Microsoft Admits to Surface Laptop 3 Display Cracking
- Paul Thurrott
- Feb 18, 2020
-
34
Multiple Surface Laptop 3 customers have experienced cracked displays. Microsoft says it is investigating the problem, but news of yet another reliability issue should be concerning to any Surface fan.
“A limited number of Surface Laptop customers have contacted Microsoft and have reported screens that have cracked through no fault of their own,” a Microsoft statement notes. “We are evaluating the situation and investigating the root cause of the claims.”
Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
I first heard about this issue via my old friend Barb Bowman, a Microsoft enthusiast and consumer advocate. She reports that a growing number of customers have reported display cracks on their Surface Laptop 3s, on both Reddit and Microsoft’s Answers forum. The cracks apparently only appear on the non-Alcantara models, which is somewhat ironic, and none were the result of any accident.
In a separate report, ZD’s Mary Jo Foley quotes a Reddit user who believes the problem is due to Microsoft removing the gasket between the glass and the metal on the all-aluminum product. Whatever the cause, hopefully Microsoft can get ahead of this issue and provide a fix, something it was unable to do successfully with balky Surface Pro 4 and first-generation Surface Book PCs back in 2015-2016.
As I’m sure you know, I coined the term Surfacegate to describe those problems, which led to Consumer Reports temporarily removing its recommendation for the product lines. But Surface has had a much better reliability record since then.
Tagged with
Conversation 34 comments
-
jean
<blockquote><em><a href="#521631">In reply to bnyklue:</a></em></blockquote><p>having used (and still using : two X1 Carbon, one Extreme) IBM/Lenovo Laptops from day one (back in the 1990s), I find the Microsoft ones I owned/still own (two Surface Pro, Laptop first Gen, Laptop 3, Go) at par if not better than those considered top of the market</p><p><br></p>
-
Todd Northrop
<p>The headline is "<strong style="color: rgb(13, 68, 99);">Microsoft Admits to Surface Laptop 3 Display Cracking</strong>".</p><p><br></p><p>The Microsoft statement was, "<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A limited number of Surface Laptop customers have contacted Microsoft and have reported screens that have cracked through no fault of their own…. We are evaluating the situation and investigating the root cause of the claims."</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I've read that Microsoft statement a few times and can't see anything admitting to a display cracking problem. They simply said that they received a few complaints and are following up. Seems like a sensible statement and reaction to a claim posted on the Internet.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">P.S., The level of Microsoft hatred among Thurrott readers/commenters is astounding.</span></p>
-
r2d22
<blockquote><em><a href="#521670">In reply to Speednet:</a></em></blockquote><p>totally agree, specially with the ps, but everything was born from the direction of the latest years articles…anyway if it was apple they would say "you're folding it worng" and admit it only following several class actions</p>
-
faustxd9
Premium Member<p>I have that same type of crack on my Surface Go and while I don't remember doing anything to make that happen it does get shoved into bags from time to time. At least it is not too noticeable from most angles. </p>