A new class-action lawsuit filed in the United States accuses Apple of false or deceptive marketing for the M1-powered MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The Cupertino firm is also accused of business practices, misconduct in customer support, and violation of consumer law.
The lawsuit was filed this week in the Northern District of California and represents Apple customers across the United States who have faced issues with the displays on their new M1-powered MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
Users have had to deal with displays that have suddenly cracked or displayed black horizontal and vertical lines, making them unusable. The lawsuit alleges that the cracks and malfunctions were caused by a hardware defect rather than by the users themselves.
The lawsuit also attempts to cast a larger shadow over Apple’s “deceptive marketing” and “fraudulent” business practices, accusing the Cupertino firm of falsely advertising the 13-inch displays in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air as “premium [in] quality, reliability, and durability,” despite Apple allegedly knowing the opposite.
The case alleges that Apple engaged in fraudulent business practices since its testing of the displays before their release should have made the alleged defect apparent. Despite that, the company continued to release the product.
Despite this knowledge, [Apple] failed to disclose and actively concealed the Screen Defect from…the public, and continued to market and advertise the [laptops] as state-of-the-art premium and durable laptops when in fact normal operation…often results in catastrophic damage, rendering the devices unusable.
The lawsuit also accuses Apple of severe violation of consumer law, according to legislation in the state of California, saying Apple of violating consumer law by refusing to repair the displays for customers, even when they were still under warranty.
The lawsuit also alleges that Apple’s repair costs for the issues vary, as one customer was quoted $480 for replacing their MacBook Air’s damaged display, while another customer was told the repair would cost $615.
According to the suit, Apple refused to repair the displays under warranty in multiple instances, since the company claimed they were caused by the user and considered accidental breakage.
The suit is not requesting damages or monetary compensation from Apple. Instead, it’s asking that Apple reverse its “false marketing” of the quality and reliability of its MacBook displays and that it “correct, repair, replace or otherwise rectify [its] unlawful, unfair, false and/or deceptive practices.”
The suit provides Apple 30 days, as of August 30, to address the customers and the alleged screen defect. If 30 days elapse with no action from Apple, the suit will move forward to seek damages from the company.
The specific amount of damages the suit is seeking will be identified later during the requested jury trial.
