Will there be a flexgate repair program for MBP 2017?

W202MB wrote:

Everyone should know by now that Apple no longer stands for quality. It is better to buy Apple shares instead of their products. Let the others make sure that your dividend is good. Yes, that is also clear to me. But is there reliable information if Apple will start a repair program for the MPB 2017 for the Flexgate problem?

Unfortunately, I had countless problems with my MBP 2017 twice sent in because of defective keyboard and now the flexgate thing. Any China cheap brand has better customer support here.

All you can do is take it in and have it repaired.

At this time, there is no Service Program for this 15" issue of the projector cable, or the 2017 MBP.

Typically in the past if Apple does release a Service Program, they have offered a refund for out of pocket expense parts & labor for the exact issue covered.

Service Programs are triggered by the percentage of all MBP of this spec vs the number of failures documented.

We are not privy to this %, or have any more insight.

A repair ticket, your Apple Feedback—all are heading in the right direction to trigger this release.

Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback

A repair at your local AppleStore or AASP will generate a "service record" for the repair on your machine—and this is all you will need to qualify—if a Service Program is issued.

In or out of warranty you can get a free over the counter 'Apple Service Diagnostics' test /assessment

Make an appointment for a "hardware issue"—

https://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

Outside USA

https://locate.apple.com/country

An alternative work-a-round for you is to connect to an external monitor if you can not afford the repair price.

ref: Service Program—

https://www.apple.com/support/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service/

(Coverage is four years from date of purchase.)

Don't hold your breath.

Most Apple free repair programs are only valid for products less than three or four years old (sometimes Apple has allowed them for a five year old product -- a recent example of this is Apple extending the free backlight repair program for the 13" MBPro 2016 model). Apple only typically supports the computer hardware for five years after the last computer model was sold (plus only recently allowing repairs for "Vintage" products which extends hardware support up to seven years if parts are still available). This bold part is extremely important. Since a 2017 laptop is nearing four years old it is highly unlikely Apple will introduce any additional free repair programs for this model unless prompted to do so by a court order or to prevent (or end) a lawsuit.

Everyone knows all of the USB-C Apple laptops are affected by this poor design. I've even personally seen it occur on a 2019 model, but when I asked Apple to cover the repair they refused. The Apple agent even refused to escalate my case any higher. Years ago (10+) Apple would at least have escalated my case to a higher level when requested to do so and most likely Apple would have provided me a repair exception to allow a free repair. Apple even created a free repair program for a manufacturing defect I discovered on one of their all-in-one G3s involving the plastic volume button. Imagine Apple listening to someone provide proof of the issue and giving me several free repairs for the affected systems and then actually creating a free repair program on top of that for other users. That Apple no longer exists. The USB-C Macs are pure junk in my opinion. I will never buy a USB-C Mac nor will I ever recommend one. If you've seen some of the things I've seen with our organization's USB-C Macs......definitely make sure to have frequent & regular backups!