16 ms·

Macbook screen coating issues

279 points by greggman 12y ago

trynumber9 12y ago
Enough with the gates. Please. Anything else. I'd even accept stainghazi. That said, my MBPR has some screen coating issue. But I'm not sure if I scratched it or not, so I won't join their database.
- busterarm 12y ago
  > Enough with the gates. Please. Anything else. I'd even accept stainghazi I won't accept Stainghazi. RIP Sean Smith / Vile Rat. We miss you, buddy.
  - zer00eyz 12y ago
    Mac -> problem with mac -> problem with title -> change title -> reference to eve on line .. and to a goon (therefore SA) How deep does the rabbit hole go?
- geofft 12y ago
  ScreencoatingInAction
  - soylentcola 12y ago
    #NotYourStainShield
- jxcl 12y ago
  Sorry buddy, that goes all the way back to Watergategate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9JgxhXW5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9JgxhXW5w
- spain 12y ago
  I have to agree, the first thing I did was roll my eyes at the choice of name. "Screencoatening?"
- mrsteveman1 12y ago
  -gate has run its course I agree. "Screenbleed"? STREAK? Have to have a catchy name like all these security vulnerabilities :)
interpol_p 12y ago
I wonder if there is something which accelerates / causes this issue, like climate, cleaning with a particular cleaning agent, or touching the screen. I've had my rMBP since it was released in 2012 and have not seen the issue yet, despite using it nearly all day every day since purchase.
- perlpimp 12y ago
  i had rust patches under palms when i had old Al Powerbook G4 something to do with my blood acidity, no one else had them. Better figure out what causes this. I think there might be a limited number of wipe downs you can do with these and perhaps if there is something else present that might be accelerating damage, environmental and the like.
- yaeger 12y ago
  From what I hear it could be heat related. Do you use it all day, let it get very warm and then just close the lid to put it in standby? I am wondering if this is because of a hot unibody case coming very close to the screen when it is closed. So, someone who uses his MacBook very lightly so it doesn't get very hot and then powering it down completely and then waiting a bit before closing the lid might not have this issue as his MacBook is already rather cold when the lid gets closed.
X-Istence 12y ago
The coating on a MacBook Pro is similar to the anti-reflection coating you can get on glasses. Chlorine and heat will affect glasses, I bet the same can be said for these laptop screens. I have a feeling that with a database of 258 people, you should be able to find out what people are using to clean their screens and damaging them. Cleaning your screen using those bleach wipes is a sure fire way to damage it!
- javajosh 12y ago
  I've never used anything but water and a paper towel to clean my screen, and frankly I resent the fact that you and people like you keep assuming that it's user error. The coating is clearly defective. There is very clearly a problem with the screen coating on a (in my case) $3500 machine, and Apple needs to be called out on this one. Bravo to the OP for bring this to light.
  - O____________O 12y ago
    I've never used anything but water and a paper towel to clean my screen Why are you using a paper towel? I've always considered them to be moderately abrasive.
  - etchalon 12y ago
    > The coating is clearly defective. The problem is that 258 some-odd people, out of the what, several tens of thousands of people who have experienced this issue is not a "clearly" situation. That's, conservatively, about .1% of owners experiencing a problem, and it is entirely within reason to believe the issue is user-caused, baring some reproducible test case.
    - jacobolus 12y ago
      How many people do you know with a >2 year old MBP? I would wager a substantial fraction experience this. I personally know several who get this issue wiping their screen only with water and the cleaning cloth it came with, per Apple’s instructions. ... In addition of course to all the ones experiencing this effect after using a tee shirt, tissue, paper towel, or other cloth. The guy you’re responding to definitely shouldn’t be using a paper towel to clean the screen. Still though, that doesn’t cause a problem with most other Apple laptop/phone/tablet displays, so people who now have scratched up screens didn’t ever expect this could happen, and weren’t trying especially hard to be careful about it. Apple should at the very least do a much better job warning their customers.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
inevitable 12y ago
Unlike cookies, laptops should not be baked. These things probably sat in extremely hot vehicles or something.
secstate 12y ago
My 13" MBPr has this stain pattern. Here's my guess, I used an alcohol-based solvent to clean my keyboard and then closed the machine. Now I have stains of the oleophobic coating coming off in the places you'd expect it ... where the keys manage to come in contact with the screen. So I suppose it's my fault, but I have a Lenovo T440s here with a beautiful matte screen that has no need for a fancy oil-resistent coating that comes off when you breath cleaning solvent on it. Color me unimpressed, Apple.
- X-Istence 12y ago
  So Apple has to figure out how to stop people from using abrasive cleaners on their computers that would also cause issues if it came in contact with switches/circuitboard or anything else in a laptop?
  - beedogs 12y ago
    Bit of a difference between the screen and keyboard -- which users interact with -- and the guts of the thing. Use some common sense.
  - vacri 12y ago
    Stopping small amounts of fluid is a solved problem for laptops - the keyboard sits in a tray, and ports and speakers are reasonably sealed. You have to spill a lot of fluid to make it past these basic protections.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - greggman 12y ago
    None of the scratches on my MBP are from cleaners. They are 100% from the keyboard touching the screen. Here's a photo (http://i.imgur.com/gnAqDqk.jpg http://i.imgur.com/gnAqDqk.jpg). First you can see the main scratch is a very straight line. Not something that would come from wiping. Second below the man scratch you can see a pattern of small scratches about every 1/2 inch in pairs corresponding to the corners of keys on the keyboard. I'd be happy if there was just way reasonably priced way to get it re-coated.
pistle 12y ago
Image 3/19 is very interesting and numerous show fairly specific markings indicating scratches near the center of a stain which would support a chemical leaching through a broken protective coating. Similarly a chemical near the edge of the screen/coating could leach into the area there as well.
CoachRufus87 12y ago
Protip: Use iKlear to clean your machines. It's what they use at the Apple Store. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_electronics?ie=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=iKlear&node=172282 http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_electronics?ie=UTF8&field-...
- moe 12y ago
  It's certainly iPriced, too. $19.95 for 8oz (240ml) and a cloth...
  - Bud 12y ago
    Not accurate. It's actually $19.95 for this full kit: 1- 2 ounces iKlear Spray Bottle; 1- 6 ounces iKlear Spray Bottle 1- Medium DMT Antimicrobial Cloth; 1- Travel Size DMT Antimicrobial Cloth 1- Large "Chamois" Cloth; 1- Travel Size "Chamois" Cloth 12- iKlear Travel Singles (Step 1 Wet) So two bottles of the stuff, four cloths, and 12 travel singles. http://www.amazon.com/iKlear-iK-26K-Complete-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B0023WU6OI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1426697344&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/iKlear-iK-26K-Complete-Cleaning-Kit/dp...
    - moe 12y ago
      While you are correct (sorry, I missed the extra stuff), my point was that noname microfibre cloths (~$0.70) and less overpriced cleaners (~$1/oz) are just one click away on Amazon...
coldwaraaron 12y ago
I'm having this problem around the edges of my screen. The only cleaning product I've used is windex.
- Sidnicious 12y ago
