M1 MacBook Screen Crack Investigation(classlawdc.com)
classlawdc.com
M1 MacBook Screen Crack Investigation
https://classlawdc.com/2021/08/04/m1-macbook-screen-crack-investigation/
60 comments
Seems some people say the hinge is harder to turn or pops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI9jmw8UdN0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI9jmw8UdN0
I had the same problem on a 12" Macbook (2016).
Has a class action suit ever benefited anyone except the lawyers handling the case?
Yes, this is a genuine question. In every case I've seen, the payout for the class members has been too low to even bother getting it paid out - but perhaps there are exceptions?
Yes, this is a genuine question. In every case I've seen, the payout for the class members has been too low to even bother getting it paid out - but perhaps there are exceptions?
I feel like Europe and the UK tends to have a better approach to these things. We don't leave it to private litigation with class action lawsuits to enforce consumer protection standards, but instead we have various regulators both locally and nationally that can fine and force remedial action. We also have statutory warranties that set certain standards about the lifetime of goods - often times going beyond the advertised warranties of the manufacturer.
In the UK one concern is a lot of trading standards offices have been gutted locally over the past 10 years due to austerity cuts hitting local councils hardest meaning consumers have some difficulty getting action without going to court when it concerns local businesses.
Actually going to court is an act of last resort for exceptional cases or when a regulator fails in their duties (and even then regulators have their own regulators, ombudsman, often times for escalating complaints).
In the UK one concern is a lot of trading standards offices have been gutted locally over the past 10 years due to austerity cuts hitting local councils hardest meaning consumers have some difficulty getting action without going to court when it concerns local businesses.
Actually going to court is an act of last resort for exceptional cases or when a regulator fails in their duties (and even then regulators have their own regulators, ombudsman, often times for escalating complaints).
The point of this is to teach the company good behavior.
Any case has more goals than restitution to the victim.
And I think it is actually good lawyers get well paid here. They are representing public interest and fighting large organization.
That's hardly something you or I can do, even assuming you had time to put your life on hold to fight Apple over broken LCD.
In a class action like that usually, if it is won, judge orders the company to right the wrong, depending on some estimate of culpability. If they just made an honest mistake they would probably be punished much less than if they did it knowingly.
A lot of times it is difficult to show they knowingly deceived customers and that's why you might see those seemingly unfair payouts.
Any case has more goals than restitution to the victim.
And I think it is actually good lawyers get well paid here. They are representing public interest and fighting large organization.
That's hardly something you or I can do, even assuming you had time to put your life on hold to fight Apple over broken LCD.
In a class action like that usually, if it is won, judge orders the company to right the wrong, depending on some estimate of culpability. If they just made an honest mistake they would probably be punished much less than if they did it knowingly.
A lot of times it is difficult to show they knowingly deceived customers and that's why you might see those seemingly unfair payouts.
> The point of this is to teach the company good behavior
Apple seems to have learning difficulties then.
Apple seems to have learning difficulties then.
People like to think that influencing bad behaviour has to happen bottom up. And while that "may" be true, it's only true, because the people that are actually responsible for enforcing proper rules and protecting the consumers are lazy, slow, or corrupt or all three at once.
It's like the old debate of who's responsible for forcing change on plastic production. The consumer buying veggies or the regulators? It's clearly the regulators and companies, even though people like to blame the consumer for not making the right choice.
It's how we justify the bad actors behaviour, just because they're more powerful and we want to rationalize it somehow.
It's like the old debate of who's responsible for forcing change on plastic production. The consumer buying veggies or the regulators? It's clearly the regulators and companies, even though people like to blame the consumer for not making the right choice.
It's how we justify the bad actors behaviour, just because they're more powerful and we want to rationalize it somehow.
Well, it is not perfect system. Scale of Apple is such that these actions are probably just calculated risk for them.
It is probably cheaper for them to absorb these than improve r&d and production and pay in delaying product launch. And it seems the market is quite inflexible - most people seem to absolutely have to buy it even if it breaks if you look the wrong way at it.
Normally repeated class actions should discourage customers, but Apple seems immune to it.
Though I would like to see honest numbers of how many units are affected with which fault, then compare to competition.
Maybe it is just the case that Apple customers are louder with their demands because the loss was more financially painful to them.
It is probably cheaper for them to absorb these than improve r&d and production and pay in delaying product launch. And it seems the market is quite inflexible - most people seem to absolutely have to buy it even if it breaks if you look the wrong way at it.
Normally repeated class actions should discourage customers, but Apple seems immune to it.
Though I would like to see honest numbers of how many units are affected with which fault, then compare to competition.
