July 19th, 2007
iPhone touchscreen differences (updated)
A post on Apple’s discussion forums sheds some light on two different touchscreen panels being shipped in iPhone. The two different panels (presumably made by different manufacturers) are indistinguishable when the backlight is off but that are, in fact, much different.
You can find out which panel your iPhone has by dialing *3001#12345#* then tapping Call from the Phone application. This will put iPhone into “Field Mode” where you can select “Versions” to find out what version of the LCD you have. (FWIW, “Field Mode” doesn’t work on my 8GB iPhone, all I get is an error saying “Error performing request. No network service.”) Check that, I missed the last asterisk.
If the LCD screen information starts with a “5″ the panel can appear sharper, brighter and shouldn’t exhibit any sort of a grid pattern (like the one on the right). If it starts with a “7″ your iPhone could have a slightly dimmer panel (like the one on the left). Some “7-series” iPhone owners have reported a checkered pattern of white dots on their iPhones and/or a strange grid pattern. Others have reported a lower GSM signal strength.
Update: This picture of the 7-series “checkered pattern” was posted on a MacRumors message board thread by sjb:
To check yours go into a darkened room and turn the brightness on full (Settings > Brightness) and compare your screen to another iPhone with a different panel.
Apple hasn’t acknowledged any problems with any of the iPhone LCD panels.
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Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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