iPad Air White Spots: What Causes Them and What You Can Do About It

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Learn how the annoying white spots appeared on your iPad screen

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: November 27, 2023 Fact Checked

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White Spot Cause

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Fixing the White Spots

Have you noticed white spots on the screen of your iPad Air? This is a problem that many users have reported online for both the iPad Air and iPad Pro, and it's actually a hardware malfunction due to an overheating component inside the iPad. Unfortunately, there's no easy fix for white spots on your iPad Air, though you can contact Apple for a potential repair or replacement.

Things You Should Know

White spots on an iPad Air screen are caused by a hardware malfunction with the logic board.
The logic board gets too hot, and this causes the backlight layer of the iPad screen to delaminate.
Apple has not officially addressed this issue, but if your iPad still has a warranty, you can contact Apple for a replacement.

Section 1 of 2:

White Spot Cause

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The white spots are caused by a hardware issue with the logic board. Apple has not officially commented on this issue, but users online have anecdotally stated that the white spots on the iPad Air's screen are caused by the logic board getting too hot, which causes issues with the backlight layer of the screen.^{[1]
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- The logic board runs down the middle of the iPad from the top to the bottom. This is why the white spots tend to appear towards the middle of the screen.
- This issue has also been anecdotally observed on the iPad Pro 10.5.

Section 2 of 2:

Fixing the White Spots

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Contact Apple if your warranty is still valid. Users have anecdotally stated that Apple replaced iPads with these white spots with a valid warranty. However, Apple may opt to replace your iPad's screen instead of replacing the unit itself entirely.^{[2]
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- If you don't have a valid warranty and you don't have Apple Care, Apple likely will not fix the issue for free.
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Research repair specialists if your warranty is out of date. If your iPad doesn't have a valid warranty, you would have to pay for any repairs out-of-pocket. You can have your iPad repaired by Apple or research local Apple-certified repair specialists in your area.
- To check your warranty status and schedule a repair, visit https://support.apple.com/ipad/repair.
Replacing the screen on your iPad can be expensive, with some estimates ranging from $100 to over $400^{[3]
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Research source}. Replacing the screen also won't fix the root cause of the issue as well, since the logic board is the culprit. In that case, buying a brand new iPad may be a better option, especially if your iPad Air is getting old.