Apple Sued Over 2016 MacBook Pro 'Stage Lighting' Issue

An anonymous reader quotes a report from AppleInsider: Apple has been hit with a class-action lawsuit claiming that the company concealed the so-called "stage lighting" issue experienced by some 2016 MacBook Pro owners. Dubbed "stage lighting" due to abnormal backlighting patterns emanating from the bottom of an impacted MacBook Pro's display, the problem was tied to stress or tearing on the laptop's cable when the lid was opened and closed repeatedly. Apple eventually launched a repair program for the issue in 2019 and quietly fixed the underlying culprit in the next generation of MacBook.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles resident Mahan Taleshpour lodged a complaint in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California alleging that Apple was aware of the defect in its product and failed to disclose the issue to consumers. The plaintiff claims that his 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro experienced stage lighting effects in January 2020, but he was left responsible for the full cost of the display repair due to the fact that the repair program only covers 13-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2016. He added that the cost to repair the display was quoted as $850, adding that he's been unable to repair the device since the COVID-19 outbreak. [...] The plaintiff is seeking an official disclosure about the "defective nature" of the display cables, restitutions for MacBook Pro repair costs or economic losses, an expansion of AppleCare and repair program service to 15-inch models, and legal fees.

Re:

[arbiter1]

As Story states the same problem happened in 13 inch version but apple put repair program to fix it but left the 15inch users S.O.L. It is also pretty ridiculously that to fix the problem it costs 850$. That repair bill is stupid for what is a faulty wire. They don't have to replace the whole board or screen just 1 piece of copper wire.

Re:

[Geoffrey.landis]

"abnormal backlighting patterns at the bottom of the screen"?

Really, is this seriously a problem?

Re:

[Stonent1]

I used to see that a lot in Dells around 2009/2010. They were in warranty do the screens got replaced.

Re:

[fluffernutter]

Try covering the bottom of your TV with a semi-transparent thing such as a screen and try watching a movie.

Re:Laptop broke after four years...

[Luthair]

The warranty period isn't relevant when the device was improperly designed and defective.

Re:

[ThomasD3]

This is the key point; some countries, like the UK, will protect customers a very long time about improper design (6 years in the UK I believe). Once again, the US is at the bottom of modern countries in another metric: customer protection. I paid nearly 4k for a MBP 2017, with more storage, where the keyboard failed 3 times and the screen 2 times. At that price, there is an expectation of durability. Thankfully, Apple replaced it with a new 16". It is really sad that people believe that getting 4 years o

Re:

[tlhIngan]

This is the key point; some countries, like the UK, will protect customers a very long time about improper design (6 years in the UK I believe). Once again, the US is at the bottom of modern countries in another metric: customer protection. I paid nearly 4k for a MBP 2017, with more storage, where the keyboard failed 3 times and the screen 2 times. At that price, there is an expectation of durability. Thankfully, Apple replaced it with a new 16". It is really sad that people believe that getting 4 years out

Re:

[registrations_suck]

This is the key point; some countries, like the UK, will protect customers a very long time about improper design (6 years in the UK I believe). Once again, the US is at the bottom of modern countries in another metric: customer protection.

And don't forget, people in the UK and elsewhere will bitch about the cost of something being more in their country than elsewhere, even when adjusting for PPP.

Guess what? All your bullshit return, warranty and product design protections have a cost associated with them.

Re:

[tsa]

I replaced the battery in my MBP after 8 years. I also upgraded it with a SSD. Next year March it will be ten years old and still going strong.

Re:

[jellomizer]

I am willing to bet the suite is in the details. Much like the McDonalds Hot Coffee incident, where the Hot Coffee wasn't just normal Hot Coffee, but super heated hot coffee, because at that temperature you can get more out of your beans.

I expect he paid for Apple Care where it suppose to fix all the problems, no matter what for something like 5 years.

Re:Laptop broke after four years...

[AmiMoJo]

If you look at the cable and the "fixed" design it's a fairly obvious defect that should have been caught at the design stage. The cable gets ripped by part of the chassis when the screen is moved. The fix is to make the cable a bit longer so it doesn't snag quite so hard, but it still gets slowly damaged.

Looking at the cable it appears to be form over function. Even though it's inside the machine Apple seem to pay a lot of attention to what the inside looks like. I guess it's like an expensive sports car where the engine has to look and sound good as well as perform well. Instead of using more robust cables with adequate room to move they went with the smallest possible custom flat flex. A quick look at the datasheet for similar cables shows just how much room they need to avoid being damaged. Apple exceeded the minimum bend radius.

Re:

[Malc]

Even though it's inside the machine Apple seem to pay a lot of attention to what the inside looks like

Or maybe it's all about aggregation of incremental returns. Saving a few mms here adds up to quite a lot over millions of devices sold. When they do that for every component inside the device, that adds up even more.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

Why bother with a colour scheme though? It costs extra to have black flat flex cables and polished metal clips and they do nothing to improve reliability or save space compared to cheaper ones. In fact it adds a small amount of weight to the machine.

Black PCBs are a pain to repair too. There is very little contrast so it is hard to see damage. It also costs slightly more than green which is the default for a reason.

