Cracked screen MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

TL:DR -- Apple covered mine without charge. Only because I cited this thread for backup, took photos from start to progressive damage, and was politely insistent. The Apple store staff is probably not your friend. Call in first, and request a Senior Advisor to handle your claim.

If this happens to you, being armed with photos and this thread is your best shot at having it covered.

I opened my MacBook Pro one morning and saw a small spidery line inside the LCD on the lower right near the hinge. I had not dropped it, hadn't moved it from the table in days. Then it spread. Then it got worse. Then a second line began. My speculation: it's a fragile LCD and there was something amiss with the assembly at the hinge putting pressure on the LCD. No physical signs on the outside of the screen.
FWIW, mine is one of the "popping" 2016 MLH42LL/A laptops, right out of the box. Popping Sound, MBP 2016

After seeing this thread, I called Apple to get a case number. The rep said it would be covered, and if the store genius gave me a hard time to ask for a manager. The Apple store experience was the dispiriting time suck I expected: they told me $680 for the repair and told me I had dropped it; then admitted they couldn't find any point of impact; then when pressed to give me their hypothetical scenario, finally speculated that I must have closed it with -- please clutch your pearls here -- a grain of rice I didn't notice. Come on, guys.

Know when you are dealing with unreasonable people. I returned home, called in again, had a long talk with a sympathetic rep who escalated it to a senior advisor. I sent photos while we were on the phone. The SA said they look for a point of impact, and a spiderweb, and there was none. He said he was entering notes in the case to be covered at no charge, but to be aware that the techs might disagree upon exam. Apple overnighted me a box, I overnighted it back, and they replaced the screen and overnighted it back. No charge.

Flawless top notch CS... once you get to the right person.

So -- be informed, be reasonable, be firm, and know to walk away and talk to someone else. I believe that Apple will eventually send out a quality report about the LCDs. They know about this, but they are going to stonewall when they can.

The other thing to note is that early adopters of the MBP touchbar are under the older AppleCare Protection Plan. Apple rolled out AppleCare Protection Plus in June of 2017, which includes 2 incidents of accidental damage. There are no plans to grandfather the earlier MBPs, nor to offer the Plus for a upcharge (which I would happily pay) to bring all of this model under consistent coverage. It's frustrating to be effectively punished for being an early adopter of the new models, where all of the design flaws are showing up with use.

Hey! So sorry this happened to you as well. I had to speak to a number of people at Apple to try and make it clear the damage wasn’t caused by me, eventually I got through to a really helpful Senior Advisor. He compared the photos of the internal LCD crack I took when it occurred, and compared it to the images the Apple service center provided which showed more damage than how the Apple Store sent it off. Luckily for me, he overruled the charge and so the repair was free and covered by Apple. It does seem that this is a very growing and worrying issue, however, and I am now petrified using or handling my MacBook Pro. I would suggest just keep trying to speak to a Senior Advisor and don’t give up.

Mine was less than a month old. I did purchase AppleCare+ and when I started the chat on the support site, they said that I would be charged $99, as with accidental damage. I said, "But, it's not accidental damage, it's a defective product. All I did was open and close it and I don't even know when the crack started." The person I was chatting with said something like, "ok, I'll take the charge off, but if the service people determine it was accidental, you may be charged to get it back." Fortunately, that didn't happen.

But yes, keep pushing if they try to charge you.

In 15 years of using various Macbooks both personally and at work, I NEVER saw any issue with the screen until three weeks after buying my most expensive one yet. I hope it doesn't happen again, but I will definitely update if it does.

I'd also love to hear from others who had repairs as well, as to whether or not the issue recurred.

I've had many mac book pros over the years since 2008 both at home and through work, the 16inch retina screens is VERY FRAGILE compared to their previous models.

Ever since the 2015 model macbook pro 15inch, its been downhill fast. I had two monitors changed twice due to stain gate issue which now has a screen protector to stop it from happening again. Seriously I pay over £1500 and can't even use the screen in its original condition?

