Faint light gray square outlines on MacBook Air screens with M2 or M4 processors, even when devices are off

Greetings,

First time poster. I have faint small squares on the screen of both my old mac book air, mid 2022, M2 processor and my brand new mac book air M4. I would apologize for a somewhat messy screen but I did not want to clean it at first because, believe it or not, the squares seem to fade a bit after cleaning with windex and a paper towel. I do use slight pressure when cleaning so I am wondering if the issue is somehow pressure related, in relation to removing the squares, not in their formation. The first picture is of the dirty screen and the computer is off. The whiteness of the outlines is highlighted by the lighting used to take the picture. The second picture is a closeup after some cleaning and the third picture is a close up of one row. These squares are faint outlines of several rows of very light squares when the computer is on and more pronounced when the computer is off since there is a black background. They do tend to be somewhat less pronounced if I apply pressure during cleaning of the screen which leads me to believe that it is a "ghost" issue with the Retina display. Any guidance as to the cause and resolution would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.





[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: SMALL LIGHT GRAY OUTLINES OF SQUARES ON MAC BOOK AIR WITH EITHER M2 OR M4 PROCESS, EVEN WITH DEVICE OFF.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.2

Posted on Dec 19, 2025 9:52 AM

Reply
6 replies

Dec 19, 2025 10:09 AM in response to KiltedTim

First, thank you for the fast comment. No I do not have any "skin" on the keyboard, and second it is NOT a reflection of the keyboard. No mater how I move the screen the outlines never move, even if I cover the keyboard, they are in the screen. I know this because when I clean the screen several times, which I did not do in the pictures because the issue is the squares not my screen hygiene, the squares sometimes go away, if I use enough pressure. But not enough to damage the screen. When I use the computer and there is a white background they appear. They form in a row, sort of cut and paste style. I have turned off all the startup programs that run in the background as well start in safe mode and no luck, still there. I do appreciate your effort, thank you.

Dec 19, 2025 11:26 AM in response to KiltedTim

Greetings again,

Thank you thank you KiltedTim for the suggestion of the "skin". In the past one was used and your comment got me to thinking so I got better lighting and looked more closely at the blank screen and sure enough I did see other very, and I mean very, faint outlines on other portions of the screen. As you suggested those very faint outlines did indeed line up with some keys. You are very astute and your idea was spot on. I used a stronger glass cleaner because I assumed, correctly, that the images might be silicone which is hard to remove. Now the black screen is smudge free and image clean. Thank you so much. If I an give you a "thumbs up" I would.

Dec 19, 2025 6:24 PM in response to fredpinto99

Be aware the some of the marks may never come off. If any dust gets embedded in the finger oils on the "skin," that can act as fine sandpaper, creating permanent scuff marks. If that is the case, you may want to live with it. Here's why.


Starting with the first Retina MBPs in 2012, the outer screen cover on Mac laptops became integral with the display assembly. Any damage or wear to any part of the sealed display assembly can only be fix by replacing the entire assembly. Individual components of the assembly cannot be separately replaced.


We can't quote service prices because we are not Apple employees. Other posters here who had display assemblies replaced have reported the parts + labor cost to install a new assembly to start at over US$500. Ouch!

Faint light gray square outlines on MacBook Air screens with M2 or M4 processors, even when devices are off

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.