Texas Judge Throws Out MacBook Defective Motherboard Class Action Lawsuit

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A Texas federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Apple Inc. alleging that the computer company’s MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop computers were sold with faulty motherboards, saying that the plaintiffs did not make an adequate case for their allegations.

The Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro class action lawsuit was brought by David Deburro and Cindy Tincher, who said the MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop computers they purchased were defective and were made with faulty motherboards that Apple calls “logic boards.”

Deburro and Tincher both purchased MacBook Pro computers in 2007. The “logic boards” on both computers went out in 2012. When their laptops were brought to an Apple Store, they paid around $310 to have the logic boards replaced. The plaintiffs filed this class action lawsuit in August 2012, claiming that the logic boards were defective and that’s why they needed to be replaced.

On Oct. 31, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks dismissed all charges against Apple — common law fraud, violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, breach of implied warranty, negligence, money had and received, and unjust enrichment.

“Plaintiffs purchased laptops from Apple six years ago, and were disappointed when those laptops malfunctioned and required repairs five years after they purchased them and four years after the products’ warranties had expired,” Judge Sparks concluded. “Plaintiffs believed expensive Apple products should last longer. This sentiment is fine basis for purchasing an extended warranty from Apple, or from purchasing products from Apple’s competitors in the future. It is not a basis for a class action lawsuit against Apple.”

When it came to the fraud charges, the judge said that the plaintiffs did not show any false representations that Apple made about the logic boards, they only pointed to “generic comments about MacBook laptops.”

“Even if Apple did make relevant representations, and assuming those representations were material, plaintiffs have not identified a single false representation,” Sparks wrote in his decision to dismiss the class action lawsuit.

The judge made the same point about the deceptive trade allegations — that the Plaintiffs failed to provide “any specific representations by Apple about its logic boards.”

“Additionally, plaintiffs have not pleaded reliance, as neither plaintiff claims to have seen any of the representations listed in the second amended complaint prior to purchasing a MacBook Pro, nor have plaintiffs alleged such representations actually induced them to purchase the product.”

The breach of warranty claims were rejected since Apple offers a one year warranty from the date of purchase for the MacBook Pro, and Apple made it clear that the warranty did not it would not cover the laptop “without limitation.”

“The court finds this disclaimer was conspicuous, and plaintiffs ought to have noticed it,” Sparks wrote.

The court already gave Deburro and Tincher a second opportunity to state their case, and they were still unable “to allege basic facts necessary to support their claims,” the judge wrote. Therefore, he finds that giving them a third chance “would be futile.”

The plaintiffs are represented by Omar W. Rosales of The Rosales Law Firm LLC.

The Apple MacBook Defective Motherboard Class Action Lawsuit is Cindy Tincher et al. v. Apple Inc., Case No. 1:13-cv-00784, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.