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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Considering March 2015 13.3" Pro Macbook but concerned about anti-reflective coating

Considering March 2015 13.3" Pro Macbook but concerned about anti-reflective coating
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Ham Sandwich
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Mar 17, 2015, 09:26 AM
 
So I saw a lot of users complaining about the anti-reflective coating wearing off on the Pro MacBooks:

Retina MacBook Pro Users Complain of Anti-Reflective Display Coating Wearing Off - MacRumors Forums

This is precisely the concern that I have had about my laptops in my past. Some are saying that it's the cleaner; others are saying that it's the keys pressing onto the screen.

The soft white sheet between the screen and the keyboard in the new-in-box that Apple provides is not sufficient, as key marks have appeared on the screens of my previous laptops even when I return that white sheet as it was each time that I close the lid. This went on for months, and then finally the marks appeared on the screen, so I know that it's the keys scraping the coating off.

My guess is that this issue is not remedied in the 2015 release of the Pro Macbook, which means continued disappointment perhaps.

Barring any resolution to the anti-reflective coating, suppose that I get the new 2015 model.

[1] Would I be able to apply some sort of seal/spray/additional anti-reflective coating to the display myself?

[2] What kind of protectors/cases/covers/shells/other thingies could I use to minimize how much the keys press onto the screen with the lid closed or damage to the screen? What do you think about these:


Topcase New Design Silicone Keyboard Cover Skin for Macbook 13" Unibody / Macbook Pro 13" 15" 17" with or Without Retina Display / Wireless Keyboard + Topcase Mouse Pad

Moshi iVisor Pro Anti-Glare Screen Protector for MacBook Pro 13 Retina

ShaggyMax Retina MacBook Pro rMBP Screen Protector 13" (Alloy)
( Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Mar 17, 2015 at 09:42 AM. )
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Mar 17, 2015, 10:10 AM
 
I've got a well-worn 2012 and I haven't had a problem. I'll ask about.
     
OreoCookie
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Mar 17, 2015, 01:23 PM
 
I have a 2014 13" Retina MacBook Pro, and I see no marks on the screen. I do put a microfiber cloth I bought afterwards between the keys and the screen, though. I haven't had that problems in years, though.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
pottymouth
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Mar 17, 2015, 02:59 PM
 
I vaguely remember annoying key marks on the screen my 2000 G3 powerbook and they are definitely there on my beat-to-hell-and-cracked-in-a-half-dozen-places-but-still-working 2005 iBook. But I've got a few well used MacBook Pros from the last 5 years around the office and none of them show any screen marks. I never use a cloth and rarely have any reason to clean.
     
P
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Mar 17, 2015, 03:25 PM
 
Normally key marks are from the grease on your fingertips transferring to the keys and on to the screen.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
pigmode
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Mar 17, 2015, 07:18 PM
 
The first pic shows damage at the top where finger and nail pressure and prints might accumulate when opening/closing. Scary issue for me, and its putting a damper on my finally orderly a rMBP.
     
jfelbab
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Mar 17, 2015, 11:31 PM
 
I had Applecare on my MBPr and last week Apple replaced the display due to the wearing of the anti-reflection coating. I've always kept a piece of printer paper between the keyboard and screen so no oily, dirty keys hitting the display. The wear was around the edges and had begun to encroach into the visible area. I take very good care of my hardware and was surprised to see this.

That said, Apple not only replaced the display panel, they replaced the keyboard, trackpad, logic board and video card as well as installed a new battery and my 8GB unit was returned with 16Gb of RAM.

Love Applecare.
     
ghporter
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Mar 18, 2015, 08:14 AM
 
I got a Radtech keyboard cover for my MBP in 2006. The screen only shows tiny hints of keycaps after all this time. It worked so well that we got my wife one for her MacBook (2010?) and it's still pristine.

From the pictures in the linked thread, I don't think those folks are seeing just "screen closed over the keyboard" issues. There are way too many scratches, bubbles, and such. Apple says to use a cloth dampened with water to clean your screen, but I am pretty sure at least one or two of the people who posted in that thread used "something else." What, I'm not sure, but it sure wasn't just water...

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Ham Sandwich
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Mar 18, 2015, 08:15 AM
 
That's one heck of a testimony. Printer paper to me isn't soft, so I'm afraid of having it scratch the screen. That's why I was asking about getting a keyboard cover of some kind.
     
ghporter
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Mar 18, 2015, 08:24 AM
 
Radtech's covers are microfiber fabric that you can use to clean the screen (safely) as well. They're very soft and work well cleaning screens with a tiny bit of water.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
pigmode
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Mar 18, 2015, 09:20 AM
 
The potentially good news is the butterfly key mechanisms on the Macbook, which is said to have shortened key throw. Here's hoping Apple used some of that gain to eliminate key to screen contact, if in fact that *is* the issue we're seeing.
     
Ham Sandwich
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Mar 18, 2015, 09:21 AM
 
What about getting the i7 instead of the i5, is it worth it?
     
jfelbab
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Mar 18, 2015, 11:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by And.reg View Post
That's one heck of a testimony. Printer paper to me isn't soft, so I'm afraid of having it scratch the screen. That's why I was asking about getting a keyboard cover of some kind.
The paper use is just intended to prevent the oils and possible dust/grit from transferring from the keyboard to the screen surface. The paper doesn't move around and is thin enough so as not to apply any undue force or abrasion to the screen. I think thicker spacer material may cause issues. I replace the paper every week or two.

