Apple Extended its MacBook Pro Anti-Reflective Coating Repair Program

[ubidefeo]

Wanna hear a funny story?
At the end of 2013 I got myself one of the rMBP 13 which was a BTO unit and took one month to arrive from the factory.
Fully specced out with fastest CPU and max amount of RAM (16GB).
I kept the SSD at 250GB not to shell an extra few hundreds on an already expensive unit.
I have been (and still am) very happy with the machine and acknowledge its limits.

I bumped into this post and decided to go check my replacement options since there is some wearing out near the camera, but I knew nothing about this replacement program.

To my surprise, my unit is not covered by such program because it's been bought on a business account, and consumer's laws do not apply.

Nice one, Apple. You keep surprising me even after 14 years of being a loyal customer.
Have to admit 2 weeks ago I built myself a Hackintosh and I'm impressed by its performance.
I'll still get a new MBP when the time comes (most likely end of the year) and am still ordering new iPhones because the alternatives are NIL, but boy, do I get pi**ed off more and more as the years go.

(the attached screenshot is in dutch but says "Repairs and service coverage: Consumer law not applicable (business purchase)
This product is not covered under consumer legislation. Apple's Limited Warranty and the benefits of AppleCare Protection Plan AppleCare + are in addition to the rights provided by consumer legislation")

 

[cmmaia]

Hi there folks!
My Late 2013 rMBP 13 has this problem on the bottom black part of the screen. It was bought directly from the portuguese Apple Store on 24 October 2013 (invoice date).

Is it supposedly included on the service advisory or not?

Afaik there's no physical Official Apple Store in Portugal, so how do I go about bringing my case up? (using macrumor's suggested online method leads to a "your product is not covered by the free technical phone support" (in portuguese).

Is there any offical Apple information on the matter to backup my claims?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Edzard]

This product is not covered under consumer legislation. Apple's Limited Warranty and the benefits of AppleCare Protection Plan AppleCare + are in addition to the rights provided by consumer legislation")

Feel sorry for you. I am a Dutch emigrant that moved 2 decades ago to the other side of the pond. As I see it the NL government needs to update their laws around warranty think Apple just follows that exception since it fits them.

 

[BoltmanLives]

That picture is a grim and upsetting, its a constant reminder of how people lose money/use on lame expensive stuff that fails visually. Fix retina or don't sell it. I personally hate looking at cracked Iphones and ridiculous peeling "retina' displays, its 2017 we should have better products , at least I do but i have to look at your visually faulty products. Its upsetting to be exposed to them online and in public.

This includes fingerprint magnet jet black phones choices, they look like petri dishes after a few minutes , yuck
My tech is appealing not an eyesore/health hazard as to not upset those around me.

 

[PalidinoDH]

Really? That is the easiest question to answer. Apple's arguably the biggest consumer company around. Other companies, especially consumer electronics ones, are not held to the same scrutiny and regard. A lot of that scrutiny is held by Apple's most loyal fan base as well. We want the best product as anyone else does. We want high end products that last and we get them.

Yet ,apl wants a one or two year cycle and people are "scared' to do those "free os upgrades for year" (as listed below) breaking something or bogging the device to a crawl. Windows upgrades devices get "new life", apl upgrade they get slower and break (IMO by design)

With their size and end user base they are up for a lot of scrutiny from people who do and don't like them. You know why Microsoft Lumia phones don't get any slack when/if they have problems.

But Lumia phones don't have problems , I've owned 4. Unless a few less aps is an issue Lumia as rock solid.

Because nobody cares. You'll have to find people with the same phone to begin with and then determine how many have the same problems when they've bearly shipped any units anyway. Apple ships and gets MILLIONS of phones in people's hands. So when an issue pops up bam, you get a #___gate.

Yes, yes you do I agree

I have been treated well over the years. Their prices are high because they are a hardware company who couples it with great software.

ITunes? Siri? I rest my case

They were giving away OS upgrades for years. And they tend to use the highest quality electronic parts. A lot of them being made in China. Where do you think the parts from the other manufacturers build theirs? lol That is why flash storage had been in short supply for a while there at peak smartphone boom.

