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Apple bans protective screen film from their online and retail stores

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 · 1:05 pm · 57 Comments

“Apple has banned protective screen film from its retail and online stores, iLounge has confirmed with several separate companies, a policy that will affect both cases and individual film packages beginning in May,” Charles Starrett reports for iLounge.

“According to sources, the ban will impact all forms of screen film, including completely clear film, anti-glare film, and mirrored film, regardless of whether the purpose of the film is protective, decorative, or both,” Starrett reports. “It will also prevent sales of film for iPods, iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers.”

Starrett reports, “One vendor speculated that the ban is an Apple marketing attempt to suggest screen durability…”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Could Apple’s move to oleophobic touchscreens that started with iPhone 3GS have something to do with this?

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Comment Feed

57 Comments

« Previous 1 2 3

Jeeve Stobs

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 6:16 pm · Reply

The drooling zombie has spoken.
HughB

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 6:29 pm · Reply

Way to go everyone for ignoring crap like Hazmatt and his Al Gore ranting. Take it somewhere else, ahole, we don’t care, it has nothing to do with this subjecrt.
ping

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 6:34 pm · Reply

It is possible that it has to do with the oleophobic coating of the newer displays (iPhone 3GS, iPad).

Such films might either not stick properly or damage that coating. And the device certainly loses the advantage of the coating that way which is really a pity and I could understand if Apple would not want to lose that.

I have never used extra protection for my iPod Touch or iPhone and have never had a scratch on the display so far (some on the steel back of the iPod Touch, though). I carry it in my pocket whenever I’m out of the house, but of course I don’t have keys, sand or other scratch-endangering objects in the same pocket.

Although the return rate explanation sounds like a plausible reason, too.
Max

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 6:58 pm · Reply

Never used them anyway. There is a great touch cleaner called iKlenz that takes care of the fingerprints and smudge.

In all actuality if the iPhone screen is really, really hard to scratch and you have a great cleaner solution with a microfiber cloth why do you need the screen protector, you have to clean those too anyway. Just enjoy the screen and find out what you’ve probably been missing.
PlayNice

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 7:03 pm · Reply

WTF? There is no way in hell I am giving up my screen protector even if I have to buy it from unlicensed channels.

I dropped my iPhone from about 4 feet one time in SF on a jagged rock and I was devastated, thinking I had easily shattered the screen. To my surprise, the rock never pierced the protector. It left a huge pivot in the plastic (that looked like it had broken the screen before I took the protector off) but once I pulled that thing off, my screen was perfect.

Apple is getting more and more like the computing Gestapo. Why is Apple hellbent on us being blind followers of it’s ways no matter what the consequences to the consumer?

Why does Jobs hate his customers? If he asked Apple users (and fanboys alike) what we wanted, maybe we’d get a product that actually had the right features (hello, multi-tasking, web-camera, 16:9, MacOS on the iPad)…
Buster

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 7:18 pm · Reply

@YipYipYippee …why do you not like the invisible shield? I think it is great.

Previous iPod screens got scratched (my 1st iPod touch and 80 Gb iPod) and with this protector, I never by a case anymore. It just works.

I fried one iPod applying it and Apple replaced it no problem. When I looked at the ipod however, the edge between the glass and the metal was not flush (like the replacement) so I am assuming that Apple may ship a bunch of these and THESE ones are the susceptible ones.
Scion

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 8:02 pm · Reply

@YipYipYippee

What have you got against the Invisibleshield – I have had one on my iPhone 3G since the day I bought it, and it’s been just amazing. Whats more, recently I happened to be in California and there was a zagg stall in the mall I was in, I walked up, and showed them that some ofthe corners had come loose – they totally replaced the shield for only a $4 service charge – that’s a lifetime warranty for you.

This means that when I sell my 3G in a couple of months for a 4G – It’ll be in pristine condition – more £ for me
HazMatt

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 9:58 pm · Reply

HughB, let’s get some facts straight here since you’re basically calling me crap…

–

Ray· said:
Is sun screen okay? I mean Al with “I-invented-the-internet-and-global-warming” Gore on Apple’s board that kind of screen should be in the iStore.

–

Amazin1· said:
Ray, Ray — quite spreading the right wind, fascist line about what Al Core said. He never said what is attributed to him (I dare you to find actual quote in context) and he was in fact a major supporter of legislation that helped get the internet, as we know it, developed. So please, stop repeating the same lame stuff. I am sure you are better than that.

–

HazMatt· said:
@Amazin1
Since you asked, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnFJ8cHAlco

Al Gore’s exact quote is…
“During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the internet.”

