Thunderbug has crawled under my screen

[melissa1993]

Bit of an odd issue, but basically a Thunderbug (tiny black bug) has crawled under my Macbook Pro screen somehow. Had this issue with my last laptop, a dell, but wasn't surprised it got under that flimsy screen and didn't really bother about it. I got my Mac about half a year ago relieved I didn't have to look at that bug again but of course, sods law, it's happened again.

I am still within my year warranty, however I never bought Apple Care, can anyone advise me whether or not I can get the screen taken apart and have this bugger taken out under the warranty? I'm going to call Apple tomorrow and see what I can do, but any personal experience would be helpful.

 

[radiohead14]

somewhere there's a thunderbolt joke there.. i think..

but to be serious for a sec.. yes i believe that's something apple warranty can take care of. apple's pretty good about weird issues.

ps.. had to look up what a thunderbug is.. sounds like you have a lot of them in your home. that can't be good..

 

[BenTrovato]

I could go for a pic or two of a thunderbug trapped in a laptop

 

[melissa1993]

I live in a rural area, so when the farmer cuts his field the place goes mad with thunder bugs for a couple of days. They get EVERYWHERE, it's funny they don't go to die in the cheaper options of laptop that are in my house though. I have no idea how the hell it got under the mac screen, but it was obviously damn determined. I've tried pushing it, tapping it, even trying with a hoover to suck it out of any possible gaps... nope, it won't decompose, after 3 years in my old laptop the damn thing looked like it had been there for not even a day.

Here is the said thunderbug trapped under my screen, they are tiny, but when you're conscious something like that is there it constantly catches your eye:

 

[Krazy Bill]

but to be serious for a sec.. yes i believe that's something apple warranty can take care of.

Well, when you solicit free advice, you get what you pay for. Now why in god's name would this be covered under warranty? Is it Apple's fault?

OP: Apple might take care of you just because of the novelty of your issue but they are under no obligation to do so. I would put on my best "orphan" face, wear some raggedy clothes and take it to an Apple store in person. You might catch somebody in a generous mood... who knows...

 

[whitedragon101]

Well, when you solicit free advice, you get what you pay for.

A tad harsh on the poor chap

 

[melissa1993]

Well, when you solicit free advice, you get what you pay for. Now why in god's name would this be covered under warranty? Is it Apple's fault?

OP: Apple might take care of you just because of the novelty of your issue but they are under no obligation to do so. I would put on my best "orphan" face, wear some raggedy clothes and take it to an Apple store in person. You might catch somebody in a generous mood... who knows...

I'm hoping I can try and find someone in a generous mood to be honest, although I seriously have my doubts. I don't know much about Apple customer care because I've never had to use it with any of my Apple products. However, I am a bit miffed, because I was told at an apple store when I was enquiring about MacBooks that the screen wouldn't allow a bug to get underneath it because it was sealed shut. Not great advice there then...

 

[saturnotaku]

Slightly OT: I had no idea a thunderbug was a real insect. I only knew of one as the mascot for the Tampa Bay lightning hockey team.

 

[melissa1993]

Just to add, does anyone know roughly how much I can fix this issue for in the UK if Apple won't allow it under the warranty?

 

[radiohead14]

Well, when you solicit free advice, you get what you pay for. Now why in god's name would this be covered under warranty? Is it Apple's fault?

like i said.. apple's good with random issues.. so it doesn't hurt to bring it in to the store. i've brought in strange issues like dust in the display to random noises coming from my mba (which turned out to be a small piece that looked like a paper clip stuck inside the aluminum chasis - probably from assembly).. all have been taken care of within the apple store for free.

 

[rabidz7]

I thought this was a thunderbolt joke at first!

 

[Krazy Bill]

Just to add, does anyone know roughly how much I can fix this issue for in the UK if Apple won't allow it under the warranty?

I can't give an estimate but the cost would be just billed based on time. There are no parts involved so I can't picture this being expensive at all.

 

[melissa1993]

Just to update, if anyone comes across this thread with the same problem (unlikely) this is covered by Apple Warranty. Called them up today and off to take it in for repair in a couple of days

Now I just got to hope it doesn't happen next summer...

 

[radiohead14]

Well, when you solicit free advice, you get what you pay for. Now why in god's name would this be covered under warranty? Is it Apple's fault?

Just to update, if anyone comes across this thread with the same problem (unlikely) this is covered by Apple Warranty. Called them up today and off to take it in for repair in a couple of days

Krazy Bill.. see? next time, please don't be condescending. i was merely giving my 2 cents based on my experience.

 

[hothill]

I had no idea a thunderbug was a real insect. I only knew of one as the mascot for the future.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Krazy Bill.. see? next time, please don't be condescending. i was merely giving my 2 cents based on my experience.

Fair enough. I did not mean to single you out personally. My comments were directed at all the armchair repair techs here that seem to speak for Apple whenever a newbie pops in.

Apologies to you my friend. (And good news for the OP )

 

[radiohead14]

Fair enough. I did not mean to single you out personally. My comments were directed at all the armchair repair techs here that seem to speak for Apple whenever a newbie pops in.

Apologies to you my friend. (And good news for the OP )

all good bill.

 

[xlsmile]

I've had same issue with a Thunderbug somehow crawled inside my new Retina iMac display. Poor thing lived there for a day, and then died (see screenshot).

When I tried to argue that screens are supposed to be sealed in a way that even a dust of speck shouldn't get in, an Apple sales freak Chris Churchill fought back stating that iMacs have vents and usb ports, and that "Apple doesn't produce bugs".

Following Chris's logic every iMac user should expect any insect (cockroach, fly, mosquito, ant etc) to be able to get inside the screen, and Apple has nothing to do with it, as it's an "environmental issue" (Chris's words).

When I said that the screen and the iMac case for external O/I devices are not the same thing in terms of how they should be protected, this sales activist presented me with a whole lecture on how wrong I was, separating one sealed object (ie iMac) into two parts.

Funny enough that later, after I pointed out that the insect was a thunderbug, he started a discussion about the insect being, in fact, an ant, and giggling at my poor knowledge of insectology. I could hardly bring him back from his rapid flow of uninterrupted speech to the subject of the screen sealing issue. The guy was probably an insect hobbyist.

Anyway, I spent hours and hours with Apple trying to get a machine replacement. All what they agreed to do is to replace the screen, which means disassembling the new $6000 NZD iMac.

I wonder if there is any risk of handling a new machine to Apple Service technicians for disassembling.

Cheers and good luck with your Apple products!

 

[matreya]

Anyway, I spent hours and hours with Apple trying to get a machine replacement. All what they agreed to do is to replace the screen, which means disassembling the new $6000 NZD iMac.

I wonder if there is any risk of handling a new machine to Apple Service technicians for disassembling.

I'd take them up on their offer because that bug would (excuse the pun) bug the hell out of me...

And for your iMac to cost that much, I'm guessing you maxed out the CTO options (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, CPU/GPU upgrade)...?

 

[xlsmile]

And for your iMac to cost that much, I'm guessing you maxed out the CTO options (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, CPU/GPU upgrade)...?

Almost. I've maxed it to 4GHz i7, 32GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB and 512GB SSD. Didn't help with a bug bug, though .