iTunes to see if it helps since I honestly didn't think it would make any difference, but at this point I'm willing to try anything!

Dec 4, 2012 8:06 AM in response to steui

Thats a shame... I can't believe how many of these new iPhones have this issue. To this day, I have only ever seen one that hasn't glowed green. Case or no case. It was perfect =[

I've been waiting for this thread to die down before I go in to replace second time since it would mean the green glow would be getting less frequent, but its only grown =[

When will Apple identify this as a real issue!

Green glow on iPhone 5 unlock screen?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.