Why MacBook screens are that fragile?

[validate]

It's not really a 'what you are doing wrong' thing. We know there's not really a generic problem with the screens, or there would be very widespread complaints. Asmuch as many might not notice, most would.

So what we have, I think, is an issue of something in the environment, which either exists in the locality and causes abrasion or something in, or on, the cleaning cloth.

Examples of the environment would be things like particulates in the air - the Canadian wildfires in my location last summer/autumn were a very notable example, which caused heavy abrasion on surfaces - but could also be particles in household dust and deposits which have collected in the cloth. For the cloth, even those designed for this kind of use could become contaminated, and water or IPA wouldn't help other than to suspend the contaminants while the cloth is used.

What I'd want to look at is how, or by what means, the relatively soft surface of the screen could be cleaned and restored. If it's scratching to the nit-glare coating, it probably can't, but surface scratches on the panel itself may be ameliorated to some degree at least with cleaners and refinishers.

First of all, thank you for this detailed comment. Yes, there is obviously a problem that I don't know There is actually no air pollution where I live. While drying the cloth, I'm careful not to dry it in a dusty place. I also cleaned the screen with a water-based cleaner. Unfortunately, these traces do not seem to be water streaks and unfortunately, there is nothing that can be cleaned it seems :/

But the thing is, I cannot see the streaks with a light source other than sun. But if I create a condensation over the screen, they can be seen clearly. The photos are attached.

Bonus: You can see the mark of the spacebar, as a vertical line Even though I clean the keyboard regularly.
I'm not a person who can put up with a greasy keyboard.

 

[validate]

Maybe it's just the photo, but these look like streaks to me. Have you tried using a cleaner besides water just to be sure?

How to clean your Apple products - Apple Support

Get recommendations and guidelines for cleaning your Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro, display, or peripheral device.

support.apple.com

Clean your Mac computer’s screen or display

Clean your Mac computer screen or external display properly and safely.

support.apple.com

I've always used Whoosh or alcohol/lens wipes to clean mine and never had an issue. Supposedly even Apple Stores use Whoosh.

We don't have Whoosh where I live. But I have tried cleaning with another water-based cleaner which is not abrasive. As you can see in the photos on reply I made, they are not streaks.

 

[validate]

take this a huge grain of salt, but I saw a IG/Tiktok post, where the AR coating was failing and the guy just plainly removed the last of the AR coating on a 2012? mbp with some common chemical....might do a search and see...of course, the warranty was expired so he didn't have much to loose. Sorry to see your screen be like that /:

Actually the AR coating isn't that in a position which is that bad. I have seen these videos on YT also. Maybe I can put a matte and thin (which is important) screen protector onto screen, yeah just thinking about a solution

 

[za9ra22]

But the thing is, I cannot see the streaks with a light source other than sun. But if I create a condensation over the screen, they can be seen clearly. The photos are attached.

This bit is interesting, because it would indicate that there's a polarization issue in these scratches. Artificial light is non-polarized whereas sunlight is.

Can you actually feel these scratches on the surface?

 

[Crow47]

All I see in your photos is grease residue. You even mention your space bar leaves a mark on the screen -this is completely normal when a human being uses one of these laptops. You've spoken of how you clean it, and afaik you've only used water. I would completely expect water + microfiber to leave this kind of residue on the screen if it was especially dirty prior to cleaning.

I've seen thousands of Macbooks in the field, AR coating failure in this day and age is rare.

Does isopropyl like what can be found in generic glasses cleaner do anything? If it were my laptop I would 100% test with 70% isopropyl and go from there.

 

[sau124]

View attachment 2366805
It's ridiculous that Macbook screens can be scratched so easily. Apple polishing cloth + water was used. Horizontal lines are scratches of the screen (actually the anti-reflective coating). MacBook Pro 13" M2.

And my cleaning process is:

• ⁠First, I remove the coarse dust with an air blower.
• ⁠Then I go over it horizontally using an apple polishing cloth + just water.
• ⁠Then I dry it with the dry part of the polishing cloth. I never apply force.

Note: I make sure that the water is not hard. I don’t use any keyboard cover or something. I just used Apple Polishing Cloth and water.

Note 2: The marks are not clearly visible if sunlight is not present. But the damage is there.

I wanted to share my frustration.

I have been using the water and microfiber cloth for ages now.

 

[dmccloud]

All I see in your photos is grease residue. You even mention your space bar leaves a mark on the screen -this is completely normal when a human being uses one of these laptops. You've spoken of how you clean it, and afaik you've only used water. I would completely expect water + microfiber to leave this kind of residue on the screen if it was especially dirty prior to cleaning.

