Apple Extends Free Repairs of Anti-Reflective Coating on Select MacBook and MacBook Pro Models

[falcn]

Damn, I really hoped they fixed it in 2013 by changing the formula.
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I hope it works out. I hate wasting our readers' time. I don't want people to show up for a Genius Bar appointment and be turned away. This document is real. It's recent. It's from Apple. I don't understand why they so often don't seem to acknowledge these internal policies that *they* set.

I guess they don't want to open floodgates.

They have a certain number of customers who bring macbooks with damaged coating to apple store. If they make public announcement, that number can increase 100-1000x times.

 

[Polimo]

No questions asked, I get a free replacement screen. Although, they dismissed the 'staingate' diagnosis. Advising that they thought it was dust that had somehow managed to get behind the glass. Anywho, it is free and will be replaced on Wednesday.
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It has actually just been extended to four years. You need to re-approach the store and ask to speak to Management re: anti-reflective coating repair extension... Here: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/17/apple-extends-free-staingate-repairs/ ..... Good luck.

Thanks for the encouragement! I contacted Apple again and they confirm that they will do the replacement. Hope it workes out allright!
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When I was at the service provider, the tech showed me their GSX internal site listing this problem. Ask them again to verify.

As you suggested I asked again and indeed they confirm that they will do the replacement! Hope it works out allright!

 

[KisakiSama]

How timely. I just remembered that I needed to take my Late 2013 MacBook Pro in for this very issue (the top of my screen has started coming off in almost a leopard print pattern), saw that I had missed the deadline, but then found this post that they extended it. Made an appointment for tomorrow. Whew!

 

[DadBod630]

I went in to the Apple Store after seeing this and they accepted my Mac and they'll have it back to me within 3-5 days with a new screen, free of charge. Thanks

 

[HungLO]

Well, while hopeful, I showed up to my scheduled genius bar appointment with my Late 2013 rMBP 13" and was refused a free repair due to my laptop not being covered. They denied the claim of the program being extended and a senior advisor came to validate the statement made by the genius. Upon my return home I contacted online support and they proceeded to validate what transpired at the Apple Store.

 

[randomgeeza]

Well, while hopeful, I showed up to my scheduled genius bar appointment with my Late 2013 rMBP 13" and was refused a free repair due to my laptop not being covered. They denied the claim of the program being extended and a senior advisor came to validate the statement made by the genius. Upon my return home I contacted online support and they proceeded to validate what transpired at the Apple Store.

Hmmm, surprised to hear this. Whereabouts are you? The number of people, myself included, that have experienced something quite different, demonstrates that the program is in place and active. I would escalate the situation higher if it were me...

 

[HungLO]

Hmmm, surprised to hear this. Whereabouts are you? The number of people, myself included, that have experienced something quite different, demonstrates that the program is in place and active. I would escalate the situation higher if it were me...

I know, right. I'm in Tampa, FL. I'll be making a call as soon as I have the time.

 

[hipnetic]

Well, I have an appointment in a couple of hours for my Late 2013 rMBP 13", so I'll report back on how my visit goes.

One other thing I thought of...if I leave it with them, will they want my login password? Do they really need that? If so, I'm a bit concerned about them having access to some of my confidential files. I certainly have no desire/plans to wipe my hard drive before leaving it with them, but I'd probably temporarily delete some of those files (I've already backed up my most important files over the past weekend).

 

[bert0ld0]

So I have a mb15'' early 2013 with this issue but if more than 4 years have passed since the purchase I'll can do anything?
[doublepost=1511299177][/doublepost]But your purchase date is within 4 years or not? I've heard that if it's older than 4 years it's not more valid even if it's an early 2013

 

[hipnetic]

HungLo, just thought of something else...you say you have a late 2013 model (like me), but do you know the exact date that you purchased it?

 

[bert0ld0]

it's early 2013, so I may be out of the 4 years limit

 

[Juanito23]

the repair is label as "Problem Description: Enclosure - REP Display coating (MBPr)"

 

[pishi3g]

Missed 4 year cutoff by 3 weeks an was denied the repair

 

[WithBBQSauce]

The senior advisor I spoke with today insisted that there was no extension and the coverage on my late 2013 MBP expired last month. **sigh** Mine recently bubbled, too, and it looks horrible. Right in the middle of the screen.