My phone was made in Vietnam

Also demand price is high,yes. Prices are always higher for things that are higher quality, dependable, and work well. This is not unusual in any industry Same appl.ies here for consumer electronics. One of the reasons I will buy an iPhone or othe Apple hardware anyway. Keep an iPhone two years and still sell it for ~$2-300 or whatever.

And then spend another $300-400 on the phone apl wants you to buy in a 1 year or 2yr cycle
Expensive cycles

Good luck with that and most other phones. Trade in sites such as Gazelle and others usually offer like $5 for many androids after 2 years.

Well I don't expect to sell my 4 phones and only spent $39+$39+$29+298= $405 Have loaned out two of them one to my father in law the other to a neighbor. They love them, I feel good helping them.

Any other questions I can help you out with?

No, I think its pretty clear whats going on,,most people have not had the luxury of seeing yet using a Lumia. Rather overpriced Iphones and insecure Androids yay

My iPhone 5 still works perfect, I would know because it's still the phone I use daily and I owned a 6 Plus before dropping it one too many times. I haven't held back on any OS upgrades for it. Although I just purchased a new Macbook Pro this year, I had been using a 2013 Macbook Air that still runs great.

So because you've owned 4 Lumia phones, that means none have issues? In that same regard, because some iPhones/Macs have problems, that means they all do?

I don't use Siri but I use iTunes every day without issue.

 

[iMacDragon]

To my surprise, my unit is not covered by such program because it's been bought on a business account, and consumer's laws do not apply.


(the attached screenshot is in dutch but says "Repairs and service coverage: Consumer law not applicable (business purchase)
This product is not covered under consumer legislation. Apple's Limited Warranty and the benefits of AppleCare Protection Plan AppleCare + are in addition to the rights provided by consumer legislation")

Have you actually asked them? This replacement program is different entirely to consumer legislation, which is basically referring to general warranty, not a known fault correction program.

These programs are specifically seperate to general warranty.

 

[sudo1996]

Insanity to keep buying? Wow its almost like a prisoners dilemma. /smh

On my side over 30 years , I have never had any major issues with my PC's self-built (apart from one PSU going bad after several years) nor my laptops apart from on my Vaio the keys started to loose their lettering on some used keys after 4 years of use. The XBOX360 sort of fell apart with the kids using it..other than that no issues not even a failed HDD. My wife's G3 phone was trash. My phones 520, 635, 640 and 950 no issues..my older sons Nexus 4 after several years the battery pooped out (he loved that phone) got a OnePlus 3

One reason I picked the Surface Pro 4, was the ability to replace with better keyboard down the road, to mitigate the Vaio "used key" issue I had.

Is very weird apl hardware continually has so many issues, supposedly their strong suit fans say?
Observations say otherwise.

Non-Apple laptops have actually had even worse hardware reliability in my experience, and they also have garbage keyboards & trackpads in comparison. Non-Apple desktops are great, and I have one as a Linux workhorse that's been taking abuse and going strong, but I don't use that as my PC. As a software engineer, I don't have much of a choice other than Mac. Sorry to sound elitist, but BSD/Linux on my work PC isn't worth my time (different story on servers), and I can easily find ways to guard my productivity against hardware failures. And Windows is totally a no-go for programming, nor would I use it for most kinds of work. I'd rather focus on being productive rather than worry about spending more on hardware that's actually relatively cheap compared to my other expenses, like rent.

P.S. Prisoner's Dilemma is something else, not sure how you're relating it. That's the game where people can cooperate or cheat.
[doublepost=1488154989][/doublepost]

Check the ports for lint. Sounds like they are blocked up. Get something long and thin and try to pull out the lint. Same thing happened on my phone, charging got harder and headphones only worked correctly if I pressed them in.

Thanks; I have had to do that several times, but no, there's some other issue. The Lightning connector just doesn't fit tightly even when it's clean, and it'll sometimes say my genuine cable is not genuine. And the DAC distorts my sound sometimes. The front facing camera is also not totally aligned with the hole, which doesn't affect my pictures but indicates that my phone was maybe some kind of manufacturing dud.

