Fingerprints on M2 Midnight MBA

[sdwaltz]

A few months ago, I bought a Space Gray, base M2 MBA.

I bought it hastily and need more storage and RAM. I avoided Midnight (as bad as I wanted it) when I bought the first one because of all the fingerprints on display models, reviewers talking about fingerprints, etc...but am considering Midnight this time anyway. Naturally, display models are going to have tons and tons of people rubbing their grubby paws all over them so I feel it may not be representative of what ownership is actually like.

Since many of you have had these machines for several months now, how bad are the fingerprints really?

 

[harleymhs]

Purchased the Space Grey. Loved the color. Changes in the ambient lights as well. Not Silver Not Midnight .. BUT I was having 2nd thoughts about Midnight. SO I ordered on to compare in my home environment and my 1st thoughts were WOW .. They after using it on my living room for 2 hours, I saw ALL the fingerprints. Didn't bother me too much. After typing for a while the lack of contrast colors on the keyboard irked me a bit. The next morning I woke up and it looked like a baby drewled all over it LOL.. I have sweaty hands so I came to the conclusion to return the Midnight for the main reason lack of contrast on the keys and body of the air. Now really loving my SG M2 Air and and have no regrets returning the Midnight. JMO Hope this helps someone.

 

[antiprotest]

Purchased the Space Grey. Loved the color. Changes in the ambient lights as well. Not Silver Not Midnight .. BUT I was having 2nd thoughts about Midnight. SO I ordered on to compare in my home environment and my 1st thoughts were WOW .. They after using it on my living room for 2 hours, I saw ALL the fingerprints. Didn't bother me too much. After typing for a while the lack of contrast colors on the keyboard irked me a bit. The next morning I woke up and it looked like a baby drewled all over it LOL.. I have sweaty hands so I came to the conclusion to return the Midnight for the main reason lack of contrast on the keys and body of the air. Now really loving my SG M2 Air and and have no regrets returning the Midnight. JMO Hope this helps someone.

I agree with your comments about fingerprints and also the lack of contrast between the keyboard and the body of the laptop.

I have not seen the second point mentioned, but I noticed it right away in store and my friend as well. She ended up buying the starlight.

Potential buyers should pay attention to this second point to see if it's something that they will care about in addition to the fingerprint issue.

 

[roman.stapunov]

I like midnight, but it covered with fingerprints in an hour of my usage. So I would not recommend it you if fingerprints bothers you. I personally don’t care and like the color more then bothered by fingerprints.

 

[Technerd108]

I don't know what it is about Mac forums?

Maybe because Space Grey and silver were the only choices for so long people don't understand how dark anodized finishes look like?

If you are considering the M2 MBA in midnight I would advise you to go to a BestBuy and check out the many windows laptops with dark finishes like Samsung Galaxy book 2 pro 360 is graphite or a Razer laptop or a Microsoft surface laptop in black. All of them show fingerprints just like Midnight MBA.

I have a Midnight MBA and it does show fingerprints but I also have a microfiber cloth.

I get annoyed by the fingerprints but like any dark tinted laptop I have owned I get used to it.

As far as the keyboard goes I highly prefer the keyboard matching the laptop instead of huge contrast on the keyboard vs the rest of the laptop.

 

[Mcuserr]

I had midnight originally didn't like how dark it was plus the FP, have silver now rarely needs cleaning. Actually looks like a Mac too not a cheap windows laptop.

 

[Technerd108]

If Apple ever came out with a true black laptop like the Surface Laptop 4/5 people would only focus on fingerprints. Lol

News flash new MacBook is Space Black is even more of a fingerprint magnet than Midnight!

These numerous complaints and people returning the device solely on fingerprints is probably why they have until now never released a dark color laptop before.

Now if someone could figure out a dark finish that didn't collect fingerprints I would be first in line but I don't know if it is even possible.

Even dark plastic shows fingerprints. I don't know what people expect?

 

[Kayakphotos]

My wife has a Lenovo x1 in black and it looks terrible from a fingerprint/scratch stand point. I think that mac users have just gotten used to finishes that don't show aberrations nearly as much as typical plastic laptops do.

 

[sdwaltz]

An update for those who care...

Typing this response from my Midnight M2 MBA w/1TB and 24gb RAM.

The fingerprint problem is simply overstated. It's there to be sure, and the Space Gray MBA I had that is now my wife's stands up better to fingerprints, but this honestly isn't bad at all. I had flu last week and naturally had clammy hands. Both laptops got fingerprinted due to this...after I recovered I wiped the Midnight down and fingerprints have been minimal ever since. And I'm pretty particular.

I hope this helps someone who is on the fence!

 

[1BadManVan]

An update for those who care...

Typing this response from my Midnight M2 MBA w/1TB and 24gb RAM.

