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pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Just got off the phone with Apple. Without questions they instantly made a new order, scheduled for delivery next week. I could keep my current model until next week as well, so I wouldn't be without it.

Here's to hoping for a new batch of screens.

They absolutely refused to do that for me here in the UK. What country do you live in if you do not mind me asking?

Please let us know if your new computer is better.
 

pupilla

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2013
32
0
They absolutely refused to do that for me here in the UK. What country do you live in if you do not mind me asking?

The Netherlands. What exactly is it that they are refusing you? To keep your model until you'd receive a new one, or ordering a replacement altogether?

Of course I shall let you know about the condition and quality of my new model. Meanwhile, Quu: got yours yet?
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
The Netherlands. What exactly is it that they are refusing you? To keep your model until you'd receive a new one, or ordering a replacement altogether?

Of course I shall let you know about the condition and quality of my new model. Meanwhile, Quu: got yours yet?

They refused to send me a new one before they receive the old one. Problem. I cannot be without a computer, because I need it to work.

So, I bought another at KRCS and I am returning this one.

The new one is better but still has uneven colouring with yellow.

So, may be returning that too later this week or next. I figure I'll wait for some fresh one from the factory. Hoping for a better batch.
 

Quu

macrumors 68040
Apr 2, 2007
3,441
6,874
They absolutely refused to do that for me here in the UK. What country do you live in if you do not mind me asking?

Please let us know if your new computer is better.

Weird, they ordered me a new one straight away before receiving my replacement. I'm in the UK.

Do you have bad credit or something? Maybe they thought it was too risky to give you a new computer before receiving the defective one.
 

pupilla

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2013
32
0
I've checked display models in two apple resellers this afternoon. One store still had a mid 2012 display model - so that does not really allow for a valid judgement, though it had the similar disuniformity in the screen's backlighting as mine, sans the yellow tint. The other store had a 2013 base model, which had a gorgeous uniformly lighted white panel. Colour info displayed the following information: manufacturer: 0610 and model: A019.
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Weird, they ordered me a new one straight away before receiving my replacement. I'm in the UK.

Do you have bad credit or something? Maybe they thought it was too risky to give you a new computer before receiving the defective one.

I don't have bad credit. I also paid upfront for the computer with my debit card.

----------

I've checked display models in two apple resellers this afternoon. One store still had a mid 2012 display model - so that does not really allow for a valid judgement, though it had the similar disuniformity in the screen's backlighting as mine, sans the yellow tint. The other store had a 2013 base model, which had a gorgeous uniformly lighted white panel. Colour info displayed the following information: manufacturer: 0610 and model: A019.

Did you look at the 2013 base model using a white background? No hints of yellow disuniformity eh? If so, that gives me hope! haha

Someone could make a lot of money if they went around buying the macbook pros with good screens. At this point I'd probably pay an extra 100 pounds just to get a good screen and to stop having to deal with this. LOL
 

pupilla

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2013
32
0
I don't have bad credit. I also paid upfront for the computer with my debit card.

This is what I also did. Did you tell them that you absolutely need your macbook for work?

Did you look at the 2013 base model using a white background? No hints of yellow disuniformity eh? If so, that gives me hope! haha

No, but I think that a white background does not tell the whole story anyway. For instance, on a white background page my MBP does not nearly seem as bad, but in actual use on white backgrounds (e.g. macrumors, PDF's, Office) the discolouring is much more noticeable. So that's what I did with the display model as well, and it was absolutely fine from various viewing angles and on different brightness levels.
 

Guy Mancuso

macrumors 6502a
Mar 28, 2009
862
43
I don't know. My advice is buy in store and check the screen before you leave.

Agree that is exactly what I did bought the max config and told associate what was going on and wanted to boot up before i left. We did exactly that, I turned off the wifi hit safari so you would see a blank white screen and looked good than I changed the desktop background as light as i could also. Plus watched it carefully on grey screen on boot up. Shut down went home and migrated everything over. I am left with some cleanup stuff though. iTunes crap on repair permissions.
 

pat.micunnis

macrumors regular
Sep 24, 2013
196
0
Has anyone opened 2+ boxes at the store?

