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Black mark on unibody MBP... scratch?

M

MacDaddyMac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2009
17
0
I have a 2-month-old 15" unibody MBP and I just noticed a black mark on the keyboard area of the case. It's a hairline black horizontal 0.5" line above the right arrow key. Here's what I don't get. I inspected this thing very thoroughly when I first got it so I'm sure it wasn't there before. On top of that, I've had a Moshi Clearguard on this thing since day 1. In fact, when I first saw the mark, I thought it was just dirt on the Clearguard. I absolutely babied this thing. I have no idea how this could possibly have happened. Even if a bit of dust got under the Clearguard, it's not in an area that gets any significant pressure.

I'm still trying to determine if this is a mark or if it's actually a scratch. If it's a scratch, it must be really light because I don't feel anything. I tried rubbing it with my finger and a damp microfiber cloth, but there's no change. Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
MacDaddyMac said:
I have a 2-month-old 15" unibody MBP and I just noticed a black mark on the keyboard area of the case. It's a hairline black horizontal 0.5" line above the right arrow key. Here's what I don't get. I inspected this thing very thoroughly when I first got it so I'm sure it wasn't there before. On top of that, I've had a Moshi Clearguard on this thing since day 1. In fact, when I first saw the mark, I thought it was just dirt on the Clearguard. I absolutely babied this thing. I have no idea how this could possibly have happened. Even if a bit of dust got under the Clearguard, it's not in an area that gets any significant pressure.

I'm still trying to determine if this is a mark or if it's actually a scratch. If it's a scratch, it must be really light because I don't feel anything. I tried rubbing it with my finger and a damp microfiber cloth, but there's no change. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Not a crack probably a defect of molten aluminum perhaps...
 
This notebook has been sitting on my office desk since I got it. Yesterday was the first time that I moved it down to my living room, which is where I noticed the mark. Now that it's back sitting on my office desk, the mark is nearly invisible. I'm starting to think that this mark has always been there, but I just never noticed it because of lighting conditions. Ugh.
 
MacDaddyMac said:
This notebook has been sitting on my office desk since I got it. Yesterday was the first time that I moved it down to my living room, which is where I noticed the mark. Now that it's back sitting on my office desk, the mark is nearly invisible. I'm starting to think that this mark has always been there, but I just never noticed it because of lighting conditions. Ugh.
Click to expand...

Almost exact same thing happened to me. Went to bed one night, woke up, saw a very, very small scratch on the upper left hand side diagonal from the esc key. About the same length of yours. I inspected this thing meticulously, no possible way I would've overlooked it. There's no way this thing would show up in a picture though. I'm just starting to live with it.
 
I don't think it's a scratch - don't think the scratch would be black. Scratches I've seen on the Late-2008 portables have been white. Might be stupid but could it be hair? :confused:
 
bigdb11 said:
Almost exact same thing happened to me. Went to bed one night, woke up, saw a very, very small scratch on the upper left hand side diagonal from the esc key. About the same length of yours. I inspected this thing meticulously, no possible way I would've overlooked it. There's no way this thing would show up in a picture though. I'm just starting to live with it.
Click to expand...

I should have mentioned that the mark is perfectly straight, running perfectly parallel with the keys. It looks like a tool mark. I really do think it is a material defect because it makes no sense that anything could have scratched it while it was in my possession. Until today, the only thing that has touched that area was the Clearguard (and yes, I inspected the Clearguard as well).

It really sucks because I spent a lot to get protective accessories, and now I find damage out of nowhere in an area that was supposedly protected. Why did I even bother? :(
 
MacDaddyMac said:
I should have mentioned that the mark is perfectly straight, running perfectly parallel with the keys. It looks like a tool mark. I really do think it is a material defect because it makes no sense that anything could have scratched it while it was in my possession. Until today, the only thing that has touched that area was the Clearguard (and yes, I inspected the Clearguard as well).

It really sucks because I spent a lot to get protective accessories, and now I find damage out of nowhere in an area that was supposedly protected. Why did I even bother? :(
Click to expand...

Mine might be even smaller, actually at a second look. Mine is perfectly straight as well. I, however, do not have any protective accessories because I felt it took away from the unibody's look. Still, my computer had been in one spot only since I had bought it, and I noticed it much later.
 
striatedglutes said:
Could it have happened by closing the lid?
Click to expand...

The area is protected by a Moshi Clearguard. For the sake of argument, let's say there was a speck of abrasive dust underneath the Clearguard where the mark is. Even if I were to close the lid and applied pressure on it, there would be plenty of space because the keyboard area of the unibody is sunken in.

As for a crayon, pencil, or pen mark, again that area has been covered since day 1. Moreover, I never took any of those near there, and the line is perfectly straight. If I were asked to try to replicate it, I'd pull out a ruler and a razor blade (although iLog.Genius says that the scratch should be white, supporting the notion that this was a material defect).

After seeing that the mark is nearly invisible with my office desk's lighting conditions (where I did my initial inspection), I am absolutely convinced that I received the MBP this way. There is simply no possible explanation otherwise.
 
Are you sure it is not a crack? Your moshi clearguard might protect your mac against scratches & marks but does not protect it against thermal expansion.
 
Pika said:
Are you sure it is not a crack? Your moshi clearguard might protect your mac against scratches & marks but does not protect it against thermal expansion.
Click to expand...

Good question. I don't feel anything when I touch it, and there's no give when I push around it. Is there a good way to confirm this?
 
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