Maybe it is just the case that Apple customers are louder with their demands because the loss was more financially painful to them.
Go and watch the film "Erin Brockovich". It's (in my, and many people's opinion) a good film, and people involved say it's fairly accurate.
To me it shows what class actions are for -- a serious pollution incident which effected many people, but required a huge court case against a huge company to deal with. Many people recieved 6 figure sums, enough to move away and pay for medical care.
It isn't a prefect story -- PG&E should have arguably paid even more, given the fact they basically poisoned an entire town, and knew about it for years.
To me it shows what class actions are for -- a serious pollution incident which effected many people, but required a huge court case against a huge company to deal with. Many people recieved 6 figure sums, enough to move away and pay for medical care.
It isn't a prefect story -- PG&E should have arguably paid even more, given the fact they basically poisoned an entire town, and knew about it for years.
I'm not sure if they were part of the settlement from a class action suit, but often I've seen recall/repair programs and extended warranties instead of the coupons or meager checks I often see from class action cases. It sucks that even the extended warranty period will expire and your screen/keyboard/battery might just break again, but it gives me an opportunity to repair it and decide if I want to continue using it for the next few years.
I think one did benefit me, although indirectly. This is an old old story. I had a macbook which suddenly developed a GPU problem. The computer was so old that it was way out of waranty, but I learned that apple is voluntarily offering to fix computers with this specific problem even if they are out of warranty. My belief is that this program was born out of a class-action suit. (Though I am unable to find proof of that right now.) Basically, if i remember it right, the lawsuit forced apple to admit that this is indeed a manufacturing defect and thus I got my GPU fixed for free.
How old was the product at that time?
I only read about it when it was happening. From Googling around this seems to be a rough timeline: some 2011 Macbook Pros were affected, lawsuit filed Oct 2014[1], February 2015 Apple launches a repair program, May 2017 it seems to end that program[2]. The last public update I see about the lawsuit is from January 2015 [3]--at least, I think. I really hate websites that don't date their posts. I imagine the suit was dropped when the repair program was negotiated.
The source of the issue seems to have been lead-free solder, which was adopted in the mid-2000s and seemed to cause problems for a decade or so.
[1] https://9to5mac.com/2014/10/28/apple-class-action-lawsuit-20...
[2] https://www.cultofmac.com/482762/apple-no-longer-repairing-2...
[3] https://www.whitfieldbryson.com/news/tag/macbook-pro/
The source of the issue seems to have been lead-free solder, which was adopted in the mid-2000s and seemed to cause problems for a decade or so.
[1] https://9to5mac.com/2014/10/28/apple-class-action-lawsuit-20...
[2] https://www.cultofmac.com/482762/apple-no-longer-repairing-2...
[3] https://www.whitfieldbryson.com/news/tag/macbook-pro/
Hopefuly will benefict the users too. Apple has been charging a lot to fix an issue created by a design defect.
The threat of a class action lawsuit was enough for Nintendo to proactively offer free joy-con replacements/repairs in the US for stick drift.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onlPkyME3WI
Created Tech made a good video about this. This doesn't seem to be a big Issue with the M1 MacBook but more of a money scheme of a Law Firm...
Created Tech made a good video about this. This doesn't seem to be a big Issue with the M1 MacBook but more of a money scheme of a Law Firm...
This sounds like an apologist's video, these guys said the same thing during the butterfly keyboard saga and the people who suffered were the real owners and not these trolls. I don't understand why people discount other people's experiences just because they like a particular brand.
I still operate the butterfly keyboard as my daily driver, 2017. In a very low grade constant fear, just waiting for the day for a small particle to get lodged underneath a key cap...
I've had a 15" 2017 MacBook Pro for 4 years or so. I baby it and keep it in an elevated stand. I always use an attached keyboard to not hurt the butterfly keys. Always keep it in a hard case to prevent bending during transport.
The dang thing is falling apart like an old farm truck held together with baling twine. Battery has swollen up, the touch bar is 75% dead and blinking like crazy, battery warnings whenever I disconnect power, overheats all the time and throttles to a crawl...
This is compared to my budget $600 ASUS which is happily chugging along 10 years later with the original battery and I treat it like a rented mule. Toss it in a backpack and set a bunch of junk on top and it's like "Psh!"
Apple has used up all it's credibility with me with regards to their MacBooks. Their stuff is fragile. No amount of care seems to keep it running properly. They gaslight the heck out of their users too which makes them seem shady too.
The dang thing is falling apart like an old farm truck held together with baling twine. Battery has swollen up, the touch bar is 75% dead and blinking like crazy, battery warnings whenever I disconnect power, overheats all the time and throttles to a crawl...