For those that have requested an exchange (within the 14 day return period), who have actually opened 2 or more boxes in the store to check the screen?
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
Agree that is exactly what I did bought the max config and told associate what was going on and wanted to boot up before i left. We did exactly that, I turned off the wifi hit safari so you would see a blank white screen and looked good than I changed the desktop background as light as i could also. Plus watched it carefully on grey screen on boot up. Shut down went home and migrated everything over. I am left with some cleanup stuff though. iTunes crap on repair permissions.

So, you were able to find a good quality screen without a yellow or uneven yellow colouring?
 

Branskins

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2008
1,235
180
I am a little confused about some of this.

From looking at the screen at a normal spot, some areas of the screen show yellower spots and shading than others. Adjusting the display location (forward or back) can change this somewhat.

Would this not happen on every display? Or are there displays that look uniformly white looking at the screen from any angle?
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
I am a little confused about some of this.

From looking at the screen at a normal spot, some areas of the screen show yellower spots and shading than others. Adjusting the display location (forward or back) can change this somewhat.

Would this not happen on every display? Or are there displays that look uniformly white looking at the screen from any angle?

All IPS panels will show some colour shifts when adjusting your viewing angle. However, if when looking directly at your screen, you see that certain parts are more yellow than others, then this is a defective screen.

Return it to Apple.

Apple says, "The Retina display reduces glare while maintaining incredible colour and quality. Its high contrast ratio results in blacker blacks and whiter whites. And everything in between is rich and vibrant."

Any screen that has yellow spots is not maintaining "incredible colour and quality." So, return to apple.
 

bowdeengow

macrumors newbie
Nov 4, 2013
1
0
Weird, they ordered me a new one straight away before receiving my replacement. I'm in the UK.

Do you have bad credit or something? Maybe they thought it was too risky to give you a new computer before receiving the defective one.

How long did it take you to receive the emails containing the info for the new laptop + return labels? I phoned yesterday and they told me I will have the emails sometime today, but still nothing. Thanks!
 

Quu

macrumors 68040
Apr 2, 2007
3,441
6,874
How long did it take you to receive the emails containing the info for the new laptop + return labels? I phoned yesterday and they told me I will have the emails sometime today, but still nothing. Thanks!

I received three emails.

1. Apple saying my new order was processing. <- I received this instantly after the phone call.

2. One from the Apple Support person who I spoke to on the phone giving me her contact information to contact her directly via email or phone if I needed her for anything. <- I received this about 10 minutes after the phone call

3. Email from TNT to organise pick-up of the faulty unit. <- I received this about 20 minutes after the phone call.

Overall quite fast.
 

Atomic Walrus

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2012
878
434
All of the 15" rMBP's at my local Apple store had much better uniformity than my display. I know that the stores often hand-pick the best looking units for display, but this should at least confirm that good displays definitely exist.

I had to return mine for an unrelated (and very rare) dead USB port, but opted not to take a replacement immediately. I'm going to wait a bit and see how it turns out for those who have already gone for a replacement.

Interestingly, in line with Anandtech's review of the iPad Air all of the new iPads had much less yellow-looking screens even when compared to the very good looking MBP screens in the store. Their review showed that the iPad Air was actually on the cool side (>7000K) and I'd have to guess Apple has decided to lean that way a bit from now on due to the complaints of yellow screens. My iP5s roughly matched the iPad Air screens.

Samsung was known to be brighter in 2012 as well (if you put the LG on max brightness, Samsung just had one more bar to go [in theory]).
It wouldn't bother many people, since only few work on max brightness.

I wasn't complaining, it just is part of my theory on the cooler LG vs wamer Samsung panels; if the machines with LG panels are being calibrated after production to a cooler temperature that would slightly reduce their brightness. The Samsung panels, being left at their native slightly warmer temperature would be slightly brighter as well. This would suggest no major physical variance between panels, so calibrating a warmer Samsung to match a cooler LG would produce basically identical results. Again, just a theory.

Obviously uneven white temperature on the panel is another issue entirely, but you can get that from any manufacturer. That's just a matter of slipping past QC (or tolerances in panel temperature being too high to increase margins).