I've seen thousands of Macbooks in the field, AR coating failure in this day and age is rare.

Does isopropyl like what can be found in generic glasses cleaner do anything? If it were my laptop I would 100% test with 70% isopropyl and go from there.

I have heard from multiple sources that IPA can actually harm the the anti-reflective coating on the display, although I can't say for sure if it's all concentrations of IPA or just over a certain level. With that being said, I will use a 70% IPA wipe on the keyboard every 1-2 weeks to clean fingerprint residue off the keys. I use Keyboard Clean Tool to lock the keyboard while cleaning it. Since IPA dries quickly, there is no need to wait more than a couple of minutes for the keys to dry before closing the laptop.

 

[validate]

This bit is interesting, because it would indicate that there's a polarization issue in these scratches. Artificial light is non-polarized whereas sunlight is.

Can you actually feel these scratches on the surface?

I agree with you. I don’t feel any scratches though.

 

[validate]

All I see in your photos is grease residue. You even mention your space bar leaves a mark on the screen -this is completely normal when a human being uses one of these laptops. You've spoken of how you clean it, and afaik you've only used water. I would completely expect water + microfiber to leave this kind of residue on the screen if it was especially dirty prior to cleaning.

I've seen thousands of Macbooks in the field, AR coating failure in this day and age is rare.

Does isopropyl like what can be found in generic glasses cleaner do anything? If it were my laptop I would 100% test with 70% isopropyl and go from there.

I really don’t care the marks on the screen because of the keyboard as they are pretty minimal, so no problem about that. But even though I tried cleaning with water-based cleaner after the polishing cloth + just water, I can still see the horizontal lines (with creating condensation over screen). So I don’t think they are just residue. But I’ll try %70 isopropyl, as I know that Apple recommends for infrequent cleaning. But should I trust Apple from now on I don’t know

 

[validate]

I have heard from multiple sources that IPA can actually harm the the anti-reflective coating on the display, although I can't say for sure if it's all concentrations of IPA or just over a certain level. With that being said, I will use a 70% IPA wipe on the keyboard every 1-2 weeks to clean fingerprint residue off the keys. I use Keyboard Clean Tool to lock the keyboard while cleaning it. Since IPA dries quickly, there is no need to wait more than a couple of minutes for the keys to dry before closing the laptop.

Apple recommends %70 for infrequent cleaning (to kill viruses etc) as far as I know. I clean the keyboard with the same frequency as yours with water-based cleaner, and I mainly use the laptop with clamshell mode.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote in reply 28:
"Maybe I can put a matte and thin (which is important) screen protector onto screen, yeah just thinking about a solution"

If you have StainGate (flaking off of anti-glare coating), there isn't any "solution" other than:
- replacing the display (or the computer)
or
- removing ALL of the remaining anti-glare coating (and in effect, creating a "glossy" display).

Or...
Just learn to live with it.

 

[chrono1081]

Those definitely look like streaks not scratches. I'm fairly rough on my MacBook screens (I use paper towels when a microfiber cloth isn't around) and I don't have a single scratch on either of them.

 

[sdante]

If that was my machine, I would try misting small "scratched" area of the screen with my breath and then use clean new microfibre cloth on that position but moving it only vertically this time. Then see if scratches disappeared or show as vertical in that position. That way you can make sure what those "scratches" really are. Obviously, if you try this, you do it at your own risk.

The only way I clean my screens is just dry clean microfibre cloth with very delicate way and if there are any stains left, then I use my breath for moisture. Whenever in the past I have used clean distilled water or any other fluid, I have seen more or less streaks that are hard to clean. Which is why I almost never clean my 77" OLED TV screen, it is such a huge job and you can't really see the dust from the viewing position anyway. My MBP 14" I have ever cleaned with dry Apple cleaning cloth besides once used my breath on one fingerprint stain.

Also what I have learned with my displays, is that these ar-coatings are pretty interesting when you clean them. For example some stains I cleaned from my TV screen appeared again after a short while, exactly them same stain. I actually had to clean few times those spots again until they permanently disappeared. For the first times I saw this, I thought to myself that I must have messed up the ar-coating but it was not that and once I managed to clean it off for good that part of the screen had absolutely no sign of any damage in the coating. I've seen similar issue happening with other displays too, so this is why I simply try just leave them alone and try to keep them from getting dirty in the first place.

 

[techfoamer]

I have an Apple polishing cloth. I don't like it for laptop screens. I rarely use it for anything. I have used cheap microfiber cloths from Walmart and Sparkle glass cleaner for years on the screens of several MacBooks with good luck.