Now with the 16inch 2019 macbook pro, its no better except more fragile. I had a small dent it in after few weeks into the purchase and the people at the genius bar apple denied it was due to their fragile monitors and told me I must have closed something between the keyboard and monitor. Again I'm not stupid to close a laptop with an object on it - why are people wanting to cause accidental damage to their device costing more than £2k?

Even though I dispute it, the genius help staff classed it as accidental even though there was no impact marks on the device.

I did a phone call with the Apple support agent, he told me that if you carry a the macbook pro in a bag and it gets a crack in a screen, or carry the laptop horizontal in one hand and that causes a crack - thats your fault. I'm sorry but why design a portable laptop device that can't withstand doing any of these things ? seriously you want customer to pay £2k for portable device that cant even be carried to work or to uni without the screen being damage?

Fortunately I have insurance to cover this bill but when calling up my insurance provider, they did appear suspicious that a laptop screen can have a slight crack from opening and closing a mac book from daily use.

I warn people to do get insurance on this straight away, this is so isolated incident and if you do move your macbook and close it on a daily basis, they will charge you on as accidental damage as apparently its not due to their poor choice of fragile materials and thinnest of monitor.

I even had a cracked screen on a 2010 macbook pro after a hinge got loose on the macbook pro which caused a tiny corner cracked, I took it back to the apple store and they told me I must had dropped it and refused to replace the screen. Years later I read reports of hinges coming loose on the old mac book pros.

I have a MacBook Pro 2020. When I last opened it up, the Retina display had a crack. I did not cause this! I want to let other people on here with the same issue know how this issue was resolved, hopefully it will help someone. I will assume that you have not damaged your MacBook yourself. I text Apple informing them of the issues, telling them that I am very careful with the Mac. I look after my devices. I had the option to go to the store or send in for it to be inspected. I have had experience of going to Apple store, good and bad, but wanted to keep everything in writing so opted for return by post. The Mac was received by them and looked at. I then received an email asking if I wanted to pay £570 + VAT for them to repair the machine or to have the laptop returned. At the bottom there was a link to speak with Apple. Obviously I am not going to click on either of their options as this is a problem with the laptop and I am not prepared to pay for something that I did not do - would rather see them in court! When connected to them I informed that this should be dealt with under warranty. They told me that they have looked and seen that the Mac has not been misused and Cosmetically fine, no customer damage. They said that I would have to speak to a senior colleague and the person basically said that if he was me he wouldn’t be paying it! I received a phone call while I was replying to the text. The lady I spoke to was very nice and asked me if I had left anything between the keyboard and screen. Informed her that I haven’t and that I look after my devices. They said that they would open an investigation and get back to me. Over a couple of days they kept emailing saying they were trying to ring me. For some reason these calls where not coming to me. I emailed the senior worker back (when I spoke first she emailed her working times to me) informing her that it was not convenient to talk on the phone due to work commitments and for an update on their investigation? I did not get any reply for a day and then when they did reply it was good news! They have covered the cost of the repair and the MacBook is on its way back to me! I will be sending the Mac back to the retailer for full refund as this item is not fit for purposes and is not as Described! My advice is keep everything in writing when dealing with Apple. You do have 6 years to ask the retailer to sort it for you under consumer rights act 2015! Don’t be fobbed off. Let them deal with Apple. I do believe there is a fundamental issue with these devices and Apple know about it but are holding out hoping it will go away. Good luck and stick up for what is right!

I wrote you a long response but Apple removed it and they just emailed me telling me so. haha. They didn't like me telling the truth, I'll try again in a more condense and straight foward anwer

Good news: So, after several hours on the phone with Apple and practically speaking to everyone at Apple except for Tim Cook, they agreed to make a ONE-TIME exception and pay for the screen but I'd have to pay for labor. Apple said I could ship them my Macbook Pro and they'd fix it and I'd just pay $99 for labor before tax. The other option was that I could have MacMedics fix it and Apple would ship them the screen and I'd pay for labor (whatever MacMedics charged). I had MacMedics fix mine, I thought the process would be faster but it a little bit over a week to get back to me (It was over December 2017 Xmas holiday, so maybe that's why). What took the most time was Apple shipping them the screen, I paid $199 for labor since the store was 5 minutes from my house (hindsight I’d have shipped it to apple and only pay $99.

