I pity the average consumers. I don't used to go to forums until my iMac 3rd gen broke down. It broke literally just a couple of months after the extended Applecare expired. I went to bring it to the my local apple store and they said that I will need to pay for the repair myself because the applecare has expired and the recall deadline for the known fault (capacitor bulging) has already passed. I have registered the iMac with them with the extended applecare and I didn't get any emails for the recall. After that, I always make sure I am up-to-date with any known issues with my apple products.
I think if Apple can get away with it, they will. They almost got away with the antenna issue with the iPhone4 until the Consumer Agency in the US made their report.
Apple is turning to be like Microsoft.
They DID get away with it with the antenna issue. It has sold like gangbusters. As long as the product still sells, you got away with it. However, I think the antenna thing and the light bleed thing have been blown WAY out of proportion by a vocal minority of people.