Apple Acknowledges 15" PowerBook Spots

zachlipton writes "Computerworld is running an interesting interview with Dave Russell, director of product marketing for portables and wireless at Apple. Russell comments on the white spot issues that have plagued the new 15" PowerBooks (Apple has been very responsive about fixing mine at least) and he has this to say about a G5 PowerBook: 'We certainly want to do that, but it's going to be a while.' Russell also comments on a lot of other ideas related to the PowerBook and iBook lines."

It's about time

[Militant Libertarian]

It seems I read about this problem a month ago on macnn.com [macnn.com]. It seems the 15 inchers are the only ones effected.

I have these

[Nutcase]

I have these spots on my powerbook's display. Started out as three small points and are now rather large spots. They are only extremely noticable when displaying white backgrounds and such, but are there always.

Thankfully, I also have extended apple care. I am gonna wait until I hear that they are 100% fixed before I send it in. I don't want to be waiting 2-3 weeks for a replacement, etc. That would be a real big problem. Hopefully they will get the delays down and the success ratio up, and then I can get a new screen that is pristine. :)

Easy way to check

[awtbfb]

1. Close/hide all open windows.
2. Control-click (or right click) on the desktop and select Change Desktop Background.
3. Change desktop to "Solid White" in the Solid Colors collection. It's the nearly invisible one to the far right.
4. Minimize System Preferences window and look for spots. Mine are along the vertical and horizontal centerlines of the screen.

And yes, my screen will be swapped out shortly under warranty.

Re:I have these

[Anonymous Coward]

Thankfully, I also have extended apple care.

Thankfully?

You, and other PB15AL owners with spots don't need to worry about extended Apple Care at this point: Your Mac is covered by Apple's One Year Warranty. The AL PB's are new and not even close to expiring this out-of-box warranty.

Excellent Test for 'the Spots'

[teamhasnoi]

PiXel Check [versiontracker.com]. Fills your whole screen with Red, Blue, Green, White, and Black. Play with the brightness some and it's the best way I've found to see if my white spots are getting bigger (I'm lucky I guess, mine aren't that noticable...yet. I have two on the lower left.)

I'll be waiting to see if they get bigger, as I have a screen with no dead/stuck pixels and I don't want to tempt fate and/or be without my powerbook for some unknown amount of time.

Re:Easy way to check

[nullard]

More simply:

1. Open TextEdit.
2. Expand the window to fill the screen.
3. There is no step 3.

Re:I don't have the 3 year AppleCare

[zachlipton]

They don't happen to everyone, you could be lucky :) In general, they are showing up within a week or so, but they get worse over time. After about a week and a half with mine, they are pretty bad.

The good news is that even without AppleCare, Apple will still replace or repair your machine for free. Call 800-SOS-APPL and they will do the rest.

Correcting at production?

[RedX]

Perhaps Apple is changing the production line to correct this problem, which would explain why the BTO 15" PB that I ordered on October 23 had its ship date change from Nov 4 to Nov 28 yesterday.

Re:Easy way to check

[Demolition]

Check here [mac.com] and here [mac.com] for actual pictures of the spots, and here [macfixit.com] for a 1280x854 overlay diagram which maps out the exact locations of the spots.

D.

Re:The Rest of the Article...

[adlerspj]

I've found that the screen imprints from the keyboard on my 12" iBook goes away when I clean the screen. It's just skin oils and such. I thought it was an abrasion at first and was pretty bummed, but it cleans right up.

Re:I don't have the 3 year AppleCare

[pianophile]

Applecare will also give you *on-site* support. This was very nice whan my logic board needed replacing last year.

Re:The Rest of the Article...

[grocer]

I would agree 90% of the marks are grime and oils, however, there are still slight abrasions...I've had mine (12" iBook) about 2 months and they seem to clean right off (I've done it twice now) but if the reflection is just right, you can still see them. They don't show up when the screen is on, only off and looking almost straight down the screen.

I use those alcohol glasses wipes to clean screens. They work great and take everything right off without having to press or scrub.

AppleCard

[scot2342]

Sorry to hear about the probs with Apple Care people have been experiencing. I called last Friday (10/31) to complain about the spots. Tuesay (11/4) at noon I had the shipping box AppleCare sent to ship the PowerBook. By Thursday at noon (48 hours later) I had the laptop back. Spots are gone! Everything seems to be in order. I was shocked at the turn around time considering I was quoted 5-7 days when I originally spoke with AppleCare on Halloween.