Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

Hidden iPhone 3G firmware "fixes" yellow screens

Early adopters of iPhone 3G have discovered an updated firmware build hidden from iTunes' update system that appears to fix several issues, including the yellow screen tint that some believe is a flaw.

Even as Apple itself claims that the shift in color balance on the display to yellow is a purposeful move to improve its warmth and contrast, Ars Technica's readers and now others claim to have discovered that the golden hue may have been an error after all.

Although clicking "Check for Updates" in iTunes continues to reveal no new firmware, touching "Restore" installs firmware two builds newer than what was loaded on to the new iPhones in the factory, bumping them from 5A345 to 5A347.

Many of those claim the lengthy process brings iPhone 3G's color point back to a more neutral position, eliminating the tint altogether.

Whether the new build was ever intended as public is unclear, but its existence as a later build suggests Apple may have ultimately chosen to scale back the tinting in a last-minute revision.

Separately, reports have also been received by AppleInsider that the newer build may also fix recurring app crashes experienced by some users, though this may also be due to the nature of the restore process rather than any particular updates in the 5A347 build.



34 Comments

not_too_shabby 16 Years · 10 comments

Has anybody read this article from arstechnica or whatever it is?

Quote:
We have confirmed that updating the firmware from 345 to 347 changes the color calibration to be less yellow. We did this by taking an iPhone purchased at an AT&T store on Friday (5A345), restored and updated its firmware, and compared it to other iPhone 3G models running the 5A345 firmware and 5A347.

The whole premise is totally flawed. They are comparing to iphones, one with the update and one without and saying the one without the update looks yellower. Unfortunately two iphone 3Gs displays don't look the same. There are multiple accounts of this including my own. I applied the update and it did nothing to my 3g iphone which is much more yellow than my wife's 3g iphone.

Here is a pic of the two 3g iphones, tilted to EXAGERATE the difference, but even slightly off angle one looks greenish. If these displays are going to have color variance, there should be a way to adjust the white temp

jlsniu 18 Years · 6 comments

I've had several apps crash today, apps from the App Store. AIM was one of them. I have even have the newest firmware. I put it on Friday when I was trying to get the thing activated. I ended up having to restart the phone.

kdbdallas 16 Years · 1 comment

I tried this and it may have reduced the yellow a little but by no means completely and not even really enough to be noticeable.

ipodrulz 16 Years · 38 comments

I think this is what Apple was afraid of at first - for 3rd party developers. Not every developer looks over their code as carefully as they should (Even Apple). Though this seems to be a consequence for eager adopters - and rest assured there will be more to come. Though one thing I really hope for in the next update is Dvorak Keyboard support on the iPhone!

tpbrown 16 Years · 1 comment

*shrug* if that matters to anything