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Asking for a new screen, MBP SR yellowing, need help with applecare

R

rosh325

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 13, 2007
169
0
In the ether
Hi everyone,
I am on a week 22 2.2ghz 15" SR MBP with a Samsung matte display. First let me say that this was my first mac laptop purchase and I am amazed at everything this OS and hardware can do. That being said, I don't think I can ignore my screen problem any more. While I do not know if you would call this yellowing per say, from a direct viewing angle the lower half of my display is most definitely darker and does not display a crisp white throughout. This is also very apparent during the grey loading screen, where the bottom corners are dark compared to the rest. Looking at a gradient test via LCD test, one can see really bad transitions (very apparent lines at several locations).

I know a lot of people on this forum have had this problem (I have read the posts about yellowing and gradient issues) and have had success after many replacements. Given that the rest of my mac is perfect (no flickering, no badly aligned keys, no enclosure problems), I do not want to have it replaced, but rather, just have a new screen put in. While I would pray for an LG, I do understand that it is up to chance.

Since I am new to mac/applecare, what is the best way to go about doing this? I just moved to Chicago so I have a huge apple store 30 min away from me, but I've heard very bad things about pompous geniuses who will claim they have never seen this issue until my laptop, assuming they will even acknowledge a problem in the first place. I do not know how applecare works, but I would prefer to not send it off given the problems people have been having lately (scratches, etc). I have heard it can be hard to demonstrate in store due to the fluorescent lighting, so what, if anything, do I need to come "armed with" as proof?

Thank you for reading this/replying, and I understand that the forum represents a very isolated part of the community as people generally do not post when good things happen relative to bad. Like I said, I have tried to live with this screen, but it is getting harder and harder to do. Please let me know if you need any additional information. I can try to take some pictures, but that often is not an accurate representation of what is being seen (due to lighting issues etc)
-Rosh325

By the way, I bought this on the very first day of SR MBP's, so I do not know if I am still eligable for phone support. I am definitely buying applecare at some point, so if I have to buy now, I can.
 
Show them your problems with gradients and the attached test graphic (view it full screen - the two white spots should be really white - no difference between them). Tell them you are a professional photographer and/or graphic designer and you can't work with those issues (none of other brand notebooks have them) and that you have read a lot on this topics in forums with the conclusion that the actual LG displays seem to be almost perfect.
 

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update

Thanks for the fast and helpful reply Habakuk. Using those images I definitely saw a difference between the top and bottom of my screen. I brought it into an apple store today and the genius said he saw it too. He also noticed it just from looking at a finder window at the top compared to the bottom.He called it "slight" but definitely noticed the lighting difference as well. He asked me if I needed to back anything up and then said he would send it off for a screen replacement as they did not have the ability to order and change the screen in store.

I also expressed concern over the repair facility returning it worse than it was (he said this doesn't happen that often, but still acknowledged it). He documented on the repair order that the laptop was scratch free so at least I have proof. The order listed the problem as "non-uniform color, slight yellow tint on bottom inch of the LCD"

Now lets hope the technician at the repair facility notices it as well. All and all, I was glad the Genius was able to see the problem and repair the authorization, no questions asked. I'll post updates when I get my laptop back. Too bad it will be 7-10 days...bah
 
My repair status says "repair-in-progress"

Fingers crossed. Lets just hope they have more LGs lying around than Samsungs
 
Grrr

Let the fun begin:

"repair on hold: Need information"

I called applecare, they said that the technician was unable to recreate what I was seeing. Which is quite interesting seeing how the genius spotted it right away and sent it off for repair without question.

I told the applecare representative this, along with the fact that this is a known issue, and people get mixed results depending on who they talk to at apple. I told her that I paid 2000 for a new machine which is being sent off for repair, that it negatively affects my presentations, and that I have already experienced an inconveinience with having my laptop out of my hands, only to have them send it back with nothing done.

I feel like I'm going crazy. Anybody have any advice? She said she would "pass my concern on to the engineers who are looking at it". Should I contact the original genius? The apple store is about 30 minutes away.
Thanks for any suggestions

UPDATE:Just called again if only to find out how I will know that someone has spoken to an engineer. He mentioned something about escalation which I guess means from tier 1 to 2? I am new to post-90's macs/applecare. I am certainly trying to be as polite as possible as I know multiple instances where being rude gets you nowhere
 
Sorry to bump my own thread, but I could still use advice from others who have dealt with this situation. I felt bad enough sending my laptop out for repair, now I'm told there's nothing there even though the technician saw it as well. This wasn't one of those "I had to argue with 4 different geniuses at 2 different stores" kind of things, this was 1 genius, at a very busy store, who took the time to listen to me and agreed there was non-uniform color. Should I contact that genius again and ask him to call for me (which I doubt they do)? Do I have any right to still ask for a new screen, since I know the problem is there and so did the genius? The two people at apple that I spoke to about the repair didn't have the best grasp on English.
 