  Windex contains ammonia, according to Apple it's not safe to use on screens: > Don't use window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, ammonia, abrasives, or cleaners containing hydrogen peroxide to clean the display. https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht204172 https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht204172 Stick with a damp cloth. (I use 99% isopropyl alcohol to clean my computer, screen and all. It's notably absent from Apple's list of forbidden chemicals, but I'm not sure that it's safe so I won't recommend it.)
  - coldwaraaron 12y ago
    Thanks for the tip.
  - coldwaraaron 12y ago
    Thanks for the tip.
  - qubitcoder 12y ago
    I typically use isopropyl alcohol as well. Although I've periodically used Windex on my 2012 rMBP; no issues thus far, still looks brand new.
- pcurve 12y ago
  windex = bad. it has alcohol and other cleaning agents. http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/en-us/products-by-brand/windex/windex-original-glass-cleaner.aspx http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/en-us/products-by-brand/...
jonmarkgo 12y ago
I've had this problem around the edges of my screen after about a year. I've only used the anti-static monitor wipes to clean my screen...
javajosh 12y ago
My 15" rMBP has this problem, and Apple told me it would be $300 to fix it at the depo, or $600 at the store. I wrote a blog post about it[1]. Glad to see it's getting some coverage, and I've added myself to the database. BTW who's doing this and what are you doing with the data/with Apple? [1] http://blog.javajosh.com/2015/02/when-apple-screws-its-customers-over.html http://blog.javajosh.com/2015/02/when-apple-screws-its-custo...
- visarga 12y ago
  Good post, I especially liked the closing phrase: > It's not like Apple is hurting and can't afford to do the right thing: Apple Computer has 40% profitability, $75B in cash reserves (more than the US Government) and here they are nickel-and-diming the people who are critical to their success.
  - etchalon 12y ago
    I heavily dislike the whole "they have money!" thing. Apple has been more than willing to extend warranties and repair issues once they're sure the problem is a defect. Until they're sure, it's not "nickel and diming". It's charging people for a service. Paying 4 grand for a laptop doesn't magically mean Apple is obligated in anyway to make you happy, costs be damned.
    - vacri 12y ago
      No-one said 'costs be damned'; no-one suggested that Apple should spend the cost of the laptop or more on warranty repair. The costs mentioned are less than 10% of your stated price. And without 'costs be damned', your final line does not work - if you sell a product for a premium price, you do have an obligation to make your customers happy.
      - etchalon 12y ago
        No matter what the cost, it'd be a cost be damned situation.
    - 12y ago
ghouse 12y ago
13" MBPr purchased 2013-12 Have never used anything other than damp paper towel on the screen. Have the "stain" near the camera only, so far. Nearly identical to image 14.
- logn 12y ago
  Unrelated, but note that paper towels can scratch glass/plastic. Something with softer fibers is better.
  - javajosh 12y ago
    Given the similarity in pattern (starting near the camera along the edge) do you really think this is caused by user error? Do you think that everyone is cleaning their screen in the same wrong way in the same area of the screen?
    - logn 12y ago
      No, I have no idea. My comment above was a tangent to the original article and only pertaining to paper towels. That's what I meant by starting my comment with "Unrelated, "
john2x 12y ago
Why is it only happening on Macbook Pro's? Is it only happening to matte screens? (afair there's no matte screen option anymore?)
- axx 12y ago
  It seems that the MacBook Air for instance has other screen coating. So maybe it's more resistant. As far as i remember the Air has a "plastic screen" while the MacBook Pro has a real glass layer with some special anti-reflection coating.
zk00006 12y ago
Great effort. Same issue here. It is clearly a problem in production of Retina. Any other computer i have from apple does not have this issue and is still OK while being older. I honestly feel embarrassed to display my own work to clients on such screen, nevertheless it is really annoying to see the stains all the time during work.
- rasz_pl 12y ago
  > I honestly feel embarrassed to display my own work to clients on such screen and you should be, you look like a hobo with a broken laptop asking people to pay you for good work. Im surprised you get any clients :)
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
freshyill 12y ago
I damaged mine (very slightly) with a Clorox wipe. It was my own damn fault. I've had good luck cleaning my sunglasses with them and figured it would work for the computer. I accept responsibility for this bad decision.
- freshyill 12y ago
  Oh, cool! Down voting with no explanation because I didn't express agreement!
gketuma 12y ago
I had the same problem. Used nothing but a microfiber cloth. No liquids and the screen coating started coming off. Took it to the apple store and had the screen replaced for free. My MBP Retina was still under warranty. Had it for 11 months before the issue with the screen.
aabajian 12y ago
This is a frustrating problem, especially since MacBooks have such a high price tag. However: "The stains start to appear after 12 to 18 months." That's beyond the warranty period of the MacBook. When you purchase a MacBook, Apple makes it very clear that the warranty will expire after a year. I don't think it's reasonable to hold a company accountable beyond their warranty period if the price and warranty are clearly defined at time of purchase. If Apple products continually fail just outside of their warranty, the market will adapt to reduce the amount people are willing to pay for Apple hardware.
- wukerplank 12y ago
  One thing though: Apple always states their one year warranty (and tries to push Apple Care). Legislation in your country might disagree and Apple has to adhere to it. In Europe there are vast differences, ranging from 2 to 6 (!) years. I'm a Macbook Retina owner myself and I'm not happy. Having a 2500 Euro machine that lasts as long as a 400 Euro crapbook?
- madeofpalk 12y ago
  Australia has a 'common sense' approach to it. Basically legislation says means Apple has to make sure that their machines must last for a reasonable period of time, considering their price, market power etc. They explicitly mention that would you expect a $400 watch to last longer than a $40 watch. Apple devices are more expensive than their counterparts, and you would expect them to be made of a high quality and last longer. That's why in Australia Apple provides minimum of two years warranty on all their devices.
- woah 12y ago
  You are witnessing the market adapting. EDIT: To expand- you are complaining about people complaining about a manufacturer's product. The natural process of market adaptation that you expect might very well involve customers complaining.
- gambiting 12y ago
  Unless you buy it in a country where you know......Apple is forced to offer a 2-year warranty by law(some EU countries).
Camillo 12y ago
Calling it "cosmetic damage" is ridiculous. The screen's entire purpose is to be looked at. Cosmetic damage to the screen is functional damage.
- zk00006 12y ago
  Absolutely. Also claiming that the screen was damaged by bad cleaning method actually means that all my 5 laptops I had in the past are somehow super-strong but only Macbook Pro Retina 2013 is normal.
  - chvid 12y ago
    My retina 15" laptop has this plenty. It is clearly markings from the touchpad and the keyboard (and then something along the sides). So it has nothing to do with the way the screen is cleaned.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- stinos 12y ago
  ...or the device was built wrong.
agumonkey 12y ago
Seems like a superficial problem, most of the LCD is in order. Couldn't Apple issue a recall for the small number of affected user, give them a new screen back. Meanwhile they de-laminate and re-laminate the stained ones ?
bitL 12y ago
