14 DAY TRIAL // The latest mini iPads have crisp retina displays, and while their screens may look gorgeous in Apple’s marketing materials, in reality some units offer a sub-par visual experience.
The reason is image retention, or burn-in, as some have called it. Apparently, the rumors regarding Sharp’s faulty displays (which Apple sources for its iPad minis) are true.
Marco Arment, creator of Instapaper, has a short story about it on his blog. He also recalls the rumor that “many Retina iPad Mini LCD panels manufactured by Sharp were suffering from image retention.”
Arment points out that the problem was also affecting many first-generation 15” Retina MacBook Pros. Arment doesn’t mention this, but some iPad models also incurred this problem.
He provides evidence of the issue being present on his Retina iPad mini using a large black-and-white checkerboard pattern.
“If the LCD panel has an image retention issue, a faint impression of the checkerboard will still be visible on the solid gray image, usually fading over the next few minutes,” he writes.
Arment is determined to get a replacement iPad from Apple, although he does note that none of his friends is experiencing the issue on their respective iPad minis with Retina displays.
“Since Apple’s using multiple panel manufacturers, I could exchange it and hope for a better one. But it’s also possible that, given the extremely low volume that’s trickling into stores, any replacement I get in the next couple of weeks could be from the same batch with the same issue,” adds Arment.
An iPad Air and iPhone 5s that Arment has access to also passed with flying colors, leaving only his Retina iPad mini as the sole device affected in his household.
How’s your experience? Make a short trip to the comments section and let us know.