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Scratch on new MacBook Air Screen?

jadAce

jadAce

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 10, 2013
204
149
Hello everyone,

Bought a new MacBook Air (Haswell), and have been using it for the past week or so. It stays on the desk, and no accessories are used. I opened it up today, however, and noticed a ~1cm long "scratch" on the screen, along with a few other small "specks", all of which are non-removable. They are not really visible when I am looking at the MBA straight on, but are kind of white/silver colored when I look at the screen from the side.

My question is, has anyone had this problem? The MBA is still within return time; should I return this and get a new one? I realize this may be a small issue to obsess over, but I just wanted to make sure I am not doing anything wrong (having just switched to Macs).

Also, if I choose to keep it, are scratches on the screen kind of inevitable? Would something like iKlear keep the screen to an acceptable quality?
 
Last edited:
DesignerOnMac

DesignerOnMac

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2007
827
65
jadAce said:
Hello everyone,

Bought a new MacBook Air (Haswell), and have been using it for the past week or so. It stays on the desk, and no accessories are used. I opened it up today, however, and noticed a ~1cm long "scratch" on the screen, along with a few other small "specks", all of which are non-removable. They are not really visible when I am looking at the MBA straight on, but are kind of white/silver colored when I look at the screen from the side.

My question is, has anyone had this problem? The MBA is still within return time; should I return this and get a new one? I realize this may be a small issue to obsess over, but I just wanted to make sure I am not doing anything wrong (having just switched to Macs).

Also, if I choose to keep it, are scratches on the screen kind of inevitable? Would something like iKlear keep the screen to an acceptable quality?
Click to expand...

If the scratches bother you return it. My MBA is 2.5 months old with no scratches on the screen. To prevent scratches and to clean my screen also, I use a cover for the keyboard from RADTECH. Like it a lot!
 
jadAce

jadAce

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 10, 2013
204
149
DesignerOnMac said:
If the scratches bother you return it. My MBA is 2.5 months old with no scratches on the screen. To prevent scratches and to clean my screen also, I use a cover for the keyboard from RADTECH. Like it a lot!
Click to expand...

Thanks DesignerOnMac!

Just before I seriously decided to return it, I decided to pull out an iKlear microfiber cloth and try using it. The screen now looks as clean/good as when I first opened the MacBook Air after taking it out of the box. No scratches or other marks on the screen now. Works very nicely.
 
evorc

evorc

macrumors 6502a
Aug 24, 2011
569
267
jadAce said:
Thanks DesignerOnMac!

Just before I seriously decided to return it, I decided to pull out an iKlear microfiber cloth and try using it. The screen now looks as clean/good as when I first opened the MacBook Air after taking it out of the box. No scratches or other marks on the screen now. Works very nicely.
Click to expand...

Well there you go. Maybe you didn't have permanent scratches in the first place. After owning an MBA for 3 years no scratches. Only clean it with those soft cloth type.
 
M

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
And at first you pronounced them un-removable?

Depending how precisely your Air is made, there maybe an air gap/not between screen and keyboard. IF touching, expect keyboard's dirt to stick to screen and you on a regular cleaning task. Don't over do, u wear out the screen! ;)
 
jadAce

jadAce

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 10, 2013
204
149
Mrbobb said:
And at first you pronounced them un-removable?

Depending how precisely your Air is made, there maybe an air gap/not between screen and keyboard. IF touching, expect keyboard's dirt to stick to screen and you on a regular cleaning task. Don't over do, u wear out the screen! ;)
Click to expand...

You see, I tried using another microfiber cloth quite a few times, but they weren't coming off - that's why I called them un-removable. Also, they were discoloring the screen in a strange way, so I thought they would be permanent.

Afterwords, it took some "rubbing" from the iKlear microfiber cloth (with a little additional pressure), and they came off gradually.

I'll definitely clean it regularly from this point onwards!
 
AXs

AXs

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2009
515
2
I personally wouldn't keep something that came with a scratched screen out of the box.
I paid $1,500 for a laptop - I made sure everything was fine before I settled on it. Including having a Samsung SSD and Samsung Screen.

Each to his own, but when I buy something I want - I want it to be exactly what I want. Lucky I got a near-perfect enough system off the bat.
 
H

HarryWarden

macrumors 6502a
Oct 27, 2012
608
121
AXs said:
I personally wouldn't keep something that came with a scratched screen out of the box.
I paid $1,500 for a laptop - I made sure everything was fine before I settled on it. Including having a Samsung SSD and Samsung Screen.

Each to his own, but when I buy something I want - I want it to be exactly what I want. Lucky I got a near-perfect enough system off the bat.
Click to expand...

How does one know if they got a Samsung screen? Edit: Nevermind. Found it elsewhere on MR. Turns out, I have a Samsung screen too.
 
ritmomundo

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
AXs said:
I personally wouldn't keep something that came with a scratched screen out of the box.
I paid $1,500 for a laptop - I made sure everything was fine before I settled on it. Including having a Samsung SSD and Samsung Screen.

Each to his own, but when I buy something I want - I want it to be exactly what I want. Lucky I got a near-perfect enough system off the bat.
Click to expand...

Only because its an Apple. :rolleyes::cool:
 
AXs

AXs

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2009
515
2
ritmomundo said:
Only because its an Apple. :rolleyes::cool:
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter what premium brand it is - LV, Rolex, Mercedes...Apple isn't even one of the top premium brands of the world.

Now, if I'm buying a functional product, it's a different story.
 
ritmomundo

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
AXs said:
Doesn't matter what premium brand it is - LV, Rolex, Mercedes...Apple isn't even one of the top premium brands of the world.

Now, if I'm buying a functional product, it's a different story.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by the last sentence there, but all I meant to say is that Apple computers are the only ones people go to extreme lengths for "perfect" machines, even compared to a similarly priced (or more expensive in many cases) Sony/IBM/etc.
 
AXs

AXs

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2009
515
2
ritmomundo said:
Not sure what you mean by the last sentence there, but all I meant to say is that Apple computers are the only ones people go to extreme lengths for "perfect" machines, even compared to a similarly priced (or more expensive in many cases) Sony/IBM/etc.
Click to expand...

I agree.
By the way here's a good definition of functional product which is really simplified:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Difference_between_functional_and_innovative_products

Apple is slowly moving down in scale between the innovative|functional balance, whereas the others - Sony etc are moving up. I think that's why Apple is valued more - collective goodwill over years of establishment.
 
J

johnjey

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2013
245
2
Northern CA
Angry with Apple Customer Service

I own a 2013 11' Air and spent 1700$+ to buy it off and it has a 2.5 cm scratch on its screen and Apple Genius Bar declined it on my face to cover it under warranty and give me a free $400 screen replacement under my 1 year Apple Warranty....this is very disgusting as just like you all, i have been spending crazy amount of $ on all apple devices (i own'em all every year).

They just declared this scratch as a customer accident and not something that Apple caused in the 1st place !

What are my last options?
 
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