Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Was your MBP 2016+ affected by flexgate yet?

  • Yes

    Votes: 221 49.1%
  • No

    Votes: 229 50.9%

  • Total voters
    450

vaugha

macrumors 6502a
Nov 3, 2011
611
206
As far as I can see the cable of the 2018 model is longer hence there is no critical bending. It seems that the issue was fixed on the 2018 models.

This is good to hear, where can I find this info that you're saying that 2018 models have longer cables?
 

OSX15

macrumors regular
Jun 2, 2014
148
47
Cyberspace
It seems so, but I still think its a good Idea to not open/close the lid any more than necessary.

I would be interested in having more information about this. I was under the assumption some people already reported flexgate problems on the MBP 2018 15". I do hope the fixed it somehow.. I certainly won't use a 140 degree angle but 110-120 degree is quite common for me when working behind my desk.
 

Wags

macrumors 68020
Mar 5, 2006
2,239
1,701
Nebraska, USA
That really sucks. The MacBook can't even handle the situation which is well within its design basis. So all MacBooks using these flex cables will eventually experience failure if opened to its maximum degree which is 120 repeatedly. Where is any kind of stress testing done to these machines? I cannot believe they didn't foresee this before releasing it. It just baffles me to no end.
Seems like all they are worried about is covering the 1 year warranty and if you get AppleCare they are still probably ahead. Like the iPhone, Apple’s financial success is based on yearly upgrades. Don’t want consumers to keep same for extended amount of time.
 

Sephiroth0

macrumors member
Dec 19, 2011
40
16
I haven’t really seen confirmed proof that 2018 fixes this issue. Even the pics don’t tell me how much longer or shorter it is compared to previous gens.

As you can see in the pictures at 120°C angle of the lid there is still no critical bend on the flex PCB. In my eyes this should be fine now. The only unknown here is if this picture is representative for all 2018 MBPs but all MBP 2018 pictures I've seen so far had longer flex PCBs. But that's my humble opinion as electrical engineer with almost 20 years of experience in electronics developemt. I'll leave it up to trust Apple marketing more than your own eyes. ;)
 

Olivia88

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2018
83
167
I would be interested in having more information about this. I was under the assumption some people already reported flexgate problems on the MBP 2018 15". I do hope the fixed it somehow.. I certainly won't use a 140 degree angle but 110-120 degree is quite common for me when working behind my desk.
According to iFixit the issue took between 1-2 years to develop, and I personally haven't heard of anyone with flexgate on their 2018 mbp yet.

these are the best pictures I could find of the 15 inch from ifixit's teardown:
compare.png


Since I don't have a 15 inch, I can't really confirm if it's changed or not.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
According to iFixit the issue took between 1-2 years to develop, and I personally haven't heard of anyone with flexgate on their 2018 mbp yet.
I don't know if apple altered the design for the 2018 model, but its too soon to know if its there. The 2018 owners will have to be on pins and cushions for a while, or if iFixit releases an updated video detailing the construction of the 2018 model.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Never mind

Olivia88

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2018
83
167
I don't know if apple altered the design for the 2018 model, but its too soon to know if its there. The 2018 owners will have to be on pins and cushions for a while, or if iFixit releases an updated video detailing the construction of the 2018 model.
The affected cable is longer on my own 13 inch mbp 2018 at least, see my previous post.
 

Yr Blues

macrumors 68030
Jan 14, 2008
2,687
889
We need to collect and organize a database on this user issue.

Here's my screen. The bottom 5% is completely gone now. 2016 non-touchbar MBP. I consider myself lucky that I can still do some work around it. I haven't taken it in yet, but I don't have the extended warranty. It happened (gradually) after I got my keyboard replaced, though. Coincidence?

3sCUbQ8.jpg
 

BuCkDoG

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2013
643
263
The affected cable is longer on my own 13 inch mbp 2018 at least, see my previous post.

Its hard to tell from your pictures but are you saying that the 2018 models have a longer flex cable? If so then I will be purchasing a 2018 model today literally. That is the main reason why I have been holding out on purchasing a 2018 model since I did not want to get hit with a 600 display replacement two years down the road.
 

Garage Battle

macrumors regular
Aug 31, 2007
182
172
Orlando, FL
We need to collect and organize a database on this user issue.

Here's my screen. The bottom 5% is completely gone now. 2016 non-touchbar MBP. I consider myself lucky that I can still do some work around it. I haven't taken it in yet, but I don't have the extended warranty. It happened (gradually) after I got my keyboard replaced, though. Coincidence?

3sCUbQ8.jpg

call Apple support. blame it on the keyboard replacement. id challenge them "well if the keyboard being replaced didn't break my screen what did? the laptop has no physical damage."
 

Yr Blues

macrumors 68030
Jan 14, 2008
2,687
889
call Apple support. blame it on the keyboard replacement. id challenge them "well if the keyboard being replaced didn't break my screen what did? the laptop has no physical damage."
I will. I just have to use my laptop for a big project I'm working on. Until then, I can't do anything.
 

filmbuff

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2011
968
364
We need to collect and organize a database on this user issue.