 

[BoltmanLives]

Non-Apple laptops have actually had even worse hardware reliability in my experience, and they also have garbage keyboards & trackpads in comparison. Non-Apple desktops are great, and I have one as a Linux workhorse that's been taking abuse and going strong, but I don't use that as my PC. As a software engineer, I don't have much of a choice other than Mac. Sorry to sound elitist, but BSD/Linux on my work PC isn't worth my time (different story on servers), and I can easily find ways to guard my productivity against hardware failures. And Windows is totally a no-go for programming, nor would I use it for most kinds of work. I'd rather focus on being productive rather than worry about spending more on hardware that's actually relatively cheap compared to my other expenses, like rent.

P.S. Prisoner's Dilemma is something else, not sure how you're relating it. That's the game where people can cooperate or cheat.
[doublepost=1488154989][/doublepost]
Thanks; I have had to do that several times, but no, there's some other issue. The Lightning connector just doesn't fit tightly even when it's clean, and it'll sometimes say my genuine cable is not genuine. And the DAC distorts my sound sometimes. The front facing camera is also not totally aligned with the hole, which doesn't affect my pictures but indicates that my phone was maybe some kind of manufacturing dud.

And Windows is totally a no-go for programming, nor would I use it for most kinds of work.

I call this statement completely false. Admit it you simply don't like windows
Since you can get BASH on Windows 10... you can program just fine.

 

[electric sheep]

Hi there folks!
My Late 2013 rMBP 13 has this problem on the bottom black part of the screen. It was bought directly from the portuguese Apple Store on 24 October 2013 (invoice date).

Is it supposedly included on the service advisory or not?

Afaik there's no physical Official Apple Store in Portugal, so how do I go about bringing my case up? (using macrumor's suggested online method leads to a "your product is not covered by the free technical phone support" (in portuguese).

Is there any offical Apple information on the matter to backup my claims?

Thank you for your help.

FWIW I handed my late '13 rMBP 15" to apple authorized service in Thailand a week ago, and they were very clear that the panel will get replaced for free, even though technically it's been bought more than 3 years ago (previously advertised coverage period).
Apple might not have their own stores, but they will have authorized service providers https://locate.apple.com/pt/en/service/?pt=4&lat=38.7252993&lon=-9.150036399999976 in your country; my advice would be to try contacting those to check whether your macbook is covered.

 

[JDW]

I bought a fully loaded 15" 2015 Retina MBP in December 2016, despite having read extensively about StainGate in the past. What I did was also buy a microfiber cloth perfectly fitted for the 15" so I, in theory, could avoid problems like StainGate over time. I've cleaned the screen multiple times with the cloth (dry, not wet, and I never use any cleaners nor any alcohol) and so far the screen is pristine. I always lay the cloth over the keyboard before I close the MBP.

Here is the exact cloth I purchased from Amazon (Clean Screen Wizard):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y1HFLAM/

It was a nice deal because they actually give you multiple cloths!

With that said, I don't think we should be forced to do this. We need anti-reflective coatings, that's for certain. But it would be nice if Apple could better seal those coatings so they would not come off. If that is impossible, then going back to matte screens would be the only logical recourse. For now, I am happy with my microfiber cloth solution.

 

[Exsomos]

This is funny. I JUST went to apple yesterday, not knowing anything about this.

My iPhone 7 plus died. ***** boooooo!!!!

While I was there, I brought in my late 2103 15" retina that had the coating coming off in the top right corner, was rather minor. At first, they were not going to help me, and wanted $690 for a new display, but then I talked to someone else and mentioned reading that this is a common issue... a few minutes later, they said they'd fix it by replacing the whole monitor assembly, for free. ***** Sweet Sauce!!!!

Just picked it up today. (they said 3-5 days, then had it fixed it in 3 hours) its a whole new top half. I do notice a little bit of light bleed with this new display, but it bothers me less then the coating coming off. and I don't look at too many black edge images/programs on this MacBook anyways.

So, I got mine fixed in the last 48 hours, for free. and it had far less coating peeling off then some of the pictures of other MacBooks I've seen posted on this thread.

 

[sudo1996]

And Windows is totally a no-go for programming, nor would I use it for most kinds of work.

I call this statement completely false. Admit it you simply don't like windows
Since you can get BASH on Windows 10... you can program just fine.

Hah, yeah right. People have been dealing with hacks like that, e.g. Cygwin, forever, and it just doesn't cut it. You think it's working alright then eventually get wrecked by some random problem, maybe with network sockets since I know those aren't really covered in Win10. Why risk that? Go to any tech company or CS-related educational institution (as I have been doing), and I guarantee you at most 2% of the programmers will be using Windows unless there's some specific reason they need it. And those people will be running Linux VMs / working on servers anyway.

