M1 iPad Pro: Sudden Line of Dead Pixels

Turns out that “stunning” mini LED Liquid Retina XDR display on the new M1 iPad Pro isn’t flawless.

Last night, after exactly one week of much-anticipated ownership, a vertical (in landscape mode) line of black/dead pixels suddenly appeared down the screen as I was watching a TV show via Plex.

At first I thought it was something to do with the video itself. An encoding bug? No, the line of dead pixels was still there when I closed Plex, and it persisted across apps and the home screen. Screenshots couldn’t capture it, and a reboot didn’t solve things either. It’s definitely hardware.

This was, incidentally, the same day that I brought the M1 iPad Pro into the Apple Store to compare manufacturing tolerances with their display models. The power button on my device wiggles and rattles, and it did so straight out of the box, which isn’t the sort of meticulous high-tech craftsmanship I expected. The button rattle makes it sound like a lens in the adjacent camera is loose.

I’m posting this brief account in case anyone else finds themselves in the same boat and, like I did, turns immediately to Google (or Duck Duck Go) to see if anyone else is experiencing the same issue. Will be calling AppleCare or the Apple Store today to swap this lemon for a properly working device.

Comments are disabled here, but if you’re experiencing the issue and would like to commiserate, rant about Apple’s poor quality control or remind me never to buy a first-gen Apple product, please reach out to me on Twitter at @nostartnoend.