Cracked screen MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

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!

Apple only provides the display assembly, complete, at a cost of US$600 to over US$800, and does not routinely cover this cost as a defect under warranty. Apple has not been responsive to suggestions that these should all be recalled and replaced.

Breaks that are ONLY in the bezel below the screen are largely cosmetic. Some users just put a strip of black vinyl electrical tape over the crack.

If you are handy, some sellers on eBay can provide a compatible black metal panel, or a third-party repair company may be able to install a black metal panel as a replacement bezel.

I was able to have the repairs made to the screen, Apple covered the costs but only after a second call to speak to senior support. The second call went something like this... " Im asking Apple inc. one last time to do whats right and remedy a well documented problem before me proceeding to small claims court". The 1st call lasted an hour with no resolve. The second call was no longer than 5 minutes before an apponitment was made at the closest Apple store the next day. The glass still goes to the bottom but has a 1/2" strip of like a vinyl wrap or electrical tape that runs the full width. See pic

Thanks for that!!! I have been looking for that since last year when the store refused to cover it and the manager got belligerent with me. I have also had posts deleted here. Here is a news article about the lawsuit for others that are wondering about this. I will take a screen cap before posting just because I m sure the lawyers would love to hear the Apple Mods are deleting our posts about a legal process. Who knows if any good will come of this but my understanding from the store employees is Mac usually needs to get sued before they fix these issues.

What needs to be made clear here is that it isn’t actually the screen itself that’s breaking. Neither the LCD panel, not the glass that covers it. The part that is breaking is actually the thin glass strip located BELOW the screen, with the MacBook Pro text on it. The glass of this is far thinner than that of the screen, and as a consequence will clearly be more fragile.

I don’t buy into the “you must have shut the laptop with something trapped between the keyboard and screen” responses I’ve seen here because the section that is cracking is NOT over the keyboard.

Mine cracked despite the MacBook living in a Henge Vertical Dock, being used connected to an external display, keyboard, and trackpad.

One thing that has crossed my mind is that the glass that is cracking is located right by the hottest part of the computer. The heatpipes all run across the back of the case, and the exhaust vents out of here. Under heavy use, the case on my MacBook is so hot in this area that I wouldn’t want to use it as a LAPtop.

The extreme heat build up here is making me question whether or not thermal expansion is causing the cracking issues that many are experiencing.

Yep, that's what it costs. Unaffiliated repair shops told me they would have to pay $1,000 just to buy the part to do the repair so I went back to Apple. It came to $875. Apparently a screen sensor was also broken so that jacked the price up even more. Funny part was that when they gave it back to me the Genius tried to wrap it in that foam warp stuff and she put a thick rubber band around it to hold it in place. That's literally what they said caused my screen to break (putting pressure on the cover while it was closed)...which was apparently user error when I do it (which I didn't btw) but it's standard practice when they do it. So I asked her to open it up and show me that there were no new cracks. We didn't see any. But... when this first happened and I questioned what could have caused it since I hadn't opened it in days and it was on my desk untouched the whole time.. they told me that the cracks sometimes are too small to be visible at first but that they can expand from unseeable to large enough to see over time. So...I could have cracks caused by the clerk's handling of my computer but since they won't be visible for a few days I don't know. I guess if they do appear those will be labeled as user error as well. Now it's basically a paper weight since I'm afraid to even touch it. I had the idea to trade it in and get an older model but they won't even take it as a trade in. They offered me nothing for it. I thought that was odd since I've traded in older, less in demand models before for good money. I can only conclude they don't think much of their own product.

It's a design flaw the computer screen for some reason is glass all the way down to the crack of the base of the computer that meets the keyboard. Dirt and crap get easily stuck in the crevices and there is barely any space to clean or push out the dirt since they made this crevice so tight. I had closed my computer on something that must have been in there and there's already a small chip at the bottom of my screen. If I had apple care it would cost me $99 to replace the screen if I Don't have apple care $600+. They don't care about the customers or that they screwed up on how they made these. In older versions, the screens were raised up more had space for stuff to get through and the bottom was plastic between the screen and keyboard so this was never an issue. I cannot believe I didn't see this when I first bought it. I assumed the bottom strip was some type of plastic but I was very wrong. Now I have to pay $100 or more for some type of air compressor cleaner to clean between the cracks so I don't damage the screen more. The warranty doesn't cover this type of damage and I had a couple of weeks left to see and they said they don't cover it. I've had this computer for only 11 months. I spoke to people over the phone they don't seem very interested in fixing this issue. Too bad so sad it's your fault and "pay for it" attitude and it's not our problem and it's still gonna cost you out of pocket even with apple care. I won't be buying apple anymore.