I had the same on 15" rMBP, basically touchpad's edges "printed" on the screen with some more "stains" in other parts of the screen. It began with a barely noticeable horizontal line after around 8 months and got progressively worse and worse up to the point it was taking around 1/16th of the screen. I always used water to clean the screen. Ended up paying ~300 EUR for a replacement screen, no issues since. Apple didn't offer replacement for free.
m4tthumphrey 12y ago
I noticed this a while ago on my 2012 MBA. The "stains" on the screen take the shape of the keyboard, so I wiped it down (can't remember the material I used) and then from then on I keep a sheet of A4 paper between the keyboard and screen when it's closed and it hasn't come back since.
- kybernetyk 12y ago
  The MBA seems to have a different screen coating. I regularly got these "keyboard stains" on my 2013 MBA and I could just wipe them off. They never became permanent.
chmaynard 12y ago
Apple immediately replaced the display on my late 2013 MacBook Pro after I reported this problem last week. I had only cleaned the display a few times, always using a damp microfiber cloth. I purchased an extended warranty when I bought the computer, so AppleCare paid for the repair.
- zk00006 12y ago
  Lucky you. But this is a problem that should be solved independent of warranty. The quality of the display is clearly not reaching customer expectations.
  - chmaynard 12y ago
    I totally agree. If I hadn't purchased AppleCare and I was asked to pay $700 for the repair, I would be very upset! This is clearly a manufacturing defect, and Apple will eventually have to address it in a systematic way.
cssmoo 12y ago
This is the sort of reason I stopped buying Apple products. Whilst they use ground-breaking advanced engineering, thermal design and materials and all that marketing garb, I feel merely like the pilot of an experimental aircraft about to tumble out of the sky at any moment. The last three Apple computers I bought ended up being returned on warranty and the replacement sold due to electrical, thermal, software and quality issues. Fortunately we're covered here in the UK for 6 years with a small argument but none of the machines lasted more than 12 months in normal "at home" usage. Now that's not exclusive to Apple but I don't expect to have these issues on a premium product. £183/month for a computer over its usable lifetime is a lot of money. On the side I fix Apple kit for people. I recently replaced the screen on a 2008 MBP which had failed. It was a joy to do. I can't help anyone with a Retina MBP onwards though; warranty return only. That's a big red flag for buying any recent kit. Second hand plastic ThinkPads now. Not had any problems for a couple of years and to replace the entire unit is less than a 2010 MBP screen and they're easy to replace bits in. #00 Philips and a swiss army knife and you're sorted.
- nazgob 12y ago
  Second hand plastic ThinkPads are hardly an alternative... They are seriously outdated now.
  - cssmoo 12y ago
    Depends what you do with them. Mine is fine for what I do and is probably fine for 80% of people out there.
  - Amezarak 12y ago
    > Second hand plastic ThinkPads are hardly an alternative... They are seriously outdated now. And how does that affect their day-to-day usability? I'm a big fan of new and shiny, but my primary laptop is a Dell Inspiron I bought in 2006/2007, because I'm also a big fan of using things until they break. I popped an SSD into it a couple years ago and it is very snappy and performs perfectly well as a development machine, web browser, and (small) VM host. In fact, it's actually snappier than my i7 desktop for most tasks because of the SSD. So why would a secondhand (and probably newer) ThinkPad not be a suitable alternative? The biggest downsides of having an older laptop are that the screen is a mere 1680x1050 and it's pretty thick, probably a around a full inch when closed. The former is still not terrible by today's standards (what's with the absurd popularity of 1366x768?), but I do consider it to fall into the bare minimum of acceptability, and the latter is simply not a problem for me - it's not enough weight to bother me on my daily 1.2 mile walk into work and most of the time it's sitting on a desk or on my lap, not anywhere space-constrained.
sauere 12y ago
Problems like this are the reasons why i will only buy Apple notebooks after they get a spec-refresh (upgraded CPU etc., but same technology). I am not willing to be the beta-tester for a $1500++ notebook.
- pedalpete 12y ago
  How does that help an issue like this?
  - johnward 12y ago
    I think what they are saying is hopefully there is some mid cycle refresh that fixes this problem quietly.
gambiting 12y ago
I've had the exact same thing on a flat screen CRT monitor from 1998 :P This is most definitely a result of cleaning the screen with some detergent that damages the anti-reflective coating, you can achieve the same effect on literally any screen, and someone is trying to make it look like only MacBooks have this problem.
- rasz_pl 12y ago
  >flat screen CRT monitor from 1998 and this is one of the reasons we moved on. Any coating is non permanent and will cause problems. You dont pay >$2K for a one year loan of a product, it shouldnt be build to fail.
- johnward 12y ago
  I've used solvents on prior macbook screens. Maybe I shouldn't have but nothing like this has ever occurred. Nothing like this has ever happened on any LCD screen I've owned. It seems like a design flaw or a manufacturing defect to me.
dandare 12y ago
I find the initiative is very interesting. Have you noticed there are no social media contacts? No follow us on Twitter?
37prime 12y ago
I have seen many damaged computer screens, desktop and laptop. One of the most common themes is the cleaning solution used to clean the screen. A lot of people admits they are using the common household cleaning solutions to clean the screens.
- rasz_pl 12y ago
  and? screen is plastic, non abrasive cleaning solutions should NEVER affect it, whats more they NEVER did before those bullshit anti glare pure marketing reflective coatings came along.
  - 37prime 12y ago
    huh? Those screens were damaged, both plastic and glass alike. Some people think that since it is a glass screen, using cleaning solution like Windex is ok. That’s so not recommended.
sklogic 12y ago
Did not know it's such a widespread problem. Had my 15'' retina display replaced for free at an end of warranty period, but they seemed puzzled about this type of damage.
Synergyse 12y ago
This happened to one of my rMBP 15" near the camera, Apple Store told me that its caused by oil in your fingers. They basically said to avoid touching the screen when you open the lid.
- uptown 12y ago
  That's ironic: "The point, explains Carmine Gallo, who is writing a book on the inside workings of the Apple Store, is to get people to touch the devices. "The main reason notebook computers screens are slightly angled is to encourage customers to adjust the screen to their ideal viewing angle," he says -- "in other words, to touch the computer."" http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/the-screen-of-each-laptop-in-the-apple-store-is-set-to-the-exact-same-angle/258592/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/the-sc...
- josteink 12y ago
  Wow. "You're holding it wrong", eh? You though they learned quickly enough that this isn't a popular response. It's like they want to keep on propagating the memes. That's pretty bad.
pascalo 12y ago
Apple's customer service is hell. Don't envy anybody to have to deal with this. The "Cosmetic damage and not covered by warranty" line is similar to what I had as answer when after one week of sitting on a desk without any mistreatment I had a crack in the glass of my pre-retina MBP. Called them and had an endless loop of - "I think this is a manufacturing fault" - "Cracks in the screen are ALWAYS accidental damage and not covered under warranty" - "But I didn't have an accident with it, so ..." - "Cracks in the screen are ALWAYS accidental damage and not covered under warranty" ... and so on and so on. Now, after the most recent graphics board meltdown I am on an XPS13 with Ubuntu, and I can honestly say that apple are off my shopping list for good.
- rcush 12y ago
