iPhone 3G Display Color Warmer by Design
To set the record straight, I talked to Apple’s senior director of iPhone product marketing, Bob Borchers. Borchers indicated that this definitely isn’t a bug or a display defect. Yes, the display on the iPhone 3G has a warmer look—and that’s by design. The previous iPhone’s white was more of a cool blue (Borchers likened it to harsh fluorescent lighting), while this one’s is warmer and more of a sunny yellow.
I like the old color better. It’s true that it’s “more blue,” but I don’t think it really looks bluish. To my eyes, the whites look white, whereas the iPhone 3G looks like a dirty yellow. The original iPhone screen looks very good, even at low brightness levels.
AppleInsider has more photos.
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It's really weird though. Only the shipping firmware (5A345) has the yellow tinge. If you "restore" your iPhone through iTunes, you get a new firmware 5A347 with less yellow. It's real weird. Check out my post on Ars Technica about this story:
Clint: Thanks for the link. Have you compared the 5A347 to the original iPhones? I wonder whether Borchers is wrong, or whether Apple intended to make a much more subtle change.
Unfortunately I don't have access to any iPhones running the 1.0 firmware :( I'm hoping that one of our readers will be able to compare for us.
John Gruber says, “Whatever is causing this variation — my guess is slightly different screen components — isn’t related to versions 5A345 and 5A347 of the OS.”
