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Just got the truth.. the white dot LCD screens, made by a manufacturer in China, offered the lowest bid to Apple during the manufacturing process... thus, the flawless black LCD screen manufacturer was low balled and Apple terminated dealings with them and only 100,000 were produced... the white dot LCD is cheaper, and all the iPhones from now on have this LCD.

If thats true then why when i called tech support they were baffled by this and just told me to exchange it, they should know if this is normal?:confused:
 
If thats true then why when i called tech support they were baffled by this and just told me to exchange it, they should know if this is normal?:confused:

it's a rumor I heard from a friend of mine who is a manager at an apple store.. it seems pretty logical though
 
whatever happened with the screen manufacturer i doubt that apple would leave us with these screens.
 
I don't know man... that's what happens when you have stuff built in China.. if it was built in Japan, there wouldn't be so many problems... I had the Sidekick 2, built in Japan, never had any problems
 
It has been known for some time now that apple outsources all their parts manufacturing to various foreign companies. It's a money saving strategy, that is part of Microsofts business model with the xbox 360. The whole point of outsourcing is to get the same component at the lowest price. The overall effect is that all apple products contain parts from many manufacturers. This is constantly a problem in companies that do this, since maintaining quality control on parts from so many places is not only difficult, but next to impossible.

Take Microsoft and Sony as examples in the home video game console industry. Microsoft outsources everything, which has resulted in an XBox 360 failure rate of close to 30% (this report is available all over the net, just do a search if your interested). Sony on the other hand, manufactures all of its PS3 Hardware in-house. The result? A PS3 failure rate that is actually less than 1%. Now this isn't specific to sony, the same is true for Nintendo, who also manufactures its hardware with in-house components.

The point is, the obvious quality control problems that apple has had in recent history (it wasn't always this way) is due to this business model. And the fact is, they don't intentionally put sub par parts into their devices to save money, they just can't possibly keep track of every component in a device that may literally use dozens of different manufacturers to make.

So how do they deal with this, since they certainly anticipate problems. Well, they have the best damn support in the industry. They balance their manufacturing risks with good support to their consumers, and the overall net effect is that it is worth it, and they make more money by outsourcing. Eventually, if there are enough customers complaining about a particular component, they phase it out. Which is what happened to the lcd screen used in the last rev 15" powerbook (anyone remember the "horizontal line issue"). Well that screen no longer exists, and anyone who gets a screen replacement now will receive one without the lines. Unfortunately, this is just how apple does business. But like I said before, it's not exactly an uncommon strategy.
 
It has been known for some time now that apple outsources all their parts manufacturing to various foreign companies. It's a money saving strategy, that is part of Microsofts business model with the xbox 360. The whole point of outsourcing is to get the same component at the lowest price. The overall effect is that all apple products contain parts from many manufacturers. This is constantly a problem in companies that do this, since maintaining quality control on parts from so many places is not only difficult, but next to impossible.

Take Microsoft and Sony as examples in the home video game console industry. Microsoft outsources everything, which has resulted in an XBox 360 failure rate of close to 30% (this report is available all over the net, just do a search if your interested). Sony on the other hand, manufactures all of its PS3 Hardware in-house. The result? A PS3 failure rate that is actually less than 1%. Now this isn't specific to sony, the same is true for Nintendo, who also manufactures its hardware with in-house components.

The point is, the obvious quality control problems that apple has had in recent history (it wasn't always this way) is due to this business model. And the fact is, they don't intentionally put sub par parts into their devices to save money, they just can't possibly keep track of every component in a device that may literally use dozens of different manufacturers to make.

So how do they deal with this, since they certainly anticipate problems. Well, they have the best damn support in the industry. They balance their manufacturing risks with good support to their consumers, and the overall net effect is that it is worth it, and they make more money by outsourcing. Eventually, if there are enough customers complaining about a particular component, they phase it out. Which is what happened to the lcd screen used in the last rev 15" powerbook (anyone remember the "horizontal line issue"). Well that screen no longer exists, and anyone who gets a screen replacement now will receive one without the lines. Unfortunately, this is just how apple does business. But like I said before, it's not exactly an uncommon strategy.

