My Retina Display has stain damage, HELP!!!

Elaine from Apple called me with the same msg: damage due to external factors: microparticles on the keyboard and excessive pressure on the lid. I use my laptop on a desk; I have no idea how there could have been excessive pressure on the lid at any point.

I insisted to send my lapyop to their engineering team so they can analyze an actual faulty machine. Obviously Elaine refused: they' d just send the laptop back.

I can understand Apple wants to protect itself from having to replace thousands of screens, but they can't ecxlude a manufacturing flaw until having analyzed an actual faulty screen.

I demanded to speak to an engineer, no success so far. So: I managed to get a link where I can request the full technical details of their "tests" (no idea what they tested; we'll find out soon). I guess I'll see where to take it from there.

In the mean time I am compiling a list of media contacts. If anyone has any suggestions/contacts that should be included, let me know.

I have the same problem on my late 2013 retina macbook pro.

A few months ago I went to apple store regarding the issue (this time I had apple care) and genius told me that it is not under guarantee. I told the genius guy that people have the same issue on official apple community and he told me that they don't care about what is written on apple support and there is no such issue reported to them. Now I don't have apple care anymore but I suppose as I had it it didn't work. I want to make some remarks here which I guess enough to support that apple is trying to mislead customers by letting them think that it is a self made damage.

First of all this issue is only based on retina macbook pros and there is no such discussion among any other laptop brand or apple models. Apple please explain why this is happening only on retina displays.

I still have 2008 macbook pro. I am using as a server. I have no such issue after years. I took a light wet microfiber cleaned it today and it is so clear without any stain. Through these years I fingerprinted it I carried it and so on. Why there is no stain on my 2008 macbook pro but on my retina 10 months later. Apple please answer that!!!

I would suggest that this kind of problems shouldn't be on such expensive laptop. Especially the display is the most important part of the device. If I don't have a proper display than why we buy a laptop?

After so many complains on the forum(s) no answer from apple, ignoring all those people. Those people are sad and they wrote long comments took pictures and went to apple store. Do we have to do so much afford? Didn't we already paid for a proper product? Why this torture to people and apple even doesn't comment on this issue?

I will spread this to the media and also social media I have over 100k twitter follower so do my friends. I suggest everyone do the same thing. Also I will post this not once I will post it every month continuously. I won't manipulate people but I will write what happened, which is our right to do so if the company doesn't care.

Sorry Apple to much chinese production since last years. THUMBS DOWN!!!

I promised to post some result of my efforts getting rid of the coating. The first image (unfortunately it isn't very good quality) is showing the degraded coating. Every single white stain is a little worn off area.

I then started to remove the coating first using a very soft duster and just some water...

As you can see from the image, about 60-70% of the coating went off (USING A DUSTER + WATER). I can assure everyone, I just used very gently force. It was more a massaging exercise then anything else. It took about 20 minutes ONLY.

To get of more of the coating I had to use a little more "force" or better different materials. I now changed to a cotton kitchen cloth (the ones you dry your dishes with). Still pretty soft material. An I also used a windows cleaner (one I have been using for the last 10 years on my Plasma TV without any problems). With a little more pressure force and another 30 minutes or so, I got this far...

This is about 90% of the coating being removed. As to the rest of it, I have not managed to remove it. I used high percentage alcohol, other kitchen detergents, I even tried thinner (for oil paint) and a special cleaning oil of Dinitrol. No luck, the rest of the coating sticks as if it is burned right into the glass.

So somehow it seems to be possible to have the coating stick no matter what.

I will continue to experiment to get the rest off. In the meantime I ordered a anti glare screen protector as the screen became pretty much like a mirror (what was somewhat expected).

added comment:

Dear Apple,

I'm sure you have the money to waste a few screens to try any kind of chemical or method that is reasonably easy to be applied by us users to remove the coating and replace it by an anti glare protector screen. Maybe you can even test a few screens and recommend a few good ones.

Sure all participants here having this problem don't mind spending an hour + $30 to resolve the issue.

Thanks for listining

Matthias Wille

DISCLAIMER TO MY PREVIOUS POSTING...

Please do not attempt to do the same unless you are prepared to screw your screen. I took a risk as I was prepared to have the screen replaced at my cost. If you are not prepared for that, DON'T DO IT !!!!

Late 2013 Macbook Pro bought in December 2013:

Fun-Fact: This is the part of the display i dont clean much.

Very interesting that most of the stains look very very similar.

So I guess we all have an equal wrong cleaning method? 😎

One of the main issues Apple is advertising its MacBook Pros is "the all new super duper AR coating". On your screen may be 1 to 2 % of it remained.

Please let me ensure all persons here concerned with this problem: normally on an AR coating from a non-failed production run, you must use an abrasive sandpaper to get it of the substrates like the lenses of your glasses or - in this case - the screen of the MBPR. An AR coating correctly applied to the substrate NEVER EVER get's of only by use of water and tissues.

This is for a 1'000'000% a production failure!

Best regards,

Roland

mwille64 wrote:

I promised to post some result of my efforts getting rid of the coating. The first image (unfortunately it isn't very good quality) is showing the degraded coating. Every single white stain is a little worn off area.

I then started to remove the coating first using a very soft duster and just some water...

As you can see from the image, about 60-70% of the coating went off (USING A DUSTER + WATER). I can assure everyone, I just used very gently force. It was more a massaging exercise then anything else. It took about 20 minutes ONLY.

To get of more of the coating I had to use a little more "force" or better different materials. I now changed to a cotton kitchen cloth (the ones you dry your dishes with). Still pretty soft material. An I also used a windows cleaner (one I have been using for the last 10 years on my Plasma TV without any problems). With a little more pressure force and another 30 minutes or so, I got this far...

