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Oleophobic coating: wears off in a month?!

mavis

mavis

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 30, 2007
4,772
1,559
Tokyo, Japan
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS (White, 32GB): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this. I got my 3GS on launch day, which was about a month and half ago. The past week or so I've been noticing that there seem to be more fingerprints and smudges on the screen than there used to be. Instead of being completely clean after wiping the phone on my shirt for a few seconds, it's now only mostly clean. While these observations are hardly scientific, I'm absolutely certain that the oleophobic coating is no longer as effective as it was a month ago.

Has anyone else noticed this?
 
I'm ok.

How have you handled your iPhone. Unprotected, in your pocket with keys/coins? Using some sort of liquid cleaner?
 
maflynn said:
I'm ok.

How have you handled your iPhone. Unprotected, in your pocket with keys/coins? Using some sort of liquid cleaner?
Click to expand...
Unprotected but in a pocket by itself; it's not scratched at all, the screen is absolutely perfect. It just shows more smudges than it used to and takes more effort to clean.
 
mavis said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS (White, 32GB): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

Hey guys,

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this. I got my 3GS on launch day, which was about a month and half ago. The past week or so I've been noticing that there seem to be more fingerprints and smudges on the screen than there used to be. Instead of being completely clean after wiping the phone on my shirt for a few seconds, it's now only mostly clean. While these observations are hardly scientific, I'm absolutely certain that the oleophobic coating is no longer as effective as it was a month ago.

Has anyone else noticed this?
Click to expand...

Mavis the area where the screen coating is wearing of, do you see any screen discoloration? I have a theory that the lengthy issue with the yellowing screen is a result of poor qc during the coating and adhesive used to adhere it to the screen being. I think apple is not willing to admit that this new update to the screen coating maybe due to poor qc, during manufacturing.
 
Yes!

I have noticed the same thing. My phone definitely is showing more fingerprints and smudges than it did when I first bought it.
 
It's too bad that, if the coating is wearing off, Apple can' market a spray coating that you could reapply. An Oleophobic Screen Protector Sheet would also be good.
 
petesonline said:
Mavis the area where the screen coating is wearing of, do you see any screen discoloration? I have a theory that the lengthy issue with the yellowing screen is a result of poor qc during the coating and adhesive used to adhere it to the screen being. I think apple is not willing to admit that this new update to the screen coating maybe due to poor qc, during manufacturing.
Click to expand...
Actually, it's the entire screen - not just one particular area. And it is not causing any discoloration whatsoever - as I said, it's just that the screen seems to show more smudges than it did when it was new, and seems to take slightly more effort to clean.

camarobh said:
I have noticed the same thing. My phone definitely is showing more fingerprints and smudges than it did when I first bought it.
Click to expand...
So it looks like I'm not the only one. Thanks for posting!! :)
 
Wasn't there another thread around that stated that Apple said the effects of the coating would wear off over time? Don't think it mean't there would be any visual wearing off, just that the effects would diminsh over time.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16)

There was a photo on gizgadget or enmodo a while back where some dude had an obvious bald spot in the coating from playing a game over and over. Based on that pic, I seriously doubt the coating has worn completely away across your entire screen evenly. You would see an area where it had rubbed off.
 
Could it be related to the season? Summer, more humid weather is causing your fingers to be sweatier and thus more prone to leave marks?
 
maflynn said:
Could it be related to the season? Summer, more humid weather is causing your fingers to be sweatier and thus more prone to leave marks?
Click to expand...

Maybe so lets put this thread to bed and wake it back up in the winter:D
 
Have you tried giving the iPhone a really good clean (like with a damp paper towel) and then drying it off? Maybe the grease sticks to the screen over time and while you think you might have wiped it all off with your shirt, you could just be spreading it around leaving the oleophobic layer underneath. Just a suggestion.
 
I'm probably not supposed to do this, but I use a Clorox wipe on the whole phone every night, including the screen. I have had the phone for over a month, and I don't see any difference in the screen yet.
 
Scooterman1 said:
It's too bad that, if the coating is wearing off, Apple can' market a spray coating that you could reapply. An Oleophobic Screen Protector Sheet would also be good.
Click to expand...

it's a lot more advanced than that. The actual coating is no big deal, and has been around for awhile. It's getting that coating to adhere to the glass (well, maybe not so well) that was the big innovation here.
 
Roessnakhan said:
I was actually just thinking about this the other day when cleaning my phone, so you're not he only one that's for sure.
Click to expand...

And now, a month later, it's even worse. I'm noticing that the bottom half of the screen - the place where i touch the screen most: keyboard area, etc - takes more effort to clean than the top half. Anyone else?
 
mavis said:
And now, a month later, it's even worse. I'm noticing that the bottom half of the screen - the place where i touch the screen most: keyboard area, etc - takes more effort to clean than the top half. Anyone else?
Click to expand...

The bottom half of my screen gets greasier, so of course it's harder to clean. I can still wipe it clear with a dry cloth, so I think it's fine.
 
I just smudged the holy living hell out of my screen for testing purposes and notice absolutely no difference in the amount of time it takes to clean it now as opposed to when I got it (launch day). I'm not sure if it's actually accumulating smudges easier than it used to; I just usually give it a wipe on a shirt sleeve when they get noticeable and then it's fine.
 
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