Re:

[fluffernutter]

Claiming that your products are the most well built and ideal for a "pro" and then designing your products for a short death is quite clearly dishonest. Fine, Apple can have their millimeters a cable, but then they should be sued for outright misrepresentation and fraud immediately.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[iive]

What is even worse is that you cannot simply unplug the cable and plug another, like in the previous models. This cable is permanently attached to the display assembly and you have to replace the whole display just because of a cheap broken cable.

Re:

[thegreatbob]

I have several ~20 year old laptops that have seen more than their share of abuse, and they're still working fine. Also an MacBook Pro, late 2009 that works flawlessly. What's Apple's excuse?

Re:

[sjames]

Only if by "abuse" you mean opening and closing the lid from time to time. It seems pretty reasonable to me to expect a LAPTOP to be closed and moved from time to time, then opened again. Several times a day every day is not unreasonable.

Laptops are one of those things that should definitely be completely obsolete before they fail.

Re: I'm sick of being harassed by every Internet "

[snapsnap]

And reddit shadowbanning users and its oppressive censorship. Just yesterday, the world politics subreddit was banned. It had been around for over a decade and had well over a million members.

We have to use reddit at work so itâ(TM)s really frustrating to keep having posts deleted or hidden by a shadowban. Itâ(TM)s costing us a lot of wasted time even though we spend well onto five figures a month advertising there.

Re:

[registrations_suck]

Seriously. Something really major has to happen now to crush these scumbags once and for all.

Don't use their products.

Re:

[goose-incarnated]

They have been sued before and will be sued again, It doesn't phase them, they still make bad design decisions.

Considering your username, I had to reply :-)

It's "FAZE", dammit, not phase!

I've had the same problem.

[newcastlejon]

Nothing to do with a worn ribbon cable though. In my case the laptop was dropped and one of the bottom corners of the clamshell was slightly bent, which has interfered with the separation between backlight and LCD layers.

If the ribbon cable were damaged, which has also happened to me in the past, the displayed image would be corrupted, not the backlight. After all, the backlight ought to have just two wires leading to it; if this is the case it's either on or off as far as the connection is concerned. Uneve

Re:

[sremick]

In my case the laptop was dropped and one of the bottom corners of the clamshell was slightly bent, which has interfered with the separation between backlight and LCD layers.

Then you did not have the same problem.

Like the keyboard, Apple doesn't want to admit it

[Anonymous Coward]

Authorized Apple service tech here, so posting anonymously.

This is another case where Apple doesn't want to admit anything officially because then they'd not only have to admit fault and be liable for millions in repair refunds, but also admit that their whole crusade to make things thinner at the sacrifice of function is misguided and wrong. I can confirm that even internally, they haven't even admitted the issue among service techs and the sly little cable-length redesign (which doesn't actually solve the

Re:

[fluffernutter]

Do you masturbate while you fix Thinkpads?

I shake my head

[fluffernutter]

I think Apple has really pushed the limits of form over function for too long. I'm glad I had my macbook purchased for me, but I am a bit nervous that I may one day need to explain to my investors that they have to replace this $4K cost already.

Smart boy

[fluffernutter]

Before reading this I had already concluded that I should just put my Macbook on the livingroom TV and never use it physically, just VNC into it and use a wireless keyboard. Now this issue demonstrates what a smart boy I was.

Re:Smart boy

[flyingfsck]

You should just leave your MacBook on your coffee table as a status symbol and not turn it on.

Re:

[RatherBeAnonymous]

Status symbols can back-fire.

My father-in-law was an accountant. He drove a Buick and wore well-tailored American-made suits. He could have afforded pricier cars and imported suits, but he wanted to give the impression of success and competence, not that he was ripping off his clients.

I was forced to buy two MBP laptops for our developers at work. We do primarily .NET development. We installed VMWare and windows on them and these developers work in that almost full time. WTF. I'm convinced that they o

Re:

[sjames]

TFA begs to differ...

Re:

[fluffernutter]

MacBooks last a lot longer than bog standard Windows PC's

I have T series Thinkpads that are 15 years old that I install linux on and use for hosting open source stuff. T42s still work. And no macbooks don't last long any more as per the article. A laptop that needs a $850 repair is useless, might as well buy new. Compound that with another $750 to fix the keyboard.

Re:

[Ed Tice]

Or just put an Apple sticker on the back of a Dell!

accidental damage

[theonecallednaz]

I want to know what kind of horrible condition this guy's machine is actually in. $850 sounds like something that would get quoted for obvious accidental damage. Like massive corner dent on the casing. If the laptop was in good condition (scuffing even major, totally ok, but a major dent, hell nah), they would or should have given him the option for a flat rate depot repair which would have been in the range of ~$300 inclusive of parts used. Flat out replacing the screen? Yeah that's an $800+ part my man

Re:

[theonecallednaz]

obv different era, but one of the training videos they showed us, a guy stood on a ladder and dropped a 2016 MacBook from the top of a ten foot ladder. Then picked up the same MacBook and flipped it over the head. Single take, booted it up, totally fine. Took the same Mac, placed a pen in the middle of the keyboard, shut the display reasonably hard, and yeah man. Display was toast. THAT model even had a "notorious" issue where the display inverter would die out if you slammed the screen down to many times o