The fingerprint problem is simply overstated. It's there to be sure, and the Space Gray MBA I had that is now my wife's stands up better to fingerprints, but this honestly isn't bad at all. I had flu last week and naturally had clammy hands. Both laptops got fingerprinted due to this...after I recovered I wiped the Midnight down and fingerprints have been minimal ever since. And I'm pretty particular.

I hope this helps someone who is on the fence!

Glad you’re enjoying your midnight air. I ultimately decided against it and went with silver. Not so much about finger prints but how much easier it would show any damage.

 

[lockerc18]

I had ThinkPads since they first came out. They were all black. I never had a fingerprint problem with any of them, though the color seemed kind of dull. Not shiny at all.

I gave up on ThinkPads because they run Windows, which I cannot stand. I've had MBPs since then, and will never go back. They've all been silver, so I've never had a fingerprint problem with them, either. But I do like the Midnight MBs. I was thinking of getting a new Air in Midnight, but I'm wary about the color flaking off. Maybe that will be fixed in 2023.

 

[MBAir2010]

One reason I recently purchased the MacBook Air M1 Silver was
every Utuber unboxing the M2 midnight and seeing those fingerprints before starting the MacBook.

 

[G5isAlive]

Glad you’re enjoying your midnight air. I ultimately decided against it and went with silver. Not so much about finger prints but how much easier it would show any damage.

At their heart, computers are still tools, and it used to be a source of pride to have tools show some wear. Oh well.

An update for those who care...

Typing this response from my Midnight M2 MBA w/1TB and 24gb RAM.

The fingerprint problem is simply overstated. It's there to be sure, and the Space Gray MBA I had that is now my wife's stands up better to fingerprints, but this honestly isn't bad at all. I had flu last week and naturally had clammy hands. Both laptops got fingerprinted due to this...after I recovered I wiped the Midnight down and fingerprints have been minimal ever since. And I'm pretty particular.

I hope this helps someone who is on the fence!

Glad you looked past the nay sayers and tried it out for yourself. I happen to agree with you, its no big deal to me either. But it is personal preference and so respect those with actual experience that decide its not for them.

Here are pictures of my 5 month old MBA 2, midnight. I haven't wiped it down once.

 

[Technerd108]

At their heart, computers are still tools, and it used to be a source of pride to have tools show some wear. Oh well.



Glad you looked past the nay sayers and tried it out for yourself. I happen to agree with you, its no big deal to me either. But it is personal preference and so respect those with actual experience that decide its not for them.

Here are pictures of my 5 month old MBA 2, midnight. I haven't wiped it down once.

I completely agree.

In the watch world it is called Wasabi.

The wear from plated,PVD, or anodized finish can actually be something some people pay extra for.

There is a GShock all metal tough solar digital watch with a distressed ion plated finish that costs over double the regular stainless steel model.

I can understand the sincere desire to keep what you have pristine and without any wear. I respect that some people want to not worry about the finish and it affects their purchase decisions. I get it.

I always focus on that first scratch or sign of wear and obsess over it until I get more signs of wear and then I move on.

Fingerprints on Midnight finish are no worse than any other anodized dark finish, wear on ports and other areas unfortunately over time are likely.

But I would rather buy based on my motivation of what I like rather than what I fear.

Wear and tear happens on all devices and I used to use hard shell cases or skins but I realized they were cumbersome and I never applied a skin perfectly. It also took away from the finish or color I got and it was like I was preserving the laptop for the next owner and never really enjoying what I had.

Now I try my best to not obsess over every little thing and just enjoy what I have. I try to be careful, use a soft case when not in use and clean with micro fiber cloth regularly.

I really love the Midnight colorway. I love the blue matched keys on the keyboard instead of the same black keys that have been on every Mac I ever bought. I love how the color shifts depending on the light. I am so happy with it but I do worry about the ports, the deck and so on. But I would be the same way with Silver, Space Grey or Starlight. Obviously the silver would be less obvious but if I got a scratch anywhere even on silver it would bother me. So I may as well get the color I really appreciate and when the Wasabi hits just embrace it. In a couple years I will probably get another MBA anyway.

I do really hope that Apple starts pushing our more colors to the MBA. I would love to see a electric blue, purple, red, orange, etc. Fun colors for a fun Mac!

 

[stephg]

I picked mine up a few days ago, and so far it is no big deal to me. I love the color and have no regrets!

 

[chrono1081]

A few months ago, I bought a Space Gray, base M2 MBA.

I bought it hastily and need more storage and RAM. I avoided Midnight (as bad as I wanted it) when I bought the first one because of all the fingerprints on display models, reviewers talking about fingerprints, etc...but am considering Midnight this time anyway. Naturally, display models are going to have tons and tons of people rubbing their grubby paws all over them so I feel it may not be representative of what ownership is actually like.

Since many of you have had these machines for several months now, how bad are the fingerprints really?

It depends on the person. I'm not a fingerprint-y person so it takes awhile for mine to need wiped down, my buddy on the other hand has to wipe his down much more often.