ipad air 2 screen distortion

Flaccus

Even with smart case on, press gently on back near right and the screen distorts with black spots. Like the kind of distortion you get if you poked an lcd panel. Reckon cause its so thin and no air gap. Seen it in the store too, so not sure if will ask for replacement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6M-bgUSBy0
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1808921

Aeternum

No sign of it on mine

mad muffin

I have to press the back really hard for it to appear. It's about the size of a fingernail. I never see it in the normal course of use.

Flaccus

Interesting. Comes up only if I press with finger from back. Very gently even. Would not normally do this though. Anyway consumer reports have acknowledged this as a design

compromise. it is on every air 2 I have checked.

zeromedic

Mine too. Leave as is or send her back?

Flaccus

Have not come across anyone who got a replacement which was perfect. Some require less pressure to show distortion than others. All the ones in compub do it too. Same with ones in Harvey Normans and PCs world. And no one on mac rumours forums has reported a perfect one. Mine is just over a week old. Might ask for an exchange in hope I get one that is slightly better but won't get my hopes up. Seems it's the price we pay for thinness. Mine does it if I press glass with thumb or press from behind.

Narcissus

mad muffin wrote: »

I have to press the back really hard for it to appear. It's about the size of a fingernail. I never see it in the normal course of use.

ditto

zeromedic

Yes in the iPad case you have to reall push to notice it. I suppose it's like bending the 6 plus. Just don't do it!

5uspect

I haven't noticed it on mine either.

Flaccus

zeromedic wrote: »

Yes in the iPad case you have to reall push to notice it. I suppose it's like bending the 6 plus. Just don't do it!

Nope. On the air2 even small push with thumb on back of smart case causes it. I have tested 12 of them now. 6 in 2 compub's, 2 in pcworld, 1 in currys, 2 in Harvey Normans. And my own. I am convinced anyone who says they don't have this issue just have not noticed it, are not pushing in the right place (it only happens in a couple of places) or they got lucky and got one which requires a lot of force.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/10/happy-with-your-current-ipad-skip-the-air-2/index.htm

"In fact, the Air 2 is so thin that you can depress the screen from the back of the device. You know how poking an LCD with a fingertip produces a temporary distortion, a small puddle of color? The same thing happens on the Air 2 if you press it from behind—there's no reason to think this will damage the device."

Aeternum

Well I have tried pushing all over the back quite hard with no results at all, must have gotten lucky

Flaccus

Indeed. Returned mine as the distortion got worse, probably from all my testing. Got a new one and opened it up in shop. Minor distortion and had to really press but as a bonus it had 3 or 4 dead pixels (black dots). CompuB tech said this is the 1st he has heard of this distortion, so they opened a third one. Same deal but this time just moving it around in your hand caused it to happen. All the shop ones had it too. In the end I got a refund. Great customer service I have to say. It's obviously a design compromise and some are worse than others, and some got lucky and don't have the issue. But it's not something I am NOT willing to accept if it happens in everyday use.

Also, it seems the LTE model from what I have read isn't as bad so perhaps I will try that. Will try again after Christmas.
By the way, if I ordered directly from Apple, what is their policy on dead pixels.

DubDJ

Never came across this in normal day to day use, but have just tested it on my Air 2 and was able to replicate the issue. Don't think it'll be a major problem, I'll keep my eye on it for now though.

Flaccus

That's just it, if you can't see it in day to day use then grand. But my one distorted from just moving your fingers!!

Flaccus

I chanced it and bought an air 2 cellular model the other day and minimal distortion. You would have to press hard with your fingers on the back and even then just distorts in one place. I tested a few cellular models and they were all like this. All the wifi models I tried distorted with almost no force. My original one distorted by just moving you fingers for a better grip in normal use. Clearly this is a design compromise but obviously there is some additional circuitry in the lte models that masks this. Anyway, happy I finally got one which won't annoy me in day to day usage.