Pixel "explosion" on my MacBook Retina

Had the exact same thing happen to my ~ 5 month old 15" rMBP. I noticed it a couple weeks ago, and thought I could live with it... However, it is just to the left of mid-screen, and is very anoying when watching movies or playing games. Especially worrying is that mine also has burned a small hole right where the stuck / bright pixel is.

I brought it to the Raleigh, NC - Crabtree Mall store today at noon, and the Apple tech said "yep, that would be really annoying to me too - especially for an expensive laptop" - which is explicitly marketed on how wonderful the high-end screen is. The store had 3 of these screens / clamshells in stock (which makes me wonder if this is an increasingly common issue) - and they didn't hesistate at all to replace mine.. ( I should have my rMBP back in 2 days... I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms while using this clunky Thinkpad W520 work [IBM] laptop) .

I had the same problem with mine. I brought it in to the Apple store and they replaced mine and explained what the problem was. It's actually very common:

The rMBP is so thin that the screen shuts to the base with almost no space between the screen and the base. What happens is that if there's, a grain of sand for example, it can break through the screen and cause a dead pixel. It's a design issue that's insanely difficult to prevent since a screen cover could make it worse by making even less space between the display and base.

You will notice that all of the dead pixels are located where your keyboard is not. So all of the pixels are in the upper-horizontal of the screen. Since that will have the highest chance of having a piece of hard grains.

Hope your problem is what I'm describing.

I have the same issue, I have been told I have caused this so they are only willing to pay for half of the cost. It seems to be an issue with quite alot of people though! Sure this is an engineering fault and they should be held accountable? Not what I wanted when I bought a high end product! The worst bit is I am abroad at the moment, I was told to take my device into store which is quite a way (read below what happened) and it was not resolved, and there is no way to contact apple directly correct?!

I attended Apple Chermside in order to attend to a string of permutations that have occurred to my Apple ‘Macbook Pro Retina Display 15”’

I was seen to promptly and pointed to the genius bar where I was greeted by ‘Genius’ Chris Brown.

I showed Chris the problem, he cleaned my display in order to see clearer the problem.

Once cleaned Chris noticed the permutation extruded from the display and were caused by“Particles of dust/sand on the keyboard pushing themselves against the display”

When I confronted Chris why such small particles would be an issue he confronted me “When designing your device certain protective layers of glass you would normally find on a screen have been removed to make the device thinner”

Chris told me he would go and speak to his supervisor (also called Chris) to see how they could aid me.

Chris returned to inform me, “We understand that this is a high end product that expresses a significant investment on your behalf, for this reason we are willing to pay for half of the display repair cost ($700+(AUD))”

I proceeded to say this was unacceptable due to it being a flaw in the design, a compromise had been made when designing the device leading to this being an issue, expressing certain neglect on Apples behalf which I feel they should be held accountable. Chris proceeded to tell me “We have noticed certain imperfections on your device, this has led us to believe it has not lived an indoor sheltered life and has received equal neglect on my behalf” This being said I told Chris and his supervisor it is a portable device and should not require and indoor sheltered life.

Supervisor Chris then countered with “I believe you picked the wrong device when choosing your product, you would be better suited to a standard Macbook Pro which is more durable.”

That's just ridiculous. I don't think that pixels "explode" on any screen. Find me some article or example on the web that would entertain that possibility.

If you look at where the holes are, they're by the touchpad where it's a hard surface that doesn't move. Apple designed these computers to be as thin as possible. So there's going to be almost no room between the display and the metal surface.

Something you can do is if you carry your computer in a bag or backpack, you should make sure nothing is pushing too hard on the computer. This will compress the computer, causing the crumbs to drive into the screen and create the holes/dead pixels.

Students who owned the old white macbooks would cram their macbooks in their backpacks, and soon they started complaining about the apple logo, on the other side of the display, burning-in through the screen and being visible from the display. Similar to screen burn-in.

Bottom line:

1. Brush off the surface and screen of your macbook before you close it.

2. Don't push too hard on the computer.

3. Don't use a display protection sheet, because it creates even less space between the display and base.

I use a Thule carrying case inside my other carrying case just to make sure nothing is pushing to hard on it. The Thule is a hard shell and has lots of space inside.

This is irresponsible engineering by Apple, and everyone's screen should be replaced if this happens to them.

When I got my computer and didn't use these guidelines, my computer was getting holes all over. When I got the screen replaced, I did some brainstorming and tried to prevent it from happening again by following the info I just presented.

I have yet to get ONE hole in my screen...

So, got my screen replaced.

Initially: I took the MBP to my local store and was told it was my fault for treating the laptop like a laptop, ie- not keeping it in a tupperware box and brushing it down before closing the lid 🙂
They say it's caused by grains of sugar, salt, sand, grit, stale pastry crumbs etc on the keyboard.

Such micro-debris, forced by with the leverage effect of closing the lid, punctures the screen, would you believe it? (no, neither did I).
It therefore constitutes damage inflicted by the user.

Next: Took it to the Apple store in the big city hereabouts (aka Brighton) and they said "OK, see your point. We can't upgrade you to a less fragile model but we'll replace this screen, this time, free of charge."

On collection a precocious young gent with a fashionable beard told me a few things of interest:

a) If Apple really thought it was user damage they wouldn't have replaced it for free.

b) The response you'll get from different stores varies.

c) "Screen Protectors" are not advised or even sold by Apple as they don't think these screens are liable to puncture from without.

d) I really should treat my £1600 laptop with kid gloves.
IMHO for that price I shouldn't have to worry about crumbs, etc as the build quality should be rock solid.

e) Internet material on this issue, including these forums, is seen to be a place of wild unreliable rumours and drama.

f) I should probably sell my laptop and buy a more recent build MBP, where they overcame the issue.
This would leave me several hundred pounds poorer but at least it would rid me of this worry that it will just happen again, when I'm not covered by warrantee or statutory UK rights.

