If you bought it less than a month ago there's a pretty good chance that Apple will replace it free of charge (I even got a small refund in one case, when they dropped the price of MacBook Airs at the same time as a hardware refresh).
If your laptop is still under warranty and you can wait a few days while they ship it back and forth, Apple will replace the keyboard for you free of charge.
In 2016, I called Apple about a 2011 Macbook Air (purchased with AppleCare, expired in 2014) about its bulging battery.
After a short conversation with a tier-2 support person, they agreed to replace the battery for free. They were also willing to replace the keyboard and bottom case, if there were any permanent deformations (there weren't). I took it in to my local Apple Store and they had it back to me in 48 hours.
I'm sure this is a YMMV issue, so the best lesson is perhaps to call several times until you get a good answer.
I know several people who have all had that exact same experience, and Apple replaced their old Macbooks with new ones for free, just as in your case. I think it is a great policy, as it really leaves us Apple customers with a good feeling about Apple's customer support.
This is a well known issue and Apple will replace your screen free of charge when you take it in. The catch is your laptop will be in service for a week or two which is very annoying if you depend on it for work. You can always buy a new laptop from them while they repair it and return the purchased laptop to them once you get your own laptop back
Oh yeah, I remember they did a free out of warranty replacement on one of my MacBooks a bit back, but there was a potential battery explosion issue on that one.
Interesting, i've always had the experience with Apple that if it was within the 2 week or 30 day(im too lazy to go check) period of having received the device, if there was any issue at all, they'd basically just give you a new one on the spot / take a refund and just buy the exact same model.
Edit: YMMV, i might just have been lucky and been dealt with by a very kind apple employee
Pay $550? Why? Apple will do any repair for like $399 (or at least they used to) so long as you didn't mind it being sent out. I guess maybe that answers my question if you needed it back immediately. :)
For future reference, if they botched it the first time, you should call Apple corporate and yell. They messed something up in a repair for my work laptop once and it took one phone call to get a new one immediately. I had to make it clear that it was their fault and I had to have it for work and school, but they were super accommodating (and the new one worked like a charm).
Off topic but Apple don’t really mind if you buy a new one and then return it after a week once your old one is fixed. Apple support even told my father to do this.
I don't have the same experience with Apple. My MacBook had to get replaced multiple times due to a bad graphics card. My subsequent one had to get replaced multiple times because of the butterfly keyboards breaking.
So far so good on the latest one but it's annoying to deal with so many replacements
I get that it is hugely inconvenient to go without your laptop for any amount of time - I depend on mine for work at a 2 person startup, so really I do get it! But if you are this fed up with it, then I'd say go for it.
I finally bit the bullet and found a local certified apple repair place (NOT THE APPLE STORE) that allowed me to take my laptop home with me after they ran diagnostics (10 minutes) and ordered the new keyboard.
I emphasize not the apple store because they will try to keep your laptop for the 24-48 hours it takes your replacement keyboard to ship.
The repair actually took around 3 hours, which I spent playing with my kid! Woot! The place I went through text me when the keyboard came in and then again when my laptop was ready to go - was super easy.
Because of the way the keyboard is bundled into the laptop, they have to replace the battery too - so that was an added bonus.
edit - just want to add that the replacement has had no issues ~1 month in (++spelling)
That's the same as saying 'buy a new one :)'. The bets of Apple fixing anything and not just telling you to replace your 13 month old laptop are slim at best.
> You'll mail the product in I'd imagine, and weeks later, maybe, you'll get one back?
I took my MacBook Pro 2017 in for a keyboard replacement. The AASP had to mail it in to Apple. It's now on it's second week in Apple's custody.
> Apple is pushing AppleCare+ to all laptops and phones, which means that accidental damage like this would be covered for a low, flat fee no matter what happened to your device
The low, flat fee only applies to cracked screens. I have a cracked camera lens on my iPhone X (a $7 part), and Apple wants $500 for a whole device replacement.
You're extremely lucky. Or maybe you change your laptops before Apple acknowledges the very real problems they have.
So many of their laptops have had issues necessitating recalls, but because they were able to delay those recalls until 5+ years after those devices were released (even if complaints started way earlier), they get away with it.
I've already had 2 Apple laptops where I took in a 4-5 year old device, and basically had them replace/refresh it for free. One was the gen 1 or gen 2 Macbook which had a ridiculous discoloration issue on the case palm rests, combined with the case peeling apart, and the other a Macbook Pro (2011?2012?) that had a graphics card issue.
Notwithstanding the other issues mentioned, but the MacBook Air is not exactly user repairable. IIRC, it is a SOC. So any part that breaks the entire thing needs to be replaced. I got a MacBook Pro 2018 and though it works it still makes wary.
> However, it was fairly cheap to replace the screen (~$50)
+ transportation to the next Apple Store or reseller
+ time to deal with all of this
+ if you do not get an instant repair, getting a replacement device (and another round of transportation)
I've never had to pay to get my MacBook Pro repaired, but the (very rare) interruptions were enough to make me buy a Mac Mini as a backup computer. (Freelancing iOS developer reporting in from a hostel.)
I think you got exceededly lucky with your MBA repair. And honestly it's a bit tough to believe they replaced the motherboard for free 3ish years after they typically refuse to stop servicing the device entirely for anything besides the battery and have declared the device obsolete. Had it hit the 11 year mark they probably would have offered to recycle it and maybe give you $50 off a new one.
I've had extremely bad luck with Apple support and products. The last time I had to do some ridiculous process to prove it was still under warranty and they still tried to pawn it off on the retailer.
IME Apple will replace an item if they can't fix it after a couple attempts. For example, they tried to fix a laptop of mine and after replacing many internal components, they just provided a replacement.
I would recommend calling AppleCare, asking to speak to a supervisor, and then explaining what's been going on. You might have to try a couple times to get to someone who is sympathetic, but that sure beats waiting for another month and a half!
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