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ThatiPhoneKid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 15, 2017
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I have an old iPad and lately I have become obsessed with oleophobic coatings and constantly worrying if my devices, especially my iPhones have their oleophobic coatings still intact, so today I done an experiment I read about online that if you put water droplets on the screen and they stay in a sphere/dome shape then it means the oleophobic coating is still on the device?

I done the experiment on an old iPad of mine and as I used this iPad for well over a year I would have figured the oleophobic coating would have been diminished so I dripped some water on to the display and the water appears to have stayed in a sphere/dome shape so does this mean the oleophobic coating is still intact? if so I think Apple have done a great job with the coating for it to last well over a year.

Here are some pictures of the experiment, does it look as though the oleophobic coating has worn away or is it still intact on the iPad?

Dfo5EEf.jpg


K8Y3FxE.jpg


jj40cCi.jpg
 
I never heard of this water droplet experiment so I don’t know if it’s really scientific.
What I would worry about is whether the coating is uneven. It likely wouldn’t wear down that much to even be noticeable but with regular usage the middle part of the screen is usually where the first scratches make their entrance.
 
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Just relax, take it easy. Your iPad is perfectly fine. Stop over-worrying about things


Hi, thanks for your reply, not worried about this iPad as it’s an old one of mine just wanted to see if after a year’s usage the oleophobic coating was still intact.
 
I have an old iPad and lately I have become obsessed with oleophobic coatings and constantly worrying if my devices, especially my iPhones have their oleophobic coatings still intact, so today I done an experiment I read about online that if you put water droplets on the screen and they stay in a sphere/dome shape then it means the oleophobic coating is still on the device?

I done the experiment on an old iPad of mine and as I used this iPad for well over a year I would have figured the oleophobic coating would have been diminished so I dripped some water on to the display and the water appears to have stayed in a sphere/dome shape so does this mean the oleophobic coating is still intact? if so I think Apple have done a great job with the coating for it to last well over a year.

Here are some pictures of the experiment, does it look as though the oleophobic coating has worn away or is it still intact on the iPad?

Dfo5EEf.jpg


K8Y3FxE.jpg


jj40cCi.jpg
It’s totally fine.
 
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Oleophobic means it’s rejecting oil. So it would make sense to experiment with oil/grease. What’s rejecting water is hydrophobic. And in most cases these things are the opposite of each other.
 
I’m using a glass screen protector that has a oleophobic coating on it. So, I’ve never touched this iPads screen, so I’m 100% sure it is intact. As soon as I pulled the apple plastic off, glass was going on.

The screen protector does just as well at hiding fingerprints.
 
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I’m using a glass screen protector that has a oleophobic coating on it. So, I’ve never touched this iPads screen, so I’m 100% sure it is intact. As soon as I pulled the apple plastic off, glass was going on.

The screen protector does just as well at hiding fingerprints.

Did the same with my Gen 2 12.9 IPP. Now that I'm having touch screen response issues I'm contemplating taking off the screen protector but I'd hate to waste a perfectly good protector on the off chance that it solves my problem (which didn't exist for months after applying it at first).
 
It will be gone eventually and who cares if it does. Just wipe your screen every now and then and you’ll be fine. Enjoy your device and stop fretting over the little things.
 
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I’m using a glass screen protector that has a oleophobic coating on it. So, I’ve never touched this iPads screen, so I’m 100% sure it is intact. As soon as I pulled the apple plastic off, glass was going on.
That assumes that the adhesive used by the glass screen protector won't damage the coating after years of being in contact with the coating.
 
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