I think the pixel explosion and crumb issues are really part of the same flaw. The pressure of micro-debris, coupled with insufficient space between the mac and screen surface when closed, will cause pressure points leading to burn-through.

Look at it under a microscope, like I did.

The only real flaw is that design and build quality on this release of MBP failed to integrate correctly.

Hope this helps. Best of luck with your exploding pixels, and getting your screens replaced.

Maybe you should print this thread out and take it in to the shop with you?

Ok, this is the last time I'm going to say it. I'm only saying it because you're misleading people with your well meaning but false claims. There are tons of posts on other forums on this. My dead pixel with a hole in my screen had NOTHING whatever to do with sand or dirt on the trackpad. This is simply nonsense. The hole was nowhere near the trackpad. Many other people are reporting this issue as some sort of defect in the screen. Apple gladly replaced my display 10 days out of warranty. I very much doubt they would have done that if I had caused the damage, and if it wasn't a defect of some sort. My evidence that this is the case is all over the web. Use your fingers and type google.com and see for yourself. This is not to say that you couldn't damage the display if you put dirt on your trackpad and closed the lid on it. Perhaps this is what you did with your machine. But what I'm talking about is a known defect in the retina display. It's all over the internet. You're generalizing from your own situation and assuming because you put a hole in your screen with dirt this is the only way it can happen. This is misleading and illogical. So, moving along.

I've had the same experience as well on two different MBPs at the same time from the 2013 generation (one is work, one is personal). They both developed a pin hole sized crater in the glass and the pixel underneath looked discolored- not sure if the pixel was damaged or it was the crater that caused the discoloration.

Although both covered under the warranty the Mac Genius at the local Apple Store did not want to fix it, he claimed it was due to dirt and so it would not be covered. Of course I complained to the manager and since I was at the time a Joint Venture member they finally agreed to repair both laptops.

Now a year later the same issue has reappeared on both screens that were replaced. Unfortunately the warranty on my personal laptop is expired and Apple only offers me their $310 flat rate repair. I should not have to pay for a screen that was defective from the start. What poor quality for screens to have this defect and suffer from these tiny craters. A search on Google of "macbook pro exploding pixels" come up with several more people who have experienced the same thing among other problems.

If you are listening Apple, these screens are suffering from multiple issues, from craters, to ghosting, to light spots. I would encourage you to start an extended repair program as you have done before for the rare instances one of your products were found to be defective.

You have a defective display, stop using it and take it to an apple store.

Don't believe everything you're told. This is not caused by dust. If we are talking about the same issue then some defect in the screen causes it to produce holes in the screen. It has nothing to do with dust or whether the machine is used outside. Try taking it to a different Apple store. Clean the thing so it doesn't look like you're using it in an outhouse. Be nice because its all just a judgement call. Consider calling Apple care hq to get some higher level support.

Got what looks like the same issue.

I've two dead pixels, despite having barely used my refurbed retina, 15-inch, Early 2013 MBP.

The issue seems to be caused by a lowering of the build quality on these laptops to ensure they met the (then) new target weight and thin profile demanded by Apple dev management.

The old MBP was a flagship robust workhorse of a machine.

I had one (provided by my employer) which I worked very hard and abused carelessly for 5 years.

It's good performance prompted me to get a MBP of my own.

I saved hard for two years to afford one and treated it much better- barely using it and being very careful.

When I reported my problem to Apple I was informed by a, refreshingly honest, member of staff that even a grain of sand on the keyboard when the laptop is closed could cause these punctures, due to the less robust screen surface.

I've used Apple machines since they were beige boxes and I've never been more annoyed by the company's approach to Customer Support and Service.

They messed up, in design, again.

My warrantee runs out in two days and I'm going to have to take a day off work, losing a day's holiday, just to get even a chance of getting this sorted.

Not. Happy.

Same problem here with my Macbook Retina (Mid 2012). The first screen had the ghosting problem. After the replacement, the Apple reseller ( Lab9 - Aalst - Belgium) gave me a 50 euro reduction on the Apple care warranty extension, which I took. They told me the ghosting problem wasn't Apple their fault, but they still wanted to give me the 50 euro reduction anyway.

A couple of months before the end of my warranty, I started noticing little holes (craters) in the screen. I went to the same Apple reseller and they gave me a new screen for the second time. The repair took place on 30/06/2015.

On this day (+- 7 months later), I once again noticed a little hole in the middle of the screen. ******* unbelievable! I have this laptop a little more than 3 years now and I had 2 screen replacements and a full new unibody (unibody was creaking).

I am going to contact my Apple reseller this week and I hope I will get a new screen even though my warranty is over.

Same thing happened to me - after using it for 4 weeks, a single pixel got stuck and literally burned a hole through the outer coating of the screen. Looks like a regular stuck pixel but the hole can be felt from the outside - and when looking at it through a magnifying glass, there's a small crater visible.

I couldn't freaking believe my eyes :-( Screen being replaced ATM

Yes Print out this thread, look online for other threads, on this forum and others, and print them out then take them in to the store and show them. If they refuse Call Apple Customer Service right from the store and speak to a rep.

To further back up the 'exploding' pixel, we used a digital microscope to investigate our seemingly regular dead pixels, however when back lighting the microscope, there seemed to be tiny explosions.

http://www.mikcx.com/macbook-pro-retina-exploding-pixels/

The best way to describe its appearance would be if an stone hit a glass window, or a bullet hole.

Maybe tiny LED *is* exploding and causing a small shock in the composite plastic screen? Exploding LEDs can be quite violent :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXEZtePxa0U