MacBook Pro - black lines on bottom of screen... UK consumer law?

dowie · 8 Apr 2020 at 12:32

Hey guys, I'm in the slightly frustrating position of having some issues with my MacBook Pro just after Apple Care has run out (not that I could leave the house at the mo to get it fixed regardless)...

Annoyingly I purchased Dec 2016 so my Apple Care policy ran out just over 3 months ago at the end of Dec 2019.

These horizontal, thin, black lines appear across the whole width of the screen from the base to about 1.5 cm above the base. They appear intermittently - they're not there at the moment.

Is this generally a heat/component issue or a connection issue? Anyone else had this and did it get progressively worse or is it just a nuisance to put up with until able to get it fixed/lockdown over?

Secondly - I don't think it is appropriate for a laptop to start to get an issue like that at 3 years 3 months - despite being just out of Apple Care does anyone know whether this sort of thing has been covered regardless under UK consumer law? (I'm going to do my own research here too but useful if someone else knows/or has dealt with apple before on something outside of apple care and how much back and forth you needed before you got them to deal with it.)

Lastly - I presume as stores closed they're not likely to be able to fix any time soon - or has someone been able to get a courier pick up for a faulty Mac? (Presumably they're more likely to do this with Apple Care than someone citing consumer law etc..)

Lastly - slightly minor issue but the "E" key on the keyboard got a bit loose and has now come off - hopefully that is something they should fix too given the age, expected longevity of this sort of product. Annoying I perhaps should have had the battery looked at too before Dec but meh...

Have got a backup Dell laptop too so can go without for a bit if needed.

VaderDSL · 8 Apr 2020 at 12:36

Is it this?

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service

dowie · 8 Apr 2020 at 12:51

VaderDSL said:
Is it this?

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service

Sort of the opposite really - that's taking about vertical bright areas whereas I've got horizontal dark lines, thanks though

Mine is that model MacBook Pro though - 2016 with 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports.

dowie · 8 Apr 2020 at 12:57

Looking at known issues I guess the keyboard issue might be fixable for up to 4 years:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks

Mcnumpty2323 · 8 Apr 2020 at 13:01

Used to be under sales of goods act
An item had to last “a reasonable time“
You got it after it was replaced by the consumer rights act [2015] i think
So you need to look for a similar clause in that

WJA96 · 8 Apr 2020 at 16:50

You have a right to have the fault remedied for the reasonable working life of the product. I would say that's probably somewhere between 5 and 10 years on a good spec Apple laptop. You've got a nailed-on case as long as you can prove the defect was present at the point of manufacture.

And there's the rub. To claim under the regulations currently in force after 6 months you need to prove that the fault was present at the time of manufacture.

If you can find dozens of similar issues reported on MacBook Pro's then you'll likely get a repair. Otherwise not.

Those laptops still have a fair value to them. Personally I would accept that stuff breaks and pay for the repair.

Alpherah · 9 Apr 2020 at 12:29

Policy used to be 2 years in store, no CL claims via apple care, anything after 2 years needs to be done through official (read: legal) channels.

not sure how it works due to Covid19 at the moment but all the best

Cleisthenes · 9 Apr 2020 at 13:24

I'd just take it into the store, I've had stuff like this happen in the past and they've sorted it anyway. One of the good things about Apple.

dowie · 11 Apr 2020 at 20:56

Alpherah said:
Policy used to be 2 years in store, no CL claims via apple care

Sorry, can you translate that - what do you mean by "no CL claims"?

WJA96 · 11 Apr 2020 at 21:42

Consumer law or consumer legislation

silvagti · 11 Apr 2020 at 22:04

Cleisthenes said:
I'd just take it into the store, I've had stuff like this happen in the past and they've sorted it anyway. One of the good things about Apple.

I'd give this a try when the store re-opens. I've no personal experience but I've heard friends who have taken back Macbooks out of warranty and had them repaired for free. I think when you spend several thousand on a laptop there's an expectation it'll last longer than 3 years so hopefully they'll offer you some level of support to repair it or at least discount the repair.

Alpherah · 12 Apr 2020 at 10:40

dowie said:
Sorry, can you translate that - what do you mean by "no CL claims"?

No consumer law claims, sorry

dowie · 13 Apr 2020 at 17:03

Alpherah said:
No consumer law claims, sorry

Ah no worries, cheers.

silvagti said:
I think when you spend several thousand on a laptop there's an expectation it'll last longer than 3 years so hopefully they'll offer you some level of support to repair it or at least discount the repair.