Admit I simply don't like Windows? Yep, it's a total piece of garbage. I've been using it for over a decade and have never ceased to encounter new problems with its design and incompatibility. It's only good if you want to run a user-friendly-ish desktop OS on commodity hardware (cause the BSD/Linux desktop environments are horrible), in which case it's actually not too bad as a primary OS if you can do everything in a Linux VM, but is it seriously worth the trouble? And it also works well for shared PCs at a school or something.

 

[BoltmanLives]

Hah, yeah right. People have been dealing with hacks like that, e.g. Cygwin, forever, and it just doesn't cut it. You think it's working alright then eventually get wrecked by some random problem, maybe with network sockets. Go to any tech company or CS-related educational institution (as I have been doing), and I guarantee you at most 2% of the programmers will be using Windows. And those people will be running Linux VMs / working on servers anyway.

Admit I simply don't like Windows? Yep, it's a total piece of garbage. I've been using it for over a decade and have never ceased to encounter new problems with its design and incompatibility. It's only good if you want to run a user-friendly-ish desktop OS on commodity hardware, in which case it's actually not too bad as a primary OS if you can do everything in a Linux VM, but is it seriously worth the trouble? And it also works well for shared PCs at a school or something.

LOL..not a hack a subsystem shows how much you know.

If you're making, say Java applications, it doesn't matter. If you're writing plain ol' C with no GUI, it doesn't matter.
For a web developer, I'd say Windows as you get to check on all reasonably common web browsers, on Linux you don't.

SUDO you hate windows LOL look at your name. Bitter much? Where did MS hurt you?

Love that Linux sudo this sudo that sudo this sudo that. Your 2% figure= pulled out of thin air

 

[sudo1996]

LOL..not a hack a subsystem shows how much you know.

If you're making, say Java applications, it doesn't matter. If you're writing plain ol' C with no GUI, it doesn't matter.
For a web developer, I'd say Windows as you get to check on all reasonably common web browsers, on Linux you don't.

SUDO you hate windows LOL look at your name.

Love Linux sudo this sudo that sudo this sudo that. Your 2% figure= pulled out of thin air

It does matter in C a lot. Windows doesn't have the libraries. Java is the only place you're possibly safe, but that's a dying environment now. I'm guessing you don't work as a programmer if you think any more than 2% of them use Windows (not to bash Windows-using programmers; some are just more comfortable with it).

 

[BoltmanLives]

It does matter in C a lot. Windows doesn't have the libraries. Java is the only place you're possibly safe, but that's a dying environment now. I'm guessing you don't work as a programmer if you think any more than 2% of them use Windows (not to bash Windows-using programmers; some are just more comfortable with it).

BASH has all the libraries ...BASH is in Windows 10 look it up. "Ubuntu BASH on Windows 10"
Its stupid not to use 10 nowadays as a programmer, don't have to settle for a special gimped system. Can game too at lunch.

Haven't you heard? ..MS is now a Linux GOLD contributor.LOL
Wake up sudo...not 2007..Linux has been assimilated, your hate unfounded.

Soon 10 will do EVERYTHING linux does, they already stated as such

See thats what happens when you don't pay attention . You get schooled by those in the know.
Linux +Windows+Powershell...YES PLEASE

This is not WINE... Microsoft knows what they are doing as they have the best coders
So now go be a hero and tell your coder buddies.

 

[dan.yellow]

Mine has already been replaced twice so... I guess third time now... :|

 

[toke lahti]

Just wondering,
is Apple hating mini and mp, because they don't have this shiny reflective glassy thingy?

 

[sn]

Being from the optical industry (in the past) , all you can do is you is always use the correct AR cleaner and cleaning cloth (microfiber) , or its a shoddy application process that will eventually fail and nothing you can do...so try the AR cleaner/microfiber solution first. Hope it is not a shoddy application process.

Not all AR applications are created equal...see $15 online AR eyeglasses from China

I think it's the latter. I had the problem with the coating starting to come off a few weeks ago. I've never used any kind of chemicals on my screen and nothing besides a microfiber screen cloth. Don't know what else I could have done to avoid it.

