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Keyboard indentations on screen
- Thread starter bill-p
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We all make our own personal choices, and I don’t mean to belittle yours (you will probably be OK), but personally I’d be more worried about the prolonged effect of the adhesive from the screen saver.
It might be best to add something like Dbrand skins around the keyboard and trackpad to increase clearance between keyboard and screen, rather than a keyboard or screen cover which will do the opposite.
I had a screen protector on my 2018 MacBook Pro for 2 years without any damage. If I had left the screen open, it would have received far more damage from rubbing against the keyboard. Between greasy finger oil and hard keyboard/trackpad surface versus... soft plastic screen protector and adhesive, I think the screen protector has a much lesser chance of damaging the screen. Also there shouldn't be any problem as long as the screen protector is changed regularly.
If the coating is so weak that adhesive can damage it, what makes you think exposing the bare screen is any better?
Tried. Doesn't really make a difference. Short of covering up the entire keyboard and trackpad with a cover cloth like what's been suggested, the chassis is not rigid enough to prevent parts of the screen from touching the keyboard or trackpad area, regardless of what's around them. This issue should have been resolved when Apple made the chassis thicker but I'm sad to see that not much has changed here.
lol found an outline of the spacebar on my screen today. Turns out the space bar is ever so slightly taller than the rest of the keys. I'm not sure if it would actually damage the coating over time.
I think it's bit because of rigidity of chassis but rather because build quality is just not constant and keys are taller on some laptops. Otherwise I cannot explain why none of my previous macbooks (Pro 13" 2016 and Air M1) has any marks other than left from my fingers when I touched the screen. Now I have MPB 16 M1 next to me and after more than a month of usage and carrying it in backpack I can finally see a mark from spacebar and If I look closer I can see that the spacebar is bit taller than other keys.
Anyway I will not use any screen protector because the worst thing might happen is angi-glare coating erased on a place of this tiny spacebar mark. I just cannot understand why to make the whole screen look like angi-glare coating erased from it (that glare screen protectors do).
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How is it possible for oils to rub the coating permanently off and not be something that can be washed away?
Maybe I don't have a very discerning eye but I've had 3 MacBooks since 2012 (and the 14" currently) and I have not noticed this on any of my notebooks.
what am i, nuts? couldn't care less. if it doesn't affect normal usage it doesn't exist.
You were saying you couldn't see the marks. I'm telling you how you can see them. An alternative is when you use your MacBook outside in broad daylight.
Sure, it doesn't affect normal usage. But this can be said for other screen blemishes as well. Take a knife and slash your screen a few times. The scratches are there and can be felt, but you won't see them in "normal usage" either. That doesn't mean the damage is not there.
Had this on all my MacBooks since 2015 pro model. With my current 2019 16 inch I have started just put A4 paper between screen and keyboard when I found out keyboard indentations on screen. A year already this solution works for me perfectly well. 
I've retained the cloth that the MacBook comes with for this reason but eventually it gets crushed and crumpled, it is also, admittedly a pain to do this every time closing the laptop. I may consider this method or getting a screen protector (set, and forget). The marks over the screen are unbelievably annoying!Had this on all my MacBooks since 2015 pro model. With my current 2019 16 inch I have started just put A4 paper between screen and keyboard when I found out keyboard indentations on screen. A year already this solution works for me perfectly well.
This won't help. You will see. Eventually, you will notice the trackpad indentation on the screen as well. Even when you have nothing sitting on top of the lid to force the display down.
The problem is just that clearance between the screen and the keyboard/trackpad deck is too little. I have had to replace one screen protector already because a piece of dust punctured the protector. Without that protector, that piece of dust would have damaged the screen.
Does the lid closes tightly? Is there any gap letting dust go in from a backpack under the screen?This one:
Supershieldz (3 Pack) Designed for MacBook Pro 14 inch (M3 / M3 Pro / M3 Max / M2 Pro / M2 Max / M1 Pro / M1 Max) Screen Protector, High Definition Clear Shield (PET)
Our screen protectors are made from Optical Grade Crystal Film which are custom cut to ensure a perfect fit every time. Constructed in five layers; a scratch resistant surface polymer, a hardened protective mask to prevent deep cuts damaging your device and finally a patented silicone gel that cr...www.amazon.com
I have contacted Apple Support chat and they said "So it's not normal that the keyboard will leave a mark on the screen when you close it."
Also they told me to go to nearest Apple Store for inspection. They can fix it by replacing keyboard same day.
Anyone had similar experience? Is the issue really can be solved that way?
Also they told me to go to nearest Apple Store for inspection. They can fix it by replacing keyboard same day.
Anyone had similar experience? Is the issue really can be solved that way?
It's a design flaw so not sure how much Apple replacing the keyboard will help in the long run.
Is it? A design flaw would have resulted in someone naming it a something "gate" and would have created a post which would have hundreds if not more posts. The tolerances are obviously very small, so even a small glitch could result in the keyboard being too high. Thus the replacement as a first step to increase the spacing.
See them on my 2015 13”retina when it’s off, in use without any external reflecting light not. So I don’t care.