MBP 16 M1 Screen chip/scratch

[superclarkey]

Hi all, I've had my MBP 16 m1 for about a month, and enjoying it allot.

I noticed when I got it there was a small mark on the screen, looked like a pit in the A/R coating, wasn't that noticeable tbh and I normally try not to be too fussy, specially when it was hardly noticeable while in use. (I was also aware that people where struggling to get the machines in the UK so I didn't want to return a perfect machine with a small mark on the screen).

Fast forward and I noticed the mark had lifted, so now it was catching the light, so I thought I would speak to apple support because if it gets worse I wanted it to be noted there was an issue. While on the phone he asked me if I could feel it under my nail and I very carefully just brushed my nail over it.. which point some little particles came out like dust... I wiped it with my microfibre monitor cloth and it scratched the screen.. Turns out that magical dust was glass dust.

So there is a small glass chip in my screen like you would have on a car windscreen (just allot smaller), and where it was a small dot its now a black dot on my screen as light doesn't really pass through it.

Its still so small it would't bother me, but I'm worried like a chip in a car windscreen that its a weak point now, and one day my screen would just crack with slightest pressure on it.

luckily I sent apple a picture before the magic dust popped out of my screen and it scratched the coating (as the screen is perfect apart from this one single mark)

Naïvely I thought apple would sort this under warranty because it wasn't my fault and I have never scratched a screen in my life as I'm super careful and use only the right stuff to clean the screen when the time comes and I try to clean it as little as possible... keep your fingers off it and don't spit on it and you'll be mint.

I have Eizo monitors (CG319X) so I used the delicate microfibre that came with that and there special cleaning fluid which if ok for a £4k monitor I'm going to say is ok for the MBP.

So end of the conversation with Apple is no warranty and I have to pay for repair under Apple Care + if I want it repaired or wait until the crack spreads and takes the screen with it.

Is this normal? I've had a lot of MBP over the years, and never scratched or marked a screen due to being so careful so am I just unlucky or are the new screen just not up to the task?

Apples response seems to be user error, which I'm sure is right 98% of the time, in this case I don't know what else I could have done to prevent this.

I'm really worried about getting a repair as every machine that I've had repaired under warranty has had major issues after they open them up, I'm more tempted to sell this machine and get another one.

What would you do? cross your fingers and hope for the best or go in the store and argue the toss knowing your likely to be shot down and told your wrong...

 

[superclarkey]

I've tried to take a photo, but as you can appreciate its not easy to do so with something so small, I tried to help the focus out by laying a cloth right next to the mark.

You can see a scratch and which if you follow back you can see the perfectly round pit/chip in the screen. As mentioned above I scratched the screen when Apple asked see if I could feel the imperfection in the screen, it was when I gently wiped it away it scratched as it was glass on glass. before this the mark was the same size but just black, it looked like when you get dust in a paint job.. As my first thought was it was an issue with the A/R coating, but last I checked A/R coating when on the glass and wouldn't cause the glass to break. So this (in my opinion anyways) is default in the screen that from when I got it.. and only got worse now.

I wonder if other people have experienced cracked screen from imperfections in the glass and not realised it...

 

[Six0Four]

I have about 3 scratches on my new 14" just from using a microfiber cloth. It's very very fragile. Hope it's just the coating and not the glass.

 

[superclarkey]

Sadly it’s defiantly glass that came out, was a glass dust :-(

A scratch is one thing but glass popping out is just plain ridiculous

 

[white7561]

Considering how easy it is to scratch the screen and the anti glare layer since it is sprayed on (AFAIK) i would prob just clean my screen using rechargable dust blower thingy. And only clean it properly every month. Even then I would use the rechargable blower first to make sure there aren't any things that can scratch it then I use my microfiber to lightly clean it.

 

[superclarkey]

Considering how easy it is to scratch the screen and the anti glare layer since it is sprayed on (AFAIK) i would prob just clean my screen using rechargable dust blower thingy. And only clean it properly every month. Even then I would use the rechargable blower first to make sure there aren't any things that can scratch it then I use my microfiber to lightly clean it.

I totally agree with you, I'm the same, I will firstly avoid any contact with any screen, i.e fingers or oils etc, then I would use a soft brush designed for the job to lightly brush away dust and any hard particles on the screen. I then mist ROR (Residual Oil Remover) onto a thick soft microfibre cloth and lightly pass over the screen, this picks up any stuck spots and removes oil on the screen. Then one the screen is still moist I will use an Eizo screen microfibre cloth to wipe away anything left on the screen with the lightest of pressure, never pushing down into the screen.

