Leaking LCD, now no sound

[iann1982]

Hi all, a few weeks ago I bought a refurb Rev A Air, all was good, I've been pretty happy with it. I noticed every morning that there were black marks appearing on the left of the Trackpad button - this seemed to correspond with a black mark that'd appeared on the LCD bezel, right by the edge.

I took it into the Apple store and got the LCD swapped, good service I felt as I'd just wanted assurance that it wasn't terminal.

Unfortunately I've since found that the sound no longer works on the machine.

Has anyone else had any of these problems? I'm hoping that the sound issue's just down to the technican disconnecting something and not putting it back together properly. Just hoping i've not got a dud machine here.

 

[Kardashian]

Go back and demand a refund or replacement.

 

[iann1982]

Go back and demand a refund or replacement.

Really? I thought about it but wondered if I was being a bit fussy. I've rang them and after 35 mintutes they said they'd refund, but couldn't replace as they're out of stock. The refund will take 2 weeks to go through. Not really very happy with that as it'll cost me £500 extra to replace with a Rev B.

I think I might be stuck with getting the Apple Store to sort it out as I can't really afford 2 weeks without it.

 

[Golden Master]

I have both of these problems on my 10 month old rev A MBA.

I'm not sure what the black deposit is but it's been happening from the start. I just wipe it off.

The sound thing is annoying so I'll get this fixed when I get to a point where I can manage without the machine for a few days.

I would just get it fixed under Applecare. If you find out exactly what the black stuff is please let me know.

 

[Kardashian]

Really? I thought about it but wondered if I was being a bit fussy. I've rang them and after 35 mintutes they said they'd refund, but couldn't replace as they're out of stock. The refund will take 2 weeks to go through. Not really very happy with that as it'll cost me £500 extra to replace with a Rev B.

I think I might be stuck with getting the Apple Store to sort it out as I can't really afford 2 weeks without it.

Call them back and explain the dangers of having that leaking LCD screen and that you want something sorted. You've paid for a working computer, and expect one.

You've invested your money into an Apple product to use it - which you are unable to do either way.

Tell them you'll accept a unibody MacBook in its place, and that you want them to ship it to you before you return the MBA to copy all of your data.

 

[iann1982]

Well, just got off the phone.

They've given me two options:

• Fix the machine under apple care - until i'm 100% happy with it.
• Or replace with a rev B machine at a cost of £350 extra (which is about £150 off the RRP)

Now i'm just wondering which route to take. Not really happy paying an extra £350, it seems a lot for 40gb extra space and nVidia graphics - but it'll be issue free (hopefully).

 

[iann1982]

I have both of these problems on my 10 month old rev A MBA.

I'm not sure what the black deposit is but it's been happening from the start. I just wipe it off.

The sound thing is annoying so I'll get this fixed when I get to a point where I can manage without the machine for a few days.

I would just get it fixed under Applecare. If you find out exactly what the black stuff is please let me know.

It's the LCD leaking, i'd get it looked at, turns out that licking your finger and rubbing it off isn't very safe!

It seems to happen where the trackpad button hits the screen bezel, possibly because something's squashed them together? Mine arrived with a slight mark and carried on re-appearing.

 

[Kardashian]

Well, just got off the phone.

They've given me two options:

• Fix the machine under apple care - until i'm 100% happy with it.
• Or replace with a rev B machine at a cost of £350 extra (which is about £150 off the RRP)

Now i'm just wondering which route to take. Not really happy paying an extra £350, it seems a lot for 40gb extra space and nVidia graphics - but it'll be issue free (hopefully).

Personally, I'd upgrade to REV B.

You'll start a full 12 month warranty on a better vastly improved computer, and not be without a computer.

Edit: Phone rang half way through reading and I didn't read the £350 extra.. I thought it said £150 extra! Really, you shouldn't be paying more than this. Its their mistake. There a substance leaking out of the computer - fair enough, things break down and its horrible waiting for them to be repaired, but this stuff is nasty - imagine a child or pet digested it and became sick, Apple would be looking at more than just giving you a rev B free of charge. Send an e-mail to sjobs@apple.com and tell them you've contacted trading standards. Or, if you're in the UK, call up Apple and ask to speak to Helen Curran. She's the lady who called me when I e-mailed sjobs@apple.com - I've lost her extension number though, sorry.

