Apple Might Have Quality Program For MacBook "Staingate"
Apple has been popular for the quality of its products and its sometimes insane attention to the tiniest of details, yet lately it seems to be stumbling on a few major problems, from the iPhone 6 Plus' "bendgate" to the more recent MacBook Pro "staingate". Apple is also one that is not fond of publicly admitting such issues, yet it will often quietly offer a fix to customers. Such might be the case with a hush hush Quality Program that Cupertino is offering MacBook Pro owners complaining of worn off or delaminated anti-reflective coating on their screens.
This issue with some MacBook and MacBook Pro screens didn't gain as much sensational media coverage as the iPhone 6 Plus bending problem but it is one that affected hundreds even thousands of customers based on complaints and petition sites. The causes were random and myriad, ranging from too much force exerted by the keyboard and trackpad when the MacBooks were closed, to using some cleaning solutions when wiping off the screen. The end results, however, were the same. The anti-reflective coating would either wear off or even completely peel off. While majority of the cases had the problem isolated in small regions of the screen, other reported affecting the entire display.
That was way back in March and so far Apple has been mum on the matter. According to sources, it might actually continue to be silent. Instead, it has circulated an internal memo detailing a new Quality Program for the issue. Such programs have been initiated before to callback or repair known hardware problems, but this time Apple seems to have chosen to do so behind the scenes. It won't formally announce the program but will contact affected owners privately, maybe even with an NDA.
According to the program, Apple will replace affected screens of Retina MacBooks purchased within three years or one year from October 16 this year. Those who have already incurred out of warranty expenses to get theirs repaired might receive a refund instead. Some affected users have reported that their MacBooks got repaired by Apple Genius Bars for free while others were told that cosmetic damages are not covered and would therefore cost hundreds of dollars to be repaired.
VIA: MacRumors