  Just to show this is anecdotal, I have been using Apple notebooks for many years and have only ever had one problem. That problem was a defective trackpad. The Apple Store replaced the computer outright with the newer model as they were unable to get the part within seven days due to Christmas holidays. I hear good and bad things about customer service of all sorts of companies, but more often than not I have heard positive things about Apple.
  - _asummers 12y ago
    The difference, I think, is that Apple KNOWS about certain problems, e.g. Trackpad. If there's no water damage, then it's clearly a manufacturing defect. In OPs case, they thought he was lying because they'd never seen that issue happen without accidental damage.
    - johnward 12y ago
      A similar thing happened with an HP laptop I owned. They had problems with hinges breaking for no reason other than poor design. I searched online and found a bunch of people had the problem and some got it replaced as a manufacturing defect. I tried for months to get HP to do something about it. Finally I went to my boss who at the time was connected with some HP big shot. Using that leverage is the only way I've ever gotten HP to fix a single thing.
naoru 12y ago
I've got two rMBPs from 2012, one is 15" (with the infamous LG display, retentiongate anyone?), the other is 13". 15" is heavy used and has some marks from the keyboard on screen, but coating is intact. 13"'s screen is in nearly perfect state. No "staingate" at all. Sure, there are many other gates like magsafecrapgate, yosemiteslowgate, unbearablyslowgraphicsgate and such. But no staingate.
teekert 12y ago
I once had a Vaio that lost paint from the volume buttons. It happened to more people. They also said they wouldn't cover cosmetic damages. I kept bugging them saying I didn't pay the extra for a premium looking laptop to have this cheap thing happening. They fixed it in the end, for free. I have a friend that always makes a huge scene at an apple store when something breaks (latest thing was a failure of the Ati card in a iMac from 2011), he always gets everything fixed, for free. You need to have a big mouth.
jader201 12y ago
I just, last week, bought my first MacBook Pro -- my first Apple laptop ever. It was much more than I usually spend on a single computer. And now I hear about this. Probably one of the most widespread issues -- that Apple is not willing to cover -- in the history of an Apple laptop. It's not even been 14 days yet, so it's still eligible for return. Would be lying to say I wasn't considering it.
- trymas 12y ago
  For now you are a bit wrong about Apple's not willingness to cover some hardware issues. 2011 MBPs were plagued by burning video cards, and only few weeks ago they accepted that it was an issue. Now if you have 2011 MBP, Apple will change your motherboard or repay your expenses on repairing your laptop (though, I do not know exactly how you must prove it). In support.apple.com this issue is 12k posts long, and was ignored for 3-4 years. Hope it will not repeat with rMBPs as I am owner of one and like to keep screen clean (cleaning by the recommendations of Apple).
  - ra 12y ago
    and it only took them 4 years to acknowledge the issue?
    - trymas 12y ago
      Probably they acknowledged it sooner, but only after 4 years, they are offering free repairs and compensations.
      - slantyyz 12y ago
        How does that help people who ended up selling their Macbook Pros as salvage parts at a huge loss? My 2011 MBP, which was out of AppleCare, basically died a few months before they announced the repair program. I was very lucky I didn't sell mine for parts at a loss -- I seriously considered it. I still lost a little bit of money because I basically gave away the RAM upgrade I bought for it, as I had no idea when or if they'd even offer a repair program.
jader201 12y ago
How is this site going to use the data? I don't see it ever really mentioning the intention of collecting the various bits of data on its form. Would be nice if we saw some more information, at least attached to the images. Maybe even some other aggregates, since there seems to be a lot more submissions than they have images. I think the effort is noble, but would be nice if we had a bit more info behind the intentions of the data being collected.
garrettheaver 12y ago
I'm one of those with an affected screen. Upper left hand corner has quite bad banding that really get in the way in anything other than neutral light. In no way it this merely a cosmetic issue. As others have pointed out the screen is what you look at and its called anti-glare... preventing glare is literally its function. I've been buying MacBooks for about 10 years now and quality control wise they seem to be struggling a bit which is to be expected when a manufacturer takes on mass production using edge techniques. Thats no excuse for not fixing the issues that do arise though particularly given the margin they have. My 2006 MacBook Pro is still chugging along whilst I've a 2009 with a few issues (one of which Apple did fix under warranty) and now my 2013 screen is quite literally coming apart. I'm seriously considering jumping ship at my next refresh but what to is the problem. I actually like the aluminium construction of the MacBook so perhaps the Razor Blade with either Mint or Ubuntu is an option (anyone have any experience of this combination?). It has the added benefit of having a semi-respectable GPU on board for some light-weight machine learning play (again anyone have any experience using a Razor Blade 2014 for this?)
smrtinsert 12y ago
Best hardware, think different, walled garden ecosystem etc etc etc. Ah the power of choice.
josteink 12y ago
I remember back in the days when people tried to justify the MBP prices by using some ambiguous "build-quality" only Macs had, but you couldn't get with Dells or Lenovos. Yeah. Not convinced.
fny 12y ago
I'm curious to know if any particular models are affected. For those of you with the issue, what model do you own? (Aside: It would be really nice if they'd open up their data.)
VLM 12y ago
Something missing from the victim shaming party is comparing the glass screen to other common household objects that are made of glass and stared at, such as house windows, TV screens, dishes, bottles, glasses, and car windshields. A glass product that is not fit by manufacture and design to tolerate glass cleaners is obviously poorly designed. Because Apple is the definition of good design even when they aren't, the problem must transmute into moderately annoying victim shaming.
driverdan 12y ago
There has been a long standing issue with Apple laptops where the keyboard damages the screen. The screen and keyboard are so close together when the screen is closed that it doesn't take much pressure to get the two to rub. This causes keyboard marks on the screen that can't be removed. There could be other issues with the screen coating but a lot of the pics on this site look like keyboard damage. You need to be very careful about putting pressure on the screen while it's closed.
random3 12y ago
Blaming apple seems a little dishonest. The same happened to me too. When I cleaned the screen with an alcohol-based wet tissue... It does get worse on the edges as when wiping it the liquid tends to get on the edges so it affects that part more. The screen is coated with a fine (a few microns) layer. If you care so much about your Mac to read the actual care guide, you can see it clearly says not to use anything else but a cloth with water.
- zk00006 12y ago
  Wow. You probably mean the "Hello." manual.
matdrewin 12y ago
I had something similar happen to me after I put my brand new MBP in my bag on a really cold day. Went away after I cleaned it with a microfiber. Not exactly confidence inspiring.
ChikkaChiChi 12y ago
I would be interested to collect data on two things: 1. In what city/region does the laptop spend most of its time in? 2. A few places the laptop sees heavy use (home office desk, coffee shop, etc.) I wonder if there are environmental factors at play here that a database like this could build a correlation on. Maybe people live near salt water, or their environments are more humid, or temperatures fluctuate. Please note that this sort of thing should NOT be required to repair a faulty product, but it might be of some benefit to the general public.
plomazzi 12y ago
I guess it is not the company i expected. Samsung next time with linux...

