Cracked chin bar - will it get worse?

I got the Macbook Air M1 a few weeks ago and today I noticed a tiny crack on the black bar where it says MacBook Air/chin bar. I tried calling the Service Center and will probably go tomorrow, but honestly I have no high hopes that they will cover this for free even if I'm still under warranty and honestly don't want to part from my laptop for too long.


I'm just wondering if this will get worse or affect the actual display screen in any way or just how bad can this be despite being a cosmetic issue?

MacBook, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jul 29, 2021 10:24 PM

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3 replies

Jul 31, 2021 5:35 PM in response to a.gbc

The crack on the Bezel is quite common as the glass is quite brittle/fragile due to there being lots of open space beneath the Bezel. Apple will more than likely consider this "Accidental Damage", but if you have AppleCare+, then the repair can be performed for a $99 Display Assembly replacement. If you don't have AppleCare+ and Apple won't cover it under warranty, then you could just leave it go until it gets worse (most likely it will get worse). You could put some black electrical tape over the area to help protect it and keep the glass intact. A Display Assembly is very expensive if not covered by AppleCare+.


Unfortunately Apple won't just replace the broken Bezel portion of the Display. I have replaced the Bezel on many of our organization's Apple USB-C laptops, but it is extremely tricky since there are very delicate easily damaged cables located just beneath the Bezel. This is not something I recommend anyone doing without lots of experience working with Apple glass and adhesives.

Aug 2, 2021 10:45 PM in response to HWTech

Thanks for this!

I took it in the service center and they gave me the price for a full display replacement. I've decided to just put black electrical tape on it for now. The technician said that the screen that is beneath the chipped off part is fine, so until it does get worse, I'll leave it like this. Since I'll be paying for a full replacement anyway. Hopefully it doesn't get worse with much care.

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Cracked chin bar - will it get worse?

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