Bad news: as I mentioned in my post, my screen is cracked again and it's been less than a month. My biggest issue was that I wish that someone at Apple OR the MacMedics store would say, "hey, let's find out why your computer cracked, what could have caused it?" Had anyone instructed me to not place ANYTHING in there with the computer close - I'd not be in the same boat. I'd not have been an idiot and stick a piece of paper in there that had ONE staple in it. As mentioned, I've done this to all my windows laptops for YEARS, so I never expected that was the cause. Had I had known I’d not done it. Also, my girlfriend has MacBook from 4 years ago, she sticks entire folders in hers, her laptop takes a beaten but she has never had any crack screens or anything. She laughs at how protective I am of my electronics/computers yes, mine broke by a simple staple and hers has no issues. I’ve seen hers fell off the bed, counter, and survived.

ADVISE: If you were like me and bought AppleCare (because they didn’t sell AppleCare+ at the time) then call Apple Support until you talk to someone about getting it fixed. You should by no means pay out of pocket for the screen for the first repair. It stinks that we didn’t have the opportunity to buy it (if you bought your computer before June 2017). Good luck, take great care of it, don’t stick ANYTHING in between your screen and fight Apple until they pay for your first screen repair.

call the apple support, be nice and ask to talk to someone else if that person isn't helping you. they replaced my first crack for free (I paid labor, $99). I recomemnd get them to repair it for free (don't back down and call their support till you get that solution). once you get it back sell it to someone else with the fixed screen, then get a refurbished one from Apple AND get AppleCare+

p.s. most credit cards cover your computer/electronics against theft or accidental damages for 120 days after you buy it, that's another option.

I have the exact same issue, always treated my Mac very gently. Closed my Mac, chatted with my friends, when I reopen it ready to get back to work, this happened.

Calling apple now, hope it could be solved with no additional fee and apple would address this issue, more hopefully take it into consideration for a easy solution when it happens as well as upgrade the design for the next gen.

While I am typing, apple has already made an exceptions for me for the no charge repair and booked an appointment for tmr.

When this issue has to you, please don't panic, all the support line and explain the situation as it is.

It worked for me, it would for you too.

xoxo

Turns out that if there's something (tiny rock, stale cookie crumbs-- something moderately hard) fell in the hinge area past the function keys/touch bar area and then you close the lid, the leverage from closing the lid causes the glass to crack.

Make sure that hinge area is clean before you shut your screen-- older MacBook Pro's didn't have a metal hinge going all the way across, but had holes for venting.

Also, don't be that guy that uses the computer like a manilla folder-- putting sheets of paper with staples in there.. (Re: Cracked screen MacBook Pro with Touch Bar) Theres only about 1mm of clearance, and a staple is like 3mm-- so yeah, a quick look at the screen of the laptop compared to other windows machines will tell you that that's going to crack it once you close your lid :/ Sorry, stay in school though, physics is wonderful.

Considering your anecdotal fallacy, I'll say this. 4 million units produced is what they made in 2017 for the MacBook Pro models. And doing a quick Google search for people who have voiced similar cracked screens indicate that it's a minute fraction of the population. So lets give you the benefit of the doubt and say that 4000 people have issues with this and are voicing it. Still not enough to claim that there is a engineering fault.