279 points by greggman 12y ago

Enough with the gates. Please. Anything else. I'd even accept stainghazi. That said, my MBPR has some screen coating issue. But I'm not sure if I scratched it or not, so I won't join their database.

busterarm 12y ago
> Enough with the gates. Please. Anything else. I'd even accept stainghazi I won't accept Stainghazi. RIP Sean Smith / Vile Rat. We miss you, buddy.
- zer00eyz 12y ago
  Mac -> problem with mac -> problem with title -> change title -> reference to eve on line .. and to a goon (therefore SA) How deep does the rabbit hole go?
geofft 12y ago
ScreencoatingInAction
- soylentcola 12y ago
  #NotYourStainShield
jxcl 12y ago
Sorry buddy, that goes all the way back to Watergategate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9JgxhXW5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB9JgxhXW5w
spain 12y ago
I have to agree, the first thing I did was roll my eyes at the choice of name. "Screencoatening?"
mrsteveman1 12y ago
-gate has run its course I agree. "Screenbleed"? STREAK? Have to have a catchy name like all these security vulnerabilities :)

interpol_p 12y ago

I wonder if there is something which accelerates / causes this issue, like climate, cleaning with a particular cleaning agent, or touching the screen. I've had my rMBP since it was released in 2012 and have not seen the issue yet, despite using it nearly all day every day since purchase.

perlpimp 12y ago
i had rust patches under palms when i had old Al Powerbook G4 something to do with my blood acidity, no one else had them. Better figure out what causes this. I think there might be a limited number of wipe downs you can do with these and perhaps if there is something else present that might be accelerating damage, environmental and the like.
yaeger 12y ago
From what I hear it could be heat related. Do you use it all day, let it get very warm and then just close the lid to put it in standby? I am wondering if this is because of a hot unibody case coming very close to the screen when it is closed. So, someone who uses his MacBook very lightly so it doesn't get very hot and then powering it down completely and then waiting a bit before closing the lid might not have this issue as his MacBook is already rather cold when the lid gets closed.

X-Istence 12y ago

The coating on a MacBook Pro is similar to the anti-reflection coating you can get on glasses. Chlorine and heat will affect glasses, I bet the same can be said for these laptop screens. I have a feeling that with a database of 258 people, you should be able to find out what people are using to clean their screens and damaging them. Cleaning your screen using those bleach wipes is a sure fire way to damage it!

javajosh 12y ago
I've never used anything but water and a paper towel to clean my screen, and frankly I resent the fact that you and people like you keep assuming that it's user error. The coating is clearly defective. There is very clearly a problem with the screen coating on a (in my case) $3500 machine, and Apple needs to be called out on this one. Bravo to the OP for bring this to light.
- O____________O 12y ago
  I've never used anything but water and a paper towel to clean my screen Why are you using a paper towel? I've always considered them to be moderately abrasive.
- etchalon 12y ago
  > The coating is clearly defective. The problem is that 258 some-odd people, out of the what, several tens of thousands of people who have experienced this issue is not a "clearly" situation. That's, conservatively, about .1% of owners experiencing a problem, and it is entirely within reason to believe the issue is user-caused, baring some reproducible test case.
  - jacobolus 12y ago
    How many people do you know with a >2 year old MBP? I would wager a substantial fraction experience this. I personally know several who get this issue wiping their screen only with water and the cleaning cloth it came with, per Apple’s instructions. ... In addition of course to all the ones experiencing this effect after using a tee shirt, tissue, paper towel, or other cloth. The guy you’re responding to definitely shouldn’t be using a paper towel to clean the screen. Still though, that doesn’t cause a problem with most other Apple laptop/phone/tablet displays, so people who now have scratched up screens didn’t ever expect this could happen, and weren’t trying especially hard to be careful about it. Apple should at the very least do a much better job warning their customers.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

inevitable 12y ago

Unlike cookies, laptops should not be baked. These things probably sat in extremely hot vehicles or something.

secstate 12y ago

My 13" MBPr has this stain pattern. Here's my guess, I used an alcohol-based solvent to clean my keyboard and then closed the machine. Now I have stains of the oleophobic coating coming off in the places you'd expect it ... where the keys manage to come in contact with the screen. So I suppose it's my fault, but I have a Lenovo T440s here with a beautiful matte screen that has no need for a fancy oil-resistent coating that comes off when you breath cleaning solvent on it. Color me unimpressed, Apple.

X-Istence 12y ago
So Apple has to figure out how to stop people from using abrasive cleaners on their computers that would also cause issues if it came in contact with switches/circuitboard or anything else in a laptop?
- beedogs 12y ago
  Bit of a difference between the screen and keyboard -- which users interact with -- and the guts of the thing. Use some common sense.
- vacri 12y ago
  Stopping small amounts of fluid is a solved problem for laptops - the keyboard sits in a tray, and ports and speakers are reasonably sealed. You have to spill a lot of fluid to make it past these basic protections.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- greggman 12y ago
  None of the scratches on my MBP are from cleaners. They are 100% from the keyboard touching the screen. Here's a photo (http://i.imgur.com/gnAqDqk.jpg http://i.imgur.com/gnAqDqk.jpg). First you can see the main scratch is a very straight line. Not something that would come from wiping. Second below the man scratch you can see a pattern of small scratches about every 1/2 inch in pairs corresponding to the corners of keys on the keyboard. I'd be happy if there was just way reasonably priced way to get it re-coated.

pistle 12y ago

Image 3/19 is very interesting and numerous show fairly specific markings indicating scratches near the center of a stain which would support a chemical leaching through a broken protective coating. Similarly a chemical near the edge of the screen/coating could leach into the area there as well.

CoachRufus87 12y ago

Protip: Use iKlear to clean your machines. It's what they use at the Apple Store. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_electronics?ie=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=iKlear&node=172282 http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_electronics?ie=UTF8&field-...

moe 12y ago
It's certainly iPriced, too. $19.95 for 8oz (240ml) and a cloth...
- Bud 12y ago
  Not accurate. It's actually $19.95 for this full kit: 1- 2 ounces iKlear Spray Bottle; 1- 6 ounces iKlear Spray Bottle 1- Medium DMT Antimicrobial Cloth; 1- Travel Size DMT Antimicrobial Cloth 1- Large "Chamois" Cloth; 1- Travel Size "Chamois" Cloth 12- iKlear Travel Singles (Step 1 Wet) So two bottles of the stuff, four cloths, and 12 travel singles. http://www.amazon.com/iKlear-iK-26K-Complete-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B0023WU6OI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1426697344&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/iKlear-iK-26K-Complete-Cleaning-Kit/dp...
  - moe 12y ago
    While you are correct (sorry, I missed the extra stuff), my point was that noname microfibre cloths (~$0.70) and less overpriced cleaners (~$1/oz) are just one click away on Amazon...

coldwaraaron 12y ago

I'm having this problem around the edges of my screen. The only cleaning product I've used is windex.

