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Silver MacBook Air M2 owners

The reason you see wear on Mac's is because a lot of people keep them a long time. Any finish that is not the natural color of the metal will wear out over time.

However just because it will wear out does that mean you should get silver? If you plan on keeping this MBA for 6 years or more then Midnight could be an issue. However you can help avoid this with a clear vinyl skin as many have mentioned or using a light wax light pledge or similar. The wax will reduce the fingerprints and coat the finish to help avoid wear. Scratches will not be protected by wax but the finish wearing off at the palmrest might be delayed.

Personally I have thought about the issue as well. I had a silver MBP 16" and while I liked the machine I got really tired of plain silver. It is such a common color and while Midnight might not be the most unique color in the world it is different enough that I like it.

I wish Apple would bring back the more intense and fun colors of the past. An electric blue, pink not rose gold, purple like the ipad air-I would buy that color in a heartbeat. And other fun colors.

Since the choices are silver, space grey, a washed out gold, or midnight-midnight wins every time for me. I liked space grey when it came out but realized I like black better than grey. Starlight is nice and subtle but I was never a fan of subtle. Mac's "think different" has really gone to "think safe color options" and I miss the past.

So I am worried about the finish too BUT I would rather worry about the finish and do what I can to extend the finish than have a finish that looks boring and played out to me. No offense to anyone who likes Starlight, Silver or Space Grey. I am not trying to say that your choice is bad it is just not for me.

So If I were you I would ask myself what color will I enjoy staring at for years on end? If Midnight it it then get it and be happy and try your best to manage your disappointment if anything happens because at least you enjoy the color you got.

Life is too short to base decisions about worrying what might happen in the future. Take a gamble and live with it. At least you lived life a bit on the edge instead of played it safe!
 
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Technerd108 said:
The reason you see wear on Mac's is because a lot of people keep them a long time. Any finish that is not the natural color of the metal will wear out over time.

However just because it will wear out does that mean you should get silver? If you plan on keeping this MBA for 6 years or more then Midnight could be an issue. However you can help avoid this with a clear vinyl skin as many have mentioned or using a light wax light pledge or similar. The wax will reduce the fingerprints and coat the finish to help avoid wear. Scratches will not be protected by wax but the finish wearing off at the palmrest might be delayed.

Personally I have thought about the issue as well. I had a silver MBP 16" and while I liked the machine I got really tired of plain silver. It is such a common color and while Midnight might not be the most unique color in the world it is different enough that I like it.

I wish Apple would bring back the more intense and fun colors of the past. An electric blue, pink not rose gold, purple like the ipad air-I would buy that color in a heartbeat. And other fun colors.

Since the choices are silver, space grey, a washed out gold, or midnight-midnight wins every time for me. I liked space grey when it came out but realized I like black better than grey. Starlight is nice and subtle but I was never a fan of subtle. Mac's "think different" has really gone to "think safe color options" and I miss the past.

So I am worried about the finish too BUT I would rather worry about the finish and do what I can to extend the finish than have a finish that looks boring and played out to me. No offense to anyone who likes Starlight, Silver or Space Grey. I am not trying to say that your choice is bad it is just not for me.

So If I were you I would ask myself what color will I enjoy staring at for years on end? If Midnight it it then get it and be happy and try your best to manage your disappointment if anything happens because at least you enjoy the color you got.

Life is too short to base decisions about worrying what might happen in the future. Take a gamble and live with it. At least you lived life a bit on the edge instead of played it safe!
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100% this. SG is certainly the safer option but Midnight is so sleek. Hence I went Midnight. It’s just so different. I’ve only ever had SG MacBooks and wanted the change. I used to love the Jet Black iPhone 7 which this reminds me of a little.

I am however, interested in these vinyl wraps you mention, do you possibly have a link?
 
 
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Technerd108 said:
The reason you see wear on Mac's is because a lot of people keep them a long time. Any finish that is not the natural color of the metal will wear out over time.

However just because it will wear out does that mean you should get silver? If you plan on keeping this MBA for 6 years or more then Midnight could be an issue. However you can help avoid this with a clear vinyl skin as many have mentioned or using a light wax light pledge or similar. The wax will reduce the fingerprints and coat the finish to help avoid wear. Scratches will not be protected by wax but the finish wearing off at the palmrest might be delayed.

