MacBook Air Screen Cracks

I have exactly the same problem as described by many here here - spiderweb crack spontaneously appeared on my screen, then a coloured mark appearing in the middle of the crack and now slowly bleeding...My MBA is a 13-inch, manufactured mid-2011 and bought new in Jan 2012. I do travel a lot but always put it in a padded sleeve. There was no accident; I agree with you this seems to be a manufacturing defect.

I live in Bangkok, any ideas where I can get this repaired? Preferably at a reasonable price.

Nothing comes cheap with the Macbook screen repair esp with those of macbook air screen, and even worse Retina ones. You could try services from Pantip plaza, or Zeer or IT square, but they all ask for holy price with no gurantee. I went to one of their authorized services believing this will be covered under warranty, and was asked abt 20000 bahts for 11 inches Macbook air. I was shocked, not surprisingly, but the Apple genius gave number to call to Apple Service team.

I called Apple Toll free support (possibly from Singapore), explained problems, when I first noticed, and how it emerged, what I thought happened and explain clearly about it's not at my fault etc. They would probably request you to take a picture quickly and send it to them.

If they deny it's their defect, ask for any possible assistant. I insisted it's no way at my fault. I was told to go to one of their Authorized reseller, and I went to

www.maccenter.co.th/ MCC at Siam Discovery.

There, again, they took some careful pictures, and probably ask you to await for a few days. I asked there, how much it would cost? , if I had to pay, and there it was 15000 approximately. Price may vary depending on different cases. Just try to be friendly to them.

Still, They denied that it's manufacturer's defect, but they offered to replace it with only 1500 bahts for service fee with no additional charge for replacement.

Hope this helps and good luck. If you dun mind, return to share your outcome.

P.S. My Thai langugage is very limited, so it's like a heaven when I contact Apple Service Team. Also, I sold my macbook air for 2/3 original price and have been in love with Lenovo Thinkpad business laptops. They have amazing keyboard and are versatile.

Thanks for the fast response - I will give it a try and let you know.

Sounds like an accident, or maybe a dust corn.

Just had this happen recently. A MAB left closed on bed overnight and crack appeared on bottom right hand corner when opened in the morning. Had exact same problem with Samsung LX900 due to undue pressure / stress on the screen / frame interface. This manifests when either heating or cooling and appears to be a possible incompatibility with the metal frame housing and glass screen and the rates at which they possible expand / contract. In the case of my Samsung the screen just cracked from just about off centre from the top whilst my son was playing a PC game. I was present so saw all this but as it was out of warranty had to pay to replace.

In the case of the MAB to pay such a price to replace the screen with little reassurance it could happen again makes one think twice. This is the main issue.

Also I experienced the same claims of misuse as the cause of the problem and they appear to overlook the previous statement which this thread supports a s some have had multiple screen crack.

'I appears the attempt by various manufacturers to provide very light products are experiencing similar problems, but it is not until people bring these to the fore that they are noticed and then believed. Even sigma 6 manufacturing cannot prevent such an occurrence rather than making it statistically small but still always probable and possible.

No dust corns, pens or the like but the immediate response of the local agent was misuse! Seems like we need to have a CAM to constantly watch / monitor.

Hope this helps and contributes but I expect they will want me to pay in full to replace the screen evn though it is still under warranty.

You said it well. That is what happened to many of us and we were brushed off as baboons handling computers. I'm twice as older as the idiot "geniuses" telling me that. You are right, when enough people will complain, those companies will have to act. In the meantime, my confidence in Apple's previous great quality and stellar customer service that attracted me in the first place, has fallen down to the ranks of Microsoft ten years ago. That is something companies rarely survive, even Toyota and Apple are not immured. It's sad and frustrating..

gdiana wrote:

No dust corns, pens or the like but the immediate response of the local agent was misuse! Seems like we need to have a CAM to constantly watch / monitor.

Well to be fair there is indeed a com to constantly watch/monitor, but it's pointed at you, as we have learned in the news lately. ;-)

I would recommend to be persistent with Appple and escalate your issue to the highest level possible. I had this proble with my MBA and I got the brush-off at first, but in the end they fixed it at no cost. Was not easy but I was determined, I was willing to sever ties with Apple for good if they refused and I think they knew that. When one pays the premium that Apple demands for these products, and is are loyal to them buying many products, such defects are simply not acceptable at at all.

I can understand that the defects will happen but a customer should not be forced to battle like this to get fair treatment. Its just totally counter to the Apple brand, which is about making it simple for the customer and rewardng customer loyalty. They will turn off many people if they dont fess up and start treating this problem differently.

