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2011 MBA - Faint 'white' horizonatal lines middle of screen

M

minnus

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Something is very odd with my MBA. Of the three MBAs I had, the last two (which includes my current one), developed faint lines in the middle of the screen. The lines are seemingly light-bleeding issues, as different angles would result in the white lines shifting dark.

Edit: Dropped off at apple store.
 
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After running the screen saver for about 9 hours, the issues are still present. I will attempt to upload pictures in a few.
 
Anyone else having similar issues?
 

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Upon closer inspection, it is the imprint of the area between the trackpad and keyboard.

I find it odd that I am the only one that experiences this - no one else?
 
minnus said:
I have been very busy as of late, and have not used my MBA at all, and was quite shocked to discover this...again. It probably sat unused for about 5 days.
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Firstly, what did you buy it for, a paperweight?

Secondly, I have experienced nothing like this on my Air, did you close it while it was hot or whilst the fans were blowing hard?
 
NutsNGum said:
Firstly, what did you buy it for, a paperweight?

Secondly, I have experienced nothing like this on my Air, did you close it while it was hot or whilst the fans were blowing hard?
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lol, I need to set up the machine before I can use it productively. The act of setting up requires time, as well as additional peripherals (my mini-display to displayport adapter came in yesterday).

Anyways - I have used it in clamshell mode before, but to be more specific, the areas the line appear line up with the gap between the trackpad and spacebar. It does not get hot in those areas.
 
Same problem..

Hello,

Just joined this forum to say I just noticed this same problem on my MacBook Air today...Very annoyed, and just like yourself, I have not put any excessive force on it what so ever (its only been out of the house twice!)

I'm taking it to the Apple Store tomorrow, I'll update you on what they say.

ZHZ6K.jpg
 
I just dropped mine off at the Apple Store. It will take them about a week to replace the screen 🙁
 
I mentioned in my OP that I had another with the same issue. That one was a LG. This most recent one was a Samsung.
 
Took mine back last week, just waiting for the call to say it's finished! Hope it doesn't occur again.
 
Same thing..

Had my replacement screen for just over a week..and I have the exact same problem! Back it goes 🙁
 
Same issue here

I bought the 13" Macair about 2 months ago, and have discovered the exact same lines on my screen - in the same location.
When I have white screen, it doesn't really disturb, but when I watch a movie or something it becomes more visible and frankly annoys me, because I have been extra careful with it.

I am considering taking it to the Apple store next weekend, but would be interested to read other peoples' experiences first, whether it is possible to get a replacement screen, how long it would take, whether applecare covers this etc...
 
I've seen this happen on Dell Latitudes in the early 2000's, the ones we had in work always had one of those TrackPoint thingys on the keyboard as well as the trackpad, and that TrackPoint was like a millimetre too high so it touched the screen every time it was closed.

After about a year everyone had a big pale spot in the middle of the screen, except for me because I removed the rubber cover of the TrackPoint stick the first day I got the laptop - I hate those things, never use them anyway and they're in the way when typing.

Anyway what I wanted to say is that I've definitely seen these kinds of blotches after continued pressure on certain areas of the screen. Didn't think it would happen so soon though, those Dells only got it after a year or more. This must have been only 1 or 2 months since it's the 2011 model.

Were these all 13"'s by the way? I'd say they'd be more prone to this because there's more flex in the screen (due to the larger surface)
 
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I have the same problem on my MBA 13". I'm in London and have had it for about 3 weeks now. Just started to notice it - especially when watching a really dark film like Buried.

Has anyone had any success at getting it fixed? Am a bit wary at leaving my lovely laptop for anyone to take apart, even Apple store... and I use it all the time so would really miss it...
 
2011 MacBook Air 13 Display - Faint horizontal lines

I have exactly the same issue. Infact I find this a bit unacceptable. As much as I like Apple, I think this is a design flaw. I took it to my local Apple store today and they were speaking as if this is my fault?!?!

They asked me: Do you take it around a lot?
I answered: Of course I do! Isn't this the whole point in the MacBook AIR?

Then they asked me: Did you apply any pressure to it? The pressure will cause the display to be pressed against the bit between the spacebar and the trackpad and this will make an imprint on the display. (He was saying this as he was pressing on the display with the lid closed and I could actually see it bend in the middle even with Incase snap case around it.......)
I answered: No, I'm so careful with my £1300 MacBook Air thank you very much. Infact can't you see that I have an Incase Perforated snap case and a dedicated laptop bag for it? I think this is stupid and this is surely a design flaw. Even if pressure was applied somehow through my many layers of protection, does a bit of pressure make an imprint on the screen permanently on a £1300 laptop? This is totally ridiculous.

