Apple Now Facing Class Action Suit for Cracked M1 MacBook Screens

Apple
(Image credit: Apple)

The law firm Bursor and Fisher filed a class action lawsuit against Apple this week over unusually common screen cracks on M1 MacBooks, reports 9to5Mac. The firm is accusing Apple of knowingly selling laptops with fragile displays that tend to crack under normal use in some cases and then refusing to repair them without charge. Bursor and Fisher is now seeking compensation for all expenses associated with repairs.

While Apple's latest 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks based on the M1 system-on-chip received great reviews and made many owners happy on launch, there is also a large number of customers who have experienced unexpected screen cracks and were forced to pay $600 ~ $850 to Apple for repairs. Apple insists that screen cracks were not its fault, but were caused by mishandling or by a small item or particle becoming lodged between the keyboard and screen.

Last week, class action law firm Migliaccio & Rathod LLP said it had begun looking for owners of Apple's latest MacBooks with cracked LCDs to make "potential legal claims against" the company. Apparently, lawyers from Bursor & Fisher were quicker, so they filed the case 5:21-cv-07109, Almeida v. Apple this week.

"The M1 MacBook is defective, as the screens are extraordinarily fragile, cracking, blacking out, or showing magenta, purple and blue lines and squares, or otherwise ceasing to function altogether," the lawsuit reads. 

"Thousands of users from across the globe have reported this issue directly to Apple and on Apple sponsored forums," the lawsuit continues. "Nonetheless, consumers who have attempted to secure replacements or repairs have been rebuffed by Apple, often forced to pay out of pocket upwards of between $600 and $850 for repairs themselves or to secure replacements without Apple’s assistance. Others who have secured repairs or replacements from Apple have quickly experienced the problem reappearing on the repaired or replaced laptop."

Truth to be told, Apple issued a notice on August 27 asking owners of MacBooks not to use any camera covers, palm rest covers, or keyboard covers with their laptops because "the clearance between the display (screen) and the top case is engineered to tight tolerances [which is why] leaving any material on your display, keyboard, or palm rest might interfere with the display when it's closed and cause damage to your display."

The case's plaintiff believes that this notice is essentially Apple's recognition of the issue even though the warning was not issued to any specific Mac laptop.

That plaintiff wants Apple to compensate the cost of repairs for himself and other people with similar problems as well as award "reasonable attorney's fees and costs." But screen repairs are very costly, just like lawyers in the U.S. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether Apple will admit the issue and what the plaintiff and people similarly situated will get from the "Think different" company. 

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

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  • hotaru251
    but were caused by mishandling or by a small item or particle becoming lodged between the keyboard and screen.

    if a literal particle can crack screen from being between screen adn keyboard.....thats a design problem not an end user problem. it is legit 100% impossible to keep a particle out of something in a non controlled room.
    Reply
  • thisisaname
    Ooops
    Reply
  • peachpuff
    Apple clearly doesn't know how to make hardware, it should fire its designers, most of the phones and laptops they release have a recall.
    Reply
  • Historical Fidelity
    This was inevitable for Apple, they’ve always prioritized artistry over function and they’ve finally gone too far. How can you use something that is meant to be portable if it can’t survive being put in a laptop bag, backpack, or simply closing the lid with something as common as a fallen strand of hair between the palm rest and screen. That’s absolutely ridiculous…..
    Reply
  • Hrunga Zmuda
    Admin said:
    Apple sued for MacBook Air, MacBook Pro screen cracks.

    Apple Now Facing Class Action Suit for Cracked M1 MacBook Screens : Read more

    So says the lawyers. I have yet to hear of one single incident from anybody I know who has an M1 MacBook Pro. I've had one since the very beginning and it's doing just fine.

    My suspicion is these lawyers saw deep pockets and went for it.

    And I never got any notice from Apple saying I needed to be careful about putting anything between my screen and keyboard. Common sense has kept me safe apparently.
    Reply
  • Sleepy_Hollowed
    Historical Fidelity said:
    This was inevitable for Apple, they’ve always prioritized artistry over function and they’ve finally gone too far. How can you use something that is meant to be portable if it can’t survive being put in a laptop bag, backpack, or simply closing the lid with something as common as a fallen strand of hair between the palm rest and screen. That’s absolutely ridiculous…..

    Seriously. Their 2014 models had bubbling between the screen laminate and display due to age/heat.

    I have a Dell that I took camping and survives that plus hikes, that was well designed with rubber on the screen all over to leave about 10 mm of space so keys never hit the screen.
    Reply
  • artk2219
    Hrunga Zmuda said:
    So says the lawyers. I have yet to hear of one single incident from anybody I know who has an M1 MacBook Pro. I've had one since the very beginning and it's doing just fine.

    My suspicion is these lawyers saw deep pockets and went for it.

    And I never got any notice from Apple saying I needed to be careful about putting anything between my screen and keyboard. Common sense has kept me safe apparently.

    Not the first time apple has built something with a design flaw, never really owned up to it, and offered free replacements or repairs in hopes of getting ahead of a lawsuit. They did it with the iphone 4 and "you're holding it wrong", with the 2010 to 2013 MacBook pros that would overheat and die, the coating on their 2013 to 2016 MacBook lcds that would come off if you looked at it wrong, the many bent iphone 6's, the "new thinner" keyboards on their 2015 to 2019 MacBooks (seriously, they used a defective design for four years, and then finally just went back to the old keyboard design as the fix), and now this. They don't make amazing products, and frankly they've had more silent recalls than any manufacturer I can think of, but people keep spending money on that fruit fix. I worked as an apple authorized repair technician and have seen too much of their crap, they get away with things that other companies would have had customers beating down their doors about.
    Reply
  • mitch074
    I'm getting an intense sense of déjà vu...
    They are holding it wrong.
    Reply
  • lastguytom
    Apple does not think differently, they are thinking like the traveling medicine scam sellers of the old west or used car salesmen of the 50'60'70' A sucker born every minute and after that marry another sucker and have children, and they continue the cycle of buying overpriced Apple products
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    Hrunga Zmuda said:
    And I never got any notice from Apple saying I needed to be careful about putting anything between my screen and keyboard. Common sense has kept me safe apparently.
    you kind of miss Apple's statement. "Apple insists that screen cracks were not its fault, but were caused by mishandling or by a small item or particle becoming lodged between the keyboard and screen. "

    they are admitting its happening but tryign to blame customers for it with rediculous claims of stuff between screen/keyboard...stuff as small as a particle.
    Reply