Bright spots on iPhone 11, anyone else?

[jollino]

Hello all,
yesterday I noticed two bright spots on the screen of my iPhone 11 (128 GB, got it on release day). It's hard to explain and even harder to photograph, but they don't match up with pixels and look more like a backlight issue. One spot is about 1 mm in size, the other about half that (and less bright). It's the kind of thing that you don't even see, until you do and then you can't unsee it.
It seems similar to the iPad Pro bright spot issue, however that's much bigger and softer; this is small and sharper.

I do have AppleCare+ and I may just go with the express replacement by courier, since the nearest Apple Store to me is 200 km away and Apple Authorized Service Providers won't fix it directly, but I was wondering if anyone else has had the same issue. I'm mostly concerned it may be the beginning of a catastrophic display failure, and with a trip abroad next month, I'd rather not risk it!

 

[Lekro]

If it is a bright spot and most noticable when on a white background, then it is something pressing against the backlight layer.

It won't cause a whole display failure, but it won't go away either without repairing.

 

[jollino]

Thank you, that's exactly it. I wonder what caused it, since I never dropped or bumped the phone. Anyway the local Authorized Repair place is going to honor AppleCare directly, so fingers crossed they do a good job replacing the screen.

 

[Lekro]

Probably a faulty assembly.

In rare cases the battery can put pressure on the screen if it swells.

 

[jollino]

A friend of mine mentioned a possibly swollen battery last night, and the spots' location does seem to match where the battery is. The idea of the battery swelling up definitely makes me want to get this sorted out ASAP, and I'm hoping that the repair place doesn't dismiss this as a minor thing and replaces what needs to be replaced... you never know how it goes with these small businesses (even though they're authorized by Apple); I sure hope I'm not charged the screen replacement fee since it's clearly an internal issue and not something I could have possibly caused myself.
Hopefully it's just a matter of replacing the battery and the spot will disappear. I'll post a follow up, in case this comes in handy for someone else in the future!

 

[Lekro]

An AASP can't do anything else what Apple tells them to do. It is the same if you go to the Apple Store or an AASP.

If the battery is swollen, they will replace the whole phone free of charge. They will not repair anything on a phone if it has a swollen battery. It is a policy.

 

[jollino]

That is very good to know, thank you for that as I had no idea; I assumed batteries were routinely replaced. Do they replace the whole phone because a swollen battery may lead to additional damage?

It was Apple that set up the appointment with the local AaSP for me, but when I called to ask whether they actually did the work directly or just collected it to send it off to their main branch, they said they'd replace the screen on the spot if needed (the battery wasn't mentioned yet), but a motherboard replacement would require sending the phone off.
At that point I'd rather cancel the repair with the AASP and use the Express replacement with Apple directly (where they send you a new/refurbished one beforehand and you have 10 days to ship the broken one back, lest they charge your card). The AASP's alternative is to rent out a phone for €30, *even* if it's a repair under AppleCare, but it sounds like a waste of both money and time (transferring data, etc.).

 

[Lekro]

Swollen battery poses a risk they are not allowed to take at an Apple Store or AASP. They give you a replacement phone and send off the one with the swollen battery to the repair site for remanufacturing.

In case your phone does not have a swollen battery or nothing else is broken, just the screen, they will do a screen swap at the AASP.

If the problem is complex, involving many parts of the phone, they give you a replacement.

On the iPhone 11, they can swap battery, camera, Taptic Engine, speaker and display.

Usually if one of those is broken, they repair. If multiple stuff is broken, they replace.
But again, if swollen battery = replacement phone.

 

[jollino]

Thanks, this is very useful to know. I called Apple again and they said that ultimately AASPs (at least here in Italy) have some wiggle room to decide how to address these things so I ultimately went with the Express replacement. I have a trip abroad next month and if the AASP only partially fixed the issue, or had to request a replacement authorization from Apple, it would just delay everything. It's a little annoying to have that kind of money blocked on the card but at least I can transfer data, etc. without being in a rush. Fingers crossed the replacement phone is healthy.

 

[Lekro]

If I were you, I would do the same thing. Sadly it is not an option in my country and with the few AASPs we have, it is a week for a turn around.

 

[Engineer12]

I have the same problem with mu ip7 and I know that the battery should be replaced.
But I want to know that if I replace the battery would the screen be okay after that?
In other words is it a permanent damage to the screen if the problem is just with the battery?

 

[jollino]

I have the same problem with mu ip7 and I know that the battery should be replaced.
But I want to know that if I replace the battery would the screen be okay after that?
In other words is it a permanent damage to the screen if the problem is just with the battery?

That's a great question but I honestly have no idea, as I just had the whole unit replaced by Apple.
If you can get the battery replaced cheaply I'd still go for it, especially as a swollen battery is never a good sign.
I won't go as far as saying that it's a ticking time bomb, but I just replaced the battery (for the second time!) in an older Motorola I keep around as a secondary phone for my work SIM because it was swelling up. Especially on an iPhone where the battery is sealed, the longer you wait, the worse it may get — and affect the screen in the process!