iPad Deep Scratch!!!!

I am in this exact same situation, except I have 2 scratches. What disturbs me more is that the very day I bought this, I wanted to by a screen protector and the apple store employees all say they don't recommend them, and are not stocking them. Well now I have a scratched screen, and am somewhat furious about it.

I put a screen protector on mine before I even took it out of the box. In case of an accident, in case of grit under the cloth, in case of whatever. I also ordered 2 cheap padded cases until I decided on which permanent case I wanted (I've decided on the DoDo case but it's a 2 month wait for one). It also rests-in it's padded kickstand case-in a padded zippered netbook case in a closed cabinet at all times that it's not physically in my hands. It's my baby. My brother uses his with no protection at all and I just cringe. I don't see how you guys can bear to risk scratches with no screen protector or case. Good luck to you all but I don't feel for you when it gets scratched.
Edit: You know what really gets me though? When it comes time to replace the battery and I get a refurbished iPad.....after all the perfect care I've given mine, I'll end up with one of you all's scratched up ones. Sigh.

I would not expect Apple Care to cover replacement. It is a scratch that you can feel/locate with your finger nail? Other owners have reported some scratches. You might want to search for scratches using the search function on the right for past history. Generally, people have reported little problem with scratching the screen.

Take it Into an Apple store, assuming one is available, and see what they have to say.
I have a feeling that you will get the same answer as any seller would give when asked to replace damaged merchandise. But your plight may be heard by a sympathetic ear.

Good luck.

The OP probably had something really hard trapped in the microfiber cloth. One should never reuse any cleaning material before its been washed well and it is clear that there is no debris trapped within it. I would never use micro-fiber because depending on the type it is very easy for something to get trapped within it.

The best thing to use is 100% cotton strips from say an old t-shirt that is lightly damp with a very mild residue free soap such as Neutrogena. Rinse and dry off with the same type of cloth. I have done this with my expensive camera lenses over the years and have never scratched a lens or the coating, which is much more delicate than the iPad screen. I also use the same method on my iMac display and my plastic glossy display on my Acer laptop. No scratches, ever.

In a nutshell, never reuse any cleaning materials. Keep them clean in mini ziploc bags. Use a smooth 100% cotton material so any debris that may be on it can be easily seen before use.

No, carl wolf, that's the point. There are several of us out here that baby the ipad, use only micro fiber cleaning cloths, and keep it in a case. But despite all that effort, this "scratch resistant" screen scratches mysteriously.

Like the original poster, my 4 day old Ipad has 3 light scratches. NOTHING happened to it that should have caused scratches.

Was is accidentally damaged, no. Is there some design flaw in the "scratch resistance", yes. Is apple recommending scratch protectors or even selling them? um.....no.

I would caution anyone to add a screen protector. While scratch resistant, I could see that a piece of grit in part of a case could really cause a deep scratch as you inserted/removed the iPad. Some very good screen covers exist on the market, even if Apple does not sell them. I can give a recommendation, if anyone is interested.

Wow, a deep scratch I am sure would be a real bummer, or dropping it.....

Perhaps the Apple store could suggest something to lesson the scratch. Some product exist for metal and platic.

Good luck, OP.

I went to the genius bar and as I was sitting there, I got a scratch using the cleaning cloth I got from my cinema display.

I was lucky enough that they replaced mine as I had literally just bought it, and immediately put a screen protector on it this time, as I do with all my stuff. They said that they had never seen that before, but I hear that all the time with other things.

I'm still anxiously awaiting a non-reflective protector for my new iPhone.

The exact same thing happened to me! I asked the guy, what do I need with the iPad.....nothing he said. I asked him to show me the wall anyway...but didn't see any screen protectors.

Now I have 3 scratches and I'm just sick over it. I was SO careful. Wouldn't let anyone else near it! I came to this board to see if anyone in this same situation had received a repair. I guess that's just wishful thinking.

I now have a screen protector, but can still see those 3 scratches. Guess I will have to learn to live with them.

Well, assuming the scratch was not there when you bought it then, yes, it is your fault.

No you did not wipe away a protective coating to reveal a scratch that was already there. A) If you were wiping so hard that you think you might removed some sort of coating from the device, then I think you need to use a softer touch and B) if there were a scratch underneath some "coating" you would have probably noticed that regardless.

So the next argument is that the screen is somehow defective since it is supposed to be scratch resistant. Apple never claimed the screen could not be scratched or even that it is "scratch resistant". Obviously they don't want to the screen to scratch easily, but there is a limit to what can be done considering technology and cost.

Even if the screen was designed to be "scratch resistant" to anything but, say, diamond. Since you do not even know how the scratch got there how do you know that it wasn't caused by a diamond?

Bottom line is Apple gave you a product without a scratch, you assumed responsibility for the device and now it has a scratch. Like others have said, maybe you will find a sympathetic ear at Apple, but you can't really fault them for this problem.

Some advice.

I don't know how you store your microfiber cloth, but when you are not cleaning something with it, keep it in something relatively airtight. A zip-lock bag works well.

Blow or brush away any particles on your screen with compressed air or a lens cleaning brush before using the microfiber cloth on the screen. That way you will not grind any particles stuck on the screen into the screen.

If you have a lot of caked-on grime which can not be easily removed with a dry cloth then consider using some lens/screen cleaning fluid with a separate microfiber cloth.

And finally, if you have the apple case (or any case of a similar design) always make sure that if you've been using the case as a stand that you make sure that the inside of the case is clean. The part of the case that rests against the screen is the part that rests against the table surface when used as a stand. If the table has debris on it, some of that will stick to the case and then later may end up against your screen.

Anything is possible. But keep in mind there is a difference between scratch resistant and scratch proof.
Hopefully the folks at Apple will agree with your theory.

There was probably a piece of grit either On the cloth or on the screen that wasn't immediately noticeable. Wiping the grit across the screen could easily have scratched it.

"No idea what happened."

You accidentally damaged your iPad, that's what happened.