 

[DeanCorp]

I just got my MacBook Air (Rev A) replaced for a Rev B one. I was offered the 1.6/120GB (Rev B), but I said I would rather pay an extra $1100 for the SSD one.

Here is my story if you want to have a read. I personally, don't think you should be paying any extra for the machine. It should just be swapped over, like for like.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/643537/

Good Luck!

 

[iann1982]

Well, Apple now say they'll only refund and won't offer any discount on the replacement at all - apparently there's no note of it being offered.

It seems to be something of a lottery as to which call centre you get routed to.

I think the easiest resolution is to put this through Apple Care and see what they do..

 

[johnnj]

I had an MBA rev b SSD that also had the black stuff leaking. Exactly the same as what you described in exactly the same places. It also had a problem with the lid staying closed.

It went back to Apple for service but there was some problem with them believing that the laptop was generating the substance on its own. They also told me that the reason the lid didn't stay closed was that it was manufactured missing the magnets that were supposed to do just that.

They told me they've never seen nor heard of the black-stuff-leaking problem before and that there was nothing in the display lid (the called it the "top case" that could produce such a residue.

The weird thing was that even though 3 Apple repair guys told me on the phone that the machine was missing the magnets, they kept it in a "no problem found - pending customer contact" status for several days and didn't fix it. They only thing positive they could tell me was that I didn't spill anything in it (duh).

Ultimately I ended up calling Customer Relations and they arranged for me to get a new one, but only after they verified my story with the Apple repair depot.

The new one has neither of the problems that the original one had and also seems to charge the battery much faster (3.5 hr empty to full vs 6 hr).

My recommendation is that if you feel that normal support/repair channels aren't giving you the service you need, then call Customer Relations. You can get to them via the switchboard at Apple's main corporate number.

Good luck.

 

[iann1982]

All sorted

The audio's been fixed by the Apple store and I've got a brand new LCD in place. They were very apologetic about forgetting the audio lead - these things happen. I'm not too fussed, certainly not worth raising Steve from his sick bed for!

If any of the problems come back I'll go down the route of a refund.

Thanks for your help.

 

[buddhahacker]

Re-appearing mark.

It's the LCD leaking, i'd get it looked at, turns out that licking your finger and rubbing it off isn't very safe!

It seems to happen where the trackpad button hits the screen bezel, possibly because something's squashed them together? Mine arrived with a slight mark and carried on re-appearing.

I have a similar mark. It is on the far left side of the trackpad button and a cooresponding mark on the edge of the screen bezel. The mark is about 2-3mm is diameter and continues to reappear after I wipe it off. Have they replaced the screens for this in the past? Is the material making up the mark dangerous?

Update: I went to the Apple store and had my Air looked at by one of the technicians. He found the issue in their engineering issue database. The issue is that the trackpad button is a tad too high on the left side and is rubbing the bezel. The dark mark comes from the aluminum getting rubbed off and forming a powder. The good news is that they were willing to replace my LCD screen. The bad news is that it would take a week or so and since the root cause of the problem has not been addressed it will simply come back with the new screen. In short, a trivial manufacturing issue but no toxic leakage or leakage of any sort. I decided not to replace the screen. The tech stated that engineering is working on fixing the problem.

 

[cerealj]

I would certainly assume they'd replace your screen, because it's not working properly. I don't know much about LCD technology but I assume that black liquid is important and when too much of it leaks out, your monitor will stop working. So get it checked out while it's still under warranty.

 

[chewbaccacabra]

I had the sound issue and mine couldn't be fixed. They gave me the Rev B 1.6. Thread is somewhere.

This is like the 4th or 5th time I have seen the sound problem now.

Oh mine had the black stuff too. Never thought about it too hard though. Thought it was something I did.