I have cleaned lens and glass optics for years I this way, If I thought the A/R coating is super delicate I will use distilled water only.

But I never spray onto the machine, nor do I allow it to sit, its a swipe and that is it.

Its important that I did it as little as possible also... this is why around a month into owning the machine this is the FIRST time I've cleaned and inspected the machine, as there was no need to do it before hand.

I'm booked in with Apple on Saturday in Birmingham so lets see what they have to say, worst case they don't admit its an issue and send me away, middle ground (which I don't want) is they replace the screen FOC, Best case they replace the machine as a month and half its no right to have this issue and I don't want a "repaired" computer.

If I have to pay for it to be repaired then I may as well wait until the screen cracks from the chip and do it then.

Its a real shame I remember when MBP where solid..

 

[appltech]

The oleophobic coating should handle as scratch protection eventually.
Thinking that this may be a result of pressure damage that was before your story

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Your big mistake was keeping the MBP when you noticed the flaw. For the price of these, I want a PERFECT unit. Especially with regards to the screen.

Have you researched if Apple is going to repair the screen or just give you a new MBP? If the latter, then pay the deductible, get a new unit, and chalk it up to bad luck.

I'm like you...I am very careful with my electronics and take care of them (clean) regularly to keep them mint. A little tick in the glass would drive me nuts.

 

[superclarkey]

Yeah should have reacted sooner and possibly the out come would been more in my favour, but we will have to see what they say.

It will drive me nuts, now, but before looked like a small spec of dust and didn’t warrant a poke.

 

[greenmeanie]

If the screen is this delicate to clean there should be threads all over the place about it.

 

[superclarkey]

I think I've not caused the issue by cleaning it, more so there was a defect in the screen that has caused glass to get smeared across the screen and scratch it. Clearly glass would scratch the A/R coating as its much harder and sharper.

 

[VaultBoy]

Man, I understand you so much. This screens are so fragile, its unbelievable

 

[superclarkey]

Man, I understand you so much. This screens are so fragile, its unbelievable

Yeah, took it to apple and they refused to recognise the issue, so paid for a screen replacement with apple care+, and then put the laptop on ebay.

Will not buy another Apple product as they do not look after their customers.

Every product I’ve bought from Apple in the last few years has had major flaws, guess until we stop buying such products they will keep getting away with cutting costs and reducing quality.

Shame, but glad it’s gone tbh, too delicate to be used as a laptop… needs to be a dust free room with no one ever touching it to last lol

The apple guy said to me when I said can I get the screen repaired “that’s what the apple care is for”… “what, getting customers to pay for defects in the quality control process”

Anyways solved my problem by wasting my time and loosing allot of money, but will help me never forget to never give them my money.

 

[VaultBoy]

I just jumped from Windows laptop and definitely not coming back. MacOS is just so much better. But getting that scratches from nowhere is devastating as hell. Especially for the price of this device... How much did you paid for replacement of screen?

 

[superclarkey]

Tried to charge me £229 for the repair, ended up being about £150, I thought it was going to be £79 through apple care, but they argued the screen wasn’t damaged… I offered to break it in front of them, to which they said they would refuse to fix it.

I gave up arguing with them, just wanted to fix it so I could sell it on knowing there was no faults with the item.

Was honest and open in my sale thread about screen replacment too, which defo hurt the sale.

After all said and done, lost about £600-700 on the machine, only used it a few times.

My mate said I was being over the top and taking the piss… he broke his screen on his while in his bag a few weeks after this, so joke was on both of us really.

Now he is taking it more seriously, he puts a micro fibre cloth between keyboard and screen and closes it on that and not done
It again.

Will ask him to send me a photo so I can share it ??

 

[Sanpete]

Every product I’ve bought from Apple in the last few years has had major flaws, guess until we stop buying such products they will keep getting away with cutting costs and reducing quality.

There's no evidence current Apple products are any more flawed than past ones. There are always flaws.

 

[Nocturnal-G]

There's no evidence current Apple products are any more flawed than past ones. There are always flaws.

Flaws vs poor design

 

[superclarkey]

True, there is never any evidence if you choose to just ignore it..