 

[hipnetic]

My sympathy to those of you who were denied. I just got back home after going to the Apple store earlier. I had this web page/thread opened up and had also made some specific notes of buzzwords like "GSX" and Juanito23's repair label of "Problem Description: Enclosure - REP Display coating (MBPr)". I explained to the reps that my MacBook was out of warranty but that I was under the impression that this problem was being treated beyond the normal warranty period. Much of this was told to the first Apple rep who has the job of taking some preliminary notes and getting my MacBook's serial number.

I repeated some of this to the 2nd rep who came out to actually discuss/diagnose the issues, and I'm not sure if anything I said had any real impact. Regardless, he saw the issue and quickly told me that I would be covered. He added the disclaimer of the possibility of them finding signs of other damage (e.g., water damage) when they take it apart. I'm pretty confident that there isn't any damage of that sort, though I don't know why that would impact the repair of the issue at hand (the anti-reflective coating on my screen).

He told me that they're currently inundated with a ton of other repairs and the estimated turnaround time would be 5-7 days. Because of the upcoming long break I didn't want to be without my MacBook that long, so I opted to come back on Sunday to drop it off.

I'll add that there is still one issue that I'm concerned could cause me some grief...About 2 months ago I developed a horizontal line across the middle of my screen. It's very faint and I've worked around it, but to be honest, that line is a big reason why I was very interested about this screen repair getting covered. I first noticed the anti-reflective coating issues probably over 2 years ago, and was too lazy and indifferent about it to rush to the Apple store (about 30 mins away) even though I had read MacRumors earlier post about that issue being covered. Had I moved quicker to get my screen repaired I suspect that the horizontal line issue wouldn't have appeared (I'm assuming that issue is related to a defect in the display and not a defect in the main board of the MacBook), so I don't feel guilty about (hopefully) getting that out-of-warranty defect fixed. But now I do worry that when I drop it off and someone goes to do the screen replacement, if they notice it, might they note it as a non-covered defect that somehow disqualifies me. At this point, I'm fairly optimistic that because they've already "approved" me, that it won't matter.

Anyways...good luck to everyone else who has been turned down...hopefully you can fight it and get your repair approved.

 

[dmaxdmax]

damn........I just bought a 2017 15 inch MacBook Pro.......Hope this doesnt happen. of course it will probably be awhile before it starts happening

The problem on my mid-2012 rMBP is real but so minor that if they don’t do it i’ll be fine for quite a while. It’s been developing for years and just on the edge.

Moral of the story = if they offer to do a free repair but suggest I might want to wait for another part and do both at once, suck up the inconvenience and grab the free service!
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One other thing I thought of...if I leave it with them, will they want my login password? Do they really need that? If so, I'm a bit concerned about them having access to some of my confidential files. I certainly have no desire/plans to wipe my hard drive before leaving it with them, but I'd probably temporarily delete some of those files (I've already backed up my most important files over the past weekend).

This.

My life - bank and investment statements, passwords, personal letters, etc is on that computer. I do automatic backups via TimeMachine plus I back up documents to the cloud but the thought of everything somehow going poof is terrifying.

As Lawrence Olivier asked, “is it safe”?

 

[randomgeeza]

Don't give them your password.... They didn't ask for mine and I even checked whether I needed to turn the firmware password off. They said no...

So pleased got my machine back an hour ago, for a second time, free screen replacement... And still, 361 days left of Applecare... I've done very well out of that small investment.

 

[jcwacky]

I recently purchased a 2014 MacBook Pro from eBay and received it to find some small marks along the top of the display, only really viewable in bright light. Found this article and realised it must be the same thing. So took it to the Edinburgh Apple Store today and I pretty much only had to point at the small marks and the genius immediately understood the issue and said it would be replaced for no charge. No questions asked.

Work Authorisation mentions "Replace display under Quality Program (E1)".

 

[smacrumon]

I can still get brand new parts from the dealer for a 25 year old Benz............

Good to hear. A known defect on your Benz should be repaired and replaced.
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It's not a safety recall. I haven't seen any other company doing this. They would be losing money if they sent it out to everyone and told them they'd get a replacement. For instance me, whose mid-2012 rMBP is absolutely fine.

