Is Apple aware of display problems with the new MacBook Air?

Apple’s newly released MacBook Air has been on the market less than a month and already there have been rumblings from the Internet suggesting that there may be some glitches associated with the display. While Apple has yet to publicly acknowledge any problems, at least one blog claims to have evidence that the company is aware of display issues with the new 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air models.

The Boy Genius Report has published what claims to be a leaked Apple memo that outlines the acceptable number of faulty pixels occurring in the MacBook Air’s display. The memo describes the display issues as “fading from dark to light colors repeatedly after waking from sleep” and as a “horizontal flickering.” Both of those issues seem to accurately describe some of the isolated complaints we’ve seen cropping up in Internet forums.

In accordance with the document’s instructions, MacBook Air laptops are permitted to have up to three light pixels, or five dark pixels (or a combination of the two adding up to seven faulty pixels) before falling outside of the ‘acceptable’ range and thus eligible for a warranty-covered repair or replacement. The document does note, however, that customers who qualify for a replacement could conceivably receive another MacBook Air with the same problem and will then be ineligible for any additional replacements. The memo goes on to instruct Apple employees to tell affected customers that the company knows about the problem and is working on solutions.

The alleged memo recommends that affected users address the problem by putting their MacBook Airs to sleep, waiting for ten seconds, and then reopening them. Apple claims that this process should refresh the display and temporarily fix any display problems. No word on if this has been working for people. If the memo is the real deal and Apple is aware of the problem, then the issue should be eventually addressed in a software upgrade.

Editors' Recommendations