Yeah we have a lot fairies and dust bunnies around here. Are you a psychic? We're you there when it happened? Did you see something I didn't see in my own house? How many times have you had something like that happen? Are you a time traveler?

i get a kick out of people like you. No idea what you're talking about but happily repeating what Apple says.

Unless you were here when it happened, your opinion to replace a weak screen for $400 without the assurance It won't happen again, is not welcome.

II've gone to two Apple stores, and spoken to countless of so-called geniuses who insulted me by saying I did this, all of them. I was one of the early ones whome this happened to. I even sent an email to Tim Cook but to no avail.

Insist a company fixes the problem it created? You're right, we should always do that, but after a while, it gets old and in the end, I can build a Hackintosh for a fraction of the price with better performance. Guess what will happen. This is ridiculous and not how we've come to expect Apple's previous customer service glory. I'm afraid it will take a class action lawsuit to wake up this arrogant company now.

My experience with Apple service regarding this problem has been disappointing. I took the machine in to the service centre in Bangkok, and on their advice, I followed up with a message to the service centre in Singapore on 16 December 2013:

"Dear Apple service centre

A spiderweb crack appeared spontaneously on my screen (a MacBook Air 13-inch) about a week ago and has been getting worse daily. At first it was just a hairline crack but it has been gradually getting worse. There was no accident. I treat my MBA very carefully.

I live in Bangkok. When I took it to the Apple repair centre at Siam Discovery they quoted me a rate of over THB 23,000 for repairs in Singapore. My MBA is out of the 1-year warranty period but is not old; it was purchased in January 2012. I trusted the quality of Apple products so this is a disappointing setback.

After researching the issue, it appears that many other users have experienced similar issues with the MBAs. The service centre staff said to me that "the screen is too thin." I can see from the Apple support community forum and other sites that many other users have experienced this problem.

It appears that this is a manufacturing defect and as such, I am writing to ask if you could consider providing the parts at no cost and I cover the service fee for repairs. I am attaching a photo of the screen to show the nature of the damage. Since the crack appeared, this has worsened daily.

I have tried to phone the service centre in Singapore today to discuss this, but have not been able to connect. I am posting a separate message to your Facebook page about the phone connection. Your early response will be much appreciated."

And, I received the following form letter promptly:

No reply!

Any ideas from this forum on how to take this further will be appreciated.

Unfortunately,

I have to report the same issue and the poor apple service in this case.

am writing with regards to a MACBOOK AIR - 11 Inch screen- I purchased March 2013 . I have a padded cover for the computer which is always used. On a recent business trip, I turned the computer on to find the screen has bled - this affects the LCD not the glass panel. WITHOUT ANY ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE!

After visiting the Apple Genius bar at Regent street - London and I was told that this could only be caused by blunt impact or dropping the computer neither of which has happened. Upon further exploration with the Apple assistant, I found out that this has been a regular occurrence to this type of Airbook "because it is light" and was told of 2 incidents with other customers where they have been on the tube and a knock had caused the same damage.

I don't think that this is satisfactory for an expensive computer, and definitely not an Apple one. If they are so sensitive to this sort of thing why was I not told upon purchase? The Apple assistant also told me that it is difficult for covers to "protect" the computers - which in itself if completely ridiculous, Why do Apple sell covers if it isn't going to help? She recommended I speak to Apple Care given the amount of complaints the store had had re this issue.

I am a regular Apple customer and am genuinely disappointed that through no fault of my own, the cost to fix what seems like a systematic fault with the laptop is £289 plus VAT and would like this escalated.

I also offered to trade in my 1 year old mac book air with a more "heavy" product as the macbook pro but this offer was refused as the product is not in "good " condition.

I asked fot Which.co.uk Legal adivse and they suggested that accroding to section 14 of the sale of Goods Act 1979 requires Apple to supply goods of satisfactory quality and also that this laptop showed lack of durability as this inconvenience can be classified as latent defect from the product, therefore they should repair the laptop as it is in warranty.

Gabriel

Sounds like some kind of blunt impact.

gabmarconi wrote:

The Apple assistant also told me that it is difficult for covers to "protect" the computers - which in itself if completely ridiculous,

Your Air took an impact, either knowing or unknown to yourself

Purchase a HARD CASE for your travels. 😊

i had the same problem here. day by day the cracked lines is increasing without my knowledge. i had no idea how a brilliant brand of laptop can face problems like this. in time, i didn't do anything with my macbook about a week. but then i realized when i opened it, i see cracked lines everywhere. what is this! how am i gonna solve it.

You broke your screen.