Yellow tint on Haswell rMBP 15"

[ammarr]

I'm on the last few days before my return request expires...

I called in yesterday and took it to the Apple Store for them to have a look. The customer service has been excellent; They agreed that the screen was yellow (in the bottom left.. uneven whiteness.. not the uniform yellowing issue) and the telephone support even mentioned that it was a known issue and they have engineers working on it..

They gave me the option of a) returning it according to my return request, b) exchanging it and c) sending it in for repairs. In fact, the genius "promised" that if I were to send it in for repairs they would make sure I get a perfect screen and that I wouldn't get the laptop returned with the same issue on it. He even created a work order and told me that they'd get the part shipped over to get the process started while I mull over my options.

However, If I return/exchange it, then my return date gets extended another 2 weeks to make sure that the screen is fine. If I send it in for repairs, I lose the option of returning it in case the repair doesn't fix it...

Anyone here who's had success with sending it in for repairs (i.e. not doing a return/exchange)?

 

[samuelk0814]

I'm on the last few days before my return request expires...

I called in yesterday and took it to the Apple Store for them to have a look. The customer service has been excellent; They agreed that the screen was yellow (in the bottom left.. uneven whiteness.. not the uniform yellowing issue) and the telephone support even mentioned that it was a known issue and they have engineers working on it..

They gave me the option of a) returning it according to my return request, b) exchanging it and c) sending it in for repairs. In fact, the genius "promised" that if I were to send it in for repairs they would make sure I get a perfect screen and that I wouldn't get the laptop returned with the same issue on it. He even created a work order and told me that they'd get the part shipped over to get the process started while I mull over my options.

However, If I return/exchange it, then my return date gets extended another 2 weeks to make sure that the screen is fine. If I send it in for repairs, I lose the option of returning it in case the repair doesn't fix it...

Anyone here who's had success with sending it in for repairs (i.e. not doing a return/exchange)?

I don't mean to discourage you, but there are plenty of people on the huge IR thread at Apple Support Communities who have gotten their screens replaced with yellowish screens. I would go for the exchange if I were you (but be prepared to do it numerous times, mine took 7 times and this one isn't perfect either)...

 

[thekev]

I'd rather have a yellow tint to the whole screen than half the screen. This is a keeper.

What was this compared to? This entire issue is interesting to me. I'm curious whether it's warmer than prior devices or has inconsistent greyscale tracking (color temp shift from white to black) or something else.

 

[goldsaint]

I don't mean to discourage you, but there are plenty of people on the huge IR thread at Apple Support Communities who have gotten their screens replaced with yellowish screens. I would go for the exchange if I were you (but be prepared to do it numerous times, mine took 7 times and this one isn't perfect either)...

Soon having a ''perfect screen'' will be like wining the lottery lol

 

[ammarr]

I don't mean to discourage you, but there are plenty of people on the huge IR thread at Apple Support Communities who have gotten their screens replaced with yellowish screens. I would go for the exchange if I were you (but be prepared to do it numerous times, mine took 7 times and this one isn't perfect either)...

I wouldn't mind a yellower screen if it was completely even. But the yellow splotch is very distracting when reading anything on a white background.

 

[brdeveloper]

I wouldn't mind a yellower screen if it was completely even. But the yellow splotch is very distracting when reading anything on a white background.

If you have a display with image retention, be quiet. It seems it's the best a current retina display give. I didn't noticed anyone complaining about IR AND yellowing. I remember my IRed screen looked beautifully coloured despite the annoying persistence on darker backgrounds.

I presume the yellowing has something to do with inaccuracies from the combination white led + IPS. If it was CCFL + IPS it would look fine, but the lid might be way thicker.

 

[thekev]

I presume the yellowing has something to do with inaccuracies from the combination white led + IPS. If it was CCFL + IPS it would look fine, but the lid might be way thicker.

That is very possible. CCFL tended to be a bit warmer. If the way they were trying to bring it back to D65 resulted in weird shifts in color temperature across the range, it would explain the feeling of a yellow grey.

 

[samuelk0814]

I wouldn't mind a yellower screen if it was completely even. But the yellow splotch is very distracting when reading anything on a white background.

Yeah the yellow blotches are frustrating I know... But still I would wait a week for new Apple stock to come in and then exchange. The newer ones seem to have less problems.

 

[shadow82x]

I've been trying to test and decide if my screen has a yellow tint. I have the LP154WT1-SJE1 and the late 2013 RMBP. Based on these pics do you guys think I should attempt to return it in hopes for a better one? I'm still within my return window but only have a view days.