 

[melendezest]

The glass screen cover on my 2011 17 glossy fell off (glue finally gave up) and I replaced it with the (lighter) antiglare bezel ring. It looks JUST AS GOOD, if not better.

I don't understand why Apple chooses glossy over matte for these devices, and then resorts to this jerry-rig to fix a problem they introduced.

 

[julescilib]

Going to bring in my MacBook tonight. How long should I expect it to be away from me in repair!?
They better not update my OS !

 

[sudo1996]

BASH has all the libraries ...BASH is in Windows 10 look it up. "Ubuntu BASH on Windows 10"
Its stupid not to use 10 nowadays as a programmer, don't have to settle for a special gimped system. Can game too at lunch.

Haven't you heard? ..MS is now a Linux GOLD contributor.LOL
Wake up sudo...not 2007..Linux has been assimilated, your hate unfounded.

Soon 10 will do EVERYTHING linux does, they already stated as such

See thats what happens when you don't pay attention . You get schooled by those in the know.
Linux +Windows+Powershell...YES PLEASE

This is not WINE... Microsoft knows what they are doing as they have the best coders
So now go be a hero and tell your coder buddies.

- "BASH has all the libraries": First of all, you have absolutely no idea what Bash is, do you? It's a shell; it's just that thing that lets you run commands and scripts. I think you're talking about the Linux subsystem, which is intended to provide compatibility with Ubuntu programs (and Unix-like stuff in general). It's a cool feature for those who occasionally need it, but it's got too many problems to use full-time. Sockets are a big issue. Nobody uses it as a replacement for Unix or Linux.
- "You get schooled": I'm going to get schooled because I'm using Unix to do Unix programming? Or if you're complaining about my hardware, you do know that programmers don't need cutting-edge fast hardware anymore, right?
- "your hate unfounded": Coming from a guy who goes on an Apple forum and doesn't use any Apple products.

P.S. Enjoy your ban.

 

[Mizery26]

What if I have already change it before? Do I eligible for another replacement?

 

[JDW]

The glass screen cover on my 2011 17 glossy fell off (glue finally gave up) and I replaced it with the (lighter) antiglare bezel ring. It looks JUST AS GOOD, if not better.

I'd love to see some pics of that, if you don't mind posting them.
[doublepost=1488245272][/doublepost]

I think it's the latter. I had the problem with the coating starting to come off a few weeks ago. I've never used any kind of chemicals on my screen and nothing besides a microfiber screen cloth. Don't know what else I could have done to avoid it.

Curious... Did you happen to put the microfiber cloth atop the keyboard and leave it there when you closed the top? The reason I do that is because I have read that applying pressure to the lid and bottom of the computer, without a soft cloth in the middle, could make the screen and keys come in contact. A combination of scratching/friction and finger oil combined with time may wear the anti-glare coating off. So again, that's why I use the microfiber cloth over the keyboard before I close my MBP, even though it's troublesome and a pain to do it.

 

[Exsomos]

Going to bring in my MacBook tonight. How long should I expect it to be away from me in repair!?
They better not update my OS !

They told me that it would be 3 to 5 days, but they mentioned that they are required to say '3 to 5 days'. I expected that it would be maybe a day or two, but they ended up having it done in an hour and a half !!!! So I drove all the back home, when I could have just hung out at the mall for another hour and a half... Wish they would have hinted to me that it could be that fast, and I could have stuck around for more info...

But I would assume that the repair time greatly relates to whether or not the apple store has any of the displays in stock.

They did offer to have the device shipped off, repaired, and shipped back to me at my home at no cost. They also stated that it would also take the exact same 3 to 5 day period as quoted in the store, for the in-store repair.

Hope that helps.

 

[tipoo]

Cool. I had this issue develop on my mid 2014 15" rMBP, along the top by the webcam, probably where my finger inevitably lightly grazes whenever I open it.

Took it into the best buy warranty I had, they took it for 3 weeks, came back unrepaired, "not a usability issue"

Took it into Apple for this program, they footed a 600 dollar display replacement bill without blinking and had it back the next day.

Lesson learned about Best Buy warranties, and Apples...

Though, I still want to know if the AR coating is actually improved and won't do the same thing after the extended program is up...?