This was in response to the interviewer’s question of why should democrats nominate you over Bill Bradley?

I think an honest interpretation of that statement is that Al Gore is indeed taking full credit for “inventing the internet”. There is wiggle room and some truth in that statement, but let’s call a spade a spade.

–

HughB· said:
Way to go everyone for ignoring crap like Hazmatt and his Al Gore ranting. Take it somewhere else, ahole, we don’t care, it has nothing to do with this subjecrt.

——————————————————————

But honestly, HughB… WTF? I wasn’t even ranting about Al Gore! Mr. First Post Ray was the one who started the off-topic political crap this time, not me, man. And as nobody else was responding with any empirical evidence, I “took the initiative” (so to speak) in reminding our dear MDN readers what Al Gore ACTUALLY SAID.

If your wrath is directed at me for continuing an off-topic conversation, I do apologize for that; off-topic political discussions drive me nuts too. But do yourself a favor in the future and freaking scroll up and gain some context before you start attacking people.

HazMatt
Andreeccm

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 10:37 pm · Reply

Love my Otterbox. You’ll never see my iPhones without one.
Special Kid

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 10:48 pm · Reply

Power Support made the best films.

I suspect this is a CMA-type-thing so Apple employees don’t appear to us, the customer, as liable at when we ask them to put on the protector for us and they it screw up… just a thought… maybe wrong.
ron

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 12:42 am · Reply

If you order from http://www.uxcell.com/ipod-c-983.html You’ll get a great deal + $5 shipping inc. a $5 rebate.

I got mine for $2.99 works great.
ping

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 5:04 am · Reply

Max: Never used them anyway. There is a great touch cleaner called iKlenz that takes care of the fingerprints and smudge.

That’s the good thing about the oleophobic coating: You won’t need that any more. Smudges and fingerprints can now be wiped off dry and are still just as gone.
Mike T.

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 7:51 am · Reply

Okay, I think most of you are missing the point. The iPhone may seem to be the only device that Apple sells, but items like the iMac and Macbook lines are also included here. The issue that most people will take is that Apple stopped selling anti-glare variants of their screens and the screen “protectors” are the only way to add that anti-glare back into the mix.

That said, I love my glossy screen and would never put one of those on it. I do have Ghost Armour on my iPhone 3G and while I don’t expect it to protect it from damage if I drop it from 20′, I do expect it to stop the minor scratches and keep it from slipping out of my hands when they are cold or wet, and it does.
SKY LARK

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 8:06 am · Reply

@ PlayNice
who writes – “… WTF? There is no way in hell I am giving up my screen protector even if I have to buy it from unlicensed channels. …”
(my use of bold text)

Unlicensed channels !!! OMFG Hello doofus … we are not talking about moonshine or black-market contraband here, you won’t need to organise a covert rendezvous downtown, hooking-up with furtive and nefarious characters in dark alleyways.
“Hey man, I’m trying to score some … ya know … some C-Thru.
Have you got any … cough! protective screen film cough! … and don’t fob me off with that cling-film shit like you did last time man … I need the real stuff!

And the rest of your Chicken Little “the sky is falling” routine is just as sad.

… like the computing Gestapo.
… Why is Apple hellbent on us being blind followers
… Why does Jobs hate his customers
… a product that actually had the right features … hello, multi-tasking, web-camera, 16:9, MacOS on the iPad

You tool.
ping

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 8:45 am · Reply

Mike T.: Okay, I think most of you are missing the point. The iPhone may seem to be the only device that Apple sells, but items like the iMac and Macbook lines are also included here. The issue that most people will take is that Apple stopped selling anti-glare variants of their screens and the screen “protectors” are the only way to add that anti-glare back into the mix.

Doesn’t work. A matte foil on top of the glass in front of the actual display would massively blur the image. You could say goodbye to the actual resolution of the display.

Matte only works when the panel is exposed directly and when the matte surface is right on the glass of the panel.

At the moment you add another glass pane in front of the panel that option no longer exists. Which is why the matte variants of the MacBook Pro don’t have that additional layer of glass.

The iPhone also has that extra layer of glass and cannot be made matte for the same reason.
zc

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 11:25 am · Reply

I have an anti-glare/anti-fingerprint film on my iPhone 3G mainly because I cannot stand fingerprints on the touch screen. As long as it’s third party stuff that’s cool… I can still buy it elsewhere.
nessus

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 - 2:50 am · Reply

That’s a good point, Breeze.

http://ac-electronic.com/eshop/apple-iphone-16gb-touch-fully-unlocked-black-p-4072.html