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Six0Four

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 27, 2020
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Had to return 3 of them so if you're in the market for a new MacBook Air 2020 make sure you do a dead pixel test and look very closely on the black screen.

I use this site: http://lcdtech.info/en/tests/dead.pixel.htm

On mine it was like a pin hole of light shining though a pixel. Hard to see at first glance so you really gotta look for it. There was only one on each unit and they were all in different spots. I tried getting a couple photos. Don;t pay attention to the off black blotchy screen since this is just caused by zooming in tight on a camera.

Apple needs to step up their QC big time.

Good luck.
 

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Where on the screens are you finding the dead pixels?

im too afraid to run tests but Ive thrown lots of content at mine and looks good and don't see any glaring issues

I believe you though, QC is crap and don't think its limited to the Air haha just the way it is

curious - the panel you kept if you go into System Pref- > Color tab -> open profile with Color LCD highlighted and scrol to line 17 what is the model?

starts with an A

I had an i5/8/256 before getting the i5/8/512 and went from a041 to a042 and they were close in calibration but the a042 is a hair better to my eyes and 'meshes' better with True Tone than the other did. Not sure if thats the screen 'synergy' though or some sensor variance lol

I hate quality control lottery more than anything. once I get over that hurdle, I can finally enjoy my products.

Ive really been lucking out though. had a bad streak with XR a bit (panel replacement junk, light blasting through rubber gasket, second unit was good, first developed bruises down the whole screen)... but SE2 and mini5 I lucked out for and consider I would've kept the A041 I just found a better deal on 512gb and it happened to be a nicer screen too, is all the better and what I consider a W.

I think my luck has just turned around (at least on this front lol) but I've had plenty of headache inducing swaps over the years
 
Yes thank you for the link @Brighton Billy. Sorry about the bad luck from Microfiber scratches to now dead pixels. I hope 4th time is the charm....

Yup, I picked up one of these. When I use the microfibre cloth I'm going to put it back in the package and shake it out before each use. I'll use it sparingly as well.
 

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FWIW, my standard config 2020 MacBook Air (i5, 8GB, 512GB) purchased from Costco passes this test. No dead pixels.

Thanks OP, for posting the link to the test page.
 
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pls contribute data points if possible :
 
Where on the screens are you finding the dead pixels?

im too afraid to run tests but Ive thrown lots of content at mine and looks good and don't see any glaring issues

I believe you though, QC is crap and don't think its limited to the Air haha just the way it is

curious - the panel you kept if you go into System Pref- > Color tab -> open profile with Color LCD highlighted and scrol to line 17 what is the model?

starts with an A

I had an i5/8/256 before getting the i5/8/512 and went from a041 to a042 and they were close in calibration but the a042 is a hair better to my eyes and 'meshes' better with True Tone than the other did. Not sure if thats the screen 'synergy' though or some sensor variance lol

I hate quality control lottery more than anything. once I get over that hurdle, I can finally enjoy my products.

Ive really been lucking out though. had a bad streak with XR a bit (panel replacement junk, light blasting through rubber gasket, second unit was good, first developed bruises down the whole screen)... but SE2 and mini5 I lucked out for and consider I would've kept the A041 I just found a better deal on 512gb and it happened to be a nicer screen too, is all the better and what I consider a W.

I think my luck has just turned around (at least on this front lol) but I've had plenty of headache inducing swaps over the years

They were actually in different spots. I've never had an issue with a dead pixel on an iPhone though. My 2019 MacBook Air was fine as well. I have also had dust underneath the screen on 2 iPad pros. I have had tiny specs of dust in every single iPhone 11 & XR camera lens though. In the end I just ended up taking it out myself with an iFixit tool kit. I must say though I do have excellent eye sight. You might have to look at it for a minute before you find it. It's that small. But even though it's small it might jump out at you one day when your warranty/exchange period is over. Then it'll drive you nuts.

For my screen it says A041on line 17. I agree about the QC issues. I just picked up a new 65" TV and I was so nervous getting it set up and hoping there was no issues. I would hate to have to take back a huge TV. Luckily it was fine. I gotta say though, Apple probably has the worst QC I've ever seen in their price range. The problem is they make excellent hardware it's just that they are assembled poorly sometimes.

The good thing though about Apple is that they have many stores around the world that people can handle their returns/exchanges in and even go in just to ask some questions. You can't do that with 95% of other electronic companies (In Canada anyway). You're kind of stuck dealing with a store like Best Buy etc.
 
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wow. got a custom built 2020, took about three weeks to get here, but so far so good. Sorry to hear about the bad luck. I used to have that happen all the time with the older iPhones. Probably the 3g and 3gs and 4 if I remember correctly. Never had another one with screen problems after that....
 
the pixels are very small so hard to see just one. I ran the test and my 2020 MBA is fine. I haven't seen a dead pixel for about 10 years to be honest.
 
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