Sidnicious 12y ago
Windex contains ammonia, according to Apple it's not safe to use on screens: > Don't use window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, ammonia, abrasives, or cleaners containing hydrogen peroxide to clean the display. https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht204172 https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht204172 Stick with a damp cloth. (I use 99% isopropyl alcohol to clean my computer, screen and all. It's notably absent from Apple's list of forbidden chemicals, but I'm not sure that it's safe so I won't recommend it.)
- coldwaraaron 12y ago
  Thanks for the tip.
- coldwaraaron 12y ago
  Thanks for the tip.
- qubitcoder 12y ago
  I typically use isopropyl alcohol as well. Although I've periodically used Windex on my 2012 rMBP; no issues thus far, still looks brand new.
pcurve 12y ago
windex = bad. it has alcohol and other cleaning agents. http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/en-us/products-by-brand/windex/windex-original-glass-cleaner.aspx http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/en-us/products-by-brand/...

jonmarkgo 12y ago

I've had this problem around the edges of my screen after about a year. I've only used the anti-static monitor wipes to clean my screen...

javajosh 12y ago

My 15" rMBP has this problem, and Apple told me it would be $300 to fix it at the depo, or $600 at the store. I wrote a blog post about it[1]. Glad to see it's getting some coverage, and I've added myself to the database. BTW who's doing this and what are you doing with the data/with Apple? [1] http://blog.javajosh.com/2015/02/when-apple-screws-its-customers-over.html http://blog.javajosh.com/2015/02/when-apple-screws-its-custo...

visarga 12y ago
Good post, I especially liked the closing phrase: > It's not like Apple is hurting and can't afford to do the right thing: Apple Computer has 40% profitability, $75B in cash reserves (more than the US Government) and here they are nickel-and-diming the people who are critical to their success.
- etchalon 12y ago
  I heavily dislike the whole "they have money!" thing. Apple has been more than willing to extend warranties and repair issues once they're sure the problem is a defect. Until they're sure, it's not "nickel and diming". It's charging people for a service. Paying 4 grand for a laptop doesn't magically mean Apple is obligated in anyway to make you happy, costs be damned.
  - vacri 12y ago
    No-one said 'costs be damned'; no-one suggested that Apple should spend the cost of the laptop or more on warranty repair. The costs mentioned are less than 10% of your stated price. And without 'costs be damned', your final line does not work - if you sell a product for a premium price, you do have an obligation to make your customers happy.
    - etchalon 12y ago
      No matter what the cost, it'd be a cost be damned situation.
  - 12y ago

ghouse 12y ago

13" MBPr purchased 2013-12 Have never used anything other than damp paper towel on the screen. Have the "stain" near the camera only, so far. Nearly identical to image 14.

logn 12y ago
Unrelated, but note that paper towels can scratch glass/plastic. Something with softer fibers is better.
- javajosh 12y ago
  Given the similarity in pattern (starting near the camera along the edge) do you really think this is caused by user error? Do you think that everyone is cleaning their screen in the same wrong way in the same area of the screen?
  - logn 12y ago
    No, I have no idea. My comment above was a tangent to the original article and only pertaining to paper towels. That's what I meant by starting my comment with "Unrelated, "

john2x 12y ago

Why is it only happening on Macbook Pro's? Is it only happening to matte screens? (afair there's no matte screen option anymore?)

axx 12y ago
It seems that the MacBook Air for instance has other screen coating. So maybe it's more resistant. As far as i remember the Air has a "plastic screen" while the MacBook Pro has a real glass layer with some special anti-reflection coating.

zk00006 12y ago

Great effort. Same issue here. It is clearly a problem in production of Retina. Any other computer i have from apple does not have this issue and is still OK while being older. I honestly feel embarrassed to display my own work to clients on such screen, nevertheless it is really annoying to see the stains all the time during work.

rasz_pl 12y ago
> I honestly feel embarrassed to display my own work to clients on such screen and you should be, you look like a hobo with a broken laptop asking people to pay you for good work. Im surprised you get any clients :)

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

freshyill 12y ago

I damaged mine (very slightly) with a Clorox wipe. It was my own damn fault. I've had good luck cleaning my sunglasses with them and figured it would work for the computer. I accept responsibility for this bad decision.

freshyill 12y ago
Oh, cool! Down voting with no explanation because I didn't express agreement!

gketuma 12y ago

I had the same problem. Used nothing but a microfiber cloth. No liquids and the screen coating started coming off. Took it to the apple store and had the screen replaced for free. My MBP Retina was still under warranty. Had it for 11 months before the issue with the screen.

aabajian 12y ago

This is a frustrating problem, especially since MacBooks have such a high price tag. However: "The stains start to appear after 12 to 18 months." That's beyond the warranty period of the MacBook. When you purchase a MacBook, Apple makes it very clear that the warranty will expire after a year. I don't think it's reasonable to hold a company accountable beyond their warranty period if the price and warranty are clearly defined at time of purchase. If Apple products continually fail just outside of their warranty, the market will adapt to reduce the amount people are willing to pay for Apple hardware.

wukerplank 12y ago
One thing though: Apple always states their one year warranty (and tries to push Apple Care). Legislation in your country might disagree and Apple has to adhere to it. In Europe there are vast differences, ranging from 2 to 6 (!) years. I'm a Macbook Retina owner myself and I'm not happy. Having a 2500 Euro machine that lasts as long as a 400 Euro crapbook?
madeofpalk 12y ago
Australia has a 'common sense' approach to it. Basically legislation says means Apple has to make sure that their machines must last for a reasonable period of time, considering their price, market power etc. They explicitly mention that would you expect a $400 watch to last longer than a $40 watch. Apple devices are more expensive than their counterparts, and you would expect them to be made of a high quality and last longer. That's why in Australia Apple provides minimum of two years warranty on all their devices.
woah 12y ago
You are witnessing the market adapting. EDIT: To expand- you are complaining about people complaining about a manufacturer's product. The natural process of market adaptation that you expect might very well involve customers complaining.
gambiting 12y ago
Unless you buy it in a country where you know......Apple is forced to offer a 2-year warranty by law(some EU countries).