Personally I have thought about the issue as well. I had a silver MBP 16" and while I liked the machine I got really tired of plain silver. It is such a common color and while Midnight might not be the most unique color in the world it is different enough that I like it.

I wish Apple would bring back the more intense and fun colors of the past. An electric blue, pink not rose gold, purple like the ipad air-I would buy that color in a heartbeat. And other fun colors.

Since the choices are silver, space grey, a washed out gold, or midnight-midnight wins every time for me. I liked space grey when it came out but realized I like black better than grey. Starlight is nice and subtle but I was never a fan of subtle. Mac's "think different" has really gone to "think safe color options" and I miss the past.

So I am worried about the finish too BUT I would rather worry about the finish and do what I can to extend the finish than have a finish that looks boring and played out to me. No offense to anyone who likes Starlight, Silver or Space Grey. I am not trying to say that your choice is bad it is just not for me.

So If I were you I would ask myself what color will I enjoy staring at for years on end? If Midnight it it then get it and be happy and try your best to manage your disappointment if anything happens because at least you enjoy the color you got.

Life is too short to base decisions about worrying what might happen in the future. Take a gamble and live with it. At least you lived life a bit on the edge instead of played it safe!
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The longer ive used my midnight, the less im worried about the finish. Unfortunately it has other issues and needs to be returned anyways. So I guess it will come down to how much I like the silver, if I hate it, I have to redo this process all over lol. If I like it and the rest the laptop checks out, ill probably keep it. ive never owned anything silver from apple, so for me, both of these colours are "new" to me in that way.

Im happy apple let me hold on to my midnight until the silver gets here atleast so I can truly compare them both side by side in my own environment.
 
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For me with the midnight colour it's not really the finger prints that are a concern, it's more the colour wearing away by the ports. Checked it out at the Apple store, the finger prints I can live with, but there was already quite a lot of silver coming through around the port area. I'd also be concerned over time with the palm rests wearing down.
 
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Man it’s looking better for silver the longer I own this midnight. Just found another Knick in the finish now on the bottom plate! Jeeze, the things only been used on the couch and at my desk, always back in the sleeve after use!

As much as I love this midnight colour, im being very cautious with it and I’m still finding marks out of it.
 

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1BadManVan said:
Man it’s looking better for silver the longer I own this midnight. Just found another Knick in the finish now on the bottom plate! Jeeze man, the things only been used on the couch and at my desk, always back in the sleeve after use!

As much as I love this midnight colour, im being very cautious with it and I’m still finding marks out of it.
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That's nasty looking for sure. Has your silver one arrived yet?
 
Alpha Centauri said:
That's nasty looking for sure. Has your silver one arrived yet?
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Not yet unfortunately. Was showing Thursday, now its been bumped to Friday. Its a shame, I really liked the midnight but thats 3 different spots now. 1 on the top keyboard deck beside the hinge (came this way out of the box) one on the port (used a total of 2 times) and now one on the bottom plate. Not even a month old!
 
1BadManVan said:
Not yet unfortunately. Was showing Thursday, now its been bumped to Friday. Its a shame, I really liked the midnight but thats 3 different spots now. 1 on the top keyboard deck beside the hinge (came this way out of the box) one on the port (used a total of 2 times) and now one on the bottom plate. Not even a month old!
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Well I might just be doing the same thing in a short while.

Too bad. I really like the Midnight color but the finish should be durable. I don’t expect a hardened surface but chips on bottom and it isn’t even a month old is certainly a red flag specially since it looks like you are trying to take care of it.

Seems like Apple’s anodized finish is not very good. I have a Lenovo 7i laptop I got fairly recently and I dropped it maybe 18” on to a metal part of a vacuum cleaner while vacuuming the carpet and it shows a scuff but the color is still there. Pretty tough finish. It is a slate blue and it doesn’t show fingerprints. I wish Apple would use a similar finish.

Obviously all coated finishes can wear off and get scratches but there is a wide degree of how resistant to wear they are.
 
Technerd108 said:
Well I might just be doing the same thing in a short while.

Too bad. I really like the Midnight color but the finish should be durable. I don’t expect a hardened surface but chips on bottom and it isn’t even a month old is certainly a red flag specially since it looks like you are trying to take care of it.

Seems like Apple’s anodized finish is not very good. I have a Lenovo 7i laptop I got fairly recently and I dropped it maybe 18” on to a metal part of a vacuum cleaner while vacuuming the carpet and it shows a scuff but the color is still there. Pretty tough finish. It is a slate blue and it doesn’t show fingerprints. I wish Apple would use a similar finish.

