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Just move along. If you have a display issue on your S4 then “Apple Watch is not for you”

M

mjr1000

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2017
182
72
Edit: I changed the thread title to reflect the commenters’ advice for me and maybe others who are bothered by the screen uniformity issue...
—————

I’m sorry to start another thread here and appreciate everyone’s prior comments on this. However, I’d like to limit this discussion to those who are not immediately dismissive of this being a real issue and one that warrants attention, if not comment, from Apple. It is not simply “bad luck” that the 5 Apple watches I have owned in the last 3 weeks (3 stainless and 2 aluminum) have all had the uneven display/brightness uniformity/“light bleed” issue to varying extents. The watch I currently have is the least affected of the bunch, but it still has a noticible issue. And I don’t mean just with the grey test image in a dark room. I mean while I’m driving at night and the turn by turn directions come up and the edges of the box are yellowish. Or when sliding down the notifications and the first third of the box is a different color than the rest. It just looks bad and while I understand that “OLEDs have a difficult time with grays...,” I find this unacceptable for a $800 product. Especially becuause it’s not the same across all S4s. And absolutely not the same as other OLED Apple products. My iPhone X does not have this issue. It was only $200 more than this watch.

So what next? Does this get fixed with software? Do I keep exchanging my watch hoping for a good one? Do I do an Apple care exchange in a few months when they figure this out? What are others doing?
 
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tl01

macrumors 68020
Jun 20, 2010
2,350
649
Don’t know what to say. I have a series 4 and the screen seems fine to me. I even tried to find an issue but can’t. That said....sometimes I can’t tell where all these colors shifts that people have issues with. I don’t put my screens to one color very much to just survey how they look. Sounds like you have had a bad run of watches and maybe there is a better option out there for you!
 
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tl01

macrumors 68020
Jun 20, 2010
2,350
649
What am I looking for? Brightness is on full.
 

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WhiteHawk

WhiteHawk

macrumors 6502a
Feb 16, 2008
594
368
For what it’s worth I don’t have that issue but I’m not going to be an ignorant @ss and tell you it doesn’t happen or the Apple Watch isn’t for you, there might be a bad batch in your area so maybe get a refund wait a few weeks at least and see if you can buy one in store and have a look at it before you leave to see if it’s ok, if there is a store close enough to you that is. Otherwise try one more time with an online order or live with the one you have, I’m very sensitive to display imperfections and understand completely your feelings on this, it’s an expensive item that should work correctly, there’s going to be slight differences but it should be up to a certain standard and just because other people have low standards doesn’t mean you should, you have every right to be unhappy if it doesn’t reach that certain level of quality and performance.

My first one had a dead pixel on the screen, a lot of the time you couldn’t see it, some people might have never noticed it and been happy with it, I was not going to settle for that, I returned it knowing I would have to wait weeks, sure enough it said it might be up to a month, that sucked, but two weeks later I had my new one last Friday and it’s great, I’m happy with mine so far, don’t settle if you are not happy.
 
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MrGimper

MrGimper

macrumors G3
Sep 22, 2012
8,756
12,519
Andover, UK
mjr1000 said:
I’m sorry to start another thread here and appreciate everyone’s prior comments on this. However, I’d like to limit this discussion to those who are not immediately dismissive of this being a real issue and one that warrants attention, if not comment, from Apple. It is not simply “bad luck” that the 5 Apple watches I have owned in the last 3 weeks (3 stainless and 2 aluminum) have all had the uneven display/brightness uniformity/“light bleed” issue to varying extents. The watch I currently have is the least affected of the bunch, but it still has a noticible issue. And I don’t mean just with the grey test image in a dark room. I mean while I’m driving at night and the turn by turn directions come up and the edges of the box are yellowish. Or when sliding down the notifications and the first third of the box is a different color than the rest. It just looks bad and while I understand that “OLEDs have a difficult time with grays...,” I find this unacceptable for a $800 product. Especially becuause it’s not the same across all S4s. And absolutely not the same as other OLED Apple products. My iPhone X does not have this issue. It was only $200 more than this watch.

