Lots of back light bleeding
I’m a few days in to owning my iPad 2 and whilst I am generally pleased with my purchase there is one issue, backlight screen bleeding. This was reported when the iPad 2 came out in the U.S and there have also been reports elsewhere around the world, including some of you here in New Zealand. But is it really an issue and what can you do about it if it affects you? Keep reading to find out.
See this post for the latest update.
I guess the first question is, is it really an issue? Well this is a yes and no answer. It’s a bit like the situation with the iPhone 4 antennae in that it is only an issue if it affects you and it’s not an issue if it doesn’t (as not every device has this problem) or if most of the time you are using the iPad with a light screen (i.e light websites or reading a book).
However it is an issue if you are watching a movie with dark scenes, reading a website with a dark background (like ours), looking at dark images or dark transitions between games. Most importantly though… if you have backlight bleeding it is an issue, period. You just paid roughly a thousand dollars for it. It should be flawless. End of.
There are reports that it’s because ‘the glue isn’t dry yet and it will correct itself’, personally I can’t see this, by now the glue should be dry. Apparently you can also resolve the issue if you turn the screen brightness down. I guess this is the same as Apple telling you how to hold your iPhone 4.
As you can see in the image and video above, most of the bleeding occurs around the home button but is visible more-or-less around the entire screen. But what can you do about it? We contacted Apple to find out.
Firstly when I called Apple they did seem to be acknowledging the fact there is an issue. This is always a good start. Below are details of what you need to do. The bad news is that (at the time of writing this post) there is very limited stock of iPad 2′s in the country. This unfortunately means you will be waiting for a new one for a while. The good news is that you don’t need to take it back right away.
Upon calling Apple I went through the usual stuff of giving over my details, serial number etc etc (the guy seemed impressed I had an iPad 2, LOL) and explaining the situation to them including the location of the bleeding and when it happens. I was then put on hold and when he came back advised me that it’s a known issue and that he needed to escalate the call through to one of the ‘Senior Advisors’.
The senior advisor again took my details and confirmed where I had purchased it from. He then put me on hold whilst he lodged all the details.
When he came back he said:
Thanks for holding. This is a know issue for the new iPad 2 and Apple will be replacing the unit for you, however not straight away. We [Apple] believe it is a bad batch and our engineering team are investigating this to get it resolved, so I will be forwarding your case to them. I will be in touch in the next 3-5 business days.
I didn’t have an issue with this but did ask why I couldn’t get a replacement now and he said:
At the moment there is no point in us replacing it right now as the next one you get will likely have the same issue. Also we are very low on stock so it is unlikely the store will have one to replace it with.
I asked what the situation would be once they had sorted it. He said that likelihood was that I would need take it back to where I purchased it from to get a replacement. I also asked what if I had purchased it via the Online store (I made up a story about my wife getting one from there so wanted to check just in case she had the same issue). He said it would be the same situation if there is an issue, but I would need to take it to Yoobee as they are the Apple repair agent.
As I said, there is limited stock right now and there now seems to be an issue with this batch so you won’t get it replaced right away, however when speaking with him I asked what others should do in the situation? Did they want people to call or could they wait? His reply:
We would ask that they call Apple and lodge it with us so that our engineering team can more quickly identify and resolve the issue. However as it is a known issue, we can look back through and see that, so if they don’t want to they don’t need to call just yet…
My advice would be to call them, 0080076667666, get it in the system and get your reference number.
Of course the big problem is when are Apple going to fix this? Will the next one you get have the same problem. Well the answer is we don’t know and at this stage neither do Apple. They are not willing to replace the units just yet as they don’t want you to get another dud.
At the end of the day you need to decide what you want to do. For some it won’t bother you and you will likely never notice it. For others I am sure you’ll be calling straight away. Interestingly this did also affect the iPad 1, Steve just took a picture of his iPad 1 showing what is possibly worse bleeding than mine… The thing is, he never noticed it until now.
iPad 1 bleeding light
Do you have bleeding issues? If so what are you planning on doing about it? Does it even bother you? Let us know in the comments below.