[Edited by Moderator]

100% Yes. I have a late 2017 Macbook Pro, I baby it. It has been in a case since the day I got it. I do use it very often but never has anything happened to it. A couple of days ago, I noticed a chip in the glass right above the camera near where the laptop closes and the notch to open the laptop by the trackpad followed by a small crack in the LCD. A few hours later, the crack in the LCD grew and now the screen is just black. The computer still makes noise and displays when plugged in via HDMI so clearly, the screen is broken. Again, no impact and it would be nearly $450+ to fix and it just isn't worth it.

Apple is not here. Apple Support Communities is a User-to-User support forum. If other users can not help you think of a fix, No further help is likely to be forthcoming using this medium. There are no standard mechanisms for escalating problems to Apple Support from here, and Apple Engineering and Marketing Movers and Shakers do NOT monitor these forums looking for trends and outstanding issues.

DO NOT "wait for Apple to provide a fix". Unless and until a large number of users present their issues through standard problem-reporting channels, Apple does not know there is a problem, and is NOT working on a fix. Being selfish is the best policy, getting yours fixed helps everyone.

If advice supplied here does not provide resolution, You must take additional steps to resolve your issues. Contact Apple support directly through one of these methods:

• contact telephone support (free for 90 days with a new Mac, of for three years with AppleCare purchase)

• make an appointment at the genius bar at an Apple-owned store for hardware evaluation and advice (free anytime, but after five years parts may no longer be available).

• initiate an Online chat

• Visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider (there may be an "evaluation fee", but if they perform any service for a fee, ask for a rebate of the evaluation fee).

If you want to send your preferences directly to Apple use the feedback links:

Product Feedback - Apple

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Don’t bother fixing it! Maybe try to plug in an external monitor and use it as a workstation - or maybe you can use an iPad or even one of the larger iPhones as the external display. - it’s definitely not worth the investment to pay out of pocket for then repair! I have a 2013 MBA that is still working fine, so I bought a dell inspiron 15 5505 ryzen 7 4700u for less than the cost of the screen repair and upgraded the memory to 32 gb plus added a 1Tb NVME drive to the 256gb drive - and it was still in the ballpark of the cost of the MBP screen repair - while the display isn’t as crisp/bright as the MacBooks and since this model is sort of the upper entry level model, it’s not quite as sleek or quite as light, but it’s good enough for my needs, plus it’s speedier and it doesn’t hang up like my MB Pro did, and hence exceeds any of my processing or storage needs. Plus, the fan doesn’t run nearly as much on the Dell in comparison to the MB Pro or MBA, which was rather frequent plus the Apples heated up a lot too.

So overall, I have zero regrets about not having the screen repaired and I am very happy about not throwing away any more money on such a poorly designed, over priced, and underperforming Apple product! This one is expandable to 2TB and unofficially up to 64 gb Ram. So if I need a better display to one day do more graphic oriented work, I think it should be able to handle it. But only time will tell I guess. But no denying its definitely more bang for the buck for my needs with possibility to upgrade it even further if necessary!

Maybe when this pandemic ends, I’ll take the broken MBP someplace to see if it will boot up to an external display and if it can be salvaged as an additional workstation. But as of yet, I haven’t been successful in getting it working with an older model display or TV via hdmi, but hoping I just need the certified usb c/hdmi apple adapter instead of this cheaper third party one that I had on hand.

PS- I also sort of regret buying this refurbished iPad Pro from Apple as well! This touch screen is the absolute pits. It hangs up constantly plus typing on it is awful as well!

Not that it's much comfort, but I buy compressed canned air. It cleans the keyboard and that crack well. I also keep a makeup brush which is very soft and angled to brush the bottom of the screen. I keep it very clean, but my crack(s) occurred when it was brand new. There was nothing there. Both holes are directly in front of the two springs. I clean carefully because the electrical tape I used to cover the holes tends to attract bits of flotsam due to the adhesive edge.

Yes, what happened was the hinges were not placed sufficiently far enough from the glass not to tap on it when the MBP was opened and closed. With mine all I did was close it and I heard a tiny scrunch. There was nothing there but a hole and some impossibly fragile glass shards. A few days later the same thing opposite hinge. It wasn't user error and now you HAVE heard of a spontaneous crack, or in my case two holes, one in front of each hinge.