My screen coating issues were mostly around the edges from where my fingers would contact it while opening it. I suspect the oils from my fingers touching the screen attracted dust and caused more abrasion. I use soft lintless optical cloths that I mist with distilled water for cleaning. I clean many coated optics, cameras lenses, telescope objectives and eyepieces so I am very anal about gentle cleaning. I believe this issue is a weakness in the coatings Apple's suppliers used at the time. I also suspect this coating issue will become more widespread as these computers age and many are not handled with care.

Again, I am happy that Apple covered this cosmetic issue under Applecare.
     
Person Man
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Apr 30, 2015, 06:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
I got a Radtech keyboard cover for my MBP in 2006. The screen only shows tiny hints of keycaps after all this time. It worked so well that we got my wife one for her MacBook (2010?) and it's still pristine.

From the pictures in the linked thread, I don't think those folks are seeing just "screen closed over the keyboard" issues. There are way too many scratches, bubbles, and such. Apple says to use a cloth dampened with water to clean your screen, but I am pretty sure at least one or two of the people who posted in that thread used "something else." What, I'm not sure, but it sure wasn't just water...
I don't use water to clean my MacBook Pro screen. It always tends to leave streaks when it dries. I use OmniCleanz by RadTech. Been using it for years, on multiple MacBook Pro and PowerBook screens. Never had any issues with the coating on the screens.

Computer and Glass Cleaner

I've been a satisfied customer of RadTech since 2002.
     
pigmode
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Apr 30, 2015, 07:47 PM
 
Thanks for the rec on the glass cleaner--was puzzled what I'd use on the retina display. Already have a Radtech keyboard cover on hand.

Btw I ordered the 13" 2.9 I5, which was the lowest rung available with the 1TB flash option. This is just a personal computer so no special needs, other than a little photo editing.
     
pigmode
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May 11, 2015, 04:02 PM
 
Feedback on Radtech: Both OmniCleanz and ScreenSavrz are probably the best products I've used for screen maintenance, and are both effective and easy to use.
     
amiller77
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May 12, 2015, 09:22 PM
 
I may be wrong, but I feel safe using eye glass cleaner that is labeled "safe for all coated lenses". Of course, quality of the product will vary, so you might want to use a product from Zeiss or Bausch & Lomb (vs. Walmart's), since they have more of a reputation to protect. I've always used that on my MacBook's & iPad's, and not had any issues with them either (incl. iPad Air 2). The RadTech product looks interesting, especially since my MacBook is closed and hooked up to an external monitor 90% of the time.
     
Ham Sandwich
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May 13, 2015, 12:00 PM
 
I've been cleaning my laptop screens for 5 years using iKlear and a clean, screen-safe microfiber cloth. The RadTech cloth also looks like it has high reviews and I might go with that just as a protector with the lid closed.

(On a related note, base 15" Pro MacBooks have slipped to 3-5 days shipping in advance of WWDC...)
     
P
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May 14, 2015, 11:48 AM
 
Which is curious, because Intel hasn't launched any new CPUs to replace them yet, and if they do indeed skip Broadwell for the quads, Skylake won't be here until Q3. Is there a Broadwell launch anyway, and Apple holding off on Skylake for whatever reason?

A quick check shows that nVidias Maxwell GPUs are not showing up in many laptops. NVidias patent trolling appears to have antagonized many OEMs.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
OreoCookie
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May 15, 2015, 11:06 AM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
A quick check shows that nVidias Maxwell GPUs are not showing up in many laptops. NVidias patent trolling appears to have antagonized many OEMs.
Also, Intel's integrated GPUs are covering more and more use cases, so the necessity of including an external GPU decreases with every generation.
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pigmode
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May 15, 2015, 04:00 PM
 
At this point I'm not using a keyboard cover/screen protector on my 13" retina. Did a quick test with spray cleaner, and the tiny bubbles sitting on the keys did not transfer to the screen when closed.

I don't doubt this could change over time, and wouldn't be surprised if the keys might rise up a bit over time. There's also the possibility of screen compression when used in a backpack. That and its probable different individual macbooks have differing proximities of keyboard to screen within given tolerances.
     
Ham Sandwich
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May 15, 2015, 04:46 PM
 
That's why I've decided (with my 13" Macbook Air back from service) to:

[1] not use the plastic shells or a keyboard skin/cover, except maybe a RadTech cloth when the lid is closed,
[2a] keep the Macbook Air in its own neoprene sleeve for transport...
[2b] ...which then goes in its own dedicated laptop bag (and not crammed in my backpack with books), AND
[3] I don't put anything else in the laptop bag, except small accessories in the opposite-side pocket if I'm bringing a few additional items to a meeting, or I may bring those separately anyway.

ALL other electronics stay in my backpack and I take them out as I need.

Besides doing all of this and occasionally wiping the screen with a separate microfiber cloth, I can't imagine protecting the screen any more than this.
     
   
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