 

[brdeveloper]

I've been trying to test and decide if my screen has a yellow tint. I have the LP154WT1-SJE1 and the late 2013 RMBP. Based on these pics do you guys think I should attempt to return it in hopes for a better one? I'm still within my return window but only have a view days.

Just do the four Finder windows test. Divide your screen in four quadrants and open a Finder window in each one. If the colors blue/white from Finder detailed view appear uneven between the windows, your screen suffer from uniformity problems.

 

[brdeveloper]

UPDATE: just sent my rMBP for screen replacement. Hopefully I'll get an evenly tinted one. It was not so easy convincing three technicians that they had an issue to solve, but after moving the Preferences panel through the screen and showing the four-Finders-test, they became convinced that "they had a case".

Now I'm using my old white Unibody Macbook at work, and despite it's more contrasted, I can't note that unpleasant, sharp uneveness.

 

[jalyst]

Just do the four Finder windows test. Divide your screen in four quadrants and open a Finder window in each one. If the colors blue/white from Finder detailed view appear uneven between the windows, your screen suffer from uniformity problems.

You mean like this:

A bit too cluttered to compare efficiently, + tricky to get all windows exactly positioned & equal size.

but after moving the Preferences panel through the screen

How does this test work?

 

[ammarr]

UPDATE: just sent my rMBP for screen replacement. It was not so easy convincing three technicians that they had an issue to solve, but after moving the Preferences panel through the screen and showing the four-Finders-test, they became convinced that "they had a case".

Something I've found which works for most people is just opening up nytimes.com (or news.google.com, any site with a white background and text) in safari and asking them to read across the splotch.

Keep us updated on the progress of your repair!

 

[brdeveloper]

You mean like this:
[url=http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h425/jed3030/ScreenShot2014-01-17at11450AM_zps76a5ee5b.png]Image[/URL]
A bit too cluttered to compare efficiently, + tricky to get all windows exactly positioned & equal size.

Yes, this way. I would hide the Dock and Finder's left column, leaving only the blue-white lines. In my case, I could clearly note a yellow mask over the blue-white pattern at the bottom-left Finder window. Also, click in a Desktop area to not focus any window.

----------

How does this test work?

Open the "System Preferences" panel, an then "Dock" preferences to get a smaller panel. Move it slowly across the screen allowing you and the technicians to see color shifts. Ask him for doing this using the trackpad, as it appeared more effective to make him note the yellow cast.

 

[pommephone]

I'm only on page 18 of this thread (posts from November 7), and while I have the utmost sympathy and support for those with real display problems, some of the posts are monuments to OCD. Such as those posting pictures asking if their display looks OK (as if anyone could tell considering all that happens to an image between the camera and this web page, even if the image was any good to start with).

Here's how I tell if my display is OK: I look at it, and if I like it (which I do, by the way, on my 13" late 2013 retina MBP, display model 0000A018) then it's OK.

Good luck to all of you who don't like it and are seeking a solution- hang in there until you get it right or get your money back!

 

[shadow82x]

I've been trying to test and decide if my screen has a yellow tint. I have the LP154WT1-SJE1 and the late 2013 RMBP. Based on these pics do you guys think I should attempt to return it in hopes for a better one? I'm still within my return window but only have a view days.

I was just wondering if anyone could tell by looking at those pics if it seemed I had a yellow tint. Since I can't really tell myself. I compared against non retina computers and they seem whiter but that isn't an accurate comparison. I tried the 4 window thing and it looks pretty uniform to me.

 

[brdeveloper]

I was just wondering if anyone could tell by looking at those pics if it seemed I had a yellow tint. Since I can't really tell myself. I compared against non retina computers and they seem whiter but that isn't an accurate comparison. I tried the 4 window thing and it looks pretty uniform to me.

Pictures are not so much reliable for this kind of evaluation, but supposing it reproduces well the relative color distribution from your display, I'd say it isn't uniform.

It seems that it has a magenta cast on the top right Finder and it gets yellowish towards bottom-left, but it's hard to say if the non-uniformity is severe or distracting looking only through pictures...

 

[shadow82x]

Pictures are not so much reliable for this kind of evaluation, but supposing it reproduces well the relative color distribution from your display, I'd say it isn't uniform.

It seems that it has a magenta cast on the top right Finder and it gets yellowish towards bottom-left, but it's hard to say if the non-uniformity is severe or distracting looking only through pictures...

Hmmm okay. That might be because that window is selected and it shows it as darker. I couldn't find a way to unselect it.

