Apple Watch Screen Issue

[dwmreg]

I've got an unusual screen issue with my Nike Apple Watch Series 3 GPS+Cellular model.

There is an unusual yellow frame around the watch face - which isn't part of the pixels on the screen itself but wrapping around it that is yellowish in tint when viewing the watch in bright daylight. It's hard to imagine that this is part of the display, that it is visible or it's the cellular antenna. One could imagine the Apple doesn't want you to see this.

A friend claims to not see this on their Apple Watch Series 3.

So what is it? Do others see it as well?

Apple wants to send it in for repairs and if it is a manufacturing defect I'll be really a bit pissed off if I get a refurbished watch. Screw that!

Apple support has seen the same screen image.

 

[PieTunes]

I’ve owned an original Watch Sport, then a Series 2, and now a Series 3 with LTE and have seen this on all of them, always only under extreme bright lighting conditions and at certain angles. It can look anywhere from a faint dark gray to a faint yellow, again depending on the lighting and angle. No big deal.

 

[dwmreg]

Good to know. I don't recall seeing it ever on my Series 0.

 

[44267547]

Good to know. I don't recall seeing it ever on my Series 0.

There Was another thread similar to yours, and it was a GPS/LTE model, and it was anecdotally determined it was the cellular antenna visible Under certain lighting.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Good to know. I don't recall seeing it ever on my Series 0.

Only reason you see this is it is in direct sunlight. It is normal and all three of my AW look the same.

 

[dwmreg]

I received so much conflicting information - even from AppleCare, here and friends I decided to send my photo above to Tim Cook. While Tim hasn't, that I know of, ever directly answered a customer's email like mine his staff did.

The bottom line is that they want to do an engineering capture and I'm getting a new replacement watch.

I should have it this coming Monday evening 2/26/2018.

Apple wanted to do all kinds of swapping via shipments, but I asked for them to do all of that at the closest retail store to me and they agreed. It was to much of an inconvenience to me so in typical good Apple customer service they worked with me. I won't have to wait a week for a replacement Apple Watch Series 3 (Nike Edition).

I'll probably never know what the issue is or why they want to capture it, but that is expected.

Apple may not always be perfect, but they do take care of their customers.

 

[44267547]

I received so much conflicting information - even from AppleCare, here and friends I decided to send my photo above to Tim Cook. While Tim hasn't, that I know of, ever directly answered a customer's email like mine his staff did.

You have to remember, not everybody is knowingly going to be able to determine what is or may have been wrong with your Apple Watch, it’s merely speculation based on others’ opinions on tech forums (Unless they know indefinitely). As for Tim Cook, when you email him directly, it’s usually has underlying staff that replies to emails and/or customer Queries pending the situation.

The bottom line is that they want to do an engineering capture and I'm getting a new replacement watch.

Also, “Replacement watches” aren’t necessarily new. They typically are refurbished with a new display and battery. I only mention this because You indicated the word new, and most times they are not new, they are refurbished or previously used that will arrive in a white box.

 

[dwmreg]

Yes I'm aware of all that information, but thank you for sharing for the others that do not. This isn't my first rodeo for a situation like this one. I'm not afraid to reach out when I feel either AppleCare or the Genius Bar make a mistake or don't come to the same conclusion.

I'll know tomorrow if it is actually new or just refurbished. Either way it will be new to me. ;-)

They did tell me to only bring the watch itself no bands or accessories. I don't really give a @#$@#$ what it is as long as it works right.

I think you misread what I said regarding the conflict in diagnosis, but that's ok. The last thing I'll have to say regarding this is the result of the swap this week.

 

[Brookzy]

I have some news to shed on this!

You can see the delineation between the black bezel and the yellowish inner portion in your image, and this is related to the way that the antenna on the LTE model has been integrated with the display. You can see a similar effect on earlier models, but when you have them side by side you can see that it is far more pronounced on the LTE model.

Put simply, they are two separate components - the antenna and the display - that are fused together. On earlier models it is a single component so the colour difference is more due to light refraction on the curved edges of the glass/sapphire (depending on the model).

Last year I dropped one of my Series 3 LTE watches. A Space Black Steel one. And the screen just so happened to split on this margin between the antenna and the display. No cracking, just a clean split.

And for this reason, Apple swapped it for free. I assume they know about the potential for that area to be a failure point.

^ Look closely in the above image and you can see the screen has detached but the antenna portion is still attached flush to the watch body.

 

[dwmreg]

Apple replaced my watch tonight with one that was brand new in a sealed retail box. They refunded my AppleCare and let me purchase it for the new watch. The new watch was not a refurb.

 

[dwmreg]

Here's an image of the replacement watch. You can still see the border, but instead of the sickly YELLOW color around the frame it's BLACK instead.

Based on this experience if your Apple Watch has a YELLOWish frame around it I believe it's a dud!