Camillo 12y ago

Calling it "cosmetic damage" is ridiculous. The screen's entire purpose is to be looked at. Cosmetic damage to the screen is functional damage.

zk00006 12y ago
Absolutely. Also claiming that the screen was damaged by bad cleaning method actually means that all my 5 laptops I had in the past are somehow super-strong but only Macbook Pro Retina 2013 is normal.
- chvid 12y ago
  My retina 15" laptop has this plenty. It is clearly markings from the touchpad and the keyboard (and then something along the sides). So it has nothing to do with the way the screen is cleaned.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

stinos 12y ago
...or the device was built wrong.

agumonkey 12y ago

Seems like a superficial problem, most of the LCD is in order. Couldn't Apple issue a recall for the small number of affected user, give them a new screen back. Meanwhile they de-laminate and re-laminate the stained ones ?

bitL 12y ago

I had the same on 15" rMBP, basically touchpad's edges "printed" on the screen with some more "stains" in other parts of the screen. It began with a barely noticeable horizontal line after around 8 months and got progressively worse and worse up to the point it was taking around 1/16th of the screen. I always used water to clean the screen. Ended up paying ~300 EUR for a replacement screen, no issues since. Apple didn't offer replacement for free.

m4tthumphrey 12y ago

I noticed this a while ago on my 2012 MBA. The "stains" on the screen take the shape of the keyboard, so I wiped it down (can't remember the material I used) and then from then on I keep a sheet of A4 paper between the keyboard and screen when it's closed and it hasn't come back since.

kybernetyk 12y ago
The MBA seems to have a different screen coating. I regularly got these "keyboard stains" on my 2013 MBA and I could just wipe them off. They never became permanent.

chmaynard 12y ago

Apple immediately replaced the display on my late 2013 MacBook Pro after I reported this problem last week. I had only cleaned the display a few times, always using a damp microfiber cloth. I purchased an extended warranty when I bought the computer, so AppleCare paid for the repair.

zk00006 12y ago
Lucky you. But this is a problem that should be solved independent of warranty. The quality of the display is clearly not reaching customer expectations.
- chmaynard 12y ago
  I totally agree. If I hadn't purchased AppleCare and I was asked to pay $700 for the repair, I would be very upset! This is clearly a manufacturing defect, and Apple will eventually have to address it in a systematic way.

cssmoo 12y ago

This is the sort of reason I stopped buying Apple products. Whilst they use ground-breaking advanced engineering, thermal design and materials and all that marketing garb, I feel merely like the pilot of an experimental aircraft about to tumble out of the sky at any moment. The last three Apple computers I bought ended up being returned on warranty and the replacement sold due to electrical, thermal, software and quality issues. Fortunately we're covered here in the UK for 6 years with a small argument but none of the machines lasted more than 12 months in normal "at home" usage. Now that's not exclusive to Apple but I don't expect to have these issues on a premium product. £183/month for a computer over its usable lifetime is a lot of money. On the side I fix Apple kit for people. I recently replaced the screen on a 2008 MBP which had failed. It was a joy to do. I can't help anyone with a Retina MBP onwards though; warranty return only. That's a big red flag for buying any recent kit. Second hand plastic ThinkPads now. Not had any problems for a couple of years and to replace the entire unit is less than a 2010 MBP screen and they're easy to replace bits in. #00 Philips and a swiss army knife and you're sorted.

nazgob 12y ago
Second hand plastic ThinkPads are hardly an alternative... They are seriously outdated now.
- cssmoo 12y ago
  Depends what you do with them. Mine is fine for what I do and is probably fine for 80% of people out there.
- Amezarak 12y ago
  > Second hand plastic ThinkPads are hardly an alternative... They are seriously outdated now. And how does that affect their day-to-day usability? I'm a big fan of new and shiny, but my primary laptop is a Dell Inspiron I bought in 2006/2007, because I'm also a big fan of using things until they break. I popped an SSD into it a couple years ago and it is very snappy and performs perfectly well as a development machine, web browser, and (small) VM host. In fact, it's actually snappier than my i7 desktop for most tasks because of the SSD. So why would a secondhand (and probably newer) ThinkPad not be a suitable alternative? The biggest downsides of having an older laptop are that the screen is a mere 1680x1050 and it's pretty thick, probably a around a full inch when closed. The former is still not terrible by today's standards (what's with the absurd popularity of 1366x768?), but I do consider it to fall into the bare minimum of acceptability, and the latter is simply not a problem for me - it's not enough weight to bother me on my daily 1.2 mile walk into work and most of the time it's sitting on a desk or on my lap, not anywhere space-constrained.

sauere 12y ago

Problems like this are the reasons why i will only buy Apple notebooks after they get a spec-refresh (upgraded CPU etc., but same technology). I am not willing to be the beta-tester for a $1500++ notebook.

pedalpete 12y ago
How does that help an issue like this?
- johnward 12y ago
  I think what they are saying is hopefully there is some mid cycle refresh that fixes this problem quietly.

gambiting 12y ago

I've had the exact same thing on a flat screen CRT monitor from 1998 :P This is most definitely a result of cleaning the screen with some detergent that damages the anti-reflective coating, you can achieve the same effect on literally any screen, and someone is trying to make it look like only MacBooks have this problem.

rasz_pl 12y ago
>flat screen CRT monitor from 1998 and this is one of the reasons we moved on. Any coating is non permanent and will cause problems. You dont pay >$2K for a one year loan of a product, it shouldnt be build to fail.
johnward 12y ago
I've used solvents on prior macbook screens. Maybe I shouldn't have but nothing like this has ever occurred. Nothing like this has ever happened on any LCD screen I've owned. It seems like a design flaw or a manufacturing defect to me.

dandare 12y ago

I find the initiative is very interesting. Have you noticed there are no social media contacts? No follow us on Twitter?

37prime 12y ago

I have seen many damaged computer screens, desktop and laptop. One of the most common themes is the cleaning solution used to clean the screen. A lot of people admits they are using the common household cleaning solutions to clean the screens.

rasz_pl 12y ago
and? screen is plastic, non abrasive cleaning solutions should NEVER affect it, whats more they NEVER did before those bullshit anti glare pure marketing reflective coatings came along.
- 37prime 12y ago
  huh? Those screens were damaged, both plastic and glass alike. Some people think that since it is a glass screen, using cleaning solution like Windex is ok. That’s so not recommended.

sklogic 12y ago

Did not know it's such a widespread problem. Had my 15'' retina display replaced for free at an end of warranty period, but they seemed puzzled about this type of damage.

Synergyse 12y ago

This happened to one of my rMBP 15" near the camera, Apple Store told me that its caused by oil in your fingers. They basically said to avoid touching the screen when you open the lid.

uptown 12y ago
That's ironic: "The point, explains Carmine Gallo, who is writing a book on the inside workings of the Apple Store, is to get people to touch the devices. "The main reason notebook computers screens are slightly angled is to encourage customers to adjust the screen to their ideal viewing angle," he says -- "in other words, to touch the computer."" http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/the-screen-of-each-laptop-in-the-apple-store-is-set-to-the-exact-same-angle/258592/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/the-sc...
josteink 12y ago
Wow. "You're holding it wrong", eh? You though they learned quickly enough that this isn't a popular response. It's like they want to keep on propagating the memes. That's pretty bad.

pascalo 12y ago

Apple's customer service is hell. Don't envy anybody to have to deal with this. The "Cosmetic damage and not covered by warranty" line is similar to what I had as answer when after one week of sitting on a desk without any mistreatment I had a crack in the glass of my pre-retina MBP. Called them and had an endless loop of - "I think this is a manufacturing fault" - "Cracks in the screen are ALWAYS accidental damage and not covered under warranty" - "But I didn't have an accident with it, so ..." - "Cracks in the screen are ALWAYS accidental damage and not covered under warranty" ... and so on and so on. Now, after the most recent graphics board meltdown I am on an XPS13 with Ubuntu, and I can honestly say that apple are off my shopping list for good.