So what next? Does this get fixed with software? Do I keep exchanging my watch hoping for a good one? Do I do an Apple care exchange in a few months when they figure this out? What are others doing?
Click to expand...

You're new here, aren't you?
 
4

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,493
mjr1000 said:
So what next? Does this get fixed with software? Do I keep exchanging my watch hoping for a good one? Do I do an Apple care exchange in a few months when they figure this out? What are others doing?
Click to expand...

Have you tried submitting any feedback to Apple? What I would do if I were you, if you’re this concerned about it especially after multiple exchanges with _five_ Apple Watches, I would contact Apples engineer team through customer support, and explain the issue and see if somebody can reply to you with a possible answer as to what you’re experiencing. Clearly no one in here is going to have an answer for you or what you should do, because it seems that none of the Apple Watch models are meeting your expectations. I think what I’m suggesting is really only the last method, or just pass on the Series 4 altogether.
 
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mjr1000

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2017
182
72
Relentless Power said:
Have you tried submitting any feedback to Apple? What I would do if I were you, if you’re this concerned about it especially after multiple exchanges with _five_ Apple Watches, I would contact Apples engineer team through customer support, and explain the issue and see if somebody can reply to you with a possible answer as to what you’re experiencing. Clearly no one in here is going to have an answer for you or what you should do, because it seems that none of the Apple Watch models are meeting your expectations. I think what I’m suggesting is really only the last method, or just pass on the Series 4 altogether.
Click to expand...
I filled out a technical issue form (link provided by customer support) and hope someone reaches out. As for skipping the S4, the problem is that I sold my S3 just prior to launch. I loved it but really felt that the only issue was the wasted screen real estate with the bezels (especially after having my iPhone X for a year). We got an upgrade in terms of display size, but I didn’t sign up for a downgrade in display quality.
 
4

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,493
mjr1000 said:
I filled out a technical issue form (link provided by customer support) and hope someone reaches out. As for skipping the S4, the problem is that I sold my S3 just prior to launch. I loved it but really felt that the only issue was the wasted screen real estate with the bezels (especially after having my iPhone X for a year). We got an upgrade in terms of display size, but I didn’t sign up for a downgrade in display quality.
Click to expand...

I would actually call if I were you, and you can ask for a senior advisor, which then they can appoint you or direct you to contact you a Member of their engineer team. They like to sometimes ‘capture’ the Apple Watch model that you have that you’re experiencing any issues with, (Which obviously I don’t know if you have one or not). But I think you might have a faster result this route via waiting versus the contact form.

on a separate tangent, sometimes you have to look past the small intricacies of tech and as much I can appreciate those who actually do notice things that others may not, you have to ask yourself, does this one ‘issue’ really pose that much of a problem where it takes away your experience with the Apple Watch? I mean, I am somewhat the same way, I like to have perfection for products they spend a lot of money on, but I realize that ‘I don’t want to look for problems’ just for the sake of looking for them, if that makes any sense.
 
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dcpmark

macrumors 65816
Oct 20, 2009
1,026
815
mjr1000 said:
It’s not just noticeable, it’s distracting, or else I wouldn’t make such a big deal.
Click to expand...

You appear to have OCD, and could probably benefit from some cognitive behavioral therapy. Lots of people have varying levels of difficulty in this area, like people who look at a cell phone screen and all they can see is how much yellow tint the white has. In time you can learn to focus on the information being displayed rather than the manner in which the information is being displayed. Otherwise you really have no option other than to just give up on Apple Watches for now as your mind seems unable to focus on anything but the inherent variations in these displays. I can’t imagine keeping a consumer electronic device that makes me unhappy.
 