That's the way it is with MBP SR's

Hi,

The title for this post might appear to be a bit shocking but that's what I was told by the manager of the apple store in Sheffield, England.

I had originally purchased a new MacBook (white) and had sound problems on the first, it's replacement, and the third one. I had quite a distance to travel and because of the problems, the assistant manager basically gave me one of the new MBP's for £900. As you can imagine, I was over the moon!

However, my MBP suffered from the screen yellowing issues and the first time it restarted, I ended up with stuck (red) pixels. Again, I got a replacement and it had exactly the same issues - including stuck pixels after the first reboot.

The manageress then told me that unfortunately that this is the way it is with the new MBP's since they have a new type of screen (obviously referring to the new LED displays). Whilst I can't fault the resolution (ultimately I was given a 24" White C2D iMac for £900!), the explanation was rather odd, as if they had had lot's of problems with the new MBP screens.

It's also an odd explanation because these are PRO machines. Maybe the manageress's explanation was not right? But it does make you wonder...

I'm gonna be in the market for a new MB/MBP soon. Just hope that this issue is sorted out asap.
 
I went to apple store yesterday cause my mbp have yellowing issue and i showed to genius who was very hesitant , so they had four geniuses look at it , only two of them noticed yellowness , so they sent it in to replace the lcd , when asked if they could put lg panel , they replied that they cant , so im hoping it will be an lg , if they replace it at all . Shouldve just bought thinkpad.
 
Standards?

Hey everyone thanks for the replies. It seems so crazy to me how non-uniform customer service can be at apple (and yes, I know this applies for most companies).
Customer A will call with this problem and be told "we've never heard of this" Customer B will call and be told "this is a known issue, repair or replace?"
etc...

Some people have gone through multiple replacements trying to get the "perfect" display. While I certainly hope I'm not being obsessive or picky, it is annoying to be told "we can't see it" when one of their own employees (the genius) said that he did. This was with moving a finder window around, nothing complex at all. Who knows how the lighting is at this facility? I'll post tomorrow when I call if I do not get an update, but it is so frustrating. I might call the apple store I went into and try to get that genius' opinion as to what to do, but still, just annoying. It's one of those things where you need to hang up and call again to hope to get someone more willing to help you.

It's too bad this is happening b/c I really do love my MBP and Apple products, but yea, customer service can be frustrating.
 
I hate when they outsource you to India....I dont want to be mean but I cant understand a damn word that they say and I tend to ask for somebody in Apple SS. These people know nothing about computers so when I know there is a problem...I dont try any of their troubleshootings.
 
Well today my status changed to "repair completed, pending return". I called up applecare to find out what, if anything, was acutally done. I got a really helpful person (albeit, still outsourced) who told me that they replaced the screen. He then tried to sell me on applecare, which I told him I wanted to buy, but not at this time due to financial limitations. He gave me his name and extension # so I could call him when ready, as he said he could process it faster than the store. Go figure.

Again, just plays into the difference you get when calling applecare (or any customer support for that matter) from person to person. I'll post when I get it back this week, hopefully scratch free and with a better screen than before :):ignores murphy's law::)
 
Thanks cybergypsy...we all know how perfect your screen is, I might just buy the one you were selling and swap screens! I want to call up and say "I can get one like his?"
 
Not to double post, but I had my story going in more than 1 thread.

I picked up my repaired MBP and was very pleased that I had been given an LG display. Whites are white throughout and gradients (based on LCD test) are much better.

All in all I was very happy with my repair experience. The machine is a little dirty, but no major scratches (that I have noticed). The only problems seem to be related to the new screen and I can live with them:

1)The lid does not lie flat on the left side when closed. This is not a big deal and I can live with it (maybe they can better seat the screen if I bring it in again?)

2)The metal outlining the lower part of the visible screen seems to have a few scratches or rips where you can see a metallic silver instead of the usual aluminum color. It's not terrible, but does allow some light to bleed through. I will post some pictures if I get a chance. Still, I'm happy.

Thanks to everyone who helped/encouraged
 
rosh325 said:
All in all I was very happy with my repair experience. The machine is a little dirty, but no major scratches (that I have noticed).
Click to expand...

That is GREAT news. I'm happy for you. We pay a lot for these machines and I've heard a lot of bad reports about Apple's repair center. Glad they rested your Mac on a table instead of sandpaper.

This might cheer you up even more... ;)

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/4213212/
 
majordude said:
That is GREAT news. I'm happy for you. We pay a lot for these machines and I've heard a lot of bad reports about Apple's repair center. Glad they rested your Mac on a table instead of sandpaper.

This might cheer you up even more... ;)

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/4213212/
Click to expand...

Ha seriously. No matter what I've gone through, I will always love the LED backlights as compared to other monitors. While my MBP was in for repair, I would constantly try to turn up the brightness on the other monitors, only to realize that it was at its max.

As for the backlight, at least I can now land a plane or guide a ship to shore should the need arise
 
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