Obviously all coated finishes can wear off and get scratches but there is a wide degree of how resistant to wear they are.
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Yup, my wife has had her Razer blade 15 for a year and a half now and it still looks new!
 
1BadManVan said:
Not yet unfortunately. Was showing Thursday, now its been bumped to Friday. Its a shame, I really liked the midnight but thats 3 different spots now. 1 on the top keyboard deck beside the hinge (came this way out of the box) one on the port (used a total of 2 times) and now one on the bottom plate. Not even a month old!
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Yer, that's just atrocious really. Hopefully the silver will arrive before the weekend for you. 🤞
 
1BadManVan said:
Man it’s looking better for silver the longer I own this midnight. Just found another Knick in the finish now on the bottom plate! Jeeze, the things only been used on the couch and at my desk, always back in the sleeve after use!

As much as I love this midnight colour, im being very cautious with it and I’m still finding marks out of it.
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Damn. I was worried about this, I have a sliver speck on the palm rest on my Midnight 16/1TB.

I’ve always had space grey with no issues.
 
maka344 said:
Damn. I was worried about this, I have a sliver speck on the palm rest on my Midnight 16/1TB.

I’ve always had space grey with no issues.
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Yea my other worry was where the palm rest and trackpad meet as well. Just overall some of the shaper edges on this I feel aren’t going to age well in this finish.

I just hope I like the silver lol.
 
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1BadManVan said:
Yea my other worry was where the palm rest and trackpad meet as well. Just overall some of the shaper edges on this I feel aren’t going to age well in this finish.

I just hope I like the silver lol.
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Silver is stunning… you’ll LOVE it!!
It’s an pro not an air, but here are a couple of pics of silver
 

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Well then... Silver one showed up, has the same backlight bleed in the bottom left corner of it, maybe a tiny bit less and actually a bit of red tint on the bottom edge of the screen! AND the hinge is identical! off centred that little bit to the left just like my midnight. So that's bizarre...

I honestly don't know what to do at this point. do I just keep the midnight and accept its going to get a few marks here and there or return both and start thus process all over again?
 
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Im going to test it out more tonight and see how I like the silver. So far I still prefer the midnight but definitely not hating the silver either. Just disappointed this one showed up with the same two flaws as my midnight

Most likely they will just both go back and maybe try to order again later when apple figures out their production a bit more lol. Tough one, but for now, it doesn't make sense to keep a brand new one with the exact same issues. the hinge part especially as apple was concerned quite a bit about it being uneven and eventually causing wear

All the airs in the store did not have this hinge issue so I'm pretty shocked that two different ones now I've ordered have this exact same flaw lol
 
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einsteinbqat said:
Starlight is gorgeous!
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Definitely not a colour for me, but im loving this silver colour so far. Backlight bleed is actually a lot better overall compared to the midnight, I didn't realize it until tonight with the same dark background, how much more washed out it looked. Glad I have another panel to compare it too

I might honestly just keep this silver one. I got two weeks to decide but everything else about it is great and the panel is very close to perfect overall. I also feel like I can see the keys easier, they seem to light up nicer on the silver compared to the midnight

We'll see, midnight is being returned tomorrow, going to check out the display models a bit closer with the hinge to see if im just making a bigger deal out of it then needed
 
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1BadManVan said:
Well then... Silver one showed up, has the same backlight bleed in the bottom left corner of it, maybe a tiny bit less and actually a bit of red tint on the bottom edge of the screen! AND the hinge is identical! off centred that little bit to the left just like my midnight. So that's bizarre...

I honestly don't know what to do at this point. do I just keep the midnight and accept its going to get a few marks here and there or return both and start thus process all over again?
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return both. If you keep either one it is going to bother you as long as you own them. Unfortunately because Apple only sells the best configs as BTO then we are the QC a lot of times. Sometimes I wonder if they make you wait just to make you settle for the bad QC. We shouldn't and you shouldn't.

If I were you I would take a lot of pictures of the issues and send an email to Apple customer service as documentation. Then call customer service and ask to speak to a supervisor. Explain that now you have tried to work with Apple and you probably had to front the money for the replacement and the original device and was expecting a refund on the "defective device" but now you have two "defective" devices and don't want to spend any more money. You want another same spec air sent to you and you will ship one of them back. You will keep using one until Apple gets things right. They can have the Midnight back and you will keep the silver until the replacement arrives and no more charges to your card. Also for all of the hassle Apple should do something on top of getting you a device that is not defective like a gift card or something.

