Last month, we covered reports of MacBook Air M1 and MacBook Pro M1 laptops with seemingly unintentional cracks in the screen

In some cases Apple offered free repairs, but in others it did not The issue has now come to the attention of two law firms, each of which has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple

The law firms of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP [PDF] and Bursor & Fisher [PDF] filed suit against Apple in California on Tuesday, September 14

"Many users claim that when they opened their devices from a closed position without undue force, the retina display cracked dramatically, often accompanied by black bars across the screen," Migliaccio & Rathod LLP wrote on its site 'There have also been reports of cracks appearing simply by adjusting the viewing angle of the screen' In none of these cases would a reasonable consumer believe that such an action would damage the device, much less cause a screen crack that would impair its function"

"Unfortunately, Apple's customer service is not receptive to these complaints Apple representatives claim that they are caused by small objects or particles that get caught between the keyboard and the screen when the keyboard is closed"

Apple has yet to comment on these lawsuits

Bursor & Fisher's allegations are even more direct Bursor & Fisher allege that "the M1 MacBook is defective and the screen is so fragile that it cracks, blacks out, displays magenta, purple, and blue lines and squares, or ceases to function altogether

"Thousands of users worldwide have reported this problem directly to Apple or on Apple-hosted forums Nevertheless, consumers who have attempted to secure replacements or repairs have been rebuffed by Apple, often being forced to spend as much as $600 to $850 for repairs or to secure replacements without Apple's assistance"

While the results sought by the two lawsuits are somewhat different, they are consistent in seeking compensation for affected parties and Apple's acknowledgment of the "defective nature" of the laptops

Of course, this is not the first time Apple has been the target of a class action lawsuit for perceived laptop defects; the company was forced to defend the quality of the MacBook's butterfly keyboard, and a frayed flexible display cable caused backlight problems The company has pushed back against "Flexgate," which allegedly caused the backlight problems

Apple has in the past accepted defects in its products and offered free repairs to those affected by the Butterfly keyboard issue, which could potentially be significantly more costly As noted above, screen repairs can cost hundreds of dollars, so it will be interesting to see how Apple responds to these lawsuits

Regardless of the outcome, one can imagine that Apple's engineers are paying close attention to the design of the upcoming MacBook Pro 2021 so that the same thing will not happen again next year

If Apple comments on this issue, we will update this article