Cleaning a touchscreen MacBook: Apple's steps for fingerprints

To clean a touchscreen MacBook, shut it down, unplug the power adapter, and wipe the screen with a soft, lint-free cloth dampened with water only. Never spray anything onto the screen, and keep moisture out of every opening. If the screen has the nano-texture finish, use a clean Apple Polishing Cloth or one of the other cloths Apple lists for that glass (below), because that surface has its own instructions.

That is Apple's guidance for MacBooks, and it is the right starting point for the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, the first Mac with a touchscreen. Apple's cleaning pages, as of 30 October 2026, have nothing written for Touch specifically. What follows is Apple's general MacBook and nano-texture guidance, applied to a screen that will collect more fingerprints than you are used to.

Why a touchscreen gets dirtier

A normal laptop screen is touched by accident: a finger points at something, a nose gets close to the glass. A touchscreen is touched on purpose, all day. Skin oil from fingertips spreads across the glass, and on a dark screen or in side light it shows as smears. Expect to clean it more often than you have cleaned a laptop before. That is how the feature works, not a fault.

Apple has not said how the new display's cover glass holds on to fingerprints, and how nano-texture glass and fingerprints behave together is something owners will find out by using one. Treat any claim about that, including confident ones in early reviews, as provisional until the Mac ships on 6 November 2026.

Cleaning a standard glass screen

These steps follow Apple's support page "How to clean your Apple products", in its section for MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

1. Shut the Mac down with Apple menu > Shut Down.
2. Unplug the power adapter. Apple's general advice is to unplug every power source, device and cable before you clean.
3. Dampen a soft, lint-free cloth with water only. Apple says to avoid abrasive cloths, towels, paper towels and similar items.
4. Wipe the screen gently. Don't overdo it: Apple warns that excessive wiping might cause damage.
5. For marks that water won't shift, Apple says you can use a cloth moistened with an isopropyl alcohol solution to gently wipe the display. The page gives the strength to use, so check it before you buy anything.

What to keep away from the screen

Apple's page is specific about what not to do with a Mac laptop:

• Don't spray liquid directly onto the computer. Dampen the cloth, never the screen.
• No aerosol sprays.
• No solvents or abrasives.
• No cleaners containing hydrogen peroxide, which Apple says might damage the finish. Its general advice also rules out bleach.
• No moisture in any opening. Keep it out of the speaker grilles, ports and gaps, and don't submerge the Mac in any cleaning product.

If liquid does get inside, Apple's advice is to get help from an Apple Authorized Service Provider or an Apple Store as soon as possible. It notes that liquid damage isn't covered by the Apple warranty or AppleCare plans, though you may have rights under consumer law.

Apple's page names water and, for stubborn marks, isopropyl alcohol. Window cleaner, kitchen spray and lens wipes are not on it, so leave them in the cupboard.

Cleaning a nano-texture screen

The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display comes with standard glass or a nano-texture option, which Apple says is precisely etched into the cover glass. That etched surface is made to cut glare, and it also means ordinary wiping is the wrong approach. Apple's MacBook cleaning section sends nano-texture owners to a separate page, "How to clean your nano-texture Apple display", which lists MacBook Pro among the products with the option. It says the cleaning method is the same across Apple's nano-texture products.

The page's guidance, in short:

• Use a clean Apple Polishing Cloth. It also accepts a different microfiber cloth made for electronic displays, or a fabric made from a blend of cotton and elastane (spandex).
• Wipe off dust and smudges with the cloth.
• For hard-to-remove smudges only, moisten the cloth with the isopropyl alcohol solution the page names. Apple frames this as infrequent cleaning.
• Wash the cloth by hand with dish soap and water, rinse it thoroughly and let it air dry for at least 24 hours.

If you don't have a cloth, the page notes that some Apple products come with one and that you can also buy an Apple Polishing Cloth. If you choose the nano-texture model, keep the cloth in the laptop bag, not in a drawer at home, because a screen you touch all day will need it.

Apple's nano-texture page mentions water only for washing the cloth, not for the glass, so don't carry over the standard glass steps.

The rest of the Mac while you are at it

The same Apple section covers the outside of the laptop: shut it down, unplug the power adapter, and clean the exterior with a damp, soft, lint-free cloth, keeping moisture out of any opening. With the Mac already off, it is a good moment to do the case, the palm rests and the trackpad in the same pass. Keep the cloth only slightly damp. If you are unsure whether it is too wet, it is too wet: wring it out again.

If a mark survives water and, now and then, the alcohol step, stop rubbing. Apple warns against excessive wiping, and a mark that won't shift is one for Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider to look at.

A routine that keeps fingerprints manageable

• Keep a cloth where you work. With one within reach, shutting down for a quick wipe takes a minute, not a special trip.
• Clean with the Mac shut down, as Apple says. A black screen shows every smear, so you can see what you are doing.
• Wash your hands before long sessions if you use Touch a lot. Food oil and hand cream end up on glass.
• Keep drinks away from the Mac. A glass beside the laptop is fine; a glass above the keyboard is how liquid ends up inside it.

How to clean a MacBook screen and keyboard covers the keys, the trackpad and the case, which also pick up grime.

Notchpals and Mac care

Notchpals has a Mac care corner of its own. Its Tech care characters, such as Juice, Gumdrop and Otto, peek out of the notch when the battery runs low, when the startup disk is nearly full, and when the Mac has gone a week without a restart. That last one makes a handy cleaning cue: shut down instead of restarting, wipe the screen, then start up again. Lolo, the axolotl from the Water area, works the other side of the desk.

LoloA glass of water fixes almost everything. Even me. Drink up!

Fair enough, as long as the glass sits beside the laptop and not above the keyboard.