Good to hear your case, but many others didn't get a good one. Sure, it's not a safety recall, but that misses the point. The manufacturing of the MacBook was defective to begin with and that does necessitate a repair and or replacement. Manufacture it properly to begin with or fix it free later. That's just good business sense.

 

[H2SO4]

The problem on my mid-2012 rMBP is real but so minor that if they don’t do it i’ll be fine for quite a while. It’s been developing for years and just on the edge.

Moral of the story = if they offer to do a free repair but suggest I might want to wait for another part and do both at once, suck up the inconvenience and grab the free service!
[doublepost=1511364800][/doublepost]

This.

My life - bank and investment statements, passwords, personal letters, etc is on that computer. I do automatic backups via TimeMachine plus I back up documents to the cloud but the thought of everything somehow going poof is terrifying.

As Lawrence Olivier asked, “is it safe”?

My method has always been this, (I understand it's not possible on the latest Macs). I have a small blank low capacity hard drive with a fresh OS that I install in the machine prior to giving it away.

 

[hipnetic]

My life - bank and investment statements, passwords, personal letters, etc is on that computer. I do automatic backups via TimeMachine plus I back up documents to the cloud but the thought of everything somehow going poof is terrifying.

I forgot to follow up on this. I asked the guy if he was going to need my password, and he said "yes". But when I pushed back he said that they could also set up a guest account. In fact, since I wasn't going to come back another day to drop it off for the repair, he recommended that I set up the guest account myself in advance. He said to use the name "Guest" and the password "apple". He said that was the standard guest account/password that they always use. Not sure if that applies to every Apple store.

 

[jcwacky]

I forgot to follow up on this. I asked the guy if he was going to need my password, and he said "yes". But when I pushed back he said that they could also set up a guest account. In fact, since I wasn't going to come back another day to drop it off for the repair, he recommended that I set up the guest account myself in advance. He said to use the name "Guest" and the password "apple". He said that was the standard guest account/password that they always use. Not sure if that applies to every Apple store.

They asked me if I was ok to give them my password, I asked if setting up a guest account was ok, they said that’s perfectly fine, I asked if guest account required Administrator permissions, they said no, as long as they could open Facetime etc to check the new camera was working etc, then a Standard account was fine. So I left them with guest account with no password.

 

[hipnetic]

So now I'm a little confused about the whole "Guest" account thing...

I went to add a new user and saw that there's already a built-in "Guest account". But there's no way to assign a password to it and when I attempt to log in with it a popup alerts me that the computer is going to be rebooted to a secure Safari-only system. Tried that and it looks extremely limited.

But if I try to create a new user account and name it "Guest" the system tells me that that name is already used. So it seems odd that the "Genius" specifically told me to set up an account with the name "Guest".

Oh well...I just created a new account with "Standard" privileges and named it "Apple Support".

 

[KisakiSama]

Well, while hopeful, I showed up to my scheduled genius bar appointment with my Late 2013 rMBP 13" and was refused a free repair due to my laptop not being covered. They denied the claim of the program being extended and a senior advisor came to validate the statement made by the genius. Upon my return home I contacted online support and they proceeded to validate what transpired at the Apple Store.

Really odd. I just dropped off my Late 2013 rMBP 15” and they took it without question.

 

[randomgeeza]

I forgot to follow up on this. I asked the guy if he was going to need my password, and he said "yes". But when I pushed back he said that they could also set up a guest account. In fact, since I wasn't going to come back another day to drop it off for the repair, he recommended that I set up the guest account myself in advance. He said to use the name "Guest" and the password "apple". He said that was the standard guest account/password that they always use. Not sure if that applies to every Apple store.

I asked but they said no. And on receipt of the unit, everything was working fine. They allowed me the time to look over the casing and check the OS was running as it was. They verbalised that the repair went as expected and there were no issues found aside from the repair defect... What I did notice on getting it home, Find My Mac had been turned off, but that was all. I suspect they ran a diagnostic after the repair. But by all accounts they did not into my account.
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So now I'm a little confused about the whole "Guest" account thing...

I went to add a new user and saw that there's already a built-in "Guest account". But there's no way to assign a password to it and when I attempt to log in with it a popup alerts me that the computer is going to be rebooted to a secure Safari-only system. Tried that and it looks extremely limited.

That "guest" account is set up in that manner, to encourage a potential thief to log into the machine, whereby Find My Mac can then alert you to the unit's location.