MacBook screens can be broken with a simple greeting card, viral TikTok video warns – and Apple has explained the reason why

• A TikTok user damaged their MacBook display in an unexpected way
• The issue was caused by a piece of card placed under the lid
• Even something as innocuous as this can break a laptop screen

For a lot of MacBook users, opening the lid and turning on their expensive device only to discover a jumbled display with black bars and erratic colors everywhere is a nightmare come true. The screen has been damaged, and fixing it will be very expensive.

Unfortunately, this is much more often than you might think: hundreds of dollars’ worth of damage can result from a single, seemingly harmless activity.

Classicheidi, a TikTok user, learned the lesson the hard way. Classicheidi posted a video on the social networking site explaining how they had put a piece of card on their MacBook Air’s keyboard before shutting the lid.

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The screen was damaged when they opened it again later.

A costly mistake

Although this is a regrettable incident, it occurred for a cause. It’s not because Apple computers—or laptops from any other manufacturer, for that matter—have weak or subpar displays. Although they should undoubtedly be handled carefully, there is another problem.

It’s what Apple refers to as their laptops’ “tight tolerances” in a support page. Because Apple MacBooks are designed to be as slim as possible, when the lid is closed, there is very little space between the keyboard and the screen.

Anything put in that space, even something as simple as a piece of card, has the potential to be pushed up against the screen, and the pressure that results could cause major harm.

Because of this, Apple cautions that “anything left on your keyboard, palm rest, or display could interfere with the display when it’s closed and damage your display.” Apple advises removing any covers you may have on your keyboard, camera, or palm rest before shutting the lid of your laptop to prevent this kind of situation, which has unfortunately happened before.

Make sure nothing is between your laptop’s keyboard and screen when you shut it off if you want to avoid the kind of fate that Classicheidi endured. According to classicheidi, if there is, you may expose it to “the biggest jump scare of the century.”