Microsoft will repair for free spontaneously cracking screens on Surface Laptop 3

A couple months ago, some Surface Laptop 3 customers reported they were seeing hairline fractures in their screens that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Today, May 8, Microsoft is responding publicly as to what's happening and what the company is planning to do for those affected.

"(We) have determined that, in a very small percentage of cases, a hard foreign particle may cause a hairline fracture in the glass that may seem to appear unexpectedly or without visible cause," said officials in a note on the Surface support site.

Microsoft is asking those who have had this issue to contact Microsoft Support to initiate a free repair during the warranty period of the device. And anyone who may have paid to have this repair made to their Surface Laptop 3s (either 13- or 15-inch) will be able to contact Microsoft Support "to learn about reimbursement."

This free repair or reimbursement doesn't apply to those who cracked their screens by dropping or other means. It's meant for those who had screens crack spontaneously.

I wrote about the screen cracking issues that some were encountering with their new Surface Laptop 3 devices in February 2020, noting that Microsoft had begun investigating reports of this issue that dated back a couple of months. The issue seemed to be affecting Surface Laptop 3 devices with aluminum cases, not those covered with Alcantara fabric. I purchased an aluminum Surface Laptop 3 myself late last year and have not had any screen cracking problems. But I heard directly from three or four people who did encounter this problem.

Good to see Microsoft do the right thing here. Hopefully the "hard foreign particles" at fault have been discovered and eliminated.