iPad Pro Bright spot on iPad Pro 10.5 screen

[iamMacPerson]

I just wanted to write something as I just got rid of my 10.5" via trade-in at the Apple Store in person. I bought mine on launch day and received it a week or so later. Never had a problem with the screen. I bought AppleCare and a couple months before the plan was over I finally decided to take it in for the battery which tested 'failing' and the volume buttons not working right (this had been like it since I bought the iPad and just didn't bother to swap it). This new unit was flawless then a couple months after I bought it the white spot appeared. I had never heard of it before so I just thought I had a problem with my eyes. No really, it was that sudden I thought it was something with me being overly scrupulous.

It continued to get worse so I looked it up. I had two spots, including the infamous one about .5-1.0 inch above the home button. This was probably 4-5 months after I got the replacement iPad and Apple refused to do anything. My plan was to wait the battery out and just pay the $100 to swap it again, since I was getting reports it was down to 84% again after 300 cycles. However I went into my Apple Store app and saw they would give me $300 for it. I was shocked that the trade-in value was so high. I looked on eBay and after fees and shipping I would have maybe made $10 more than Apple was offering, so I took the offer. Of course this was online, and after reading the horror stories here about the online trade in I opted to go in store. Within 15 minutes I was in and out of the mall with my gift card. All they did was look around the iPad and made sure it turned on. I love the iPad too much, so I'm planning to buy another when the next gen Pros come out, hopefully next week.

 

[VaruLV]

I thought that its deffective screen protector, removed part of it, those specks are still there, should I try to pry off bigger part of screen protector and try to clean it wil alcohol pad(the one that comes with screen protectors) to make sure this is not some residue that I didnt notice when cleaning LCD before application of current screen protector?
Its 3 bright specs below center line on the left corner of the screen. They are more pronounced in real life.

 

[Richdmoore]

I thought that its deffective screen protector, removed part of it, those specks are still there, should I try to pry off bigger part of screen protector and try to clean it wil alcohol pad(the one that comes with screen protectors) to make sure this is not some residue that I didnt notice when cleaning LCD before application of current screen protector?
Its 3 bright specs below center line on the left corner of the screen. They are more pronounced in real life.

That is pretty much what mine looked like (but closer to a corner.) I don't think it is the screen protector, sorry.

Hopefully you have applecare+. I have replaced my 10.5 twice over issues like this using applecare+, no charge each time. I don't know how successful you will be out of warranty getting a replacement.

 

[VaruLV]

Hmm, that kind of sucks.
I live in a country where most of goods have 2 year warranty, mine will run out somewhere in april, AFAIK, first year is direct from Apple, second by the seller. Not sure what to do, sell it or try to get it "fixed"?
Because I dont know whos gonna do the warranty serivce, we dont have direct Apple stores/services here, only authorised partners and resellers.

 

[VaruLV]

Little update, took it to local dealer today, the guy that accepted my iPad said that hes heard about these issues but has no idea how local Apple repair partner will handle this, either with LCD swap, which he thinks would be rather unusual or by issuing different device, however, since its 2017 model, he said that he has no idea what could be on offer if they decide to replace it instead of repairing given that theres simply isnt anything like 10.5 Pro available.
So, the waiting begins, due to pandemic it might take up to a month and the warranty is runnig out in 30+ days.
Depending how it gets taken care of, I will decide whether to invest in bigger, better iPP and Mac's or not.

 

[Frankfurt]

I decided to keep mine until it completely fails. Once it hits 5 years it is ready for an upgrade anyway. The white spot is annoying but does not impact functionality.

 

[Torty]

after 5 years the battery should be worn out. Isn’t it a possibility to get a “new“ device when you do a battery service then?

 

[Legendts]

Interesting thread as my 10.5 died, bought in 2017, and it has/had a white elongated mark on the screen near the home button. I started to install the latest update whilst charging overnight but it failed to charge and would not turn on. Currently being looked at by local tech where it was purchased but so far cannot get it to turn on or charge. Not impressed with this model so far.
Anyone know if this is a problem with the latest iPads too?

 

[Mc0]

Anyone know if this is a problem with the latest iPads too?

It only happens with the 10.5 in iPads. Even after replacement, the issue becomes more pronounced as time goes on. I've only been using mine to browse sites. I will replace this when the new iPad pro becomes available.

 

[VaruLV]

Gotta love how Apple just sweeps this issue under the rug despite this issue being known since, what, 2017? Even “upgraded” Air 3 has the same issue.
I wonder if there are similar issues with 2019/2020 regular iPads, since they appear to be using almost the same case as 10.5 ?

 

[Mc0]

The regular IPads don't have this because they don't have laminated displays. My brother has the regular iPad 2019 model and has no issues.

 

[Donka]

The regular IPads don't have this because they don't have laminated displays. My brother has the regular iPad 2019 model and has no issues.

It's not related to the laminated display as the other designs with laminated displays do not have this. I've owned 9.7, 10.5, 12.9 and 11" Pros and only the 10.5 has had this issue.

 

[EugW]

Still no issues on my 2 year-old iPad Pro 10.5 refurb, purchased March 18, 2019, the same day the iPad Air 3 was announced.

BTW, for about 1.5 years I had a tempered glass screen protector on it, which I suppose could cause the screen to retain a bit more heat thereby increasing the risk of heat-related damage. I finally took it off though because I didn't like the glare, not because I was worried about heat-related damage.

 

[Legendts]

Thanks for the replies guys. I've been told by the tech they will replace it with another 10.5 so not a new one or the current equivalent ie 11" Pro which is what I would have expected. This happens on other electrical goods here in Oz including TVs.

