Several iPhone X Owners Encountering Green Line on Display Due to Potential Hardware Defect

A limited but increasing number of iPhone X owners have encountered a green line appearing on the smartphone's display.

iphone x green line

Photo via Twitter user mix0mat0sis‏

At least 25 customers have shared photos of the potential hardware defect across the Apple Support Communities, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and the MacRumors forums since the iPhone X launched a week ago. Of course, in a production run of millions of iPhone X units, it is a small percentage of devices affected so far.

"So I was playing with my new phone and all of a sudden, this happened," said one MacRumors forum member with the alias tmiles81. "It's a really bright line going down the entire right side of the phone."

iphone x green lines

Photos via Twitter users MACinCLE and Nate Heagy

The green line wasn't visible on any of the affected iPhone X units when they were first taken out of the box, but rather developed spontaneously after some period of usage in normal conditions. The devices involved also don't appear to have been dropped or damaged in any way.

"Day one and a bright green line has appeared down the right side of the iPhone X," said Apple Support Communities user benvolio1979.

Many of the user reports claim that restarting or even fully restoring the device doesn't remove the green line, which typically runs vertically along the right or left side of the display, but can show up elsewhere on the screen.

iphone x green line duo

Photos via MacRumors forum member irusli9‏

The issue doesn't appear to be limited to specific iPhone X models or locations. We've seen reports from owners of both 64GB and 256GB configurations in Silver or Space Gray in the United States, Canada, Poland, and Australia at a minimum. If you are affected, share a photo in the comments section below.

MacRumors hasn't been able to reproduce the issue. Apple declined to comment in an emailed response from a spokesperson.

Apple has been replacing affected iPhone X units free of charge, according to customers who contacted the company. Apple also appears to be collecting data from the incidents so that its engineers can investigate the matter, as it routinely does with any potential hardware or software issues.

iphone x green line side

Photo via Apple Support Communities user tomek80

The green line could be an isolated defect with the iPhone X's OLED display. Samsung's Galaxy S7 also uses OLED and suffered from a similar issue last year in which a pink line appeared on some displays. Samsung acknowledged the issue as hardware failure and worked to replace affected devices.

If you experience this problem, we recommend booking a Genius Bar appointment or contacting Apple's support team via phone, email, or online chat. Apple is generally helpful in these situations.

Update: TechCrunch notes that the iPhone X display has a new diamond subpixel pattern and, as such, all green sub-pixels appear in lines. The report speculates that there could be an electrical fault in some of the devices that is causing voltage to flow to all of the green sub-pixels.

iphone x diamond subpixels

iPhone X display's diamond subpixel pattern (DisplayMate via TechCrunch)

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.1

Friday September 27, 2024 6:14 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.1 in October, bringing the first set of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update marks a significant step forward in Apple's AI integration, offering a new Siri contextually-aware experience and a range of additional capabilities powered by on-device machine learning and large language models. There are a couple of handy new...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Monday September 23, 2024 2:00 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 2 Firmware

Thursday September 26, 2024 11:16 am PDT by
Apple today released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro 2, with the software available for both the USB-C and Lightning models. The AirPods Pro 2 firmware has a build number of 7A305, up from the 7A302 firmware released earlier in September. There is no word yet on what's included in the firmware, but Apple is planning to add hearing aid and hearing test features to the AirPods Pro 2...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Preparing iOS 18.0.1 Update for iPhone Following Several Bugs

Thursday September 26, 2024 9:34 am PDT by
Apple appears to be internally testing iOS 18.0.1 for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software update in our website's analytics this week. Our logs have accurately revealed many iOS versions before they were released. We expect iOS 18.0.1 to be a minor update focused on bug fixes. Issues that could be addressed with the update include touchscreen issues affecting the iPhone 16 series...
ipad pro new blue

Best Buy Takes Up to $1,000 Off M2 iPad Pro With Record Low Prices

Thursday September 26, 2024 10:15 am PDT by
Best Buy is back this week with big discounts on the M2 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, providing up to $1,000 off select models. A My Best Buy Plus/Total membership is not required to see these discounts. You'll find both Wi-Fi and cellular tablets on sale at Best Buy, with a particular focus on the larger capacity 1TB and 2TB models. All deals listed below represent record low prices on...
iPhone 15 Pro lineup

Apple's 80% Charging Limit for iPhone: How Much Did It Help After a Year?

Tuesday September 24, 2024 2:09 pm PDT by
With the iPhone 15 models that came out last year, Apple added an opt-in battery setting that limits maximum charge to 80 percent. The idea is that never charging the iPhone above 80 percent will increase battery longevity, so I kept my iPhone at that 80 percent limit from September 2023 to now, with no cheating. My iPhone 15 Pro Max battery level is currently at 94 percent with 299 cycles....
M4 Mac mini Black Perspective

What to Expect From an Apple Event in October: iPad Mini 7, Redesigned Mac Mini, and More

Friday September 27, 2024 11:47 am PDT by
Apple will likely hold another event in October this year to announce new Macs and iPads. If so, it would be the fourth time in the last five years that Apple has held an event in October. Last year, Apple held a virtual event on Monday, October 30 to announce new MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips. A concept of a smaller Mac mini Below, we recap rumors about a potential...

Top Rated Comments

japanime Avatar
90 months ago
Pair that green line with the red dot on the digital crown of your Apple Watch, and you've got yourself a nifty Christmas display. :D
Score: 100 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
90 months ago
I'd just like to thank all you beta testers out there ;)
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sangoma Avatar
90 months ago
Owners should embrace the green line. Just like the notch.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rishic89 Avatar
90 months ago
Interesting. Luckily Apples customer service is excellent! I wouldn't mind having a green line on my X in about 8 months so I can get a brand new device
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jsameds Avatar
90 months ago
"Hardware defect"

So this is Samsung's fault, right? ;) :D
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kalanni Avatar
90 months ago
Well at least Apple is one of the best in the business for customer service
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)