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M2 Air Gap between screen and body when closed
- Thread starter kintama
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Many people have faced this with their Macs. My M1 13 inch had this so I went to the Apple Store to test the ones on display and 2/3's of the Macs had it.
Return it. This is not normal. The seal around the screen is there to prevent dust and debris entering the screen when closed.
Pretty sure it's to protect the glass. If you vacuum seal then you won't be able to open the screen.
Most mac have it, go to an Apple Store and see for yourself. They do not have it all in the same place though. Mine has it above where the ports are. To check, turn on your flaslight and shine it through the seal and see if there are any gaps where you can see inside.
My M2 Air has a slightly larger gap on both corners. Really the only place the rubber gasket around the screen appears to sit totally flush is in the front near the trackpad. Not a big deal IMO and I'm sure they all suffer this given whatever acceptable tolerances Apple allows for when it comes to the top and bottom enclosures. Everything else is perfect otherwise, especially the screen and keyboard which are what really matters. Definitely not worth the hassle of an exchange to potentially have it be worse or run into more serious problems, dead pixels, scratches, etc.
That’s perfectly normal. The rubber isn’t supposed to seal anything. It’s a bumper to stop the screen from crashing into the top case when you close it.
@chabig sounds about right although I do think Apple would prefer said "bumper" be reasonably aligned with the lower portion of the laptop, such that it made at least modest contact with a wider swathe of the lower half rather than sort of exposing the fact that there must be some inconsistencies that lead to these gaps. My GF's ****** plastic Dell seems to have no trouble meeting this criteria (full disclosure: made of plastic). I have a 2019 intel Air with ostensibly the same build as the M1 that I handed down to said GF as a personal laptop and it is pretty seamless when it comes to gaps between screen and bottom panel. Anyway little gaps like these tend to stand out to the quote-unquote discerning user haha. They definitely don't matter but to do the whole "when you're paying this much for blank..." thing I have to say that it's nice to know there's consistency and not wonder if these are merely manufacturing anomalies that should be expected given the huge mass production element of it all. Anyway, honestly don't really care (clearly)...I can see daylight in the middle of my closed M2 Air and, as everything else works so well, who cares.
No. It is obvious not manufactured/assembled the right way. Bought several M1 exchanged 2 which had these problems. OP's situation is definitely an exchange/warranty claim. It needs to close on top of the case, it so obvious. Unless you claim this is normal that there these big gaps around the enclosure.
Do mot even listen to people claiming about vacuum sealing, it is not possible that it will vacuum seal as at the end of the design there is a gap. The slight "vacuum seal" when the gasket is perfectly mounted is by design and is one of the small design to help close off the screen (besides the magnets).
that is a protection of the screen ..otherwise your display could be scratch and have keyboard smudges all over your screen every-time
Yes there is a rubber seal to protect the screen and the keyboard and dust....but since he has this seal why should he return it? i think you contradict yourself
Also the seal protects the laptop when you have books etc on top of it in your bag etc. This is it for decades...i think some other laptops remove it, like surface laptops etc
exactly and this is for decades...im impressed that are still a lot of users that says is not normal, even today
it is about the gasket not properly aligning on the topcase when closed. the difference is huge.
The front of the lid is supposed to sit flush with the body of the Air.
With the lid closed and the front facing you, slightly tap the edges in the front - especially around the two corners. If the lid is sitting flush while closed, you shouldn't hear anything unusual, just solid taps.
If the lid is not sitting flushed when closed, you'll hear the lid hit the chassis creating a slight hallow tapping sound due to a gap. You may detect a more prominent tap on one side versus both.
With the lid closed and the front facing you, slightly tap the edges in the front - especially around the two corners. If the lid is sitting flush while closed, you shouldn't hear anything unusual, just solid taps.
If the lid is not sitting flushed when closed, you'll hear the lid hit the chassis creating a slight hallow tapping sound due to a gap. You may detect a more prominent tap on one side versus both.
Or you could just visually inspect it LOL.
Anyway, to hopefully put this thread out to pasture, I was at the Apple Store the other day to pick up a watch band and decided to check basically every model laptop in the store for this quote-unquote problem. And guess what, they all exhibited a slight gap to some extent or another. Old Airs and new Airs, old Pros and new Pros, they all had some version of this "problem." Definitely tougher to detect with the midnight Air but it was there.
So, unless yours has a truly huge gap that would likely be an issue with the hinge or the entire enclosure itself and thus a real manufacturing defect, this is all a big nothing burger.
I prefer the tap method as many (if not most) lids will have some sort of small visual gap - that's normal if it's slight and it doesn't mean that the lid won't sit flush and will have give.
It's when the gap 'gives' while tapping the lid while closed that is an issue for me. But, even when that happens it doesn't mean that the lid will spring open, the magnetic connection still works, it's just what each person cares to tolerate. It's only a nothing burger if it doesn't bother the machine/device owner(s).
Just like the reported light bleed on the M2 Air. It's very common, does not hamper day to day usage and is hard to see in well lit rooms, but if the fact that it's there it's bothersome, especially knowing that there are many M2 Air displays that don't have this issue, it will present as a problem for some people.
Apple charges a premium for their products - a premium I gladly play. But if someone doesn't feel as though the quality of a product is where it should be, they should return it. If there is a pattern with returns and exchanges, I am sure Apple will take notice and address possible quality control issues with some assembly lines.
And yes, returns/swaps can be a never ending cycle and the next one may have other issues. For me, if the display, keyboard, and build quality are good, I will let other things slide.
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This is perfectly normal, not an issue.
The river gasket is in fact a bumper, so the display does not rub on the aluminum body or the keyboard.
Unless you pay a fortune for an hand made product where every small detail is checked and adjusted, volume produced goods have some tolerances and cannot provide “perfect” details as it would make the price to sky rocket.
But it’s not surprising since Apple marketing lead customers to believe they’re paying for perfect products.
The river gasket is in fact a bumper, so the display does not rub on the aluminum body or the keyboard.
Unless you pay a fortune for an hand made product where every small detail is checked and adjusted, volume produced goods have some tolerances and cannot provide “perfect” details as it would make the price to sky rocket.
But it’s not surprising since Apple marketing lead customers to believe they’re paying for perfect products.
Mine does too. I wouldn't return it tho. My phone is scratched on the edge because I don't use a case. Every 18-24 months I cycle to new ones. If it works, why sweat the cosmetics.