I came upon this thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7995345?page=1) after I too experienced crushing and cracking damage of the logo baffle from something which dropped, unseen, into the “jaws” of the screen-hinging area of my new, 13-inch, 2018 MacBook Air.
Clearly, this is a defect in “materials and workmanship” which subject the MBs to easy accidental damage and, therefore should be covered by the warranty.
- The material in question is the fragile, glass-like logo baffle which can easily crack and shatter given enough local pressure. Materials with such characteristics should never be used in areas subject to vice-like pressures or, for that matter, normal pressures encountered in screen cleaning. Future designs should mitigate such vice-like mechanics in cover/screen hinging.
- The workmanship in question is the design of the screen/body hinging, where the space between the screen (and logo baffle ) diminishes as the screen/cover is closed, trapping and crushing anything which has fallen, unnoticed, into the dark, yawning gap, damaging the logo baffle and, possibly, the display screen, too.
As with defective airbags, the manufacturer, i.e., Apple, should be responsible for:
- Issuing a product warning to all owners of relevant MacBook models regarding this accidental damage vulnerability and measures to take to mitigate such damage*;
- Developing and offering free replacement of the defective part, one which would not be easily subjected to such damage; and
- Repairing, at no charge, damaged logo baffles and display screens which have already occurred.
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*I believe most of us would never have experienced damage if Apple had alerted us to the possibilities of such. We would then have attended to and avoided debris which might easily or otherwise, fall between the cracks with such costly consequences.
