iPhone 5S bad quality screen compared to iPhone 5

I talked to the service rep again, I'm going to wait for the stock to flush out, replenish and then drive down to Denver to swap it out. They claim they have never seen the problem.

Not to malign those who are not satisfied with their iPhones; you have every right to voice your concern -- or return your phone; etc....BUT

This issue does not effect EVERY unit.

I purchased two iPhone 5s 64GB models on launch day (all night in line to get my wife's preferred shade of metal). The screens on both look fantastic.

I have extremely good (sharp) vision and even tiny quality issues with screens annoy me. I have used my iPhone 5s many hours per day since launch; often only 3-4 inches away for games and reading at night. I have not take 10x screenshots of my screens because why would I do that? I can solder surface mount components without a magnifying lens, so my eyes are good enough to tell me if there is a problem.

This is the best Apple product I have ever owned of many. The screen looks better than my iPhone 4 (better color; higher res). The CPU/GPU performance is off the charts amazing. The camera is amazing. The M7 is extremely useful; and saved me carrying another device. The battery life is crazy great; often lasting me 2 full days. There is a reason this phone is outselling every other phone by a significant margin.

So this issue does not effect EVERY unit or every owner. For those having problems I hope everything is resolved to your satisfaction. I know how frustrating it can be to not be satisfied when you have spent significant money. Your best bet might be to get a refund and choose a different phone.

Hello all.

I had exactly the same issue. I bought an unlocked iPhone 5S black 64GB in the Apple Store here in Barcelona (Catalonia) after having the iPhone 5 for about 1 year and I was extremelly depressed... How come the screen on my flagrant iPhone 5S can have this bad quality image? I TOTALLY SEE THOSE LINES...

I felt quite stupid when trying to show them to my wife or friends, they actually can't see it, but I have a very good vision and after spending 899 Euros I want perfect quality. So the first thing I did was going back to the Apple Store with the itention of replacing the unit for a new one. But I first analyzed all the iPhones 5S's they had in the table (a good trick is to check the contacts icon, the gray color helps to check it out easily if you know what you're looking to). All of them looked bad. ALL. Even the 5C's. The only perfect screens I saw there were the iPhone 4S's which are still in the showroom. That is totally ridiculous.

Then I went straight to an Apple employee and said: I want to return this unit as I'm not satisfied with the quality of the screen. The employee reaction was funny... Really?!?! You're the first customer returining an iPhone 5S! I decided not to spend time trying to explain the issue as I'm 100% convinced that she wouldn't understand it and even looking at it she wouldn't see any lines. So, give me my money...

So, depressed, I've got my Euros back and now I'm back to my perfect iPhone 5 thinking that maybe I'll wait the iPhone 6 to apper... Who knows..

An extremelly disappointed customer...

still seeing the lines after 7.0.3

I have the same problem (Verizon full price 32G grey).

Yes the screen is much warmer than my iphone 4s. The vertical lines are very clear to me.

😠😠

Just because there are some lucky PERFECT screens like yours. We feel much worse for our bad luck.😢

This is definitely problem and needs to be addressed. I've had my 5s for 4 days and I see this everywhere. I came from an iPhone 4 and as soon as I started using the 5s I noticed this problem. I admit I have an eye for detail and I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but I don't have perfect vision. However, I believe this is something some people are more susceptible to than others (me included). I can see the vertical lines if leave the 5s stationary on the table and sway my head from side to side, and similarly if I keep my head stationary and move the 5s from side to side. Apple, sort it out; you had it right before (Retina iPhone 4 - 5) and this really lets the 5s down, for us.

I'm just going to put this out there, but I bet most people who see this issue are creative people who have a passion for quality, generally.

This will test your screen for the scanline issues:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18327507#post18327507

Just received my iPhone 5S from Apple Store Online yesterday and I have the exact same issue. I am sending it to repair apparently for Apple to see if they can fix it or send me a new copy. Unfortunately it seems as if I am going to get a new flawed one.. IF the repair guys can see the problem at all.

Bought a 64gb gold iphone 5s and noticed small vertical scan lines that are very apparent on gray images. This is my 6th iphone going back to the original and have never noticed screen problems before. I took it back to the Apple store where a sales person confirmed seeing the lines and agreed to exchange my phone. While at the store, I looked at several other similar phones. I'd say half of them had this problem.

I am now on my third 32gb space gray verizon 5S. They have all had the problem to varrying degrees.

This last replacement I waited until the stock would be run through, but it still has the problem.

I am just about to give up at this point, it is too much of a hassle to have my phone continuously replaced.

I had exactly the same issue of very subtle vertical lines on my iPhone 5s 32GB gold display. I went to the Genius Bar several times (in Stanford, CA) and finally got a replacement phone that doesn't have this problem yesterday. The serial number for my new one starts with DNPLN.... while the old/problematic one starts with F17LL.... I remember most of the flawless demo devices in the store had serials starting with at least the Ds if not DNP or so. I'm guessing some display manufacturers caused this problem for a certain set of later serial numbers, but it's impossible for customers to track them down. Besides, many people cannot perceive the vertical streaks or simply do not care.

The Geniuses I met could not see the lines, but I persistently asked, telling them I could not stand the quality of the retina display, and they finally decided to give me a replacement. They didn't have one stocked, so we had to order, and I had to visit them again. It actually took several days for the replacement phone (possibly a refurbished one) to arrive with email notifications, but the first Genius told me to come back the morning next day, and that's why I made unnecessary visits to the Apple Store.

My problematic one was ordered online on the launch day (9/20) evening, and got it over a month later (10/31). I confirmed this same issue on my friend's phone that was ordered a few weeks later than mine but received it only one or two days difference. His had the same spec and a similar serial number.

Hope this helps for those who are sufferring from this issue and planning to get a replacement.

Finally, my iPhone 5s feels like a true "Retina" display.

same thing here in my iPhone 5s. It looks like the old CRT screen.i went to the service center for replacement but they deny to give replacement bcz they don't hv same eye for that.i got a cal and mail from applecare senior specialist to this problem.today i will send some screen shots to apple.let's see.

Went to the Apple Store the other day, but the tech was adamant she could not see the issue, and that the phone is "working to spec" and therefore will not be replaced.

I took closeup pictures of my screen and posted them here:

https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A4GY8gBYGxIp5W

I just want Apple to acknowledge the problem. They should care about this. If they truly desire to bring the best products to market, if their approach is to "paint the insides of the bookshelves that nobody sees" (from Steve Jobs' biography), then they should be listening to us, the "perectionists", when we point out problems like this.

Just because the tech in the store can't see doesn't mean that I don't. I see it all the time, and it's degrading my experience with my iPhone 5s.

I recently went through 5 different iPhones 5s (64GB) in Spain.

1st and 2nd ones didn't have any lines or flicker (they had other issues: glass defects on the first and dust inside the display on the second)

3rd, 4th and 5th all had warmer displays with very noticeable vertical lines and flickering when viewing this image: http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=445826&d=1383770016.

Apparently all screens meet the same quality standards and there is nothing they could do about it, so I ended up getting a refund.

Here is a video that shows it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGdPg1VUEeo (please watch in 720 or 1080p, the effect is very clear over blue and gray colors)