They said: We'll 'LET YOU OFF THIS TIME'. Allow us 7 days to order the parts and once we have it, we'll call you to bring in the laptop and from then it could take another 7-14 days.
I answer: 😡😡😡😡 The laptop is 3 months old and I've never even put a piece of paper on top of it. Also, this is my ONLY computer and I'm a final year student studying Computer Science (I have a lot of work to do on my MacBook......). Am I going to be laptop-less for a few weeks because of a stupid little design flaw?

They said: This is all we can do for you I'm afraid. In fact, this isn't really supposed to be covered by AppleCare as this is an external factor so this will be a one off but if this happens again, we can't do the same.

I'm absolutely furious at their reaction to this.

All MacBook Air owners may want to check their display using a BLACK background. See my photo attached on how it looks when affected.

The 2 white lines are the lines caused by the bit between the space and the touchpad and the 2 black vertical lines are the lines caused by the sides of the touchpad.

BASICALLY, ANYBODY USING A MACBOOK AIR, DON'T CARRY IT AROUND AND DON'T USE IT OR RISK APPLE BLAMING YOU AND LOSING YOUR MONEY!
 

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bad service

Thank you for the feedback on this. I have been holding off of going to the Apple shop, as I wanted some information like this first. Also, the shop is 2 hours by train from here, so I wanted to know if they'd exchange it, or what other users have experienced in this case.

In the meantime, I have noticed, that when I leave the screen open for a few days, the lines become less pronounced/weaker. So, for me, it is not something that comes from carrying it around, it seems to be simply the pressure of the display itself onto the keys, which is causing the imprint. :-0

Clearly this is a design flaw, and while I guess I could live with it, I feel it is clearly unacceptable for a 2K USD device. But I might be delusional?

Also, I am wondering if other users could take a look at their 13" screens (with a dark background). I would like to know if this is an unusual issue, or whether it is frequent. Basically, if this is a common problem, then exchanging the screen might not even solve it.

Cheers from Japan!
 
I would say to anyone that is thinking of asking for a replacement to not bother going to most of the Apple stores in the UK. The so called 'genius' bars are useless.

The members of staff treat you like your an Amish person - never having seen a computer in your life and essentially ignore anything you say if it is negative, or in someway shows there is some flaw in any of the precious Apple products.

I am not being prejudice as I have unfortunately had to go in to these stores (one of six (somehow!?!?) macs that is in the house hold) - and now deal only with AppleCare over the phone or premium resellers as they are actually normal people that are helpful
 
carlosbutler said:
I would say to anyone that is thinking of asking for a replacement to not bother going to most of the Apple stores in the UK. The so called 'genius' bars are useless.

The members of staff treat you like your an Amish person - never having seen a computer in your life and essentially ignore anything you say if it is negative, or in someway shows there is some flaw in any of the precious Apple products.

I am not being prejudice as I have unfortunately had to go in to these stores (one of six (somehow!?!?) macs that is in the house hold) - and now deal only with AppleCare over the phone or premium resellers as they are actually normal people that are helpful
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I don't agree that it's always the case that they're useless. It depends on who you get. I've had idiots that have been no help and in the same place, people who have been excellent and gone out of their way to help me.

And the thing is, if you're in the UK and you call AppleCare, they'll often just refer you to the Genius Bar to get it looked at anyway.

I do however agree that the phone personnel generally are more helpful on aggregate than the in-store staff, they'll at least humour you to some extent when the Genius Bar would just tell you to jump.
 
NutsNGum said:
I don't agree that it's always the case that they're useless. It depends on who you get. I've had idiots that have been no help and in the same place, people who have been excellent and gone out of their way to help me.

And the thing is, if you're in the UK and you call AppleCare, they'll often just refer you to the Genius Bar to get it looked at anyway.

I do however agree that the phone personnel generally are more helpful on aggregate than the in-store staff, they'll at least humour you to some extent when the Genius Bar would just tell you to jump.
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To be honest you are right - I only thought of the rubbishy times (which are more than that useful times), but when it has been useful the genius bar people were very nice and useful sorting (normally replacing) what has broken.
 
Beyonder said:
I bought the 13" Macair about 2 months ago, and have discovered the exact same lines on my screen - in the same location.
When I have white screen, it doesn't really disturb, but when I watch a movie or something it becomes more visible and frankly annoys me, because I have been extra careful with it.
Click to expand...

Same story here.

Same problem,same lines,same location...dammit!😡😡😡
 
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