An example of the cracks appearing in Apple Macbooks with plastic cases. A US law firm, Seeger Weiss, is investigating the issue for a potential class action lawsuit and is calling on affected customers to come forward. But Apple refuses to acknowledge the problem, despite offering free repairs to some customers who have complained and are still within their warranty period. Other customers have reported that Apple has refused repairs, blaming the problem on the way the customers have handled the machines. Many who were successful in getting Apple to repair the problem have noticed that the issue reappears within months under normal use.

Anthony Agius, founder of the biggest Australian Mac community site, MacTalk.com.au, said there were countless reports on his forums from people repeatedly experiencing the issue. "They're certainly design faults - a laptop shouldn't develop cracks in the case without it being dropped or manhandled," he said. Agius said that he had not seen a Macbook that was used regularly that had not developed some sort of issue. "Personally, I think it's one of Apple's worst quality products ... No other Apple product in recent history has been quite so shoddy," he said. "First it was the issue with an incorrect amount of thermal paste applied to the CPUs, which resulted in the Macbooks overheating. Then an issue occurred with the palm rests and other areas of the laptop becoming discoloured, or in the case of the black Macbooks, the paint wearing off."

The latest debacle comes as Apple is under fire in Britain this week for trying to silence a father and daughter with a gagging order after the child's iPod allegedly exploded and the family attempted to obtain a refund from the company. The report, in Britain's The Times, came after a US reporter revealed how she spent seven months wrangling with Apple to get the Consumer Product Safety Commission to release, under freedom of information laws, information about 15 other cases of iPods bursting into flames. Richard Olsen bought his white Macbook at the opening of the Sydney Apple Store in June last year and within months the case began to crack. "I didn't take much notice of it until one day I ran my wrist across the side of it and it pierced into my wrist," he said. Olsen said he took the laptop to Apple to be examined by a customer service representative, who told him that he had caused the problem and it was not covered by warranty.

The representative eventually agreed to repair the laptop but Olsen has now taken his case to the NSW Office of Fair Trading, as Apple would not provide him with a written statement saying it would repair the laptop a second time if the same issue occurred again. From researching the cracking Macbook issue online, Olsen learned that, even though Apple has refused to acknowledge a design flaw, it had described the problem in an internal support article provided to its certified repairers. Apple refused to show him the internal document but Olsen said an Apple customer service rep he spoke to in the US confirmed its existence and acknowledged that the problem was widespread. But Olsen was still unable to obtain a copy of it. "They said to me firstly we would be forced to recall every Macbook, so it would be expensive and it would be very bad PR," he said. Agius was of a similar opinion, saying: "It could be that if Apple recognise it as an official fault, they may be required by law to replace them out of warranty."

When Olsen asked Apple Australia's executive relations specialist, Janine Beach, for a copy of the internal support document, she told him she could not release it because "it may contain corporate sensitive information". Olsen said his claim with the Office of Fair Trading was being investigated. Apple Australia spokeswoman Fiona Martin would not comment on the issue other than to say: "Our customers need to let us know if they have any concerns and we will definitely respond to those." In a statement, the NSW Office of Fair Trading said it had "no evidence of systemic problems with Apple Macbooks", although products "should be able to withstand normal wear and tear without failing". It said people affected by the cracking Macbook issue could contact Fair Trading "who will attempt to mediate a solution with the trader".

Loading Late last year, Apple introduced a new line of Macbooks featuring a durable aluminium enclosure. However, the plastic enclosure is still being used on the entry-level $1599 13-inch Macbook that is still on sale today.