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iphone 5 and polarized sunglasses?

i bought an iphone5 today. i have had iphone1, iphone3, iphone4, but i have never had the problem with any of those older models that i have withthe new iphone5.


i just got it today and i am so disappointed in one thing. i am a boat captain, and i have been wearing blue mirrored polarized sunglasses for the past 25 years. and this new iphone5 has a ver dark pruple colored screen when i am wearing my sunglasses! none of my sunglasses or my old iphones ever had this problem!!! my ipad2 is not compatible with my sunglasses and that is OK, not accetable, but just OK, because i dont use my ipad on the boat as i do my iphone. and this worries me. it is so dark and so purple it hurts my eyes and i can barely read the darn text on the screen in any application.


has anyone had this problem? or is this a faulty screen?! (please say yes, it is a faulty screen!)


anyone?



regards,

james

iPad 2, iOS 5.0.1, products: iMac, iPad, iPhone

Posted on Nov 15, 2012 3:33 PM

Reply
9 replies

Nov 15, 2012 4:13 PM in response to Castings

It is not a faulty screen. They changed the polarity on the iPhone 5. If you look at an older iPhone and turn it on it's side, it will have the same appearance as the iPhone 5. If you turn the iPhone 5 on it's side, you should be able to read it just fine with your sunglasses on. Same is true of any LCD screen....one direction it's readable, turn it 90 degrees and it's not.

Apr 22, 2013 2:27 PM in response to Castings

I got an iPhone 5 when it orginally came out in September 2012, and I had no problems reading the screen in portrait mode with my polarized sunglasses. In landscape mode it was also easily readable, and I had no problems with my previous 3GS, 4 and 4S.


I had to replace my iPhone 5 for an unrelated reason, and now I have the same problem mentioned above: darker screen with a purplish cast. It's bad enough that I have to take off my sunglasses to read the screen at times. I use my iPhone 4 daily for car navigation etc., and now I have to turn my iPhone 5 almost 45 degrees so the screen is brighter and more readable.


My guess is that the polarization orientation in iPhone 5 screens differ, and now I have one that was different from my first iPhone 5. I am thinking of taking it to the Genius Bar and seeing if I can exchange it for another iPhone 5.

May 17, 2013 2:42 PM in response to cm477

Did Apple end up exchanging your iPhone? I am having the same issue. My iPhone 5 looks fine with polarized sunglasses. My wife had a iPhone 5 that was also fine, but it got damanged and after spending $260 for a replacement the new one has the issue described above. When checking a few iPhones on display at a local Apple store you could see a variation in the aligment of the polarized filter from phone to phone, but most of the display models were much better than my wife's new phone. The genius bar guys told her tough luck, that it was not considered a hardware problem.

May 28, 2013 6:55 PM in response to bnelson90

My iPhone 5 purchased in November worked great with my polarized prescription RayBan shades. Due to a camera problem Apple replaced under warranty the phone with a refurb. The refurb screen is totally different in that in portrait mode its dim with a green hue and in landscape mode it's also dim with a purple hue. It clears up when held at a 45-degree angle. I took a look at my wife's iphone and it looks fine (just like my original did). I went back to Apple tonight, wore my raybans, and looked at every iPhone on the display table. I would say that 2 out of 20 looked good (unaffected) and the remaining 18 had either the purple or green hue. I explained my problem to the genius and he said "wow, that's the first time I've heard about this." I asked him if Apple uses different display manufacturers and he had no idea. At the end of the day there was nothing he was willing to do and stated that they can't design the phone to work with everyone's sunglasses. I guess considering that almost all the display models exhibited the issue, there probably is nothing Apple can do. I surmise they are using a different display manufacturer with recent models.

Aug 26, 2013 9:46 AM in response to Castings

I actually got my iPhone 5 replaced for a different reason other than the blue/green screen tint on my mine however, after I got my new replacement my screen is actually perfectly white through my Oakley polarized sunglasses in portrait mode and just a slightly dimmer look in landscape mode but still perfectly readable. I can now read my iPhone 5 out in broad daylight while walking and wearing my sunglasses.


This is just to let you people out there know that not all the screens have that problem. Apple's quality control has greatly fallen as this is another example. My iPhone 5 is a black 16GB Sprint model btw. And according to the serial number starting with ND it's a refurb or "has gone through the assembly line twice" which I actually don't mind.


Most solid iPhone I've had yet aside from a loose silent/loud button and vibrate motor, which no lie happened after an Apple Genius handled it the other day in the store.

iphone 5 and polarized sunglasses?

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