PeteHski

I wonder if this was a batch issue? Our kids (now 11 and 14) have had a pair of M1 Airs since around 2020 and the screens have been fine. They don’t take care of them either and our youngest even dropped her’s down the stairs! It put a ding in the screen casing, but no crack. To be honest I’m surprised they are still both working. I borrow them for Zwifting since my old iMac finally died. I use a nice big 4K LG monitor for that.

Like I mentioned earlier it needed an OS update to run SYSTM due to the blank screen issue, with or without an external monitor.

zacster

From what I just read the issue is that the tolerance is so tight between screen and keyboard that even a tiny crumb can crack the screen if you close it. But this begs the question, why is something that is going to be used frequently in a cafe, or in bed, or just about anywhere so intolerant of something like this happening? Poor design and fragile parts. Do you think that would happen with a Thinkpad? Those are built like tanks. There was an issue with the MacBook Pro from 2016 too with the screens, and also the keyboards, and these are the computers I bought for my twins prior to the M1s. Both of them had the same problems. You couldn't open it up all the way if you wanted the screen to work, and also the butterfly keys didn't work well. Those Apple paid to have repaired via recall. I use one of those as a music server. The other is unused. They feel slow compared even to my iMac from 2015.

PeteHski

Maybe the problem isn't really quite as widespread as you think? Of course there are more rugged laptop options, but we haven't found these M1s to be particularly fragile. I'm just saying that your experience is not universal and neither is mine. I do worry about these laptops breaking the way our kids abuse them, but so far no problems with the screens or keyboards or anything else.

Polaris OBark

I looked it up; it appears to be common enough to have resulted in a class-action lawsuit.

BTW, I've been buying Mac minis as sessile computers for about the last 15 years. Even my 2009 one is still alive (although I installed Ubuntu on it.) They are perfect for plugging into a TV. (So is Apple TV, if you want an inexpensive but functional alternative).

My wife had one of the 2016 Powerbooks. The screen problem was created by the graphics card/intel internal graphics auto-switching. The stand-alone graphics car is supposed to take over the display for complex graphics. Eventually, it would just go black, instead. There were firmware hacks to over-ride the (defective) switching, but they were hard to apply and never seemed to stick. It was a real PITA, and she couldn't use a projector or external display. Eventually we had to have it euthanized. Now she has an M1 or M2 (I cannot recall) Powerbook and abuses the crap out of it.

PeteHski

Yeah I saw that, but ours have taken some fairly heavy abuse without cracking. To the point where I was actually thinking how tough they are.

Slamming the screen shut is one of my youngest daughter’s favourite strops. That and carrying it around by the screen while open. I have warned her many times that she will break the screen. But it lives on.

Still sounds like it was some batch issue to me or simply an internet sh*tstorm.

zacster

It could have been a batch issue, I bought my two when they were first released, although not at the same time. You can't just buy something for one twin and not the other, even if the other didn't really need it. It got pretty expensive over the years.

PeteHski

😂 tell me about it! I bought a pair of them together sometime in 2020, not long after release. Fortunately these have both been fine. Probably given then the kiss of death now ☠️ ☠️