Interesting post. It seems like Made in China is becoming more and more of a crap shoot, for a lot of companies.

With the iPhone, being such a sophisticated and revolutionary device, I would have thought that they would have tested like crazy, all along the way, but I don't know anything about the process, so maybe that's more difficult than I imagine.

Still, there are so many issues, :-( I'm surprised that Apple didn't hold off on the launch. The irony is, that while they grossed a minimum of 250 million in the 1st week, the real numbers will be quite a bit lower do to returns and exchanges. Maybe that's why no sales figures have been released.
 
I have a 5* LCD panel, with the speckle pattern. I just returned my 7* yesterday due to an "LED dispersal layer" alignment problem that caused brightness variance across the top edge of the screen (in the shape of several parabolae).

I haven't read this thread until after the swap. I do have the checker pattern; it is faint. I also have some light leakage near the earpiece (several dots) and two leakage points just above the home button.

Be warned--this phenomenon exists across the 5* series as well.

I'll return it... much further down the road when this gets ironed out... but I'll cite the dead/stuck pixels as a problem (as I've got a few).
 
I have a 5* LCD panel, with the speckle pattern. I just returned my 7* yesterday due to an "LED dispersal layer" alignment problem that caused brightness variance across the top edge of the screen (in the shape of several parabolae).

I haven't read this thread until after the swap. I do have the checker pattern; it is faint. I also have some light leakage near the earpiece (several dots) and two leakage points just above the home button.

Be warned--this phenomenon exists across the 5* series as well.

I'll return it... much further down the road when this gets ironed out... but I'll cite the dead/stuck pixels as a problem (as I've got a few).

thats interesting you are one of the first people with a 5 series that has seen the matrix on their display...i cant wait to see if this is addressed in the first update. Wow i just realized that i can type in landscape without looking at the keys-could never do that on my treos or blackjacks
 
I'll return it... much further down the road when this gets ironed out... but I'll cite the dead/stuck pixels as a problem (as I've got a few).

Yea thats kinda my plan too at this point. I just hope apple will still exchange them a month or 2 from now. Right now, because of the lack of info on them, the geniuses are basically just swapping for any issue. They'll just say "well, i don't think it's a problem but, if you want an exchange, will give it to you."
That may end soon, once apple has more bug feedback and things in place to fix them.
 
Yea thats kinda my plan too at this point. I just hope apple will still exchange them a month or 2 from now. Right now, because of the lack of info on them, the geniuses are basically just swapping for any issue. They'll just say "well, i don't think it's a problem but, if you want an exchange, will give it to you."
That may end soon, once apple has more bug feedback and things in place to fix them.

yeah, that's what i am afraid of too.

It seems that all is available now is the 7*** screen, unless some stores still have the 5*** left over.

i am afraid this might become the norm, to the point that it's not an issue anymore.


it's crazy, because the difference is so obvious!
 
also, the more i see the way the screen works, the more i think it is the actual LCD and NOT a software issue.

I believe it has to do with the way the touch plate is mounted or the fact that we have different manufacturers.

It would be great if it was a software issue, but i am losing faith...
 
also, the more i see the way the screen works, the more i think it is the actual LCD and NOT a software issue.

I believe it has to do with the way the touch plate is mounted or the fact that we have different manufacturers.

It would be great if it was a software issue, but i am losing faith...

i think you need to read my previous post https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=3922227#post3922227
you'll see what think is strong evidence that this is not the touch layer. And the fact that this is only visible starting halfway through startup means it's triggered by software, or the activation of some video thing. It is effected by what is going on on the screen. The dots are pixels that become visible when certain software related events happen.

I don't know if it can be fixed with software. but don't loose faith. I think what we have found on this board looks very promising.

We do need to tell apple about this... thats our best bet
 
i know this is a last resort, but there are places online selling iphone screens:

http://www.mobilepartstore.com/Merc...reen=CTGY&Store_Code=BCS&Category_Code=IPHONE

http://store.kokopellimusic.us/iPho..._p/811-k.htm?gclid=CNv3897FrI0CFRs_ggod-Fi_zw

i wrote to ask if they know which part they carry...will let you know if and when i hear back.

i guess it would help to understand if the 5**** has been phased out or not.