 

[Torty]

Still no issues on my 2 year-old iPad Pro 10.5 refurb, purchased March 18, 2019, the same day the iPad Air 3 was announced.

BTW, for about 1.5 years I had a tempered glass screen protector on it, which I suppose could cause the screen to retain a bit more heat thereby increasing the risk of heat-related damage. I finally took it off though because I didn't like the glare, not because I was worried about heat-related damage.

Interesting, how often do you use your iPad? what are you doing with it?

Some info from my side: I never play games, Safari is the most used app so I mostly use it to surf the web. I don’t use it while charging because of the idea that heat might harm. While charging the iPad “stands“ against the wall so both sides have space to dissipate heat. It’s not producing heat while charging btw. I never used pressure to it, I don’t have kids or animals I am the only user of the device. It never fell down. I don’t use screen protector.

So in my case I don’t think that heat was the problem or pressure to develop again a white spot (It was already replaced in warranty 3/4 year ago) maybe I simply had bad luck with my devices.

 

[Legendts]

Like you, only predominantly one user with cover and screen protector, no children or pets and treated with utmost care. Used mainly for Safari and email, no games. The white elongated section on mine was approximately 20mm X 10mm.

 

[EugW]

Interesting, how often do you use your iPad? what are you doing with it?

Some info from my side: I never play games, Safari is the most used app so I mostly use it to surf the web. I don’t use it while charging because of the idea that heat might harm. While charging the iPad “stands“ against the wall so both sides have space to dissipate heat. It’s not producing heat while charging btw. I never used pressure to it, I don’t have kids or animals I am the only user of the device. It never fell down. I don’t use screen protector.

So in my case I don’t think that heat was the problem or pressure to develop again a white spot (It was already replaced in warranty 3/4 year ago) maybe I simply had bad luck with my devices.

I use my iPad daily. It's for surfing and video streaming, as well as some email and messaging. I often stream video in the background while I'm working, so occasionally it could see 5+ hours of video streaming in a day. However, I think I average a couple of hours a day of total usage. No games.

 

[MRISX]

Any good video explaining why this happens? Or still a mystery?

 

[sracer]

Gotta love how Apple just sweeps this issue under the rug despite this issue being known since, what, 2017? Even “upgraded” Air 3 has the same issue.

Why would Apple do anything differently? People who haven't experienced the problem defend Apple and claim that the issue either doesn't exist, is a one-off problem, or the person experiencing the issue is being melodramatic.

Most who DO experience the problem simply tough it out until they're ready to buy yet another iPad but also buy AppleCare+. Apple makes MORE money because of this issue so why do something to change that?

Sure, there are probably a handful of people who won't buy an iPad because of the problem and that is an ever so slight reduction in revenue. But that is far exceeded by the increase in the number of customers who will purchase AppleCare+ with their new device so that they can pay even more when the issue happens again.

Interesting thread as my 10.5 died, bought in 2017, and it has/had a white elongated mark on the screen near the home button. I started to install the latest update whilst charging overnight but it failed to charge and would not turn on. Currently being looked at by local tech where it was purchased but so far cannot get it to turn on or charge. Not impressed with this model so far.
Anyone know if this is a problem with the latest iPads too?

The issue exists to some extent with every iPad (Pro and non-Pro) with a laminated screen larger than 9.7". Some models seem to be more susceptible to the problem than other sizes, but none (larger than 9.7) appear to be immune from it.

 

[VaruLV]

Sure thing, if ignoring the issue vs aknowledging it openly(battery gate, keyboard fiasco) saves you hundreds of millions in revenue, then why bother, there will always be hordes of fanboys and girls that will keep blind eye to that and defend Apple, or simply people who know nothing of it and couldnt care less for other peoples device failures that tend to be widespread.

Im not an Apple hater, but not going to pretend that they are holy cow among big tech companies.

 

[EugW]

Sure thing, if ignoring the issue vs aknowledging it openly(battery gate, keyboard fiasco) saves you hundreds of millions in revenue, then why bother, there will always be hordes of fanboys and girls that will keep blind eye to that and defend Apple, or simply people who know nothing of it and couldnt care less for other peoples device failures that tend to be widespread.

Im not an Apple hater, but not going to pretend that they are holy cow among big tech companies.

I suspect there are three probable truths to this matter:

1) The incidence of this defect is likely significantly higher than with other iPads.
2) The incidence of this defect is likely still a small minority of these models.
3) Even when it does begin to occur, probably either some people don't see it or else don't care enough to complain, especially once the warranty is long over.

I don't actually know anyone with this problem, and I don't have this problem either with significant usage over two years, so it makes me think that it is still probably a small minority, but given the discussions it's generated, this small minority is probably much bigger than with other issues.

From a business perspective, Apple probably figures the percentages are small enough that they can get away with ignoring the problem, esp. since most of the time when it does occur, it happens after the warranty is up so technically they're no longer on the hook anyway.

Note I haven't had the keyboard issue either after 4 years (and now my extended keyboard warranty is up), but I have seen other people report this issue, so I wonder if it's more widespread. Plus it has a higher impact. Everyone complains when there is a keyboard glitch on their production machine. Not everyone will complain about or even see a sometimes subtle change in the screen display on their consumption machine.

 

[Legendts]

Finally got my iPad replaced after it died and this one, so far, doesn’t have any white spots on the screen.

 

[iF34R]

My launch 10.5 has the issue now. Just above the home button.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Surprised no class action lawsuit on this.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Surprised no class action lawsuit on this.

Why does every MR member act like a class action lawsuit will happen for anything that they perceive to be a problem? The ship has sailed. There won't be a class action lawsuit anytime soon.