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If you've ever done hardware tech support you'll find most of the time the user who says they didn't do anything actually did do something. And I encountered th

If you've ever done hardware tech support you'll find most of the time the user who says they didn't do anything actually did do something. And I encountered this when doing internal support, where the end user didn't even bear cost or blame for breaking equipment.

foobarian 5y ago
Right, but if this happens at a rate of X per 1000 customers for a number of years, and then suddenly starts to occur at a rate of 3X per 1000 customers, I think it's fair to look for causes apart from just normal human behavior.
barrkel 5y ago
I've kept laptops tightly packed, with a lot of force coming down on the lid, for hours at a time, and I've had no screen cracking. I've had a lot of marks from the keyboard on the screen, but no cracks. In the times before we had a kid, I'd go motorcycle touring in the summer. I'd keep my laptop in a plastic rubble sack (for waterproofing), sitting on top of a wooden cutting board (for rigidity), with my clothes on top in separate bags, all packed into a gym bag. The gym bag would then be strapped to the passenger seat of my motorbike with 100kg luggage straps done up tightly enough to ensure the whole package is rigid with respect to the rest of the bike, with no risk of movement on the road. Without the wooden cutting board, there would be a bending force between the passenger seat and the luggage straps that I'd expect to do damage. I did this mostly with a 2012 MacBook Air. Eventually the plastic hinge between screen and body developed a visible crack, but everything still worked (and still does). It might be that the screen is cracking due to something between screen and keyboard. But it might also be that the M1 design makes cracking more likely.
bradstewart 5y ago
This is the worst. Back in my help desk days, was working at a construction company, so we expected a lot of damage and failures from being on jobsites, no big deal. Laptop came in with a non-functional keyboard and some other odd, flaky behaviors. The user was adamant it hadn't gotten wet, dropped, or otherwise damaged. I was young and naive, so I believed him. Started the usual software diagnostics, driver updates, etc. After all of that fails, finally pull the keyboard out to replace it (back when you could do that) and discover.... coffee stains! Which is not to say a screen should crack from a dorito, it absolutely should not.

foobarian 5y ago

Right, but if this happens at a rate of X per 1000 customers for a number of years, and then suddenly starts to occur at a rate of 3X per 1000 customers, I think it's fair to look for causes apart from just normal human behavior.

barrkel 5y ago

I've kept laptops tightly packed, with a lot of force coming down on the lid, for hours at a time, and I've had no screen cracking. I've had a lot of marks from the keyboard on the screen, but no cracks. In the times before we had a kid, I'd go motorcycle touring in the summer. I'd keep my laptop in a plastic rubble sack (for waterproofing), sitting on top of a wooden cutting board (for rigidity), with my clothes on top in separate bags, all packed into a gym bag. The gym bag would then be strapped to the passenger seat of my motorbike with 100kg luggage straps done up tightly enough to ensure the whole package is rigid with respect to the rest of the bike, with no risk of movement on the road. Without the wooden cutting board, there would be a bending force between the passenger seat and the luggage straps that I'd expect to do damage. I did this mostly with a 2012 MacBook Air. Eventually the plastic hinge between screen and body developed a visible crack, but everything still worked (and still does). It might be that the screen is cracking due to something between screen and keyboard. But it might also be that the M1 design makes cracking more likely.

bradstewart 5y ago

This is the worst. Back in my help desk days, was working at a construction company, so we expected a lot of damage and failures from being on jobsites, no big deal. Laptop came in with a non-functional keyboard and some other odd, flaky behaviors. The user was adamant it hadn't gotten wet, dropped, or otherwise damaged. I was young and naive, so I believed him. Started the usual software diagnostics, driver updates, etc. After all of that fails, finally pull the keyboard out to replace it (back when you could do that) and discover.... coffee stains! Which is not to say a screen should crack from a dorito, it absolutely should not.