Stickers on new M2 MacBook Airs

[mslilyelise]

Hey all. Quick question I haven't seen addressed in the threads about the midnight MacBook Air and it's propensity to fingerprints. I usually put stickers on my laptops, done it since I was in uni, and with aluminum MacBooks they always come right up with some thermal encouragement, goo gone to remove the residue, and a Windex wipe down, good as new.

I'm wondering if the same can be said for the midnight MBA, if it's surface is as resilient as the aluminum machines. I'm thinking about getting a clamshell hardcase for the machine and putting stickers on that instead, but was just curious if anyone had solid info on the pros/cons of the new machines when it came to stickers. What would damage the surface, etc.

 

[spiderman0616]

The color on Apple's metal devices is sort of "baked in" to the metal in a way, so there's not really any paint to peel off. That anodized layer can chip/flake off though, so use stickers at your own risk. There are already reports of that specific color not being very durable around the port cutouts.

 

[theorist9]

I have no personal experience with this but, since no one else with direct experience has answered. I'll offer the general suggestion that you might want to see if you can find stickers made from "cling film", which uses no adhesive. [You've probably seen this material protecting displays on new electronics gear--they're clear plastic films, without adhesive, that just peel off]. Or try sticking regular stickers to cling film, and then seeing if the cling film will stick to your laptop (it might not, since it might require a smooth surface). See:https://www.amazon.com/s?k=3M+Clear+Paint+Protection+Bulk+Film+Roll+6-by-25-inches&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Alternately, you could try to find stickers that use a very low-tack adhesive (like that seen on 3M Post-It Notes).

If the cling fllm doesn't work, there's also a product called "Sticker Shield" you might want to look into, which appears to use a low-tack adhesive. I've not used it, and have no idea how well it would work on a laptop (it's designed for glass)—you might want to experiment first by testing on the bottom of your laptop (indeed, that probably goes for all these suggestions). [https://www.amazon.com/STICKER-SHIELD-Windshield-Application-Re-application/dp/B01466E0GS?th=1]

One thing I've read could be an issue even if the stickers are completely removable is that they keep the surface color from fading. So, especially if you use your laptop outside in the sun, after a few years the color under the stickers might be darker than that of the metal that's been uncovered. That suggests, if you go the plastic case route, you'd want something opaque and that blocks UV.

Or here's another idea: Cover the back of your laptop entirely with a DBrand film, which is supposed to be residue-free (again, I've never used it, so you should check the reviews to see if that's true), and then adhere the stickers to that. But you might also want to contact DBrand to inquire about the UV issue.

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[wilberforce]

Sometimes stickers leave permanent marks. Unfortunately you probably won't know if this is an issue until years have passed and it is too late.

After removing stickers at the back of screen, there is still a mark

The back of my Macbook Pro was filled with stickers. I have just managed to remove it. It "feels" no more residue by touch. However, the sticker-covered area still has a different tone than the rest of the surface as in the attached picture. I am not sure if it is because of some remaining...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Fishrrman]

You're going to pay a good amount of $$$$ for that new MacBook.

Don't mess it up with "stickers"...

 

[maflynn]

Don't mess it up with "stickers"...

Personal preference, many people love the idea of personalizing their purchase via stickers. You may think its messing it up, many others love the idea of making it uniquely theirs.

 

[mslilyelise]

You're going to pay a good amount of $$$$ for that new MacBook.

Don't mess it up with "stickers"...

I put stickers on everything. I'm the sort who puts bumper stickers on a brand new car. Asking was more to find out what the surface of the MBA is made of and whether it's safe to put stickers on. Now that I know it's not paint, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine getting the stickers off when and if I ever sell this thing. Thanks for the concern though.

 

[chrfr]

Now that I know it's not paint, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine getting the stickers off when and if I ever sell this thing. Thanks for the concern though.

I have seen pretty conspicuous fading on Space Gray Macs, such that removing a sticker leaves a significantly darker area. It may not be possible to remove stickers without a trace, depending on where the computer is used and how much exposure to sun it gets.

 

[mslilyelise]

I have seen pretty conspicuous fading on Space Gray Macs, such that removing a sticker leaves a significantly darker area. It may not be possible to remove stickers without a trace, depending on where the computer is used and how much exposure to sun it gets.

Really good point, I'll keep it in mind. It mostly lives at home in my living room so I don't expect it'll see much sun.

