Surface Laptop 3’s Spontaneous Cracked Screens?

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A growing number of customers on Microsoft’s Answers Forum and Reddit are complaining that their nearly new Surface Laptop 3’s have developed spontane
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ve2mrx, GreatAndPowerfulTech, woody

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Just wonder if some of these users are opening up their Surface 3 laptop from a corner of screen instead of the center part? I know from experience some thin notebooks are prone to damage from screen twisting. Gonna be hard to get warranty coverage if this happens too long after purchase. It will be deemed as abuse and the owner will have to pay for repair.

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The Surface (MacBook, iPad killer), like the Windows Mobile – Windows Phone – Windows 10 Mobile (iPhone killer) .. is a huge fiasco both is sales and in quality. We remember a couple of months ago those Surface devices running at 0.8Ghz and other Surface jokes…

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No worries! Microsoft will release a firmware update and claim it fixes everything. 

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Is the battery in back of the screen?

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Mary Jo Foley just posted a hopeful article on ZDNet Microsoft is looking into reports of Surface Laptop 3 cracked screens:

I asked Microsoft for an update on the situation and got this statement today, February 18, from a company spokesperson:

“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.”

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I would expect there is a manufacturing defect in the glass production that leaves an invisible crack in the glass. Thus the glass is very susceptible to a fatigue type crack to suddenly appear.

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The problem could be in the making of the particular batch of glass used in those screens that left it wiht internal stresses usually avoided with the proper glass-making technique (and a strict quality control), or it could be a defective design of the screen, that holds the glass in more tension or compression than it is safe. Ether way, the result is the eventual break, as the opening and closing of the lid (or some kind of rough treatment that might be given to the device) causes initially invisible fractures that grow and propagate and finally become a visible break in the screen glass people can take pictures of with their (presumably) still intact cell-phones.

So either it is the glass makers fault for selling bad glass (perhaps just one bad batch?), or of the designers of the device for doing a poor job. Or, (why not?) of both.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
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Hi-that was my anon posting up there, as I was too dead tired to log in,

Batteries-I am not familiar with Surface devices, but I HAVE seen a LOT of swollen Lithium-Ion batteries warp many cellphones, especially the non-replaceable polymer types appearing lately. They used to be used almost exclusively in remote control model airplanes, but lately have been foisted on the cellphone community. I also seem to have a recollection of another issue like this with Mac laptops some time ago.

(https://www.macworld.com/article/3162109/beware-the-bulgy-battery-lithium-ion-batteries-removed-from-laptops-can-still-be-dangerous.html)

If MSFT was dumb enough to put polymer-type Lithium batts behind the screen, well, this might be one place to look. Excess pressure from bulgy battery pack-crack!?

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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NTDBD: Batteries placed in the screen/lid of a laptop-like device? Well… should we now also speak of “built-in obsolescence by design – and we really, really mean it to be this way”? Is this actually true of the “Surface” devices or of any laptop-like gadget these days?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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” Is this actually true of the “Surface” devices or of any laptop-like gadget these days?”

The trend in mobile phones, at least, seems to be towards the non-replaceable battery, many of which are Lithium-Polymer, and are, IMHO, awful for that application. Not to say that more conventional Lithium batts are immune to swelling (especially if the charge circuit is defective), but “The Industry” seems to be wanting to go that route.

There’s a “Right To Repair” movement going on now in the US, and it’s getting mauled by Silicon Gulch throwing large bags of money up to Sacramento  and other state legislatures; consequently, progress is slow. But if successful, it would combat a lot of this “Disposable Device” mentality, leaving us with devices that can last longer, reduce the toxic waste produced by the throw-away ethos, and so forth.

(Remember when there was a neighborhood repair shop for small appliances? Here’s the 21st century’s movement to get an analogue of that back: https://repair.org/stand-up)

As to the Surface, I’m ignorant about the construction, never having had one. But if it has a non-replaceable battery in it, I would prefer not to buy it. And Lithium Polymer? Nope!

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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