Apple Identifies Logic Board Issue With 'Very Small Number' of 2018 MacBook Airs, Will Fix Free of Charge

Apple has identified an undisclosed issue with the logic board in "a very small number" of 2018 MacBook Air units, according to an internal document distributed to Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers on Friday. The document was obtained by MacRumors from a source who has proven reliable.

macbookairspacegray
Apple will replace the main logic board in affected ‌MacBook Air‌ units, free of charge. Apple will also send an email to affected customers to let them know that their notebooks are eligible for a main logic board replacement. Apple did not provide any specific details or symptoms pertaining to the "issue."

2018 ‌MacBook Air‌ owners can visit Apple's support website to schedule an appointment with an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. When the serial number of an affected ‌MacBook Air‌ is entered into Apple's internal repair system, a message will direct technicians to replace the logic board.

Apple will authorize coverage within four years of the ‌MacBook Air‌'s original purchase date. If the notebook has accidental damage that the customer does not want repaired, technicians are instructed to proceed with the logic board replacement at no cost as long as the damage does not prevent completion of the repair.

If accidental damage does prevent the logic board replacement from being completed, Apple says the customer must pay for necessary repairs in order to get the logic board replaced at no cost.

Apple has not publicly announced this repair policy, likely due to what it believes is a very small number of affected customers. While we are confident this information is accurate, as it comes from a consistently reliable source, we cannot guarantee that all Apple employees will acknowledge the policy.

This is at least the third repair program that Apple has introduced in the past five weeks, alongside its 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro battery recall and replacement program and 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro display backlight service program.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Top Rated Comments

snowboarder Avatar
64 months ago
Is the number as "small" as those broken keyboards or even smaller?
Score: 65 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SkippyThorson Avatar
64 months ago
Note to self; don’t purchase any Apple laptops made from 2015 and later. Opt for a desktop with a classic, replaceable, functional keyboard. Got it. -Self
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
64 months ago
"Apple has not publicly announced this repair policy, likely due to what it believes is a very small number of affected customers. While we are confident this information is accurate, as it comes from a consistently reliable source, we cannot guarantee that all Apple employees will acknowledge the policy." Like employees in the cafeteria might not know?

Seriously bad claim. You seem to think that Apple can't look up computers on its own in-house computer system for doing eligible repairs? Come on, pretty lame!
Hey - I'm just covering my ass. Do you know how many times Apple posts these things internally and then a customer goes to an Apple Store and the employee says "I'm unaware of this" or something along those lines. Then they come back emailing me asking why. I don't know why. I report what I see. The info is legit.

TL;DR: Your mileage may vary.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nt5672 Avatar
64 months ago
"Apple has not publicly announced this repair policy, likely due to what it believes is a very small number of affected customers. While we are confident this information is accurate, as it comes from a consistently reliable source, we cannot guarantee that all Apple employees will acknowledge the policy." Like employees in the cafeteria might not know?

Seriously bad claim. You seem to think that Apple can't look up computers on its own in-house computer system for doing eligible repairs? Come on, pretty lame!
Does not surprise me, these days Apple has become pretty lame with their desire to hide everything that even smacks of a problem.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Rebar Avatar
64 months ago
Gotta give Apple some credit for this program. The rest goes to Rossman.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drinkingtea Avatar
64 months ago
The logic board has failed two times on my MacBook (2015). Apple won’t replace it without charging me $400+. I have a brick now because I won’t pay that price. I’m so disappointed in Apple. I’ve never had so many issues with a MacBook before. And this isn’t counting the audio and keyboard issues as well.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Troubling iOS 17.5 Bug Reportedly Resurfacing Old Deleted Photos

Wednesday May 15, 2024 5:29 am PDT by
There are concerning reports on Reddit that Apple's latest iOS 17.5 update has introduced a bug that causes old photos that were deleted – in some cases years ago – to reappear in users' photo libraries. After updating their iPhone, one user said they were shocked to find old NSFW photos that they deleted in 2021 suddenly showing up in photos marked as recently uploaded to iCloud. Other...
CarPlay Sound Recognition

Apple Previews Three New CarPlay Features Coming With iOS 18

Wednesday May 15, 2024 9:18 am PDT by
Apple today previewed new accessibility features coming with iOS 18 later this year, and this includes some new options for CarPlay. Apple highlighted three new features coming to CarPlay: Voice Control: This feature will allow users to navigate CarPlay and control apps with just their voice. Color Filters: This feature will make the CarPlay interface visually easier to use for...
General Apps Messages

iMessage Down for Some Users [Update: Service Restored]

Thursday May 16, 2024 3:00 pm PDT by
The iMessage service that Apple users to send messages to one another appears to be down for some users, and messages are failing to go out or are taking an extra long time to send. There are numerous reports about the issue on social networks and a spike of outage reports on Down Detector, but Apple's System Status page is not yet reporting an outage. Update: Apple's status page says...
apple tv 4k red image

Apple Releases tvOS 17.5

Monday May 13, 2024 10:01 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 17.5, the fifth update update to the tvOS 17 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 17.5 comes two months after the release of tvOS 17.4. tvOS 17.5 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Go to System > Software Update to get the new software. ‌Apple TV‌ owners who have automatic software updates activated will be upgraded to ...
ChatGPT for Mac

OpenAI Announces ChatGPT App for Mac, GPT-4 for Free, and More

Monday May 13, 2024 10:43 am PDT by
At its Spring Update event, OpenAI announced that it will be releasing a desktop app for the Mac, as seen in the screenshot below. The app will be rolling out to ChatGPT Plus subscribers starting today, ahead of a wider launch "in the coming weeks." "With a simple keyboard shortcut (Option + Space), you can instantly ask ChatGPT a question," OpenAI's press release says. In addition, Voice...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New M4 OLED iPad Pro

Wednesday May 15, 2024 10:40 am PDT by
Today is the official launch day of the new iPad Pro models, and these updated tablets mark the biggest feature and design refresh that we've seen for the iPad Pro in several years. We picked up one of the new 13-inch models to check out everything new. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. When it comes to design, Apple is still offering 11-inch and 13-inch size options ...