The best comparison I guess will be going to an apple store and comparing it against their computers?

 

[pommephone]

I was just wondering if anyone could tell by looking at those pics if it seemed I had a yellow tint. Since I can't really tell myself.

If you can't really tell, what does it matter if your screen has a purple unicorn on it, if you can't see it? Are you looking for trouble? Trust your eyeballs- you either like the way your screen looks or you don't.

 

[shadow82x]

If you can't really tell, what does it matter if your screen has a purple unicorn on it, if you can't see it? Are you looking for trouble? Trust your eyeballs- you either like the way your screen looks or you don't.

Only because I feel it might have a yellow hue to it. Could be by design but my old RMBP with a samsung screen was definitely cooler. I just don't want to settle for less if there is a better screen out there.

ETA - I'm also a web developer/designer so it's important my color accuracy is at least somewhat decent.

 

[UBS28]

How long does a screen replacement take? I'm noticing some unevenness in the top right corner which I didn't notice before. So it's not perfectly even yellow.

(my previous machine had a better screen, I put them alongside each other. But it looked even so I didn't bother)

 

[pommephone]

Only because I feel it might have a yellow hue to it. Could be by design but my old RMBP with a samsung screen was definitely cooler. I just don't want to settle for less if there is a better screen out there.

ETA - I'm also a web developer/designer so it's important my color accuracy is at least somewhat decent.

Well, if you really "feel" it "might" why are you relying on the opinions of complete strangers based on unreliable images viewed on different displays? If you really "feel" it "might"....then I guess you'd better take your MBP over to the nearest Apple store or BestBuy to compare.

 

[Shmanky]

I brought my late-2013 15" Retina MacBook Pro in to the local Toronto Eaton Centre Apple store to take some photographs with their in-store units to demonstrate the yellowing on my display. Inside the store they have four 15" Retina MacBook Pros on display and I took one photograph with each of them. Then, at a BestBuy, they had a 15" Retina MacBook Pro sitting next to a 15" Classic MacBook Pro so I took a photograph of those also for comparison.


Considerations:
— The yellowing is best seen in the greys of the System Preferences panel rather than a white browser window;
— This is the third yellowed display I've had and the least offensive in the sense that it's a brownish yellow which makes it less harsh;
— The mostly-even yellowing of the display is noticeable on its own due to the low contrast between colours;
— This display also has a brown lower-left corner and a bizarre blueish region in the lower centre;
— No, it can't be calibrated. Yes, you can change it from yellow tinted to blue tinted or purple tinted or pink tinted but nothing can be done to make the whites white and the blacks black and the greys grey all at the same time;
— A store unit can also be yellow tinted as the fifth photograph demonstrates;
— Away from the very bright lights of the Apple store the differences are much more severe;
— Apple considers this situation "within specification" and won't replace a display like this;
— All of these units are set to Color LCD which reports that the display's native white point is 6500 K. But clearly they can't all be 6500 K because they look so different. So which display is accurately showing 6500 K?

 

[laurihoefs]

— All of these units are set to Color LCD which reports that the display's native white point is 6500 K. But clearly they can't all be 6500 K because they look so different. So which display is accurately showing 6500 K?

You have a colorimeter, so why not use that to verify which one has a 6500K white point?

 

[brdeveloper]

Considerations:
— The yellowing is best seen in the greys of the System Preferences panel rather than a white browser window;
— This is the third yellowed display I've had and the least offensive in the sense that it's a brownish yellow which makes it less harsh;
— The mostly-even yellowing of the display is noticeable on its own due to the low contrast between colours;
— This display also has a brown lower-left corner and a bizarre blueish region in the lower centre;
— No, it can't be calibrated. Yes, you can change it from yellow tinted to blue tinted or purple tinted or pink tinted but nothing can be done to make the whites white and the blacks black and the greys grey all at the same time;
— A store unit can also be yellow tinted as the fifth photograph demonstrates;
— Away from the very bright lights of the Apple store the differences are much more severe;
— Apple considers this situation "within specification" and won't replace a display like this;
— All of these units are set to Color LCD which reports that the display's native white point is 6500 K. But clearly they can't all be 6500 K because they look so different. So which display is accurately showing 6500 K?

I'll get my rMBP this week after the second REPAIR (not return). If it comes with uneven yellowing they'll have to give me a brand new unit. I'm afraid that a perfectly or roughly decent even display doesn't really exist, so I'll be stuck into an infinite exchange loop. Apple advertising should get rid of any reference to color accuracy. They should only mention "sharpness", "great pixel resolution" or something like.