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anthonymoody

anthonymoody

macrumors 68040
Aug 8, 2002
3,093
1,196
Always amazing to me how some people believe their opinion is more valid than that of others.
 
B

bluespark

macrumors 68040
Jul 11, 2009
3,153
4,106
Chicago
mjr1000 said:
Edit: I changed the thread title to reflect the commenters’ advice for me and maybe others who are bothered by the screen uniformity issue...
—————

I’m sorry to start another thread here and appreciate everyone’s prior comments on this. However, I’d like to limit this discussion to those who are not immediately dismissive of this being a real issue and one that warrants attention, if not comment, from Apple. It is not simply “bad luck” that the 5 Apple watches I have owned in the last 3 weeks (3 stainless and 2 aluminum) have all had the uneven display/brightness uniformity/“light bleed” issue to varying extents. The watch I currently have is the least affected of the bunch, but it still has a noticible issue. And I don’t mean just with the grey test image in a dark room. I mean while I’m driving at night and the turn by turn directions come up and the edges of the box are yellowish. Or when sliding down the notifications and the first third of the box is a different color than the rest. It just looks bad and while I understand that “OLEDs have a difficult time with grays...,” I find this unacceptable for a $800 product. Especially becuause it’s not the same across all S4s. And absolutely not the same as other OLED Apple products. My iPhone X does not have this issue. It was only $200 more than this watch.

So what next? Does this get fixed with software? Do I keep exchanging my watch hoping for a good one? Do I do an Apple care exchange in a few months when they figure this out? What are others doing?
Click to expand...

After five watches, I don't understand why the answer would be anything other than whatever issue you are seeing is clearly within spec for the product and is therefore either something you live with or give up on the product. That's not being dismissive of what you are seeing, but rather assuming that what you are seeing is almost certainly normal.
 
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dcpmark

macrumors 65816
Oct 20, 2009
1,026
815
Gooberton said:
Return it. That’s horrid
Click to expand...

Definitely. And that’s the best one of the bunch?? Yikes! If all 5 of your watches have issues where the left side of the display looks like that, then yes.....it seems like bad luck. Astronomically bad luck. None of my watches look like that, and no watch display I’ve ever seen in videos, photos, or in person looks like that.
 
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Newtons Apple

Newtons Apple

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Mar 12, 2014
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staggerlee41

staggerlee41

macrumors 65816
Sep 25, 2017
1,072
1,057
Pittsburgh, PA
I have an Aluminum S4 coming my way, hopefully this week and am hoping I don't have the same experience. Certainly I don't have that with my S2. I agree with @Relentless Power's comments about calling Apple Support and escalating to a Senior Advisor as they can set up appointments for you--great post all the way around!

I also think he made a solid point about what is or isn't acceptable being up to the individual, after all you're the one paying for it. I don't know anyone that doesn't want their product-whatever it is-to be as close to perfect as possible, right? I don't want to look for problems either but if they're there and obvious, I'm not going to dismiss them. I'm hoping that you get resolution to this because if you're not happy with your purchase, you should be.
 
Z

zztops

macrumors member
Sep 9, 2016
89
63
I definitely see the issues in your watches. Definitely cant say that it is a mass produced issue. Either way, it is an issue none the less. These screens are going to inherently have uniformity issues. Mix that with the flexible/bendable characteristics of the AW's oled screen, and the fact that it actually is wrapped around a portion of the side of the case. I can definitely see how ALL of the watches will have this problem to an extent. that extent can range from extremely minor to catastrophic. Also, that range is perceptive to the individual.

If you turn off the watch hold it to an angle to where the sun hits the OLED screen under the glass in different angles, you will see MANY "warped" patterns and raised elevations under the screen. In short, it isnt flat. The internals underneath even play a role with these ripples. The most common area you can see this is the bottom half the screen where the cable to the battery is routed. There is a straight warped like line in that portion of the screen on 90% of watches.

It's a mass produced product. You just seem very unlucky.
 
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