M2 MBA Faulty Screen

Hello all!

Today I’m here to share details on my experience, as well as many other user experiences, with the M2 MacBook Air display (largely inclusive to Build to Order (BTO) models).

As brief as I can be: in 2 months I’ve ordered 4 M2 MBA models (BTO) that have all displayed screen defects to varying degrees, and I've seen many others have had the same issue as well.

Dirty Screen Effect​

I’ve ordered 3 BTO Midnight color MacBook Airs that have a noticeable Dirty Screen Effect (DSE) in the form of a horizontal bar across the mid section of the screen.

Of course the display isn’t actually dirty, but the complex layers and lighting of the LCD is uneven, and that non-uniformity is visible in the backlight we see looking at the screen.

In this specific case, a dark horizontal bar across the screen is highly distracting when viewing content.

This effect is most noticeable when scrolling through Google, or scrolling across vertical lines on a white background.

As a graphic creative designer, a clear display is integral to the quality of my work and likely to others who depend on screen quality for their jobs.

(Clockwise) M2 MBA X Ray by Creative Electron/IFIXIT | Best example photo of DSE MBA pic by u/StillAliveZZ | MBA Diagrams

Why is this happening?​

After much frustration, observation, and some homework, I’ve come to the conclusion that a foam padding element in the display housing is compromising the uniformity of the backlight.

From what I can tell, Apple (and likely any company making products with LCD panels) has designed their MacBook displays to include a foam pad, which resembles 3M foam tape. This padding is likely to support the display and keep everything secure and aligned.

Every previous gen MacBook I’ve seen teardowns or X Rays for show a large rectangular foam pad that covers the entire surface area of the lid. Not the M2 MBA.

For the M2 MBA, the foam pad is minimized (likely cost reductive) to a horizontal bar, with two additional bars stemming from the horizontal bar, upward.

In every post I’ve seen of display uniformity issues, the affected areas 9/10 times were in this exact area/shape.

DIY Attempt at Fixing​

Frustrated, I wondered if this issue could be resolved DIY.

Surely, some combination of heat or pressure could change the relationship of the layers internally! And it does.

Applying minimal pressure to the visible dark spots (with a soft microfiber cloth) temporarily resolved the problem.

Sometimes the remedy worked for hours.

But once the display/lid weight, orientation or the temperature changes, your tedious work is undone.

I tested applying pressure for the 14 days of my purchase before returning, and the DSE was completely unchanged in the end - likely worsened under a microscope.

The only DIY fix, would be to teardown the screen and adjust the foam by thinning, removing or replacing, and yeah I highly recommend against that!

Screen Lotto
Some have humorously mentioned effects varying for better or worse as the “screen lottery”.

I love that, because with many LCD panels it’s true, they all vary in quality.

I don’t believe that to be the case here.

Concluding Thoughts.​

• A cost saving LCD Display Foam Strip is causing poor screen variance in displays.
• The issue may be worsened by a less reputable bidder (Wingtech) winning the production job for the M2 MBA.
• BTO MBA’s vs Base MBA’s screens may differ in quality, due to production, assembly and QC.
• Users can directly manipulate DSE with touch, temporarily relieving effect.
• Per several recorded experiences, re-ordering is far from a guaranteed fix.
• I see new posts & comments about this issue to date (03/06)

What can be done​

Please reply with your experience as well so that we can all hear each others stories, and get the convo going!

If this has happened to you, I urge you toleave a brief comment on apples product feedback page so they can take note of this and hopefully make changes!

Also please keep in mind, I’m just a dude on the internet. I’m no expert. I’m just here to share my experience, and hopefully generate more conversation and answer a problem that I’ve had for others to read.

I still love Apple, and these things happen. Hopefully we can get the issue fixed!

Links to other posts with same issue​

Reddit


MacForums

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...en-uniformity-issue-center-of-screen.2353160/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/m2-mba-shadows-on-the-screen.2374323/