White spot/blob iPad Air screen

Just wondering if anyone else here has the fairly widely reported (Apple support communities, other places) white spot/blog on their iPad screen (seems particularly common in iPad Air, 3rd gen, 2019) which is what I have? Natch, it’s out of warranty, diagnosed by Apple (via chat) as a hardware issue (kinda obvious I guess). It’s just above the home button in all reported cases I’ve seen. Apple won’t help, and I’m not sure how (or whether) to try to push harder on the issue, so figured I’d check in see if there’s anyone here with knowledge. Thanks all. .

I used the app Softbox (a software light box) to test various colors and noticed no white spots or abnormalities on iPad Pro 11 in, newest model

Just to rule out the obvious, you’re not viewing the AssistiveTouch virtual home button, right? See also Use AssistiveTouch on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

If that is what you’re seeing, it’s easy enough to turn it off.

If that’s not what you’re seeing then it probably is screen damage. If it’s out of warranty and there’s no warranty extension repair program, then you need to decide one of three choices. Live with it. Pay Apple’s (fairly high) cost to install a new screen. Or have an independent repair shop install an aftermarket screen.

Aftermarket screens are likely to be the most affordable, but note that they come from a variety of manufacturers and have a variety of qualities. In general, the higher quality screens will cost more. If your repair shop can show you the kind they install (e.g. on a demonstrator device), that would be nice, but I don’t know how likely it is that you’ll have the option.

The only real downside to using a high quality aftermarket screen is that if Apple doesn’t do the installation, True Tone functionality will be disabled. This will be the case even if a genuine Apple display is used - Apple’s repair techs use a proprietary software tool (which, as far as I know, no independent shop has access to) to cryptographically bind the display to the motherboard.

Depending on whether you use or care about True Tone, this could be the deciding factor for you.

Thanks for that. Accessibility settings not at fault, but I hadn’t tried that. FWIW, user LotusPilot on Apple Support Communities wrote this, which I’ve seen (in less detail) elsewhere:

“This complaint, in context of bright spots appearing on the screen of an iPad, has been known to appear here with some regularity. This problem was often noted with the iPad Pro 10.5 - upon which the iPad Air3 is closely related. This is not to say that the problem is itself common, merely that the complaint appears to be common to these models of iPad.

Of complaints that have appeared within this community forum, the issue seems to focus upon bright patches (of varying intensity between affected devices) typically occurring in a region 1-2” above the Home button (as viewed with the iPad in the “Portrait” orientation - with the Home button at the bottom of the screen).

In context of physical construction, the iPad Pro 10.5 differed from other iPad models in that its main logic board runs along the central spine of the device - flanked by two equal sized Li-Ion batteries (a physical layout now inherited by the iPad Air 3). By contrast, most (if not all) preceding iPad models have their main logic board positioned along the right-hand side of the iPad, with a much larger battery/batteries occupying the majority of the remaining chassis.

The bright patches appearing on the iPad Pro 10.5 / Air3 screen, where apparent, directly correlate to an area of the underlying logic board that incorporates the electrical connectors for the display - and the touchscreen controller. As such, as other iPads have a different internal layout, this is perhaps why we don’t see this observation occurring in other models.”

Bottom line, I’m going to suck it up for as long as I can then reconsider. Assuming it doesn’t get worse, which maybe it won’t given the above diagnosis. (My husband’s iPad Air has the same issue.)

Hey, that’s what I’m seeing. Thanks!

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I have a white blob about 5 cm above the home button on my iPad Pro 10.5" (Model MPHG2B/A). It is about 1.5cm diameter and looks like an area of more intense backlighting. I don’t use the iPad for any colour critical work and just live with the defect - though as time passes either its getting more accentuated or I just notice it more!