I'm sorry but while I understand people wanting to have a 5**** screen because they prefer it over the 7**** screen, resorting to taking your iPhone apart and playing with tiny ribbon connectors and god knows what else is downright stupid.
 
I'm sorry but while I understand people wanting to have a 5**** screen because they prefer it over the 7**** screen, resorting to taking your iPhone apart and playing with tiny ribbon connectors and god knows what else is downright stupid.

nobody talked about taking the iphone apart.

what i said in the post is that by knowing what resellers carry we could get an idea of which part has been phased out, if any, since these resellers carry apple OEM parts.

if they won't offer a 5*** screen, we know we won't be able to find it that easily.

that's all.
 
I'm sorry but while I understand people wanting to have a 5**** screen because they prefer it over the 7**** screen, resorting to taking your iPhone apart and playing with tiny ribbon connectors and god knows what else is downright stupid.

Stupid? I think not, if one broke the screen and did not wish to pay Apple to do it. Besides, taking the iPhone apart is childs play compared to some of the stuff I do. Hoever, not everyone, like you, would be up to doing so! Some people get so scared doing the simplist things if they dont understand it. Its nice to know there are replacements out there!
 
i just called applecare. The guy i talked to had not heard anything of this issue. he also said that his iPhone witch i had him look up was the 5**** version. it did not have the dots. I also sent him to our forum to look at the photos. he was dumbfounded.

I was told that he would submit this to engineers, as an Express Issue (whatever that means). i think maybe if more of us call it might help. It bothers me that when i see other sites lists of bugs and problems with the iPhone, the dots are never on the list.
 
i think you need to read my previous post https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=3922227#post3922227
you'll see what think is strong evidence that this is not the touch layer. And the fact that this is only visible starting halfway through startup means it's triggered by software, or the activation of some video thing. It is effected by what is going on on the screen. The dots are pixels that become visible when certain software related events happen.

I don't know if it can be fixed with software. but don't loose faith. I think what we have found on this board looks very promising.

We do need to tell apple about this... thats our best bet

I dont know.....it could always be ya know....the touch layer turning on during boot up.....and all the movement could be multitouch doing its magic....i dont know i refuse to beleive its a software issue as some people have it and some dont. I personally did a restore to phones that had the problem and didnt. They both stayed exactly how they were prior to the restore. I dont know if its the multitouch layer, but its some layer, and its deff hardware.
 
i just called applecare. The guy i talked to had not heard anything of this issue. he also said that his iPhone witch i had him look up was the 5**** version. it did not have the dots. I also sent him to our forum to look at the photos. he was dumbfounded.

I was told that he would submit this to engineers, as an Express Issue (whatever that means). i think maybe if more of us call it might help. It bothers me that when i see other sites lists of bugs and problems with the iPhone, the dots are never on the list.


i did my part too and contacted people i think might be able to get a message through.
the applecare guy i talked to seemed unaware of the issue, but interested nonetheless.

keep on calling!
 
It has been know a while that Balda, a German Co. , is the supplier for the iphone's touch screen but the LCD is being supplied by many companies including Epson, Toshiba and Sharp (probably even more). The two known model numbers of iPhone screens may not actually be different manufacturers, they could be as simple as version numbers for all we know.


Here is a component breakdown to look at:

Component Breakdown

The rumor from the Apple Store manager is almost useless. Apple doesn't let their store managers know much about anything like this.
 
I just wanted to chime in -- I have a 5-series screen, but my girlfriend just got a new iPhone -- sure enough it has the 7-series screen, but _no_ dots.

I spent about half an hour last night going through the two phones side by side. There is a slight variance in contrast -- the 7 series actually seemed to be a little more constrasty -- between the two, but other than that they were identical -- there were no dots on her 7-series screen, even at maximum brightness.

Has anybody checked what regions of the country the dotted phones are coming from? I'm wondering if it is a problem with a specific batch of the 7-Series screens versus all of them, and if so, if they're geographically centered in one area.
 
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