 

[t0rqx]

All Macbooks with the M series are produced with small scratches. You are one of the millions showing proof of that.

 

[BigBlur]

Are you also using the polishing cloth to clean your iPhone, iPad, keyboard, MBP's palm rest, lid, etc? If so, you could be picking up a lot of oils/grease and then smearing it on the screen. You could even be picking up oils from your fingers/hands too just from handling it. I know the cloth I use to clean stuff eventually gets to a point where it doesn't clean as well anymore due to all the oils it has picked up.

Has the polishing cloth ever been cleaned? Here's Apple's directions for cleaning it:

Clean the polishing cloth​

1. Hand wash the polishing cloth with dish soap and water.
2. Rinse thoroughly.
3. Allow the polishing cloth to air dry for at least 24 hours.

The pictures showing the condensation look like the water droplets are being affected by a thin layer of residue, which makes them not adhere evenly and results in a streaky appearance. I agree with some of the posts above... Does wiping the screen vertically change the directions of the lines/streaks? Or try using 70% isopropyl alcohol. It's a degreaser and will remove any oil that has been left behind. At least that will help rule out whether this is the issue or not.

 

[canuckRus]

Whoosh available on Amazon. Bought bottle of it but not that impressed.

 

[GumaRodak]

Exactly because of this and other things, i will replace my macbook with studio in the future. The thing is so fragile that i am afraid of use it, put it into bag, cleaning the keyboard etc

 

[Ctrlos]

• ⁠Then I go over it horizontally using an apple polishing cloth + just water.

I'd be more concrned about the damage to your wallet the Apple polishing cloth inflicted!

 

[validate]

OP wrote in reply 28:
"Maybe I can put a matte and thin (which is important) screen protector onto screen, yeah just thinking about a solution"

If you have StainGate (flaking off of anti-glare coating), there isn't any "solution" other than:
- replacing the display (or the computer)
or
- removing ALL of the remaining anti-glare coating (and in effect, creating a "glossy" display).

Or...
Just learn to live with it.

Doesn't the matte screen protector also function like AR coating? As a result, wouldn't a matte screen protector also serve to reflect light? There is no problem such as staingate, which can be found on old macs, in the AR coating of my device. The problem here is a little different it seems.

 

[validate]

Those definitely look like streaks not scratches. I'm fairly rough on my MacBook screens (I use paper towels when a microfiber cloth isn't around) and I don't have a single scratch on either of them.

However, this problem isn't resolved even when I cleaned the screen with a cleaning solution other than water. If these lines are streaks, my expectation is that they will disappear after cleaning.

 

[LeeW]

I just have a box of wipes and use them. I have never had an issue with any Mac, iPad, or iPhone.

 

[validate]

If that was my machine, I would try misting small "scratched" area of the screen with my breath and then use clean new microfibre cloth on that position but moving it only vertically this time. Then see if scratches disappeared or show as vertical in that position. That way you can make sure what those "scratches" really are. Obviously, if you try this, you do it at your own risk.

The only way I clean my screens is just dry clean microfibre cloth with very delicate way and if there are any stains left, then I use my breath for moisture. Whenever in the past I have used clean distilled water or any other fluid, I have seen more or less streaks that are hard to clean. Which is why I almost never clean my 77" OLED TV screen, it is such a huge job and you can't really see the dust from the viewing position anyway. My MBP 14" I have ever cleaned with dry Apple cleaning cloth besides once used my breath on one fingerprint stain.

Also what I have learned with my displays, is that these ar-coatings are pretty interesting when you clean them. For example some stains I cleaned from my TV screen appeared again after a short while, exactly them same stain. I actually had to clean few times those spots again until they permanently disappeared. For the first times I saw this, I thought to myself that I must have messed up the ar-coating but it was not that and once I managed to clean it off for good that part of the screen had absolutely no sign of any damage in the coating. I've seen similar issue happening with other displays too, so this is why I simply try just leave them alone and try to keep them from getting dirty in the first place.

I'm on vacation right now and not at home. As soon as I get home, I will apply the method you said and I will definitely give you feedback. I would also like to thank you very much for the other information you provided. I am not someone who cleans the screen often and I usually use the device in clamshell mode. I can say that it is strange to encounter such a result.

 

[validate]

I just have a box of wipes and use them. I have never had an issue with any Mac, iPad, or iPhone.

If you mist the screen with your breath, can you see any lines, damages or something?

 

[LeeW]

Nope, sitting in front of it now, nothing at all, this is a M3 MBP.