Apple Accused Of Display Defect On iMac And Notebooks In New Lawsuit

A lawsuit seeking class-action status accuses Apple of designing its iMac all-in-one desktops and MacBook family of notebooks with a defect that causes a "permanent dark smudging" in the corner of the screens.

The lawsuit—filed this week by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, a law firm that has gone to battle with Apple in the past—blames the alleged smudging on a lack of filters for the cooling vents in Apple's Mac computers.

[Related: Lawsuit Against Apple Getting 'Huge Volume' Of Inquiries From Upset MacBook Pro Owners]

"As a result of this Filter Defect, the fans suck in dirt and debris that get stuck behind the screen, causing a permanent dark smudging to appear in the corners of the screens," the lawsuit, filed on behalf of three consumers in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., reads.

Mac owners must pay as much as $600 to remedy the problem if the issue arises outside the warranty period, according to the suit.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hagens Berman is seeking owners of iMacs (both the iMac and iMac Pro) and MacBooks (including the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and 12-inch MacBook), who bought their Macs between 2013 and 2018, to join the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also mentions a second defect that allegedly results from the filter issue, in which dust infiltrates the motherboard and results in overheating. This "slows down the processing speed of the computer, and ultimately causes it to crash," the lawsuit states.

Previous lawsuits filed by Hagens Berman against Apple included the widely publicized e-books price-fixing case, which was settled in 2016 for $450 million.