At this point I'd probably pay an extra 100 pounds just to get a good screen and to stop having to deal with this. LOL

I was tempted to see if they'd sell me one of those nice crisp-looking display models since I know they've only been out on the table for just over a week. :rolleyes:
 
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pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
All of the 15" rMBP's at my local Apple store had much better uniformity than my display. I know that the stores often hand-pick the best looking units for display, but this should at least confirm that good displays definitely exist. :

When you say "much better" what does that mean exactly? Could you notice any yellow splotches? Thanks! Just trying to figure out if screen quality is just bad these days, and this is the best it gets or if I should return this computer.
 

Atomic Walrus

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2012
878
434
When you say "much better" what does that mean exactly? Could you notice any yellow splotches? Thanks! Just trying to figure out if screen quality is just bad these days, and this is the best it gets or if I should return this computer.

I didn't see any obvious color variations on the screens, however in store it's not easy to completely assess this. I admit that I didn't spend enough time to verify they were completely uniform (technically there's no such thing as a perfectly uniform LCD panel; < 10% variance is considered very good).

I was just immediately aware that none of the screens I looked at displayed the (very obvious) yellow blobs that my panel had. The yellow regions on my unit were easy to detect under any lighting conditions (and by several other people I showed it to), for comparison.

I still don't whether this means you can get a significantly better panel by returning; as I said the stores get cherry-picked units with better screens to use for display (or at least the ones in my area seem to.. it may very by store or region).
 

pendragon1984

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2013
450
272
I didn't see any obvious color variations on the screens, however in store it's not easy to completely assess this. I admit that I didn't spend enough time to verify they were completely uniform (technically there's no such thing as a perfectly uniform LCD panel; < 10% variance is considered very good).

I was just immediately aware that none of the screens I looked at displayed the (very obvious) yellow blobs that my panel had. The yellow regions on my unit were easy to detect under any lighting conditions (and by several other people I showed it to), for comparison.

I still don't whether this means you can get a significantly better panel by returning; as I said the stores get cherry-picked units with better screens to use for display (or at least the ones in my area seem to.. it may very by store or region).

So, my screen doesn't have yellow blobs per say. The best way to describe it is that the temperature is not uniform with the right side being more yellow, but it's not as if the right side is consistently more yellow. It's line subtle vanes of yellow all over the right side of the screen. It's subtle. I think someone could use this computer for a long time without noticing. But if you look at the screen with a white background it's pretty obvious that the temperature is not uniform.

Do you think that's bad enough to warrant a return? I can't say I'm happy with it, but I don't know what other computer to buy...
 

Atomic Walrus

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2012
878
434
So, my screen doesn't have yellow blobs per say. The best way to describe it is that the temperature is not uniform with the right side being more yellow, but it's not as if the right side is consistently more yellow. It's line subtle vanes of yellow all over the right side of the screen. It's subtle. I think someone could use this computer for a long time without noticing. But if you look at the screen with a white background it's pretty obvious that the temperature is not uniform.

Do you think that's bad enough to warrant a return? I can't say I'm happy with it, but I don't know what other computer to buy...

You're not going to find anything else with better uniformity (though you can play the display lottery and try to get a better one) because other companies are buying panels from the same manufacturers. No one is using the types of panels you see in NEC monitors because they're extremely expensive (I think the rMBP panel if made by NEC would probably be as expensive as the rMBP itself).

Basically you can play the display lottery, wait (that's what I'm doing, but only because I had to return the machine anyway) or accept that it's the state of LCD panels right now. Without seeing your panel I couldn't tell you if yours is worse than average or simply normal. Even then I don't think any of us have seen enough of these panels to really judge what's normal.

-----

Edit: Just for a different perspective, in plasma TVs (regardless of what you may hear high end plasma TVs are significantly better than any LCD panel) there is also some accepted uniformity variance. Less then what I saw on my rMBP screen, but enough that it's easy to detect on solid color images and white screens. In practice these variances are never seen by most users, as you won't ever see them on "real" content (which for TVs is movies, TV and games).

The problem you have on a laptop is that "real" content is solid white screens with text on it, so variances become hugely obvious, especially in the white balance. It basically means that producing a subjectively even panel is much harder for the laptop (or desktop monitor) usage case.
 
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