This is compared to my budget $600 ASUS which is happily chugging along 10 years later with the original battery and I treat it like a rented mule. Toss it in a backpack and set a bunch of junk on top and it's like "Psh!"
Apple has used up all it's credibility with me with regards to their MacBooks. Their stuff is fragile. No amount of care seems to keep it running properly. They gaslight the heck out of their users too which makes them seem shady too.
It's interesting that this particular law firm is using this particular nearly 1-year old image to propagate what is essentially fake news, or more kindly, extreme exaggeration. I'm not surprised though.
Not disputing that Created Tech is right, but the origin of the crack in the law firm's picture is precisely in the center, near where the camera is. That suggests to me that the crack came from a manufacturing defect, but to know for sure we'd have to see a bunch more photos of cracks that are influenced from that location.
Frankly, the fact that they're only showing one picture, despite their claims that there's a lot of people having this problem does not inspire a lot of confidence in their case.
Frankly, the fact that they're only showing one picture, despite their claims that there's a lot of people having this problem does not inspire a lot of confidence in their case.
Even if it is a manufacturing defect, defects are not all created equal. Something that affects one machine out of 1 million can be a bonafide defect, but how much of a concern should it be in the general sense?
I had a 2015 MBP where the screen randomly cracked while it was sitting at a table, open, and I wasn't using it. I read at the time that it could be something to do with thermals and unevenly tightened display hinges.
Unsurprisingly, Apple did not believe me, and I had to replace the screen at my own cost.
Unsurprisingly, Apple did not believe me, and I had to replace the screen at my own cost.
Apple support is the reason why I have never bought a MacBook again, i have an unused MacBook air full of horizontal lines and i can't imagine being so inept in learning other systems to submit to paying 600 something to fix a design defect
My previous Macbook's screen started delaminating; I gathered there was a recall for that, but I missed the boat on that one.
My current Macbook probably has a problem with the ribbon cable connecting the screen with the rest of the device. It costs too much to have it fixed, because they have to open up the whole thing + the screen to replace it.
And this is after they already replaced the whole top section (keyboard, speakers, etc) because of another warranty issue with speakers only outputting mono sound.
My current Macbook probably has a problem with the ribbon cable connecting the screen with the rest of the device. It costs too much to have it fixed, because they have to open up the whole thing + the screen to replace it.
And this is after they already replaced the whole top section (keyboard, speakers, etc) because of another warranty issue with speakers only outputting mono sound.
How many does it take to never buy another one again?:0
Looking forward to my cheque for $2 in a few years
With Apple, you're usually getting a free replacement once they acknowledge the issue. I don't think they ever issued a $2 or other low amount in cash rather fixing the hardware.
Yeah. When there was a hinge crack issue with Macbooks way out of warranty, Apple swapped it for free. This was maybe 7 years ago.
[deleted]
There was a case recently where Apple paid a cash settlement to buyers of defective Beats headphones:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57172406
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57172406
It should be possible to examine the crack, find where exactly it started and figure out the cause. If it was an object lodged between screen and chassis it should be easy to tell for an expert.
My girlfriend has MacBook Pro 13" from 2020 and had the same issue. Apple charged 650€ to fix.
Strange that a law firm has to represent consumers for a major manufacturer fault like this.
Here in Australia, we have consumer laws that protect us from this kind of defect. They will ensure that as a consumer, I would receive a complete and full refund for an event like this- many times over if necessary. This kind of cost to the manufacturer creates the appropriate motivation to remedy.
Here in Australia, we have consumer laws that protect us from this kind of defect. They will ensure that as a consumer, I would receive a complete and full refund for an event like this- many times over if necessary. This kind of cost to the manufacturer creates the appropriate motivation to remedy.
I'm seriously considering starting to clone site like HN and Imgur to create versions with a non-US centric view. Americans gives me the impression that the US fundamentally broken and their complaints about issues internal to the US is ruining the internet for me.
Here in the US, we don’t have anti-encryption laws eroding any concept of privacy.
You win some, you lose some.
You win some, you lose some.
I've never owned an apple product that didn't have a defect, and I've owned nearly one of each at some point or another. Unfortunately I am in India and there are essentially no consumer protections here, plus we pay about 30% more for the same product. Hope my M1 laptop survives.
I have quite the opposite experience. Owned a bunch of Apple hardware in a past decade, including for my 20-30 people company. Never experienced a defect. Things only ever broke because of major physical impact (and more often than not survived even pretty serious hits) or worn down after years of usage (mostly batteries died, though in some cases I’d subjectively expect them to last more than they did - especially in some iPhones).
