Bought 2 Macbook Air 15 M3's. Both have this exact same issue.

[Six0Four]

Bought 2 Macbook Air 15 M3's. Both have this exact same issue. See the light leak out in the bottom left. This is leaking where the gasket is leading me to think there is missing adhesive behind the LCD. Noticeable in dark room, high brightness, black/dark background. Does yours have this issue?

Thanks.

 

[za9ra22]

I can't say mine does, no. But that said, I don't use it in the conditions you describe. I can't replicate it when I try, though I do see slight variations in backlight.

 

[geta]

Black sharpie will fix this.

 

[MegaBlue]

Can't say why this is happening to you, but I just evaluated mine in the same conditions and it's perfect.

 

[Saturn007]

Noticeable in dark room, high brightness, black/dark background. Does yours have this issue?

Solution: Don't work in a dark room with the MBA on high brightness, while looking at a dark/black background!

We can drive ourselves crazy looking for — and finding — minor imperfections that show up only in extreme circumstances. It's not worth it. You'll end up with OCD or make it worse.

I have the M2 version of your laptop and the display is wonderful. (Ignoring the notch, that is! 😁)

But I definitely won't test my MBA in a dark room with the backlight turned way, way up while looking at a photo of a black cow standing in a dark field on a moonless night at midnight! 😁

I'll wager that many 15” MBAs, M2 and M3, will show what you've unearthed. But, unless it's a distraction in your regular use, I’d ignore it.

Indeed, I can't even see the issue in your photo!

Oh, wait! You mean the slight, tiny barely noticeable white vertical dash in the bezel, not the display. If it bothers you — and you're still in a return window — and haven't installed a lot of stuff — return it and get two new laptops.

Or course, they could have other issues… So, if these laptops are, otherwise, good, then ignore it. Like the notch, which is far worse, and far more in your face, that little white dash, only seen in real darkness with backlight way up, should be easily ignored or remain invisible (unlike the notch) in regular use!

 

[Six0Four]

Solution: Don't work in a dark room with the MBA on high brightness, while looking at a dark/black background!

We can drive ourselves crazy looking for — and finding — minor imperfections that show up only in extreme circumstances. It's not worth it. You'll end up with OCD or make it worse.

I have the M2 version of your laptop and the display is wonderful. (Ignoring the notch, that is! 😁)

But I definitely won't test my MBA in a dark room with the backlight turned way, way up while looking at a photo of a black cow standing in a dark field on a moonless night at midnight! 😁

I'll wager that many 15” MBAs, M2 and M3, will show what you've unearthed. But, unless it's a distraction in your regular use, I’d ignore it.

Indeed, I can't even see the issue in your photo!

Oh, wait! You mean the slight, tiny barely noticeable white vertical dash in the bezel, not the display. If it bothers you — and you're still in a return window — and haven't installed a lot of stuff — return it and get two new laptops.

Or course, they could have other issues… So, if these laptops are, otherwise, good, then ignore it. Like the notch, which is far worse, and far more in your face, that little white dash, only seen in real darkness with backlight way up, should be easily ignored or remain invisible (unlike the notch) in regular use!

Ya I understand where you are coming from. To be quite honest I am not even bothered by the look of the light leaking, it would be impossible to see in normal conditions. The only reason I care about the light leak is I would be worried some dust may be able to creep in there at some point. And knowing my luck it will be when these laptops are out of warranty.

The reason I actually had it on a black screen on high brightness is to look for dead pixels upon purchase since I have had an issue with this in the past. I do the same thing on a white screen.

But, interestingly enough, I did exchange both. In a new colour from a different store (Since I thought it could be a bad batch). Both new ones have the exact same issue 🤣.

Might just live with it. Don't have the time or patience to play the quality control lottery.

 

[jagolden]

A black Sharpie will fix that.
Seriously, though, I’d return it yet again.

 

[samven582]

I would return it

 

[thadoggfather]

yeah thats ugly, my 15 inch M2 air has none of that

I had a MacBook Pro like that years ago (a unibody one iirc) and my first iPhone 3G with 'rubber gasket seal' issues. was not happy about it at all / swapped it out

 

[krspkbl]

Don't have this on mine. That shouldn't have passed quality checks. Return it.

 

[eRondeau]

We can drive ourselves crazy looking for — and finding — minor imperfections that show up only in extreme circumstances. It's not worth it. You'll end up with OCD or make it worse.

+1000 here! I bought a "base" M1 Mac mini on launch day and I still use it as my main computer. But according to all the YouTube reviewers, forum comments, and general know-it-alls it should be absolutely unusable and I should hate every second I spend with it. Not enough RAM, laughable SSD capacity, SSD is far too slow, Swap memory use destroying SSD life, 60Hz screen refresh is woefully inadequate and flickery... the litany of complaints goes on and on. Yet three years later none of the issues above have affected me and I still love using it for many hours every day. The haters will no-doubt say I'm at fault for not expecting more and maybe they're right. Then again, maybe they're all very wrong.

 

[arcite]

Something like that would annoy the hell out of me, so I say return it a third time. Apple is a trillion dollar company, they can afford to change it out again.

 

[Six0Four]

Thanks for the advice guys.

While I will admit it is bad QC, there is no way a majority of people don't have the exact same issue. I went through 6 and only 1 was decent. Tried different stores, different colours and it made no difference.

It's a very common issue but people just tend not to look for it.

 

[thadoggfather]

Thanks for the advice guys.

While I will admit it is bad QC, there is no way a majority of people don't have the exact same issue. I went through 6 and only 1 was decent. Tried different stores, different colours and it made no difference.

It's a very common issue but people just tend not to look for it.

I don’t doubt it

Sounds like these m3 15 inch airs are much poorer QC than m2 model was

 

[Surfsalot]

Thanks for the advice guys.

While I will admit it is bad QC, there is no way a majority of people don't have the exact same issue. I went through 6 and only 1 was decent. Tried different stores, different colours and it made no difference.

It's a very common issue but people just tend not to look for it.

Get a 14" M1,2,3 problem solved, way better speakers too.

 

[Six0Four]

Get a 14" M1,2,3 problem solved, way better speakers too.

Yup I have an M1 14". Just slightly too small.

 

[Surfsalot]

Yup I have an M1 14". Just slightly too small.

get a 16"

 

[thadoggfather]

get a 16"

Too expensive for someone that doesn't need all the features, and too bulky / heavy

Not a suitable 15" Air replacement IMO