macbook air cracked screen

Maybe a pixie, or Steve's very angry spirit not happy with what is happening? Or maybe simply enough too many people having the same problem to blame dust? Go figure. The result is stranded users. Not a very good thing.

Went to the apple Shop re the cracked screen and got the "we can not repair physical damage under warranty" Yes but if that physical damage has occurred when using the laptop in a normal way and when no accident has occurred surely this physical damage has occurred due to a falt or weakness in the product. It appears that many others before me have tried this logic out with Fair Trade and consumer affairs and had no Joy just frustration. Apple obviously have a firm line on this. Which in some ways I can understand however if there is a large number of cracked screens without any major traumer all occurring with MacBook Airs then you think they should look a bit more into this and be a bit more flexible with their policy. Has anyone tried any of the cheaper screen repairers advertising on the net $250 can they be trusted?

Sounds like some kind of major traumer occurred.

My thoughts were quite the reverse. An abnormally high frequency of cracked screens might have raised alarm bells and been a factor contributing to the "not covered under warranty" stance. The fact so many places now offer screen repairs for MBAs speaks volumes !

You are in a bit of a tough position, your MBA isn't that old and taking it elsewhere to get the screen fixed would likely void any remaining warranty you have (for what that is worth). Since everything inside the MBA is not user serviceable, you might want to keep the warranty to cover the RAM, motherboard and hard drive. But on the otherhand, $500 out of pocket for a repair that is just as fragile as the screen that cracked could add up to the cost of a new computer if it happens again.

I'm very sorry you had a major trauma CT. Hope you feel better 🙂

Hi MarkH356, that is the connundrum. My laptop now sits useless on my deskptop. I'm not spending another $500, since I'm not sure it will last again. The thought of buying another Apple product scares me, if this happens that frequently. Plus, I don't have $500 lying around. I've never had a problem like that before. Apple has always been proactive in the past, but those days are over, I fear.

Like I said before, my 2003 PowerBook still functions flawlessly, but I need something light when I interview, film or just cover events. At this stage I'm wondering how Apple can bury its head in the sand like that. It shakes your confidence.

The exact same conundrum I faced. You probably have 3 options (a) bite the bullet and pay for a new screen, (b) buy an external monitor and use it as a desktop computer or (c) throw it away or sell on eBay for parts.

In the end I decided to get our MBA repaired and managed to negotiate a tiny discount on the cost of the repair with Apple ($100 off after a lot of vigourous discussion). I think this was because I was one of 3 customers with cracked screens in the Apple Store at the time (2 MBAs and 1 retina-MBP) and the Genius I was speaking with appeared a little uncomfortable with us all not being very happy and the rest of the shop being able to evesdrop.

I am convinced the culprit in our case was the lid being closed while the MBA was still quite hot. It had never been dropped, picked up by the screen or the lid closed on anything. The expensive lesson I learnt was these retina screen laptops are much more fragile than their predecessors (being thin and cool looking comes at a price). To minimise the risk of a repitition, we now never close the lid if the computer feels hot to touch, just put it to sleep and wait several minutes until the keypad and base feel cool before closing. I also popped it in a plastic shell case to try and add beef up the protection. It has survived nearly a year now since being fixed so it is possible to get some life out of them if you treat them very, very carefully.

For my everyday workhorse I bought a non-Retina MBP.

Thanks for this sound balanced advise. It might take me a few more days and a trip to the dentist before I ready to bite the bullet and get the repair done. Thanks

What you're describing is exactly what happened to me 3 days ago. We bought a new MacBook Pro 3 weeks ago and as I was closing the lid it felt like my thumb nearly went through the screen. It was about halfway closed when it happened. I've closed this computer (and my old Macbook too ) the same way hundreds of times and this has never happened before. A local Apple licensed place looked at it, took pics and sent them to Apple and they said it looks like I closed an object in the lid which broke the screen and they won't cover it. There was no object! It was only my thumb and the lid didn't even close more than halfway when it happened. Now they are suggesting I drive 1 1/2 hrs to an Apple store to try and plead my case. I am so frustrated because I didn't do anything wrong and this could potentially cost us almost $500 to fix....not even my fault! Argh! Also, they said they've never heard this particular thing happening so I was glad to find your post. Would love to talk to you more about this and maybe find others similar stories that I can print and take with me.