 

[ArkSingularity]

You can always use a case or a skin if you're worried about damaging the aluminum. I personally do this as a way of allowing me to put stickers on the laptop without worrying about losing those stickers if the display ever needs to get replaced. I'm very sentimental about these things, I always add stickers that represent the phase of life that I'm in. Some of them are very unique (such as logos of bands that I was in at the time, etc)

 

[Allyance]

A safer way to remove sticker would be to use lighter fluid (not the barbecue kind), it is the universal solvent for rubber cement. I have been using it for over 60 years on all kinds of surfaces, never had any problems. Works better than goo gone. Also works on sweatshirts when I drip butter by accident. Lighter fluid then Simple Green before going into wash!

 

[mslilyelise]

A safer way to remove sticker would be to use lighter fluid (not the barbecue kind), it is the universal solvent for rubber cement. I have been using it for over 60 years on all kinds of surfaces, never had any problems.

I've never heard of this, I'll look into it for reference. So you mean like Zippo fluid or Ronsonol? I didn't realize they were solvents. Can't be any worse than Goo Gone.

 

[Novius89]

I had an incase hard shell on my previous air. It had these vent intake openings on the bottom, but the air does not have vents.
After a couple of months using this hard case, the body was discolored

 

[mslilyelise]

I had an incase hard shell on my previous air. It had these vent intake openings on the bottom, but the air does not have vents.
After a couple of months using this hard case, the body was discolored

Crap I'm sorry to hear that. I'm guessing it had to be some ingredient in the plastic that would cause that? I've noticed most hard shell cases do have vents on the bottom, and I'm guessing that's just to help with dissipation of heat. I've found a fair few hard shell cases in places like Etsy that fit the M2, but the plastic and materials could be questionable, so I didn't bother.

 

[ArkSingularity]

I had an incase hard shell on my previous air. It had these vent intake openings on the bottom, but the air does not have vents.
After a couple of months using this hard case, the body was discolored

I suppose it could be a downside on the passively cooled machines. Plastic is an insulator and can reduce the amount of heat that is dissipated. I never worry about it on my Pro (it has a fan to take care of the heat if it ever needs to), but on the Air, I could see it being more of a concern.

I suppose the alternative would be to use a skin for the top of the display instead. That, of course, has an adhesive too, but it'd probably be much less of a concern to have one sticker applied across the whole display than to have multiple stickers applied to different sections of it over time.

 

[theorist9]

I suppose the alternative would be to use a skin for the top of the display instead. That, of course, has an adhesive too, but it'd probably be much less of a concern to have one sticker applied across the whole display than to have multiple stickers applied to different sections of it over time.

That's essentially why I was suggesting looking into DBrand skins, which have the further benefit that they don't use adhesive (at least that's what they claim).

 

[mr_roboto]

The color is a dye applied during anodization.

Aluminum is super susceptible to corrosion, in a peculiar way which makes it less susceptible than steel (usually). The instant you expose raw aluminum to any source of oxygen (dry air is enough), the surface of the metal flash rusts to a depth of a few nanometers. However, unlike iron or steel, oxidized aluminum sticks to the base metal well enough that this oxide layer becomes a barrier which greatly slows further rusting by preventing oxygen from penetrating.

This natural barrier layer is thin, and can leave the part susceptible to further corrosion when attacked by things harsher than dry air. Anodization is an electrochemical process which deepens and strengthens the outer oxide barrier.

Many anodization processes create lots of microscopic surface pores. These are eventually sealed to reduce ingress of oxygen, but before the sealing step you can apply a dye and trap it inside the pores. That's how we get colors out of anodizing.

Because the dye is relatively well sealed inside the surface layer of the metal, it's quite resistant to being damaged by things like stickers and mild solvents.

However, as @chrfr mentioned, some dye colors may fade over time (especially with exposure to UV), in which case areas protected by a sticker will look darker when you take the sticker off.

 

[mslilyelise]

The color is a dye applied during anodization.

Aluminum is super susceptible to corrosion, in a peculiar way which makes it less susceptible than steel (usually). The instant you expose raw aluminum to any source of oxygen (dry air is enough), the surface of the metal flash rusts to a depth of a few nanometers. However, unlike iron or steel, oxidized aluminum sticks to the base metal well enough that this oxide layer becomes a barrier which greatly slows further rusting by preventing oxygen from penetrating.