Indeed - I dropped nearly a couple of grand on this thing, I'd not expect to replace it for another year or two yet (and frankly would still expect it to be working then albeit just dated relative to what is available). If they release a 14 inch MBP I'd be tempted in a year or two but would expect this to still be working and useable as a backup or for travelling. I mean my Dell is like 6 years old+ and still pretty snappy when running linux mint, fine for programming, web browsing etc... (16GB or RAM, old i5 processor and 256GB SSD - still perfectly usable (obvs screen is a big downgrade), decent case and Dell laptops tend to be pretty robust).

VaderDSL said:
Is it this?

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service

Looking back at this I've gotta say thank you for posting that as, though it is almost the opposite of what I described in the OP (vertical light areas instead of horizontal back lines) it does actually seem to be related and I can now see that issue - am not getting the black lines at the mo:

So on that basis (4 years) it seems my screen is allowed a free repair under the above program... also the keyboard issue under this one:

dowie said:
Looking at known issues I guess the keyboard issue might be fixable for up to 4 years:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks

I'll give Apple a try and see what the deal is under lockdown... then again no big rush - so long as stores open again at some point within next 9 months!

dirtybeatfreak · 13 Apr 2020 at 21:17

dowie said:
Ah no worries, cheers

Looking back at this I've gotta say thank you for posting that as, though it is almost the opposite of what I described in the OP (vertical light areas instead of horizontal back lines) it does actually seem to be related and I can now see that issue - am not getting the black lines at the mo:

So on that basis (4 years) it seems my screen is allowed a free repair under the above program... also the keyboard issue under this one:

I'll give Apple a try and see what the deal is under lockdown... then again no big rush - so long as stores open again at some point within next 9 months!

Got a pic of the whole screen? Are you talking about the black areas near the icons on the dock? If yes, then that would be covered under Apple repair program mentioned above. It's caused by the screen cable overstretching.

50 million edits later (I kept reading it back to myself and not being happy): If you're talking about the black thin lines which are near the white thick faded line, then that looks like the Display is damaged. This could have been caused by either the display itself taking a knock or the the Display Cable/Display header on the logicboard being damaged (which would explain it being intermittent). These wouldn't be covered under a repair program and you might have trouble claiming on consumer law. Apple have a set of visual guidelines they compare against which they use to determine what is elligible or not and if it looks like accidental damage they will probably deny.

dowie · 13 Apr 2020 at 23:48

dirtybeatfreak said:
Got a pic of the whole screen? Are you talking about the black areas near the icons on the dock? If yes, then that would be covered under Apple repair program mentioned above. It's caused by the screen cable overstretching.

Yep

50 million edits later (I kept reading it back to myself and not being happy): If you're talking about the black thin lines which are near the white thick faded line, then that looks like the Display is damaged. This could have been caused by either the display itself taking a knock or the the Display Cable/Display header on the logicboard being damaged (which would explain it being intermittent). These wouldn't be covered under a repair program and you might have trouble claiming on consumer law. Apple have a set of visual guidelines they compare against which they use to determine what is elligible or not and if it looks like accidental damage they will probably deny.

Nah the display isn't damaged (re: the black lines), it's either some connection or overheating issue. I think you misread my post you just quoted - the black lines issue is not there in the photo I posted (it is intermittent), I posted the picture to show the issue the poster I'd quoted referred to - the vertical lighter and darker areas showing in the image.

Not quite sure what you're referring to seeing there - either a reflection or the OCUK forum layout which includes black and white lines. I'll try and take a photo of the black lines next time they occur.

dirtybeatfreak · 14 Apr 2020 at 00:33

dowie said:
Yep

Nah the display isn't damaged (re: the black lines), it's either some connection or overheating issue. I think you misread my post you just quoted - the black lines issue is not there in the photo I posted (it is intermittent), I posted the picture to show the issue the poster I'd quoted referred to - the vertical lighter and darker areas showing in the image.

Not quite sure what you're referring to seeing there - either a reflection or the OCUK forum layout which includes black and white lines. I'll try and take a photo of the black lines next time they occur.

Ahh ok, yea I did mis-read your post apologies, you quite clearly said 'am not getting black lines at the mo'!

Now that you told me your screenie is good old Ocuk I can see it now. I've used a black theme on Ocuk for so long I didn't think about Ocuk and thought the lighter blue bit was damage and the shadows on edge was the black lines

That's why I were asking for a whole screen pic as I wasn't sure I was seeing it properly. The issue I thought you were describing is something we see a lot from knocked screens etc which start off as thin lines and worsen over time, and if this was the case Apple wouldn't honour the repair program problem even if it was obviously a separate issue as the same part has 'accidental damage'.

You should be fine then, you will be covered for the stage-lighting type issue by the repair extension program so wont need to worry about the consumer law.