After 5 of them, I start to think that maybe it's not the iPhone.

@Chicago7: And what exactly would Anthony be doing to cause this? I'd say he should go to an Apple store in person and open the box he buys right in front of the clerk and not leave until he has an iPhone that functions properly.

My original iPhone just had an issue. The earpiece no longer functions, and thus I cannot make phone calls without using the speakerphone which, by the way, doesn't play all of the sounds sent to it. I'll get the ringer sounds/alarm sounds, but all of the more minor sound effects (like "click") no longer play at all.

After a moderate amount of talking to Apple, they're sending me a new one.

Anthony probably has an "aura".

Or he's in a tiny apartment that has a microwave going all the time.

Or he only uses his iPhone when he is using his radar gun at the ballpark.

Or aliens have infilitrated the neighborhood and are trying to control his brain and are screwing up the iPhone screen.

/There are ENDLESS possibilities! :D

Maybe it's designed to be held at an angle while viewing ... just a thought?

@Jasmo:

I can tell you it's not. It's like a tv or computer monitor, in that you look right at it.

This isn't surprising to me. I'm on my fourth one.

The first one had a SIM tray that refused to go back in the first time I opened it.
The second was put together poorly and the entire left edge of the bezel was sticking out with a sharp edge. I felt a little douchey taking that one in, but I politely asked and the guy immediately offered to swap it out.
The third worked fine for a while, and then wouldn't recognize when I'd take my headphones out. So it would put all sound through the headphone jack, preventing me from using it like an normal phone.

So now I'm on iPhone #4, which works fine. I have noticed, though, that I got one of the 7xxxxxx screens, and that it's noticeably dimmer (I've compared it to a friend's 5xxxxxx). This one alos has annoying fit issues with edges sticking out, but not nearly to the point that it's reasonable to take it in. At this point, I'm almost expecting it to break anyway, so I figure I'll have a new one.

Oh, and kudos to the Apple store in downtown Portland. By this point I'd think they were assuming I'm breaking them deliberately, but each and every time they treat me well and get me swapped out and on my way.

@Chicago7: You are 100% correct, after 5 tries, it's definitely not the iPhone. What are the chances that 5 would all have the same "defect". If it truly is the iPhone, Anthony should start playing the lotto heavily.

This guy has a polarizer on his camera. You've been had, Ben.

Seems too unlikely he would get 5 iphones with the same problem..maybe they try to fix it and send it back? but keep screwing it up..

Maybe he should try turning down the brightness setting?

It is not unlikely that he got 5 phones with the same problem if it is a design defect. If a product is designed with a defect in it, then everyone of them will have that defect. there are wide spread reports of this happening with the iPhones and apple admitted it was a defect in the phones from a particular plant. He is probably getting phones from the same lot over and over considering he is probaably going to the same store.

HERE IS A LETTER THAT I JUST E-MAILED TO STEVE JOBS:

Steve,

I've been a Mac user for almost 5 years now and depend on them everyday since I'm in the Media Production business.

Recently purchased an iPhone in hopes of combining my Mobile device with a PMP that would be good enough to

use as an efficient way of showing clients my video work while on the road.

Unfortunately for me the iPhone I purchased had the negative black screen issue (which I verified with my brother's iPod touch who's screen is flawless.)

The Manager at the Fifth Avenue store was kind enough to sync a few video files that I brought with me on a flash stick and we proceeded to test them on 4 other iPhones (2 floor models, 1 recently returned model and 1 fresh out of the box model.)

Out of the 4 iPhones we tested (not including mine) only one of them exhibited a screen that was flawless (the recently returned unit.)

Since my iPhone was barely 5 days old I was expecting a fresh out of the box device to replace it with but after the 4th iPhone we tested (the brand new one)

was still having issues I realized that we might end up having to open a few more which seemed ridiculous for such a flagship product.

By that point I was disconcerted enough with the whole experience to tell the manager that I'd probably be going back to a Nokia Device.

He was kind enough to not charge me the 10% restocking fee for my return and I was on my way.

After spending over 3 hours at the Fifth Avenue store I ended up leaving with only my SIM card.

Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't all iPhone screens be the same (at least quality wise?)

It would be great to own an iPhone that "just worked" but if getting one with a useable screen is so random (1 out of 5 units tested) than

how do you expect customers to take this product seriously?

Thank you for your time.

Best Regards,

------

Isn't it "endentured" servants?

Why's he using a Safari webpage for an example? Wouldn't a movie or the iPod been a better example?

Looks rather like a palmOne LifeDrive - they have that effect, too.

I reeeeeely reeeeely want an iPhone. Why do I have to dance with the Devil (AT&T) to use it?

@ptkdude:
[en.wikipedia.org]

Im in no way a fan of Apple, but 5 out 5 defective phones is complete horse shit. Obviously he has figured out a way to fuck up the screen so he can try to get hand downs from Apple.

I can assure you that this is a problem it's not just him being picky. It happened with the iPod touch as well. I am also having this problem, you can check it out on the video below

[s58.photobucket.com]

I can assure you that this isn't just him being picky, and he's not messing with the screen, im having this problem as well, check out this video of my phone, it looks exactly the same. [s58.photobucket.com]

I bet all his "new" phones he has gotten are refurbished. Refurbished phones are crap. I sell phones, and sometimes have to go thru several to find one that doesn't have something wrong with it.

Or, it's a defect with the iphone that is just now being discovered. Either way, don't expect the store reps to admit to it.