Some iPhone 15 Pro Max units are suffering from a serious screen defect

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Maxhave had some issues right out of the box this year. On some units, the titanium chassis did not get any color applied to it. On other phones, the color was not applied uniformly. Some iPhone 15 Pro series devices had a display that was not correctly aligned with the edges of the handset. A tweet from tipster @tarunvats33 passes along a disturbing new rumor about the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

According to the self-proclaimed tech enthusiast, "Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max is reportedly experiencing screen burn-in issues, adding to a growing list of problems for the company this year." Screen burn-in occurs when an image is left on the screen too long and remains on the screen no matter what you're doing with the device. This is a problem that can happen with an OLED display. Even if the iPhone 15 Pro Max is turned off, the image burnt-in can stare back at you in all of its ghostly glory.

The iPhone owners whose iPhone 15 Pro Max units are suffering from burn-in posted about the problem on Reddit. One image in particular really stood out as it showed a ghostly image of the virtual QWERTY keyboard including the letter on each key! The Redditor whose iPhone has the keyboard burn-in was pretty stoic as he wrote, "I have the same issue. Apple will replace it. Seems relatively uncommon, I’ve seen about 5 reports total. But definitely is a real issue with the 15 Pro Max that the previous generations haven’t had."

Burn-in often starts as image retention. This is a ghost image showing a previous screen that will go away over time. So if you have image retention on your iPhone, turn off the device before it turns into a case of permanent burn-in. Some apps that are static for a long period of time, or with screen elements that don't change, like Google Maps for example, are prime candidates to contribute to screen burn-in.

Even so, it does take a long time for screen burn-in to take place which means that the iPhone 15 Pro Max screens exhibiting this issue might be suffering from a manufacturing defect. Either way, Apple should replace the phone since this is a hardware issue and a software update is not going to help. There is a one-year warranty on new iPhone 15 Pro Max units so if your phone has burn-in, you can visit the Genius Bar at your nearby Apple Store. You can also call the nearest Apple Store and explain the problem.