Apple’s Policy on LCD Screen Dead Pixels Gets Outed
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(Image courtesy of BGR)
If you have any Apple device with a screen, you’ve probably feared what might happen should the unit develop a dead pixel or three. As it turns out, Cupertino has a policy in place which has just been made public, used to decide if the unit should be repaired or replaced,
BGR got their hands on “Apple’s internal policy on acceptable numbers of pixel anomalies,” which was recently updated according to one of their sources. The screenshot above is used as a guideline by Apple Store Geniues in order to address repair issues involving a display.
“It essentially allows them to quickly and easily determine whether or not to repair or replace products with display defects,” the BGR report explains. “Apple provides its employees with a table showing the acceptable number of pixel anomalies for each product range.”
It would appear that the smaller the display, the more Apple is willing to address the problem. BGR uses the example of the iPhone and iPod, for which one single pixel anomaly is enough to get the unit repaired or even replaced, while the MacBook Air can have up to three light pixels, five dark pixels or a total of seven combined anomalies before they’re eligible for service.
However, even if the number of pixel anomalies are within the acceptable range, an Apple Genius has the option to exchange your afflicted product for another -- but the bad news is, if the exchange unit also has anomalies within their acceptable range, you’re basically stuck with it. Good to know!
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
dclegg
November 04, 2010 at 12:36pm
I upgraded my old Dell laptop recently for a Macbook Pro, and after a week noticed that it had a stuck pixel. Just the one. I took it back to the retailer (we don't have Apple Stores here in NZ), and they replaced it without question (although they had to order the replacement in). To my shock and surprise, the replacement also had a stuck pixel (different location, stuck on a different colour). Once again a replacement was ordered... although it was a lot more painful this time. Bottom line: What the manufacturer states may not necessarily be what you have to put up with if your country has consumer law protecting you further.
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