iPad Air glass break

I have a 32gb ipad air with 4G which is only 2 months old. Without any drops or knocks two cracks appeared overnight on my screen. Because there were two cracks they said it must be accidental damage and refused to help. I cannot afford £250 for a replacement screen so I'm left with £700 worth of iPad that is damaged and may well get worse over time, due to a design flaw.

They say I must have knocked it without realising, but the glass on the air is way too thin if even the slightest thing can damage them.

This is my first ever experience of apple customer support, and TBH I felt like I was being called a liar when I insisted that there had been no knocks or falls, they just kept repeating that they could tell it had been accidentally damaged by the cracks on the screen. I walked out in disgust and don't intend to deal with aplle support again - it's a waste of time.

Why should I pay £250 to fix the results of Apples design flaws and what guarantee do I have that it won't simply break again? I'm seriously reconsidering getting another apple product when I upgrade my contract in three weeks time, if the iPhone 5 is as flimsy as the iPad air then I don't want one.

My iPad had a 10 cm drop (being cover protected) with a horrifying result, cracks all over the screen. I am an engineer, I have worked for a competitor and no way such a fragile product would be allowed to be released to the market. The iPad Air that I have is my first (and definitely the last) Apple product. When I bought it I was quite hesitant due to the price but I have been indoctrinated that this product was worth the money. I would never have expected such a badly built product. And what you get apart from the brand is nada, what you do need is to pay another 300 euro to get it fixed, or actually, to get it exchanged because it cannot be repaired. Jesus, how much money Apple will earn on bad quality. Normally you loose money on bad quality...well, in the long run users will go elsewhere. What I did was that I bought a plastic protection film and put it on the cracked screen so I can continue to use it, for the 300 Euros I will buy he another slate, if that will be a MS or an Android I have not decided yet.

Sympathies to both Graham and MMigel. I ultimately got the Apple Air replacement rather than switching because I already have Apple apps, and the Genius Bar did previously switch out my iPhone when the headphone jack died 11 months into its 12 month contract. I asked the genius whether the Air's glass was more fragile than its predecessors in order to get the Air's thiness/lightness, and he said no, the glass was the same. However, I can say that I dropped my uncased iPad4 numerous times without cracking.

It's interesting that Apple has replaced the iPad2 in their lineup with the iPad4, so rather than 'repairing' the Air for the $299, I would have been tempted to buy a new iPad4 for $399 (and sell the broken Air for parts which would have made up some of the $100 difference.

It sounds like our choices are MS/Android, an older iPad model that is less fragile, or an extra $100 for AppleCare with the ability to fork over additional $49 x 2 for two accidental breaks in two years.

Just to chime in - the same thing happened to me. Picked up my Air, which had been on a high shelf untocuhed for a couple of days with no way it could have been dropped or banged. Hairline crack right across the screen. The device has always been kept in an expensive Apple smart case.

As I used the product, which still work, another opened up and finally a spot shattered on the bevel opposite the home key.

I'll go to the Genius bar and argue my case but I'm not hopeful - £249 repair at an Apple store or 100-120 from an indie repair shop, EU consumer law says products must be fit for purpose. Imagine a thermos flask only as durable as a champagne flute. Seems that's the iPad Air.

Sorry to hear about the problems. We have an Air, too-- in a Fintie ultra slim case and it's doing fine--no screen cracks, so far.

One other option--get a Square Trade warranty for the iPad Air with NO deductible! We've had good luck with them and for just about the same cost as Apple Care+, you get a third year of coverage and no out of pocket expense. If you need a repair, they send you a mailer, pay for shaping both ways, and do it all inside a week. It covers loss, dropping, accidents, etc. The repair service works well, too.

Spontaneous cracks are one thing--i.e., normal use and cracks appear--that's bad and Apple should cover that whether in or out or warranty. However, when someone drops their iPad and the glass cracks, that's quite different.

"1- Answering to your post, my $700, and less than 3 weeks owned, ipad air fell from my hands -at waist height- to the flat floor and the glass shattered."

Drop most any glass item from 3 or 4 feet and it's likely to break, crack, shatter, etc. One can hardly expect the manufacturer to replace the item free of charge! Ever dropped a drinking glass? CRASH, SHATTER!

That's why it's always smart to get warranty coverage, including accidental damage, for any glass mobile product--such as the iPhone, iPad.

Eric, that's really strange. Is it possible that someone at Apple was misinformed? In any event, try Square Trade. They'll warranty used and exchanged products-- without a deductible. (And, no, I have no connection with them.)

1- The iPad slipped from my hand at about waist height. It was inside a well padded slip case. It didn't even made much of a sound, but the glass shattered like it was hit by a truck.

2- I have an iPad 1 which has had it much worse several times, it has a few dents in the aluminum, but the glass is like new.

3- Apple's own video promoting the Air shows a lab test where the iPad is thrown down on a hard surface from about 4 ft high. The video shows the ipad bouncing up and shaking in slow motion, completely unharmed. I think this is deceiving.

4- The ipad is marketed as an everyday use device, not like fine china or drinking glasses. Everyday use, unavoidably, involve an occasional small drop which the iPad should resist. I haven't found any warning in the ipad packaging saying "Handle with Care."

5- At this point, I don't even want Apple to replace my ipad. I'm just angry and dissapointed that, for all the talk about "design is how it works," in the end, Apple surrendered robustness on behalf of prettiness, and then pretended that the device was just as strong.