I had the exact same thing but my screen bleeding was only down the bottom of the screen. I also had what appeared to be a mark of some sort (maybe a thin trail of glue) that was near the bottom right of the screen. It could only be seen when the screen was white but with the screen bleed on the black screen and smear mark on the white, I decided I couldn’t live with it. Took it back to original purchase point (DSE) and they advised me they had no more and couldn’t replace it. They acknowledged the fault and agreed to refund me. I was pretty disappointed but will wait until the next batch comes out (hopefully with no issues this time). At JB Hifi today the sales person in the computers dept told me they had more stock due later this week, so hopefully the wait won’t be too long.
(aarons3 has made 7 comments)
I too have some bleeding around the edges of my iPad 2, but it is only noticeable when I pull up a black screen, turn the brightness to full, and turn the lights off in a dark room. Not real world conditions I use it in, no I’m not too concerned.
I don’t think I’ll be calling Apple just yet…
(Satch has made 44 comments)
I have the bleeding issue and like the others, its not a deal breaker right now but I will look at the ease of replacement later on (aka will keep an eye on here to see how successful yours goes). Its one of those things that will bug me a little as I know its there but its not going to affect my enjoyment of the device. I turned the brightness down a little and cant even see it now….but should I have to do that..no.
(camtab has made 468 comments)
Mine as you may know was a US iPad. It has one small bit of backlight bleed which is only noticeable when:
Brightness at 100%
Dark background
Dark room
Look closely
So I’m not to bothered. Real world use it’s not going to bother me. If it hadn’t of been so well documented on the web much like Steve and his iPad 1 I really doubt I would have noticed.
(Paul has made 323 comments)
As others have said, I can see the light bleeding but only when 100% brightness in a dark room with background.
I only found this after reading about the issue, so not really worried at the moment.
(Kendog has made 4 comments)
So I called Apple, as I too have the light bleeding problem. They said they couldn’t replicate the problem as they don’t have an iPad 2 to test. But was asked to go back to DSE so they could replicate / verify the problem. No mention about replacements etc. Although the operator did make an interesting comment about how NZ didn’t have a Apple store yet and one should be opening soon.
(stowers has made 1 comment)
Anyone else experiencing this issue as well? I have it on my white iPad and have seen a handful of other reports of it:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1126145
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1121585
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2783367&tstart=60
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1118799
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1123871
Basically, the glass at the edge, near the home button or sometimes near the headphone jack, is not glued down flush with the aluminium back. It’s raised ever so slightly and can be squeezed down. In rare cases it is quite bad and makes a clicking noise as you press it down (e.g. this video http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1118472)
(Vince has made 1 comment)
stowers wrote:
Woop! That’s awesome news… Can’t remember where I was the other day but drove past a really new building (still being built) that looked so much like an Apple store. It had the typical glass windows and styling, I had to double take!
(supersubsonicz has made 15 comments)
Luckily I dont appear to have this problem. I have a white one too.
(Psychrn has made 131 comments)
Spoke to Noelleeming in Hastings and they will refund my money so i can order one off the apple website
(lakeview01 has made 198 comments)
I am facing the bledding issue as well but its not that bad to me .I get to see it only when in dark background ( not facing issue with ipnz). I am not gonna give it back and wait for one damn month let the stock level come to normal then i will think abt it.
(Metalspree has made 15 comments)
Mine has some bleeding but only when brightness turned right up and looking at a dark screen in a dark room.
After spending an evening reinstalling savegame files and other app data files onto the new iPad2 I am not going to bother taking it back.
(nz_Ark has made 48 comments)
I have the bleeding problem too
also that clicking problem mentioned above. Doh! It’s a beautiful machine, the iPad 2 so it’s a real pity. Will get it replaced when more stock is available, I can wait, but for 1200 plus I don’t want ANY problems, however minor.
(Mirokusporter has made 3 comments)
An update for those with this issue: Just spoke to Apple, who say it is a known issue. If you take it back to where you purchased it from within 14 days they will replace it for a new one (maybe call Apple first to get a case number).
I also asked whether the issue had been fixed (so that I don’t swap it for another dud) and he confirmed it has been diagnosed by their engineers and fixed.
I’ll pick up my new one tomorrow. If there are any issues I’ll post an update here tomorrow night. Fingers crossed…
(fotobox has made 1 comment)