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Definition of hairline crack.

I bought an Ipad Pro 11.5 six months ago and have treated it with the utmost care. One morning, after the ipad had been in my bag all night, I opened it up and found a crack going from the mid-left of the screen to the bottom right. There were no splits from the crack, and no sign of physical damage. I took the ipad to a retail store near my house, and the apple technician immediatly said it was a hairline crack, and is under the 1 year limited warranty. To my dispair, we also found out that I bought my ipad from a different retailer. Long story short- the other reatailer said it wasn't a hairline crack, and haven't given me any proof of that claim, and I suspect they said that only to shake off paying for my new ipad through the warranty.


Bottom line, what I would like to know is what is the official definition of a hairline crack, and how does an apple technician define what is and what is not a hairline crack.


Thank you

iPad Pro, iPadOS 14

Posted on Jun 28, 2021 2:04 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 28, 2021 6:55 AM

A crack is a crack.


Whilst Apple have not (to my knowledge) explicitly “defined” the term - a hairline crack is a single contiguous crack that spontaneously appears across the cover glass. The crack will exhibit no signs of direct impact, or additional cracks that radiate away from a single point. Similarly, the iPad casing will show no signs of impact damage - in particular the edges.


It is notoriously difficult to prove that a crack is the result of a manufacturing or material defect. As such, screen damage is often excluded from warranty claims.


Apple offer a limited one-year warranty - against which you might attempt to make a claim. If making a warranty claim, your should first attempt to make a claim with your retailer - as it is most often the retailer with whom your purchase contract (and therefore your warranty) principally exists. If unsuccessful, you then have the potential backup of making a claim against the manufacturer’s limited warranty.


If you had the foresight of opting to purchase Apple’s AppleCare+ plan, this being an insurance product, you will have the security of being able to make claim with Apple regardless of fault. In such circumstances, a small excess/deductible charge is made - and you will receive a replacement (usually a reconditioned iPad of the same model and specification) iPad.

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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 28, 2021 6:55 AM in response to ido209

A crack is a crack.


Whilst Apple have not (to my knowledge) explicitly “defined” the term - a hairline crack is a single contiguous crack that spontaneously appears across the cover glass. The crack will exhibit no signs of direct impact, or additional cracks that radiate away from a single point. Similarly, the iPad casing will show no signs of impact damage - in particular the edges.


It is notoriously difficult to prove that a crack is the result of a manufacturing or material defect. As such, screen damage is often excluded from warranty claims.


Apple offer a limited one-year warranty - against which you might attempt to make a claim. If making a warranty claim, your should first attempt to make a claim with your retailer - as it is most often the retailer with whom your purchase contract (and therefore your warranty) principally exists. If unsuccessful, you then have the potential backup of making a claim against the manufacturer’s limited warranty.


If you had the foresight of opting to purchase Apple’s AppleCare+ plan, this being an insurance product, you will have the security of being able to make claim with Apple regardless of fault. In such circumstances, a small excess/deductible charge is made - and you will receive a replacement (usually a reconditioned iPad of the same model and specification) iPad.

Jun 29, 2021 1:48 AM in response to ido209

There is nothing explicit about this in Apple's warranty statements.

A screen glass crack is a screen glass crack.


In most cases with Apple, any screen damage is, usually, considered user damage and is NOT usually covered by the one-year limited manufacturing warranty, but ONLY under user paid, extended, two-year warranty coverage.

Definition of hairline crack.

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