I've owned two defective Apple products (out of well over 100) - the iPhone 6s which was an absolute dud of a phone, and no matter how many times Apple replaced the battery in it, it would be back to lasting only an hour or so within weeks. And a butterfly keyboard MBP, which was an absolute shit of a thing.
Those two duds were enough to slightly sour my relationship with Apple, but look at the alternatives.
Those two duds were enough to slightly sour my relationship with Apple, but look at the alternatives.
As usual in such cases this make me worry about my M1. While I dont have any cracks there been one moment when I just grabbed it from the table and heard quite loud crack from it.
Might be it was just little dust or sand, but it bothered me.
Might be it was just little dust or sand, but it bothered me.
Is it me or the perspective is completely off in the picture?
Same issue on a MacBook Pro 16" (not M1).
Very small cracks started appearing around the camera and in the next couple of days white bars started appearing over the whole screen until the display completely blacked out.
No AppleCare+ and not covered by warranty as I was considered responsible for the damage: 800 EUR repair with just 3 months warranty for the new display
Very small cracks started appearing around the camera and in the next couple of days white bars started appearing over the whole screen until the display completely blacked out.
No AppleCare+ and not covered by warranty as I was considered responsible for the damage: 800 EUR repair with just 3 months warranty for the new display
This is interesting, this could turn out to be a new manufacturing problem, not a design flaw perhaps?
>Users complain that Apple representatives insist the culprit is a small item or particle that gets lodged between the keyboard and screen upon its closing, even when that explanation runs completely counter to users’ experiences.
This reminds me of a problem I had with the cord on my MacBook Pro charger circa 2012. I bought an MBP new in 2010. This was, I believe, a time when Apple had been trying new formulations on their cables to eliminate BPA and PVC.
Less than 6 months after I bought my machine, the sheathing on the power cords started cracking and fraying at both ends. Same happened to my iPod/iPhone cables. It was a very dry winter indoor environment that destroyed pencil erasers, but other than that, I did nothing unusual to the cords. Eventually the sheathing almost entirely fell off and several feet of the cable was exposed, looking like twisted metal rope. It didn't seem imminently dangerous, though worrisome, and I was nowhere near an Apple Store so I ignored it.
My system was 18 months old when I was traveling and found myself near an Apple Store. I showed them my charger, expecting they'd agree it was obviously flawed and give me a discount on a new one. Instead, the employee was rather surly with me and told me it as clearly my fault. "You must have rolled an office chair over it." I did not own nor had ever used a chair with wheels. I explained that it started fraying at both ends for no apparent reason and I'd done my best to wrap it carefully every time. This was a $2,400 machine (in 2010). However, the warranty was one year and it had been 18 months. He told me absolutely not, it was clearly my fault and I could buy a power adapter at full price or take a hike.
I felt sufficiently abused to call and complain to a manager. The manager apologized and said they'd give me a 50% discount on a replacement. I thanked them and set it aside. Dealing with the surly employee had been somewhat upsetting and I had little desire to rush back to Apple. I ended up going in 2 weeks later, telling them the manager had approved a discount for me. The manager at the time said "WHO? I'M the manager on duty NOW and I didn't approve that." They proceeded to take me through the exact same process in which they told me it was entirely my fault, basically saying I was lying about not damaging it, and was SOL and could buy a new adapter at full price or leave. I was not happy about this.
I think I ended up getting a 20% discount or something, which is all I wanted in the first place.
This reminds me of a problem I had with the cord on my MacBook Pro charger circa 2012. I bought an MBP new in 2010. This was, I believe, a time when Apple had been trying new formulations on their cables to eliminate BPA and PVC.
Less than 6 months after I bought my machine, the sheathing on the power cords started cracking and fraying at both ends. Same happened to my iPod/iPhone cables. It was a very dry winter indoor environment that destroyed pencil erasers, but other than that, I did nothing unusual to the cords. Eventually the sheathing almost entirely fell off and several feet of the cable was exposed, looking like twisted metal rope. It didn't seem imminently dangerous, though worrisome, and I was nowhere near an Apple Store so I ignored it.
My system was 18 months old when I was traveling and found myself near an Apple Store. I showed them my charger, expecting they'd agree it was obviously flawed and give me a discount on a new one. Instead, the employee was rather surly with me and told me it as clearly my fault. "You must have rolled an office chair over it." I did not own nor had ever used a chair with wheels. I explained that it started fraying at both ends for no apparent reason and I'd done my best to wrap it carefully every time. This was a $2,400 machine (in 2010). However, the warranty was one year and it had been 18 months. He told me absolutely not, it was clearly my fault and I could buy a power adapter at full price or take a hike.
