I'm having a problem with my 2020 MacBook Air where the Touch Bar started flickering really badly about a year and a half after I bought it, right after the warranty expired. I've always been careful with it—no drops, spills, or visible damage. When I took it to the Genius Bar, they mentioned that I might need to replace the entire keyboard for around $800, and that doesn't even guarantee it will fix the issue. This seems like it could be a manufacturing defect rather than just regular wear and tear. Has anyone experienced this too? What solutions or advice do you have?
3 Answers
I get where you’re coming from, but it sounds more like regular wear for a part that's five years old considering your situation. If you want to get it fixed, you might have to bite the bullet and pay up, or try to find the parts yourself to do a DIY fix.
Honestly, I don't think it's a manufacturing defect. It's more likely just a broken part on an older machine. The Apple Store gave you a solution, and sometimes that’s just how it goes when parts fail after several years.
But wait, it stopped working after just 1.5 years of normal use. That's a bit soon for things to break, right? Some of us have had issues without any real misuse, so it feels sketchy to me.
Just to clarify, the MacBook Air doesn't come with a Touch Bar. If you're experiencing flickering, you might want to try a few settings to turn off the Touch Bar:
1. Open Settings > Keyboard > Touch Bar Settings.
2. Choose options like 'Expand Control Strip' and 'F1, F2'.
3. Then enter 'Control Strip Customization' and remove all items from the Touch Bar.
If it still flashes after that, it could mean the LED is damaged, and you'll need to replace the Touch Bar. The Apple Store will recommend replacing the whole keyboard, but if you’re handy, you might get away with just replacing the Touch Bar itself!
Thanks for the tip! I actually realized it’s a MacBook Pro 2020 with the Intel chip. That should change things a bit.
Right, but it broke only 1.5 years in! I've never had any computer part fail that quickly without some kind of damage. I'm curious if others have faced this issue too.