The fact of the matter is this and real bottom line is this-- you placed something into an area that isn't meant to have something placed and that action caused damage. Now you're misplacing your frustration on something bigger than yourself because that'll help you alleviate your frustrations. The thing is, you can continue this behavior with any brand of computer, and will eventually end up with the same outcome-- and I'm not Apple biased by any means, I have with of Lenovo 420's, 480s, p51's, and p52s's as well as a couple of Dell Latitudes (e5400, e6520, e7740, and e7250) that I have and use. You used to get away with this because all of those older machines had frames that created gaps between the display and the keyboards. The newer machines from Dell, Lenovo, Apple, Asus, Microsoft are all flat pieces of glass with tiny rubber gasket on the edge as bumper. The amount of space that you'll have to place papers with staples have decreased over the years and thats a behavior that will have to change.

I wish I could be more sarcastic when it comes to laying information out, but what I've said is all truth. Panasonic Toughbooks are powerful and durable-- and you probably could get away with shoving papers in between the keyboard and display. Space has decreased between the display and keyboard. Glass is fragile. The amount of those having these issues is tiny compared to the amount of units produced. The action that caused the damage was caused by something placed into an area that wasn't meant to have anything placed into it. No sarcasm there.

Some actions will have the same result regardless of brand. Apple users are just as bad as PC users, same with iPhone and Android. I can't stand it when people do something and misplace the blame. Applied Pressure to Lid Causes Cracked Screen in Touchbar Macbook Pro? | MacRumors Forums -- answered by people who have Dells as well as other devices. Cracks occur due to a cause.

Regardless, sorry that happened to you. Best thing for you to do is to find a different laptop that will support your behaviors and check it out thoroughly and pay attention to the display if you're going to continue stuffing the laptop. Apple isn't going to miss you, and no other company will either. But since you worked for Dell in 2011, you probably know that their technical service still takes a few weeks to fulfill should this type of thing happen (unless you pay for the warranty to have someone come out). Also, in 2011, the E series Latitudes were super durable... I'm surprised as a former Dell employee, you would have such a perspective. My E6420 was a tank. Anyway, have fun with whatever flavor of computing power you like!

The tolerances are very close. There is very little space between the top-case where the keyboard sits and the screen.

Possibly because of complaints from folks who (deliberately or by accident) left something in that space and then closed and broke the screen, Apple has redesigned ...

... the documentation -- now providing a dire warning not to put anything in there:

Do not use palm rest or keycap covers on a MacBook Pro with Retina display - Apple Support

.

To enable the thin design of MacBook Pro with Retina display computers, the clearance between the display and the top case is engineered to tight tolerances. Do not use palm rest covers or keycap covers, as the additional thickness may interfere with the designed closed position of the display.

--from:

Do not use palm rest or keycap covers on a MacBook Pro with Retina display - Apple Support

"I'm sorry but my MacBook is in immaculate condition, nothing was done to the machine for this to happen and it s clearly a fault and/or not fit for normal usage."

Being in "immaculate condition" doesn't mean you didn't cause the screen to crack, because it was definitely caused by the user. Simple as that. The glass is cracked. Glass on the MacBook Pro's screen/LCD cannot physically crack itself. That defies the laws of physics. Something was lodged in between the screen and the top case (keyboard) and when the screen was closed it put forth pressure on the screen causing the crack.

At this point you're responsible for paying for it to get fixed. Apple is not going to repair/replace your screen free of charge unless you bought the AppleCare Plus, which would still require you to pay the deductible, but by no means is this a defect or fault of the manufacturer.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yeah, chances are you closed the lid and a small hard object was lodged between the keyboard and screen or near the hinge. If you have AppleCare Plus then Apple will replace your screen less the deductible for $99.00.

Hi!

For everyone who has this hairline crack damage, which then gets bigger and bigger. I just called Apple Service 4 times. The problem is now known there and is also fully documented. Don't give up and get on Apple's nerves and get a manager at Apple's phone support (even if you have to wait on hold). Also enter it at https://www.apple.com/feedback/, almost as a complaint. The more people report it and energetically inform Apple, the faster something happens that the MacBooks will be called back. That helps each of us. I do it because I've always been satisfied with all Apple products.