I felt sufficiently abused to call and complain to a manager. The manager apologized and said they'd give me a 50% discount on a replacement. I thanked them and set it aside. Dealing with the surly employee had been somewhat upsetting and I had little desire to rush back to Apple. I ended up going in 2 weeks later, telling them the manager had approved a discount for me. The manager at the time said "WHO? I'M the manager on duty NOW and I didn't approve that." They proceeded to take me through the exact same process in which they told me it was entirely my fault, basically saying I was lying about not damaging it, and was SOL and could buy a new adapter at full price or leave. I was not happy about this.
I think I ended up getting a 20% discount or something, which is all I wanted in the first place.
Oh gosh this happened to me with a 12" Macbook (2016). Had to pay hundreds to replace it after it cracked in the same way (very small crack from the middle-top of the screen, happened as I was sleeping), even when it was under warranty.
Reminds me of the "nest egg" class action commercial from Better Call Saul on Netflix:
My husband and I scrimped and saved for so many years.
We did our best to build a nest egg so that we wouldn't be a burden to our family.
After Ronald passed, I moved to an assisted-living facility... a nice place.
They told me they'd take care of everything, but then, one day, they said all my money was gone.
How could that be?
Where did it all go?
[voiceover] ...is a resident of a Sandpiper Crossing facility or other associated retirement community, you may be eligible to receive compensation.
For a free consultation, call the law offices of Davis & Main at 505-242-7700.
That's 505-242-7700.
My husband and I scrimped and saved for so many years.
We did our best to build a nest egg so that we wouldn't be a burden to our family.
After Ronald passed, I moved to an assisted-living facility... a nice place.
They told me they'd take care of everything, but then, one day, they said all my money was gone.
How could that be?
Where did it all go?
[voiceover] ...is a resident of a Sandpiper Crossing facility or other associated retirement community, you may be eligible to receive compensation.
For a free consultation, call the law offices of Davis & Main at 505-242-7700.
That's 505-242-7700.
"Investigation"? Lol. I don't even see a faint whiff of a claim of any real "investigation", here.
First there was the horror stories about the SSDs dying prematurely. And now another story, even more FUD non-sense.
Meanwhile I'm enjoying the best laptop I ever had.
Meanwhile I'm enjoying the best laptop I ever had.
I'm kinda with you. I'm an Apple fan, I keep up with news relating to the company and its products; I hadn't heard about all these screens cracking before reading this. You would think something so apparently widespread would have had more coverage by the tech press and Apple punditry sites like Daring Fireball and Loop Insight, etc.
Perhaps we'll hear more about it now.
Perhaps we'll hear more about it now.
"If it doesn't happen to me it doesn't exist and even if it did it doesn't matter"
> have little choice but to spend upwards of $600.00
If that is the case, for $600 you can get a decent non-Apple laptop. Apple is consumable jewelry, not computing.
If that is the case, for $600 you can get a decent non-Apple laptop. Apple is consumable jewelry, not computing.
> Apple is consumable jewelry, not computing.
Well, the M1 is one of the most impressive computing chips ever sent into mass production, so your remark is rather inaccurate.
Even Google is so impressed that they are trying to do something similar for the Chromebook, following Apple's model.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/09/01/google-making-its...
Well, the M1 is one of the most impressive computing chips ever sent into mass production, so your remark is rather inaccurate.
Even Google is so impressed that they are trying to do something similar for the Chromebook, following Apple's model.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/09/01/google-making-its...
I will back my statements with someone's review of the hinges:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI9jmw8UdN0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI9jmw8UdN0
You have to account for this as a Hidden cost of buying a mac. Many business laptops use bog standard $100ish panels, Apple will slap you with a $600 bill. I maybe add ~10% to the sticker price of any mac in my head to account for extra repair spend.
All the same if you're more productive on MacOS the cost of a Mac is likely dwarfed by the benefits. These days Macs also have hardware that's in a bit of a class of it's own, show me a completely silent Windows laptop that competes with the m1 air.
All the same if you're more productive on MacOS the cost of a Mac is likely dwarfed by the benefits. These days Macs also have hardware that's in a bit of a class of it's own, show me a completely silent Windows laptop that competes with the m1 air.
(IFixit even said “internally, they could hardly be any more similar to their predecessors. The new 13” MacBook Pro looks so familiar inside, we had to double-check that we didn’t accidentally purchase the old model.”):
https://www.ifixit.com/News/46884/m1-macbook-teardowns-somet...
Were there any changes to the display or case on the M1 models that might have caused them to become more fragile?