I am sorry this has happened to you. You may have to call more than once or speak to more than one person but I would not let them get away with this. But that is just my opinion. Whatever you decide is what is best for you and I just feel bad this happened.
 
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Technerd108 said:
return both. If you keep either one it is going to bother you as long as you own them. Unfortunately because Apple only sells the best configs as BTO then we are the QC a lot of times. Sometimes I wonder if they make you wait just to make you settle for the bad QC. We shouldn't and you shouldn't.

If I were you I would take a lot of pictures of the issues and send an email to Apple customer service as documentation. Then call customer service and ask to speak to a supervisor. Explain that now you have tried to work with Apple and you probably had to front the money for the replacement and the original device and was expecting a refund on the "defective device" but now you have two "defective" devices and don't want to spend any more money. You want another same spec air sent to you and you will ship one of them back. You will keep using one until Apple gets things right. They can have the Midnight back and you will keep the silver until the replacement arrives and no more charges to your card. Also for all of the hassle Apple should do something on top of getting you a device that is not defective like a gift card or something.

I am sorry this has happened to you. You may have to call more than once or speak to more than one person but I would not let them get away with this. But that is just my opinion. Whatever you decide is what is best for you and I just feel bad this happened.
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Sorry, was serving a time out again from this place. So far im just using it and enjoying it, I'll try to snap a couple pics of the hinge tomorrow so you can see what ima talking about, we are talking less then a milimeter on the hinge, but im picky lol.
 
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Alright so here is the hinge for both sides, like I said, I’m being extremely picky at this point but you can see how it’s flush on the one side and JUST not quite on the other

I don’t notice it as all obviously on my day to day use. But first thing I do when I pull my new products out of the package is hold them up and give them a real good look over.
 

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1BadManVan said:
Alright so here is the hinge for both sides, like I said, I’m being extremely picky at this point but you can see how it’s flush on the one side and JUST not quite on the other

I don’t notice it as all obviously on my day to day use. But first thing I do when I pull my new products out of the package is hold them up and give them a real good look over.
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That wouldn't bother me but mine doesn't have a gap like that on one side.
 
1BadManVan said:
Alright so here is the hinge for both sides, like I said, I’m being extremely picky at this point but you can see how it’s flush on the one side and JUST not quite on the other

I don’t notice it as all obviously on my day to day use. But first thing I do when I pull my new products out of the package is hold them up and give them a real good look over.
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Yeah I can’t tell how much out of alignment that is but it is obvious in the picture. That would bother me.

I know I would debate in my mind if it is worth returning and what if the replacement has some other issue.

But once you see it you can’t unsee it and I would want a machine that has no obvious defects. People can argue all day that it doesn’t matter and doesn’t affect daily use but that is not the point. You expect to get a device free from cosmetic defects.

If you try to sell it later would that affect market value you could get? I don’t know. Will it lead to other problems later? I don’t know.

I do know that if you don’t like it then you should get it replaced as well. Maybe 3 is a charm.

I am sorry for all the issues you have had. Puts a downer on what is supposed to be a fun or at least good experience.
 
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Technerd108 said:
Yeah I can’t tell how much out of alignment that is but it is obvious in the picture. That would bother me.

I know I would debate in my mind if it is worth returning and what if the replacement has some other issue.

But once you see it you can’t unsee it and I would want a machine that has no obvious defects. People can argue all day that it doesn’t matter and doesn’t affect daily use but that is not the point. You expect to get a device free from cosmetic defects.

If you try to sell it later would that affect market value you could get? I don’t know. Will it lead to other problems later? I don’t know.

I do know that if you don’t like it then you should get it replaced as well. Maybe 3 is a charm.

I am sorry for all the issues you have had. Puts a downer on what is supposed to be a fun or at least good experience.
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Especially a downer as this is my first ever Mac! The picture definitely makes it looks worse then it is but as you said, it’s there but everything else about this thing is great.

The screen is much better then the last one, I didn’t realize how much better until they were side by side with the same dark wallpaper and it was much more washed out on the midnight.

It’s a tough one.. but i set the bar pretty high for how much they charge for these lol
 
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