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Apple M1 MacBook Owners Are Noticing Random Cracks On Their Screens
By Mikelle Leow, 03 Aug 2021
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Photo 211575929 © Media Whalestock | Dreamstime.com
It seems that designing lightweight laptops comes at an opportunity cost, and M1 MacBook owners discovered this the difficult—and sometimes expensive—way after finding cracks on their displays during normal usage. As reported by 9to5Mac, this frustration affects both M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro models.
Apple users have taken to forums, including Apple’s own support threads, to air their annoyances about cracks appearing on the screens “for no apparent reason” after they had opened or closed the laptop lids, or even when they had just returned to use the MacBooks.
Some users were granted free repairs or replacements by the company, while others were charged to fix their screens. 9to5Mac reader Ian Probert said he was made to pay £570 (US$792).
“I bought a MacBook Air M1 six months ago and the screen cracked for no apparent reason,” one person shared on Apple Support Communities. “Same thing here,” another chimed in. “Sitting on my desk… came home, opened it, and it was cracked.”
Other users reported visual changes to their screens as a result of the impact, such as the appearance of “bars” and their displays blacking out.
“Last weekend, my wife was watching a movie on Netflix and adjusted the screen at the edge to change the viewing angle,” said one user, who had purchased the M1 MacBook Air four weeks ago. “The screen blacked out except for an area on the left which had bright lines in [an] irregular pattern.”
While the cause of the cracks hasn’t been addressed by Apple, users surmise that their laptops could have suffered damage when their lids were closed and there was debris at the bottom. This problem affects all kinds of laptops, and not just the MacBook, but there’s a chance the M1 displays are more fragile even with smaller crumbs or other debris.
Another theory is that the frames of the slimmer MacBooks are too weak to support torque force when the lids are repeatedly opened or closed, or when the laptops are being carried around.
Until there’s an explanation for this, you might want to be especially gentle when shutting your MacBook top.
[via TechRadar and 9to5Mac, cover image via Photo 211575929 © Media Whalestock | Dreamstime.com]
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