After reading a bunch of these posts, I wonder if putting a screen protector on might make it harder for Apple to blame the customer for the damage. I don't know how much those things really protect screens, but I know I've saved my iPhone from many a scratch by using one, and they do sell them for MacBooks. Anyway, if Apple tried to say that a customer had closed the laptop on something, it's definitely less plausible that it would've done such significant damage to the screen because of the screen protector. (Also, I don't understand how they can keep telling customers that we're at fault if the crack isn't even in the physical glass but in the display, if I'm understanding correctly.)

This hasn't happened to my MacBook Air (yet!), but I feel really passionately about this, because so far Apple have impressed me with their customer service and I'm really disappointed to see how awful they've been to all of you. D:

Just to update.. I finally drove the 1 1/2 hrs to the Apple store and it was 500% worth my time and gas money. They are going to fix my broken display at no cost to me!!! I honestly was not optimistic walking in, but they have proven to me that they do care about their customers. Hallelujah! LOL

two_brews I like the other mac customers experienced the same problem as you. I recently bought my MBA 2 weeks ago and when I opened it in the box my mouse(trackpad) would not allow me to left click on the bottom of the screen. A few days ago i was using my mac and tried to make a click on the pad, the glass cover splintered and cracked throughout the whole pad. However you can tell it was made from clicking on the pad. Just curious what did you tell the employes at apple when you brought it back and had it fixed? What was your reason of breakage? And did they question you? thank you. I am going in to get my mac checked out by the genius this sunday

Our situations sound a little different, but basically I couldn't get Apple to cover the cost of repairing my screen originally (my screen cracked as a result of my thumb being on it as I was closing the lid...which should have never happened). I ended up driving an hour and a half to an Apple store and the rest was actually super easy. I showed them exactly what I did that made the screen crack (you could see where my thumb was). They agreed it shouldn't have happened and are fixing it right now.

Well, I appreciate all of the posts of prior victims of Apple's policy of not standing behind their products when they are poorly designed. I, too, was an avid Apple fan until today. Like the numerous prior contributors, I experienced a crack in my MBA screen. Not on the screen, but on the white Apple logo light atop the "clamshell." I don't know how it appeared, but it did. I, however, have no recollection of an accident that might have caused "accidental damage."

That the Genius Bar "geniuses" and the store manager deemed the crack was the result of "accidental damage" was enough for them to deny coverage under the warranty. I fully disagree. The product should withstand normal use. This product has not withstood normal use and is, therefore, poorly designed.

I am an intellectual property lawyer and consider it important for companies to exercise reasonable commercial behavior in the manufacture, sale, and service of their products. Apple has failed to act reasonably in servicing this product.

My MBA is less than 4 months old and now broken. None of the coverage I purchased with the computer applies.

As I told the manager today, Apple gets no more money from me going forward. Oh, and I did have a considerable amount of Apple stock. That, too, is sold. You cannot buy from or invest in a company that will not stand behind its products.

I really want to switch to Windows 8, but the problem is that I used everything Apple. Like iTunes, iCloud, iMovie, Photos etc. I have easily switched to Google Photos and can get iTunes on a Windows PC, but iMovie, I love iMovie! Windows Movie Maker *****. I also use iMessage and Facetime on my iPad and MBA. All my friends use it and they wont switch to skype. I do however use OneDrive, but that's because iCloud Drive only gives you like 5 GB or somethig. I pretty much have to get a MacBook Pro, or else I won't be able to continue to make videos, I can't socialize with most of my friends, well I can with my iPad but it will be annoying going up and getting it all the time. It's amazing how Apple force you to continue using their products because if you don't you can't get all the Apple services that you signed up for.

Check out my YouTube channel though.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5aOsQfUd4NE_5_kIrn-sug