rcush 12y ago
Just to show this is anecdotal, I have been using Apple notebooks for many years and have only ever had one problem. That problem was a defective trackpad. The Apple Store replaced the computer outright with the newer model as they were unable to get the part within seven days due to Christmas holidays. I hear good and bad things about customer service of all sorts of companies, but more often than not I have heard positive things about Apple.
- _asummers 12y ago
  The difference, I think, is that Apple KNOWS about certain problems, e.g. Trackpad. If there's no water damage, then it's clearly a manufacturing defect. In OPs case, they thought he was lying because they'd never seen that issue happen without accidental damage.
  - johnward 12y ago
    A similar thing happened with an HP laptop I owned. They had problems with hinges breaking for no reason other than poor design. I searched online and found a bunch of people had the problem and some got it replaced as a manufacturing defect. I tried for months to get HP to do something about it. Finally I went to my boss who at the time was connected with some HP big shot. Using that leverage is the only way I've ever gotten HP to fix a single thing.

naoru 12y ago

I've got two rMBPs from 2012, one is 15" (with the infamous LG display, retentiongate anyone?), the other is 13". 15" is heavy used and has some marks from the keyboard on screen, but coating is intact. 13"'s screen is in nearly perfect state. No "staingate" at all. Sure, there are many other gates like magsafecrapgate, yosemiteslowgate, unbearablyslowgraphicsgate and such. But no staingate.

teekert 12y ago

I once had a Vaio that lost paint from the volume buttons. It happened to more people. They also said they wouldn't cover cosmetic damages. I kept bugging them saying I didn't pay the extra for a premium looking laptop to have this cheap thing happening. They fixed it in the end, for free. I have a friend that always makes a huge scene at an apple store when something breaks (latest thing was a failure of the Ati card in a iMac from 2011), he always gets everything fixed, for free. You need to have a big mouth.

jader201 12y ago

I just, last week, bought my first MacBook Pro -- my first Apple laptop ever. It was much more than I usually spend on a single computer. And now I hear about this. Probably one of the most widespread issues -- that Apple is not willing to cover -- in the history of an Apple laptop. It's not even been 14 days yet, so it's still eligible for return. Would be lying to say I wasn't considering it.

trymas 12y ago
For now you are a bit wrong about Apple's not willingness to cover some hardware issues. 2011 MBPs were plagued by burning video cards, and only few weeks ago they accepted that it was an issue. Now if you have 2011 MBP, Apple will change your motherboard or repay your expenses on repairing your laptop (though, I do not know exactly how you must prove it). In support.apple.com this issue is 12k posts long, and was ignored for 3-4 years. Hope it will not repeat with rMBPs as I am owner of one and like to keep screen clean (cleaning by the recommendations of Apple).
- ra 12y ago
  and it only took them 4 years to acknowledge the issue?
  - trymas 12y ago
    Probably they acknowledged it sooner, but only after 4 years, they are offering free repairs and compensations.
    - slantyyz 12y ago
      How does that help people who ended up selling their Macbook Pros as salvage parts at a huge loss? My 2011 MBP, which was out of AppleCare, basically died a few months before they announced the repair program. I was very lucky I didn't sell mine for parts at a loss -- I seriously considered it. I still lost a little bit of money because I basically gave away the RAM upgrade I bought for it, as I had no idea when or if they'd even offer a repair program.

jader201 12y ago

How is this site going to use the data? I don't see it ever really mentioning the intention of collecting the various bits of data on its form. Would be nice if we saw some more information, at least attached to the images. Maybe even some other aggregates, since there seems to be a lot more submissions than they have images. I think the effort is noble, but would be nice if we had a bit more info behind the intentions of the data being collected.

garrettheaver 12y ago

I'm one of those with an affected screen. Upper left hand corner has quite bad banding that really get in the way in anything other than neutral light. In no way it this merely a cosmetic issue. As others have pointed out the screen is what you look at and its called anti-glare... preventing glare is literally its function. I've been buying MacBooks for about 10 years now and quality control wise they seem to be struggling a bit which is to be expected when a manufacturer takes on mass production using edge techniques. Thats no excuse for not fixing the issues that do arise though particularly given the margin they have. My 2006 MacBook Pro is still chugging along whilst I've a 2009 with a few issues (one of which Apple did fix under warranty) and now my 2013 screen is quite literally coming apart. I'm seriously considering jumping ship at my next refresh but what to is the problem. I actually like the aluminium construction of the MacBook so perhaps the Razor Blade with either Mint or Ubuntu is an option (anyone have any experience of this combination?). It has the added benefit of having a semi-respectable GPU on board for some light-weight machine learning play (again anyone have any experience using a Razor Blade 2014 for this?)

smrtinsert 12y ago

Best hardware, think different, walled garden ecosystem etc etc etc. Ah the power of choice.

josteink 12y ago

I remember back in the days when people tried to justify the MBP prices by using some ambiguous "build-quality" only Macs had, but you couldn't get with Dells or Lenovos. Yeah. Not convinced.

fny 12y ago

I'm curious to know if any particular models are affected. For those of you with the issue, what model do you own? (Aside: It would be really nice if they'd open up their data.)

VLM 12y ago

Something missing from the victim shaming party is comparing the glass screen to other common household objects that are made of glass and stared at, such as house windows, TV screens, dishes, bottles, glasses, and car windshields. A glass product that is not fit by manufacture and design to tolerate glass cleaners is obviously poorly designed. Because Apple is the definition of good design even when they aren't, the problem must transmute into moderately annoying victim shaming.

driverdan 12y ago

There has been a long standing issue with Apple laptops where the keyboard damages the screen. The screen and keyboard are so close together when the screen is closed that it doesn't take much pressure to get the two to rub. This causes keyboard marks on the screen that can't be removed. There could be other issues with the screen coating but a lot of the pics on this site look like keyboard damage. You need to be very careful about putting pressure on the screen while it's closed.

random3 12y ago

Blaming apple seems a little dishonest. The same happened to me too. When I cleaned the screen with an alcohol-based wet tissue... It does get worse on the edges as when wiping it the liquid tends to get on the edges so it affects that part more. The screen is coated with a fine (a few microns) layer. If you care so much about your Mac to read the actual care guide, you can see it clearly says not to use anything else but a cloth with water.

zk00006 12y ago
Wow. You probably mean the "Hello." manual.

matdrewin 12y ago

I had something similar happen to me after I put my brand new MBP in my bag on a really cold day. Went away after I cleaned it with a microfiber. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

ChikkaChiChi 12y ago

I would be interested to collect data on two things: 1. In what city/region does the laptop spend most of its time in? 2. A few places the laptop sees heavy use (home office desk, coffee shop, etc.) I wonder if there are environmental factors at play here that a database like this could build a correlation on. Maybe people live near salt water, or their environments are more humid, or temperatures fluctuate. Please note that this sort of thing should NOT be required to repair a faulty product, but it might be of some benefit to the general public.

plomazzi 12y ago

I guess it is not the company i expected. Samsung next time with linux...