This thread was started in December. I wish my family had seen it before they bought me this great little iPad Air for Christmas, because by January 20, my screen was cracked. It had been placed directly into a Zaggfolio and has never been taken out, never dropped, never left the upstairs as a matter of fact. We called Apple and were accused of dropping it. We finally gave up and put some tape over the cracks. So much for my new ipad. This is my second ipad. I had the First Generation for 4 years with no problems. So disappointed in Apple that there has been no response to all these posts and many more on the internet on this screen. It is not a coincidence that so many people are having the same issues.

I hear you. What Apple don't realise that when you're faced with a haughty Apple Store manager baldly stating 'that's 'accidental damage' when your device suffered no obvious trauma and is in mint condition, aside from the broken glass, AND you take care of your equipment and have owned dozens of Apple products since the 1990s it really sticks in the throat.

I'm a big believer in voting with my feet when wronged and will probably buy a Nexus 5 instead of a new iPhone - don't use more than the obvious apps, which are available on Android too - on my phone extensively and I can recoup the money I spent repairing Apple's fragile iPad Air.

Wish I could get a refund on the stupid overpriced Smart Case too as now I'm thinking of getting some sort of tank-like US military cover to compensate for the Air's fragility.

Sorry Apple. I'll use your Macs because they've never given trouble and work better than the compeititon but I'm no longer a brand enthusiast after this treatment - the FIRST time in getting on for 20 years I ever had to return an Apple product under warranty.

Meh.

The crack in my Ipad Air glass was similar to a picture shown - diagonal across one corner, but likely to worsen. I reported it immediately to Apple and got a case number. We were on holidays and I could not resolve it for some 5 weeks, when we returned to Canada.

My experience was wonderful. With Applecare (Canada) coverage is great. You are allowed two non-catastrophic glass breaks, which gives you a brand new IPad for the very reasonable sum, in my case, of $49.00.

YEAH Applecare. I never buy extended warranties except for my Apple products, and it has paid off numerous times, especially in telephone support.

That said, the glass DOES seem to be extremely fragile.

I've had my Air for a few months no and no cracked screen yet but I really do think Apple need to heavily factor in to their products a degree of robustness.

I wonder if anyone can contribute any statistics to the argument.

I guess the Air does feel fragile which makes me not so surprised that these incidents have happened where it has cracked for no apparent reason.

I saw one video where the deliberate mistreatment of an Air started with it being thrown gently into some loose dirt and the guy was genuinely surprised and disappointed when the screen cracked. It was supposed to be the encore to some really serious attempt at damage and breakage and it kind of spoilt his fun.

I noticed that it had a hollow feel and there was flex in the screen but didn't occur to me that it was going to be more fragile than other glass iOS products or indeed break from seemingly nothing.

Mine's been fixed now by an indie repair place for £120 - not giving Apple more money after supplying a device not fit for purpose.

Now I handle it more like a champagne flute than a portable product in case I do some more of what Apple call 'accidental damage'. That might seem OTT if you've had one for ages with no breaks under normal use but when you've found yours cracked with no trauma, well, the first thing you do is check for cracks when picking it up.

If Apple had replaced the screen under warranty I'd have merely thought, 'Hmm, hope it doesn't crack again - this is a pretty fragile product compared to the old ones and I'll have to be careful with from now on' and still been a relatively happy camper. After all, it's a blazing fast device, which has really made some of the more eleborate Apps come alive.

As it was a haughty Apple Store manager, a store where I've spent a fair bit of money on accessories over the years, told me I'd accidently damaged something that I know had suffered no trauma and refused to admit that something so fragile isn't fit for purpose. Once when some hiking shoes split after barely 30 miles of action the shop just replaced them - they didn't try and suggest the poor durability was any other than unnacceptable or that hiking in them was 'accident damage'.

My first ever bad experience of dealing with Apple in getting on for two decades.

Only for the sake of record keeping I'd like to add myself to the list...

Personal/business I've owned:

>dozen iPhones

2 original iPads

6 ipad 2's

6 ipad mini's

3 ipad airs

The only glass breakage I've ever experienced is with my 44-day old iPad Air. My original iPhone cracked but I beat the ever living crap out of it. I still (and when I say "I" I mean my 2 year old) use my original ipad - **** the bezel even has numerous dents - no glass breakage.

Must admit, since my jaw first dropped in 2003 when I got my first look at the iMac, this is the first, "...really???" feeling I've ever had towards Apple. Still love you guys but it's time to fess up on this one.

I don't much care what should be expected of a "device" or a "computer." What I've grown to love about Apple is that ones expectations were not intended to be the benchmark.

According to Mac Life (May 2014 No.88) "The whole screen assembly - which used to measure 2.23mm thick - measures 1.8.. in the iPad Air." Bottom right-hand side of page 49 - blue box.

The iPad Air digitizer glass is 20% thinner than previous models according to this article. Mine broke in 44 days while my original iPad gets treated like a rag-doll in my wifes book bag with no protection and looks like, well, an iPad.

Not to mention I made the bone-head decision of attempting to replace the glass myself. All okay except a 1' square dead spot in the upper left-hand corner. Tried re-seating all the connections, electrical-taping any exposed parts - no luck. Could have been a defective part to begin with but I was so **** excited to get my iPad back I pulled the "can-not-return-part-if-film-removed" film off without testing the ENTIRE screen.

I've simply resorted to plain old moaning at this point but it's all I've got left. I love you Apple, but why do you treat me so bad?

😟

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I broke the screen by holding the bottom left corner of the ipad with one hand. My thumb crushed the screen. Apple says they do not cover this and can replace the ipad for $299. Obviously a manufacture/design defect when a 50 year old women can crush it without even trying.