This natural barrier layer is thin, and can leave the part susceptible to further corrosion when attacked by things harsher than dry air. Anodization is an electrochemical process which deepens and strengthens the outer oxide barrier.

Many anodization processes create lots of microscopic surface pores. These are eventually sealed to reduce ingress of oxygen, but before the sealing step you can apply a dye and trap it inside the pores. That's how we get colors out of anodizing.

Because the dye is relatively well sealed inside the surface layer of the metal, it's quite resistant to being damaged by things like stickers and mild solvents.

However, as @chrfr mentioned, some dye colors may fade over time (especially with exposure to UV), in which case areas protected by a sticker will look darker when you take the sticker off.

Wow, thank you for this! This is the most clear and direct explanation I've found for how they make the colours and how the colours are bonded to the raw material. I always feel better informed when I know how something works, and appreciate the wisdom.

 

[theorist9]

Aluminum is super susceptible to corrosion, in a peculiar way which makes it less susceptible than steel (usually). The instant you expose raw aluminum to any source of oxygen (dry air is enough), the surface of the metal flash rusts to a depth of a few nanometers. However, unlike iron or steel, oxidized aluminum sticks to the base metal well enough that this oxide layer becomes a barrier which greatly slows further rusting by preventing oxygen from penetrating.

I don't believe the difference is in how well they stick to their respective metals. I'd imagine iron oxide sticks quite well to iron and steel. If it didn't, it would readily fall off, leaving a shiny base layer of clean metal, which it doesn't. When rust flakes off, it's not detaching from the metal, it's detaching from lower layers of rust. I.e., rust sticks well to iron; it it just doesn't stick well to itself.

Instead, the key difference is that aluminum oxide forms a very strong surface layer that is nearly impenetrable to water and oxygen, thus sealing the metal from further oxidation. By contrast, iron oxide is porous to those substances. Thus even after it coats the surface, water and oxygen can continue to penetrate it, leading to deep layers of corrosion, which is what we call rust.

Why do steel and iron not passivate the way aluminum does?

When aluminum is exposed to oxygen a micro layer or film of oxide appears on the surface and oxygen cannot penetrate any further. With iron or steel, however, oxygen continues to reach into the me...

chemistry.stackexchange.com

 

[Allyance]

I've never heard of this, I'll look into it for reference. So you mean like Zippo fluid or Ronsonol? I didn't realize they were solvents. Can't be any worse than Goo Gone.

I use Zippo, Amazon has good pricing and availability. Great for removing price tags on gifts and adhesive residue. I use it on my prize motorcycle finish, never a problem. I think you will find it cheaper than Goo Gone

I use a hair dryer to warm large labels, stickers to soften the adhesive. I had a neighbor whose son who had covered his entire bedroom door with bumper stickers. She had no idea how to remove them after he moved out, a half hour with the hair dryer and they were gone.

 

[Feek]

I want to see a picture of your laptop with stickers on it.

 

[Tagbert]

I've never heard of this, I'll look into it for reference. So you mean like Zippo fluid or Ronsonol? I didn't realize they were solvents. Can't be any worse than Goo Gone.

Other than being flammable?!

 

[mslilyelise]

I want to see a picture of your laptop with stickers on it.

Sorry, wish I could, but I added a pic of my laptop to the thread for this and it was taken down because some folks are politically sensitive to criticism of the patriarchy. If only this were a free country.

Other than being flammable?!

Second this. Dousing a laptop in lighter fluid sounds like a one way ticket to bad times.

And now for an update:

I had to take a couple stickers off my machine to make room for something else, and I used Goo Gone to break up the adhesives and then 50% isopropyl alcohol to wipe them off. Worked perfect. No damage to the surface after 10 months with the sticker on it. So that solves this, more or less. It's no more easy or difficult to remove the stickers and adhesive than it was on earlier silver aluminum MacBooks. If anything the surface seems less susceptible to damage (some stickers will leave a sort of shadow on the older aluminum machines that I could not find a way to remove).

 

[spiderman0616]

Sorry, wish I could, but I added a pic of my laptop to the thread for this and it was taken down because some folks are politically sensitive to criticism of the patriarchy. If only this were a free country.

This is really unfortunate and not the first time I've heard it.

 

[Feek]

Sorry, wish I could, but I added a pic of my laptop to the thread for this and it was taken down because some folks are politically sensitive to criticism of the patriarchy. If only this were a free country.

Shame.

Worked perfect. No damage to the surface after 10 months with the sticker on it.

Yay