Here's my screen. The bottom 5% is completely gone now. 2016 non-touchbar MBP. I consider myself lucky that I can still do some work around it. I haven't taken it in yet, but I don't have the extended warranty. It happened (gradually) after I got my keyboard replaced, though. Coincidence?

3sCUbQ8.jpg

The fingerprints COVERING your screen make me think you didn't take care of that very well to begin with. Perhaps rubbing the screen with your fingers all day is part of the problem.
 

AndyMacAndMic

macrumors 65816
May 25, 2017
1,112
1,676
Western Europe
The fingerprints COVERING your screen make me think you didn't take care of that very well to begin with. Perhaps rubbing the screen with your fingers all day is part of the problem.

It never gets old:

The 'blaming the user for a design error' move.
Where did I hear that before? Something with 'holding' and 'wrong'?

But I must admit: 'Dirty fingers on the screen' is a novel one...
 
Last edited:

Olivia88

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2018
83
167
Its hard to tell from your pictures but are you saying that the 2018 models have a longer flex cable? If so then I will be purchasing a 2018 model today literally. That is the main reason why I have been holding out on purchasing a 2018 model since I did not want to get hit with a 600 display replacement two years down the road.
My own 2018 MBP 13 inch definitely has longer flex cables, there is no critical bending on the flex cable when I open the screen fully like there is on the MBP in the video on page 2.

But I can't guarantee that you also would get a MBP that have longer cables, we haven't seen enough proof yet.

Ifixit did say that the 2018 MBP is also affected but that the design of the 2018 MBA was better. Did they make a mistake, or are only certain units affected, I don't know. I only know that at least on my own MBP the flex cable is not too short.
 

trifid

macrumors 68020
May 10, 2011
2,078
4,950
I think Apple will launch a repair program very soon, it's just too obvious of a design flaw and it doesn't seem like a rare occurrence from everything we've seen so far.

I wonder if flexgate + keyboard-gate will eat up all profits from these Macbooks at that point?
 

BuCkDoG

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2013
643
263
My own 2018 MBP 13 inch definitely has longer flex cables, there is no critical bending on the flex cable when I open the screen fully like there is on the MBP in the video on page 2.

But I can't guarantee that you also would get a MBP that have longer cables, we haven't seen enough proof yet.

Ifixit did say that the 2018 MBP is also affected but that the design of the 2018 MBA was better. Did they make a mistake, or are only certain units affected, I don't know. I only know that at least on my own MBP the flex cable is not too short.

Fair enough well I certainly appreciate the insight! I own a 2018 MBA that I bought for the wife and its been slowly growing on me so I want to purchase a 2018 MBP and cash in this 2013 rMBP as long as the flex cables are long enough. Hopefully you're right!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Olivia88

vaugha

macrumors 6502a
Nov 3, 2011
611
206
As you can see in the pictures at 120°C angle of the lid there is still no critical bend on the flex PCB. In my eyes this should be fine now. The only unknown here is if this picture is representative for all 2018 MBPs but all MBP 2018 pictures I've seen so far had longer flex PCBs. But that's my humble opinion as electrical engineer with almost 20 years of experience in electronics developemt. I'll leave it up to trust Apple marketing more than your own eyes. ;)

I don't work in electronics, as a follow PE and I'm assuming you hold a valid license to practice engineering since you said you're an engineer yourself, I don't see any length comparisons. Do we have some numbers? So far all I've read is some people saying it's longer but based on what? I'm not convinced.
 

BuCkDoG

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2013
643
263
I don't work in electronics, as a follow PE and I'm assuming you hold a valid license to practice engineering since you said you're an engineer yourself, I don't see any length comparisons. Do we have some numbers? So far all I've read is some people saying it's longer but based on what? I'm not convinced.

Now that I took a few closer looks at the pictures, you can tell that the Flex Cable is indeed longer than the previous versions so I am taking his word for it and assuming that Apple did include a longer Flex Cable.
 

crawfish963

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2010
942
1,671
Texas
As you can see in the pictures at 120°C angle of the lid there is still no critical bend on the flex PCB. In my eyes this should be fine now. The only unknown here is if this picture is representative for all 2018 MBPs but all MBP 2018 pictures I've seen so far had longer flex PCBs. But that's my humble opinion as electrical engineer with almost 20 years of experience in electronics developemt. I'll leave it up to trust Apple marketing more than your own eyes. ;)

I certainly hope you are correct. I bought Apple Care + (my first every AC purchase after 10 years of being a Mac/iPhone owner) due to flexgate and potential keyboard issues.
 

BuCkDoG

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2013
643
263
I certainly hope you are correct. I bought Apple Care + (my first every AC purchase after 10 years of being a Mac/iPhone owner) due to flexgate and potential keyboard issues.

I definitely think it's correct given all of the issues. Im not one to purchase Apple Care either however I would strongly consider it/purchase it if I was buying any version.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.