MacBook Pro 15 inch 2017 Flexgate / Stage Light problem

Myself and many tens of thousands of other loyal paying customers hear you, in the same position. Today Apple will make around $300+ million USD pure profit, and they leave us in silence. We gave them several thousand dollars of money we worked hard for.., and they gave us a MacBook Pro which even a judge in a court case about this has ruled that this is certainly Apples design flaw and they are responsible for this. And still a month later, they give us no answers. This is not ok.

and to be honest, if they do the right thing and address this with integrity, and offer a solution such as free repair or higher trade in value for a new model, or something along these lines... I won’t even feel bitter... I have used and loved Apple technology for over 20 years. At the end of the day there’s too much for me to appreciate and feel grateful for.

however, while this flexgate continues to be unaddressed, this is highly unfair, unreasonable and even abusive to leave myself and so many tens of thousands of customers in this silence.

There is currently no replacement program for any 15" with FlexGate issues which is ridiculous. They will not even cover the 2017 A1706 / 1708 which has EXACTLY the same display as the 2016 version of these two models. This was a bad design, Apple knew it and buried their collective heads in the sand.

The Genius Bar can’t do anything. I went there and showed them all the reports online. I asked them to at least pass it on up the chain. The worst is the Apple support line. They just said they don’t have anyone to talk to and I could write a letter to Apple.

Yes, my invoice has typed ’Proposed Resolution: Display and top case repair covered under quality programs‘ the price is shown 935.94 AUD + 100 AUD labour fee (around 781.36 USD), but the amount due is 0... (PS, I didn't purchase for the AppleCare)

I can’t believe so many people suffered the same problem and Apple still isn’t doing anything about it. My MacBook Pro 15” 2016 model JUST started this issue last month and now I can’t open more than 45°. It’s ridiculous how Apple handles the problem. 15” people are suffering the SAME EXACT problem as 13”. Please Apple, make us trust you again!

I am waiting for Apple technical support to answer this question, or to hear any kind of answer. It says here: https://tech.hindustantimes.com/laptops-pc/news/apple-knew-macbook-displays-had-flexgate-defect-but-sold-them-anyway-says-judge-71617347702188.html

that Apple knowingly sold MacBook Pro models with the Flexgate display defect in 2016-2017. Customers with the less expensive 13 inch model have been offered free repairs and customers with the more expensive 15 inch model have been told to take responsibility and pay $600 t0 $800 for what has been proven in a court of law and concluded by many investigating tech companies is Apples own design flaw.

My technical question is, how do I get support with this ? I've paid thousands of dollars for something that has a flawed design, and when I and tens of thousands of other customers return to the seller to say, "hi :) I gave you thousands of dollars for this, and it doesn't work"... the seller doesn't say anything ? I'm not sure what to do. If there was a legitimate reason that the flawed design is my responsibility to pay for, then at least I can feel peace about that and take care of this myself. If there was any good reason why Apple do not address this, then why has this technical issue not simply been addressed ? A short paragraph of writing that is simple and clear would be enough. I've spend tens of thousands of dollars over decades... do I not deserve a simple answer ? What am I missing here ? Please....

There is no replacement program for any 15” or even 2017 A1706/08 with EXACTLY the same FlexGate issue that is experienced in the 2016 models. Exactly the same PN of the display in 2016 A1706/98 but no program. How does that work Apple?

This may be the end of my relationship with Apple. 3000+ dollar laptop and because we bought the 15inch, instead of the 13inch we are left with 800+ dollar repair. This is disgusting. I hope Apple reconsiders, however overpaying for products that are flawed is not something I can stomach.

2017 15 inch macbook with the same #flexgate issues. I just discovered the defect. I always thought my computer was just having problems waking up, so I would close it and open again and it would work fine. A few weeks ago I opened it and nothing. No sound, no lights on the keyboard, display black. I thought it was just dead. In a panic and needing to work I purchased a new one for $3700. Then I happend to open it just 2 inches and saw that it was indeed booted up and working. I had sent it in a year ago when my applecare was still active and told them that sometimes it didn't wake (I didn't know to tell them it was a display problem) and that my keyboard was crapping out. They fixed the keyboard but obviously not the display. Today I was asked to leave the Apple store genius appt when I got so angry that they wanted $700 to fix it. I am a reasonable person but dishonesty sets me off. There was a time when they had great customer service.

See if you have any emails from Apple back from that time when they mis-diagnosed this issue. Put pressure on them to backdate your Applecare. Very poor customer service, shame Apple shame.

[Edited by Moderator]

Thanks Pedro. The manager was not interested in helping. Denied it is a known issue. Asked me to leave the store when I slammed the Macbook shut. Worst experience I have ever had with Apple. I'm a substantial stockholder so you would think I would be happy about it? No, I cannot tolerate the dishonesty. Thanks Tim, War Eagle!

Same problem here. Macbook pro 2017 15inch.

Come on Apple this is ridiculous, so many users complain about this issue. This is really a fault by design! I have laptops from 2011 that still work fine and i payed only a quart of the price for those laptops. I paid more than 4000 euros and i expect to receive the best laptop on the market.

This is simply lame!

kind regards,

Marco

They really do not care unfortunately. Funny thing is that even when they do replace a 2016 13" screen on an A1706/08, as far as I know they just use the same screen with the defective flex cables. So it's a ticking time bomb again.

Here’s my little story…

My 15” MBP 2017 started having this same issue, the screen stays black, unless I open it very slowly than it turns on but goes black again if opened more than about 45%.

I took it to the apple store and they told me I need a new display unit, after telling them I know the display is fine and that it is the flexgate that’s broken they agreed to take it in for a flexgate cable replacement! I got a repair quote (51.14$ for the cable, 79$ for the job + Tax) and was very happy… but… the next day I got an email saying I should get in touch with the store for some important information about my repair, I called and they said they put the new cable in and it didn’t fix the problem and that they put back the old flexgate cable! 

This is such a lie! they simply didn’t do anything, they didn’t even try replacing the cable, the MBP came back exactly as I gave it to them :( no marks of any job done on the screen, the broken flexgate just as it was. 

The BKLT flex on these machines can be replaced but it is an extremely difficult repair that not too many people can pull off. I will tell you now, there is no way that anyone, Apple or third party repair would attempt this repair for $79 labour. It involves removing the very fragile LC D panel and associated backlight/ diffuser etc sheets to access and replace the backlight/ camera cable assembly. I suspect that what they actually replaced was the short LCD cable between the logic board and TCON PCB that is a part of the LCD assembly (https://tinyurl.com/ypy87hhh) This cable is not subject to the same kind of damage that the backlight flex cable is, I can assure you.