On the other hand the majority of these devices do not have this issue, I carry my 14" around in a full backpack every day and don't treat it particularly carefully. I do wipe screen and keyboard clean every couple weeks but that's just so I can see something on the screen and not be grossed out by keyboard gunk. And I do use the padded laptop pouch to avoid pressure spots.
There was a thread here a while ago where someone's Mac had some keys permanently imprinted on the display and it turned out they just put the Mac into their backpack randomly with other things that can put pressure on the display - as well as another thread with a bent iPad and again they were not using a backpack with a proper tablet pouch that removes the pressure from the other contents of the backpack.
I get that these are Pro devices. That doesn't mean we should skip taking good care of them. For actually getting the keys clean for example, I lock the screen and then wipe each key and in between the keys with a cloth damp with 99.9% isopropyl alcohol. It takes about 2 minutes out of every week, the alcohol prevents moisture from getting in the device as it evaporates immediately, and the keyboard is spotless afterwards. (Never use alcohol on the screen!)
After 3 defective panels either Apple has a serious QC problem and installed you defective replacement parts twice in a row, which is entirely possible, or given that the Mac is returned to you without holes in the new panel and then breaks within a couple weeks it does seem more likely, to me, that the issue comes from how you use the device. Or in what environment - mine sits on an office desk all day, if it was used on the test stand of a factory with some sort of particles in the air I might have more issues.
I fully admit that older Macbooks were more robust for sure, reducing the display bezels and all that is only possible up to a point before the risk of damage increases. Apple must be testing different iterations of their designs to see how much optimization can be done (we now have 14" displays in Macbooks that would have only fit 13" just a few years ago) without increasing the risk of damage considerably. Or thickness of the device vs. gap between display and keyboard. The current design in Apple's opinion will be what the majority of customers want (reception of this design was extremely positive) without increasing the risk of early defects. To put this differently, I highly doubt Apple designs a laptop where a lot of customers need 3 replacement panels within the first year of standard warranty. Apple would do themselves no favors if their design was so bad. That's assuming they learned from the butterfly keyboard disaster.
I can understand why people would be skeptical of "holes" in the screen, but apparently this really is a thing, there are threads going back at least to 2012 where holes have been (allegedly) caused by "exploding" pixels.
If it was a widespread issue since 2012, surely there would have been a "pixelgate" like the bendgate or the butterfly keyboard issues. I am sure a very small fraction of Macbook users had such an issue to do an actual manufacturing defect, but what are the chances of the exact same issue three times in a row?
Apple’s top-of-the-line M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro laptops come with screens that are “extraordinarily fragile,” and prone to crack, black out, show magenta, purple and blue lines and squares or otherwise stop working.
www.classaction.org
Part of this says that some of the affected devices have their display panels break "within hours of powering up the first time" and that just can't be right:
In reality, the case alleges, “not everything ‘look stunning on the 13-inch Retina display,’ especially not the cracking, blacking out, or magenta, purple and blue lines and squares” that manifest within hours of powering up the M1 MacBook for the first time, an experience the lawsuit alleges is “consistent” among those who purchased the laptops.[/s]
So these Macs come defective from the factory, which happens, and then Apple immediately claims user error on a 1 day old purchase?
I know at least 1 such case personally, that for me sheds some light on these cases: A friend got a new MBP that had defective pixels right from day one, but he needed the device for work and didn't go to Apple with it immediately. He went to Apple in the 2nd year on the assumption that the warranty runs for two years and then was denied a free replacement. From his perspective Apple refused to fix an issue the Mac came with from the factory and was super upset even though it obviously didn't bother him enough to bring it in for a year and then he didn't read the warranty terms either. To top it off he blamed Apple for not fixing an out of warranty issue for free.
Now I can't take such reports all that seriously anymore...
You might want to check your laws for these repairs, or at least ask Apple nicely what they would do if the same warranty repair is unsuccessful twice in a row. Perhaps they could consider replacing the entire device for you, what if there is actually a manufacturing defect with your unit with the tolerances between keyboard and panel that lead to this. Or at the very least they could consider a repair that's a little more in-depth than just swapping the same part every time without asking why this keeps happening. Because eventually you'll run out of the warranty and then they won't fix anything for free.
You should also have the option of purchasing AC+ in the days after a repair, that might be worthwhile for you - if the issue appeared 3 times, it will likely have something to do with how you use the device and then the issue will come back again. Or you could sell the working unit before it happens again out of warranty. Once it happens out of warranty you can't sell the device for much anymore and a paid display replacement will be very expensive.[/s]