Would say in my experience I see 2 out of 2 with same flaw… now I understand there is most likely millions of these units out there so sample size is small… but I only had to google it to find a wealth of info on the problem others are experiencing.

This is like being shot and saying I don’t see any evidence of me being shot… until you’ve died and it’s too late lol

 

[Nocturnal-G]

True, there is never any evidence if you choose to just ignore it..

Would say in my experience I see 2 out of 2 with same flaw… now I understand there is most likely millions of these units out there so sample size is small… but I only had to google it to find a wealth of info on the problem others are experiencing.

This is like being shot and saying I don’t see any evidence of me being shot… until you’ve died and it’s too late lol

The 2016-2020 MBP's had a design flaw where lots of them wobble because of the thin frame being warped/bent.

The 2021 is a MUCH better design overall.

 

[superclarkey]

I would say if this was a cheap item then ok, but at this price this really shouldn’t be expectable, surprised you think this is ok?

I wonder if you had to pay for a repair for something you handn’t done and was a quality control issue you would still have this same opinion?

If they had repaired it for free, and excepted its one of those things, I wouldn’t have moaned and I would just chalk it up to one of those things and that’s what warranty is for.

The moment they say, not our problem, pay us more, on a new product that I’m afraid crosses a line.

Imagine you purchased a car and on the way home and the engine failed.. on return to the dealership they go there is no evidence this is a problem (as you join the line of other cars waiting for an engine) and ask you how you would like to pay for the repair?

I would be suprised if you just paid it and said well its better than the old model and all things have flaws… take my money.

LoL

I understand things break, things are never perfect… but you at least expect some basic level of support? Surely?

Anyways, agree to disagree ??

 

[VaultBoy]

Tried to charge me £229 for the repair, ended up being about £150, I thought it was going to be £79 through apple care, but they argued the screen wasn’t damaged… I offered to break it in front of them, to which they said they would refuse to fix it.

I gave up arguing with them, just wanted to fix it so I could sell it on knowing there was no faults with the item.

Was honest and open in my sale thread about screen replacment too, which defo hurt the sale.

After all said and done, lost about £600-700 on the machine, only used it a few times.

My mate said I was being over the top and taking the piss… he broke his screen on his while in his bag a few weeks after this, so joke was on both of us really.

Now he is taking it more seriously, he puts a micro fibre cloth between keyboard and screen and closes it on that and not done
It again.

Will ask him to send me a photo so I can share it ??

Wow, that's a lot of investments Wouldn't it be cheaper to just sell it as it is with discount for slightly damaged display? I mean I don't think damage you had cost 600 pounds.

 

[Sanpete]

True, there is never any evidence if you choose to just ignore it..

Would say in my experience I see 2 out of 2 with same flaw… now I understand there is most likely millions of these units out there so sample size is small… but I only had to google it to find a wealth of info on the problem others are experiencing.

This is like being shot and saying I don’t see any evidence of me being shot… until you’ve died and it’s too late lol

You seem to be responding to what I said, but I can't tell what you mean. Are you saying the issue you have is common, and therefore Apple should repair it? I don't know if that's true (haven't seen any strong evidence for it here), but that's not what I was talking about.

I was addressing what seemed to be your claim that Apple products have less quality control or more defects than before. Haven't seen any good evidence of that.

 

[superclarkey]

Wow, that's a lot of investments Wouldn't it be cheaper to just sell it as it is with discount for slightly damaged display? I mean I don't think damage you had cost 600 pounds.

To be clear that is the difference between what I paid new and sold it for taking into account the repairs. So I lost £600ish.

The new screen could have been fine, but as my friend broke his in his bag and that is he super careful also, I wasn’t willing to take the risk.

I use this computer for business not pleasure, if it fails it can cost me more than the machine itself so not worth the risk.

But as I have been the only person to experience bits of the screen falling out and my friendly clearly broke it, then its nothing to do with Apple at all… it’s the users fault… so I had to buy a product that can handle well you know, being a laptop.

 

[superclarkey]

You seem to be responding to what I said, but I can't tell what you mean. Are you saying the issue you have is common, and therefore Apple should repair it? I don't know if that's true (haven't seen any strong evidence for it here), but that's not what I was talking about.

I was addressing what seemed to be your claim that Apple products have less quality control or more defects than before. Haven't seen any good evidence of that.

Sorry you didn’t understand, please don’t worry about it ??

The matter is resolved now ??