This is about 90% of the coating being removed. As to the rest of it, I have not managed to remove it. I used high percentage alcohol, other kitchen detergents, I even tried thinner (for oil paint) and a special cleaning oil of Dinitrol. No luck, the rest of the coating sticks as if it is burned right into the glass.

So somehow it seems to be possible to have the coating stick no matter what.

I will continue to experiment to get the rest off. In the meantime I ordered a anti glare screen protector as the screen became pretty much like a mirror (what was somewhat expected).

added comment:

Dear Apple,

I'm sure you have the money to waste a few screens to try any kind of chemical or method that is reasonably easy to be applied by us users to remove the coating and replace it by an anti glare protector screen. Maybe you can even test a few screens and recommend a few good ones.

Sure all participants here having this problem don't mind spending an hour + $30 to resolve the issue.

Thanks for listining

Matthias Wille

w-f wrote:

Very interesting that most of the stains look very very similar.

So I guess we all have an equal wrong cleaning method? 😎

Yep "Wron Cleaning Team"

or "Wrong Cleaning Syndrome"

... and most or all are "Late 2013"

@Beeblebrox64,

we all know it is a production failure. Because NO coating (unless made of sugar) should be removable using water and a cloth.

My problem is that even if it is, it is too late for me to claim any warranty or guaranty. Reason being that I bought the Macbook more than 2 years ago. That means even the 2 year guaranty period I enjoy with the Apple dealer (by EU law) will not help me. And even if I would be within the 2 year period, I likely would have to take Apple to court.

We all know how successful I would be with that attempt in general, let alone that I live in Malta. My Macbook would have been fallen to dust by the time I get any compensation if at all.

So I'm trying to be more practical, I want to see Apple making an effort to show us a way to remove the coating at a reasonable cost so we can replace the coating by a anti glare screen protector.

Im moving to a Dell XPS 13 2015 or Surface Pro 4

Ill try to enjoy my mac , for 1 year more , moving to an alternative , and never come back

Im installing windows as rebel act on my mac right now , i can live withouth mac os

Macbook pro retina , the best laptop in world , that you cannot touch or work with .... never again.

I have also an iMac 27" (Mid 2011) and it had a problem with the video RAM last year.

I had no warranty extension with Apple Care and A.D. 2011 only 1 year warranty in Switzerland (the EU 2 year warranty Apple could ignore in Switzerland until 2014 - and they did 😟).

However: I got the video RAM replaced free, including shipping, handling etc. being long time out of warranty. This was a very welcome surprise and one of this moments I loved Apple: even if no one communicated problems with the video RAM on some iMacs and there is an exchange program.

This is my hope: Apple exchanging the faulty displays even if out of warranty. For Apple this would not really end up in an economic disaster - for each user having the problem it is one: MacBook Pro Retina are 3 to 4 time more expensive than competitive Windows Notebooks.

So: why they should not?

Doing so, would dramatically increase Apple's reputation at basic customer level.

Even if it is not necessary to Apple, because they generate the most money with iTunes Store and not by selling computer devices (probably except iPhone) - having a good reputation at customer level will become more and more important (for all companies) in future.

For that, I am really wondering, why they are dealing with their reputation concerning this case...

mwille64 wrote:

@Beeblebrox64,

we all know it is a production failure. Because NO coating (unless made of sugar) should be removable using water and a cloth.

My problem is that even if it is, it is too late for me to claim any warranty or guaranty. Reason being that I bought the Macbook more than 2 years ago. That means even the 2 year guaranty period I enjoy with the Apple dealer (by EU law) will not help me. And even if I would be within the 2 year period, I likely would have to take Apple to court.

We all know how successful I would be with that attempt in general, let alone that I live in Malta. My Macbook would have been fallen to dust by the time I get any compensation if at all.

So I'm trying to be more practical, I want to see Apple making an effort to show us a way to remove the coating at a reasonable cost so we can replace the coating by a anti glare screen protector.

Good one, mate!

Even if there may only be a rather small number (yet!) compared to the total amount of units sold, a manufacturer of high-end goods should take care of these issues in a more professional manner.

What I’d expect how to deal with complaints would be at least the following:
- Contact affected users
- Collect as much data about affected items as possible
- Try to figure out whether there’s a particular pattern
- Check if this pattern then synchronizes with certain suppliers or certain production runs

This would maybe open a chance to find out if there was a particular, faulty batch from a certain manufacturer, plant or timeframe. If so, Apple would even have the chance to get appropriate compensation (weather needed or not by a company with billions (!!!) of spare cash...).

Nothing like this happened so far as much as I know. I therefore did what – from my point of view - is Apple’s responsibility:
I searched the net and created a list of affected users, including (if info was supplied)
- User name
- Location
- Model (13 or 15)
- Year
- Country
- Replaced or rejected
- Covered by AppleCare

So far I found 149 ⚠, the vast number being MBPRos (13 and 15), built 2012 and 2013.

It is quite hard to believe all these people are too stupid to properly clean a display. The number of entries in the forum is growing slow but constantly which suggests that there may be a significant number of users who did not yet report their cases and/or the time frame this coating lasts has now come to an end.

Good posts from both of you!

Did anybody recognize that there is a Facebook group and a online petition where affected useres are trying to organize themselves? Just search for it on Facebook "MacBook Retina STAIN ON DISPLAY / damaged AR coating".

Probably Apple will delete my post - at least within this point Apple is reading our thread.

Good question!

I will answer with a proverb...

mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small

Prov. It maytake a longtime,butevilwrong doing willalways be punished.

Tomorrow ill go to applestore on my city to do a complaint sheet , with this URL , from this post , and go to the end of this situation

Im in all spanish forum , group and blog talking about our problem.

Hope to find a solution , if not , bye bye Apple hardware