Macbook pro retina screen damaged using alcohol swab

sms2friends wrote:

is this what i need ?

can someone call and confirm with this company and update me

Glass Replacement Only

$199

Sorry, no offence meant, but I don't think anyone here is going to ring this company on your behalf - if you want to find which repair you need, YOU need to call them!

My MBPr (mid 2012) got damage that looks very similar. However I did not use any alcohol to clean it at all. Just like in the picture in the original post the damage localizes mainly in the area between the keyboard and the trackpad (not that trackpad outline is visible). I was told at the Genius bar that the damage was likely caused by excessive pressure, for example while carrying in the bag. I don't have a hard case and carry the MBPr in a neoprene sleeve in my backpack along with the books and other stuff. I wouldn't call this amount of pressure excessive, cosidering the metal body; it's normal use. Perhaps the damage that the original poster has seen was initiated similarly, and made worse by the alcohol...

I've seen this exact same type of problem with one of the Mid 2012 MBPr's. To my knowledge the laptop was never put in an excessive pressure situation or cleaned improperly. It seems to be a failure of the chemical compound on top of the screen after normal use. The pattern appeared very similar to Zeleny's photo above, but grew even more extreme, mimicking the location of the keyboard pretty much the width of the screen.

When taken to an Apple store, isopropyl alcohol cleaning cloths were used by a genius with the computer-portion vertically up and off the table while the screen was face up but directly against a firm surface on its logo'ed backside--basically like its normal orientation but rotated 90 degrees to put the screen horizontal. Computer powered off of course. He used pressure while rubbing and began to produce polished spots where the IPA ate through the fogged silicon dioxide and niobium pentoxide layer. A cloth dampened with IPA dry erase cleaner fluid took off the rest avoiding the necessity for a new screen. Other than a few very small areas that seem to have better adhesion than others, the screen looks great with the layer fully removed. Note, you'll get dark black residue on your cloth when bumping up against the gasket while cleaning. The screen itself doesn't tend to produce much dirt or coloring on the cloth.

The laptop was in a tropical setting which might have contributed to the haze forming as more humidity would be present on the screen and keyboard, but in general it's a very clean looking machine. This definitely does seem to be a problem with a certain batch of screens. Hopefully a more thorough method of removal will be documented.

Here are photos of the marks earlier on...

Again, they got progressively worse until removed with high percentage isopropyl alcohol.

I too, have the same problem with bits of the coating wearing off. From why i understand you used IPA wipes to completely remove the coating? Could you perhaps post pictures of the display with the entire coating removed? I'm interested in doing the same thing, do you notice any difference except for more glare?

I'll try to get some new photos soon, but yes, IPA wipes were used to completely remove the non-smudge coating. The screen looks like new nearly everywhere now. I love it compared to how foggy it was before.

Hi - Just thought you might be interested in this thread, as there appears to be a lot of retina screen film damage occurring : My Retina Display has stain damage, HELP!!!

Hi

I was reading these posts as my husbands screen has started to go the same way. Could you tell me what does the coating on the screen actually do ? How is your screen now you have removed the coating completely ? does it damage the screen in any way at all ? is the screen clearer now ays said it may have been foggy before ? i am so sorry for all the questions as i am not that knowledgeable on the screens at all.

If you prefer to contact me on my email and if you can show pictures of what your screen looks like now you have taken it all off that would be a huge help, its traceykate@btinternet.com

I am from the uk and would not know where to go to get the coating taken off.

Hope you can help

Many thanks

Tracey x

does anyone know if you still have apple care if this is covered under the warranty. I never used alcohol on the screen or put much excessive pressure on it so I'd rather not pay the $300ish to get it fixed if i don't have to

Hi Radolak

Unfortunately the apple care did not repair the damage to the screen with my husbands macbook. I did call them to ask and they said that hey wouldn't cover ours as my husband used a glasses cleaning cloth on the screen, something i will not do on mine now i know, but they did say that if you didn't use any screen cleaners they would then look into why it has come off and you need to take it to the genius bar, but they do charge for that here in the uk it is £150 and to replace the screen it was £800, quite a lot of money, we were able to claim on our house insurance under accidental damage but i am not sure if you can in the US.

Hope this helps hun

best regards

Tracey xx

guys, there's a 'huge' thread going on about this same problem over here: My Retina Display has stain damage, HELP!!! We're trying to get apple (and the press) to pay attention to this manufacturing defect

It turned out that it is normal for Retina display.

For all. The macbook pro glass front screen cover is held in place by magnates. The same way as the Imac. the newest ones may not be, But the rest are. 2010 thru 2013 macbook pro front glass screen covers on Ebay , start at $30.00 to $50.00.

Sorry, but I did not buy a toy "DIY". I bought the finished product. This is Apple, not Acer, Sony, Samsung and etc.

Unless you have apple care it's not covered. And if you use the wrong cleaning product on it ,it definitely is not covered. Whether apple wants to extend warranties to cover this is up to apple.