Is Staingate still a thing?

[President-Elect Beachball]

I'm thinking about purchasing a new M1 MacBook Air to be my new take-everywhere jack-of-all-trades computer. The fanless design is particularly appealing to me, and I know that the dreaded butterfly keyboard is no more.

But have the latest MBAs, those manufactured in the last 2-3 years, also suffered from that issue where the anti-reflective coating would start to peel off due to friction with the keyboard and trackpad and leave "stains" on the screen? Owner input appreciated. Thanks!

 

[CrazedVW]

Yes. My wife and I both have late 2018 Airs and both of them have it. I had talked to Apple earlier in the year about having the screens replaced out of warranty but then COVID hit and everything shut down. From what I've seen on here it seems to still be a fairly common issue.

 

[President-Elect Beachball]

Yes. My wife and I both have late 2018 Airs and both of them have it. I had talked to Apple earlier in the year about having the screens replaced out of warranty but then COVID hit and everything shut down. From what I've seen on here it seems to still be a fairly common issue.

Ok, thanks for the input. It is really unfortunate though. This problem was introduced with the first retina MacBook in 2012 and it's still an issue today. If eight years on Apple still haven't tried to solve this issue for good it's because they really don't care about it.

 

[CrazedVW]

Ok, thanks for the input. It is really unfortunate though. This problem was introduced with the first retina MacBook in 2012 and it's still an issue today. If eight years on Apple still haven't tried to solve this issue for good it's because they really don't care about it.

Yea, it's frustrating. I had late 2013 Retina MBP that had the screen replaced under a special repair program for it but over time it came back just as bad. A 2017 work issued Macbook also shows it and course the aforementioned 2018 Airs. It's especially irritating because after I had the screen replaced on the rMBP I followed Apple's recommendation to never use anything but water and a soft cloth to clean the screens (I used the iKlear stuff for years) and it still happened.

 

[President-Elect Beachball]

Yea, it's frustrating. I had late 2013 Retina MBP that had the screen replaced under a special repair program for it but over time it came back just as bad. A 2017 work issued Macbook also shows it and course the aforementioned 2018 Airs. It's especially irritating because after I had the screen replaced on the rMBP I followed Apple's recommendation to never use anything but water and a soft cloth to clean the screens (I used the iKlear stuff for years) and it still happened.

I had a 2015 MacBook that developed stuck keys on the butterfly keyboard. When I took it to apple to fix it (under warranty) I pointed out that the screens had also developed some small smudges that couldn't be removed. To my surprise they replaced not only the keyboard, but the display assembly as well. I only figured out why later. I ended up selling the machine without ever putting it back to use again. Now I have two of the old design MacBook Air. I'll keep using those while security patches are offered or till they stop working. I just wish Apple would start making laptops robust like those ones again.