No screen protector on my Air. I had an anti glare matte one on my 16PM but eventually I realized reflections were never really a problem for me, but all the grease/oil it collected was. The oleophobic coating on the Air factory screen is nice, the screen is always so clear. Makes me kind of wish I didn’t use a protector—or at least the protector I used (can’t remember the brand)—on my 16PM and just enjoyed the clear factory screen.
I’m not worried about cracks. I drop my phones so rarely (other than my 16PM which was an exception for reasons too boring to explain), basically only one significant drop ever, that I’m willing to just pay to fix the screen if it ever happens.
As far as scratches, I’ll never know if my 16PM screen would have gotten scratches or not since it had the protector (I think there was one tiny scratch on my protector), but I didn’t have protectors on my previous iPhones and I honestly can’t remember if they had scratches or not. Any scratches must not have been significant if I don’t remember, and the Air is supposed to be even more scratch resistant, so I’m opting for no protector. If I have no issues then I’ll probably never use a protector for any future iPhone going forward.
Two possible exceptions:
- I’m considering getting a removable reusable privacy protector for times that I either need privacy or will be around sand (if a company ever makes one for the Air).
- If I notice the factory oleophobic coating wears off (some have said this happens but no idea how long it takes), and if it’s easier to use a protector with oleophobic coating than to reapply coating directly to the screen (never heard of people doing that), then I’ll get an anti grease protector.
