Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can anyone identify these blotches on my screen?

TotalMacMove

TotalMacMove

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 18, 2013
1,190
1,832
USA
So I have used my macbook pro retina 2013 in clamshell mode 90% of the time for the past two years.. recently, the computer has been unresponsive when trying to wake up with the keyboard so I have to open up the laptop and hold the power button as the keyboard nor the trackpad on the laptop dont do anything either.. anyone know the problem?

Also, I noticed just today when opening it up and having to restart it, these spots all over the left side of the screen.. it looked dirty so I tried to clean it, no bueno. Laptop has not been dropped nor even moved much so I am confused? You can’t really see these spots too well when the screen is on but they are still there and spreading from what it appears.

57a734d5726f6d157ff2e31aae6788f7.jpg
922e40477425ef15f2a800da11bf6269.jpg
 
adrianlondon said:
It could be grease (in which case a slightly damp soapy cloth would get it off) or the anti-reflective coating coming off. If the latter, you've got to just learn to love it or painstakingly remove the rest of it.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/17/apple-extends-free-staingate-repairs/
Click to expand...

Oh wow this is the first I am hearing of this "staingate".. It appears that this is what is happening to my macbook. It is much older than 4 years old though so I have to deal with it. Have people been successful in fixing this themselves? It seems like its getting worse so I will need to DIY it..
 
TotalMacMove said:
Oh wow this is the first I am hearing of this "staingate".. It appears that this is what is happening to my macbook. It is much older than 4 years old though so I have to deal with it. Have people been successful in fixing this themselves? It seems like its getting worse so I will need to DIY it..
Click to expand...
If you normally leave it in clamshell mode, then try to forget about it!

Otherwise, I believe people have wiped it off using somethig like Listerine mouthwash! Or I guess an alcohol-based cleaner. Or maybe just gin. Bonus, you can lick the screen afterwards. I have it around the edges/bezels of my 2013 MBP so I'm just ignoring it.
 
The way I see it seems to be some kind of mold on the inside of the screen. So cleaning from outside will not help.
Try contacting Apple about it.
Good luck!
 
Last edited:
This had happened to my 2012 iMac. I had purchased extended warranty on it and in 2014 I noticed the same blotches, so I took it in. The person at the genius bar was hesitant in replacing as they called it a "user error" that I had used windex to clean the screen. Not sure if I had ever cleaned my display with windex, but I made sure to never do that in the future. In the end, they were able to replace the screen.
 
Yea i'm just going to leave it for now and see how it escalates. Kind of lame that I tried so hard to keep my MacBook in mint condition all these years to find this, thought Apple had superior quality up until now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: adrianlondon
Well, if you want to push your luck, you can try bringing it in to one of the Apple Stores.

They recently replaced the display on my 2017 MacBook 12". Same problem as yours. Filed it under "anti-reflective coating damage" or something like that. It was a free repair, but YMMV.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back