ginger72's dashboard

I got my apple MacBook Feb 2008 and I had to take it to the apple store to have to the chipped hand rest repaired just 2 months after getting it. Now it is chipping again so I called to see it I can get it fixed again for free and lady said I would have to come in to see. I then asked how much would it cost if it is not free and she said about $200! WTF!!

Yes, I bought my last macbook 9 months ago and happened exactly the same as everyone else. I am going to Apple Store tomorrow, fingers crossed!

Same for me, both sides where the Magnet meets the palm rests. Gutted, I bought this reconditioned from Apple April 2007. I've used it about 30 hours in total and have it in a Speck Case all the time. Its looked after. When i saw this today I freaked.
Its Apple, its Supposed to be Quality, isn't it?

This is a Design Fault and Apple should cover it, if they don't I shall not be happy. This will only get worse and as I type I am not allowing my hands to touch the rests in case it gets worse.

No APP Cover here, so lets see what happens.
I will let you know either way.

I am so glad to have found this thread, as I too thought someone had cracked it. I bought my macbook about 8-9 months ago and it has just developed a crack on the right side. I called Apple and my 90 day phone support had of course expired. They oh so benevolently (cough cough) said that since my hardware was still under warranty, he would offer me a special rate to buy 3 years of phone support. I basically laughed at him, so he offered me an 'exception'. We eventually found an Apple service store here, as there is no Apple Store anywhere near me. I am calling today to see when they can replace it. I did, well my 16 year old daughter, who just got a macbook for her birthday, find a way to hopefully prevent it from happening again. We bought a package of those little silicon 'feet' that are adhesive on one side, used for keeping items from sliding/marking up surfaces. We purchased round ones, that just fit into the top 2 corners of the LCD half of the macbook. We got very low profile ones, around 1/8" thick or so. They seem to stick quite well and when you close the lid, they provide just enough padding to keep it from snapping shut. They also are just thick enough to keep the little plastic things from hitting on the edge of the macbook, hopefully taking care of this ever happening again. The silicon pads are thin enough that the macbook still 'sleeps' if you close it and they are hardly noticeable.

I hope this helps some of you. I do know that I didn't spend all of the money I did on a laptop to have something like this happen. My old laptop (now my son's) is over 6 years old and is like new. I am seriously considering fixing mine, selling it and getting a more solidly constructed 'PC' laptop, even if it isn't as pretty and converting to Linux. There are 2 Mac minis and 2 macbooks in our home as we were converting to macs to flee Windows and to have more energy efficient computers. The minis just sit there and I am happy with them, but I don't know about the laptops, especially as I cart mine around and use it daily for work.

hi, the exact same thing happened to me on one side only. Delighted to have found this forum and see that it wasn't just me that has this problem. Am still within warranty period so fingers crossed

The same is happening to mine. I took my arm off my MB and a piece plastic came with it (HOUR AGO). It's the second piece to come off. My CD entry also is messed up. It won't take in any CDs. I need to take it in ASAP but I have to back it up just in case. So we'll see when that happens.

hi
the same has happened to my macbook i got it for christmas 08 i put glue on it to try and fix but now it looks tacky do you think they will still change it me even though i put glue on it i didnt get apple care so im hoping the warrenty will help me out

if any one can giv me any advice it would be very helpful
thankyou

I'm in Ireland and the same thing is happening with mine. I just rang the store that I bought it in and they said they'll replace it for free. :) At least they're being nice about it.

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As you can see i got the same problem but both sides :(

i tried everything at the right side, i glued, plastered even ducked tape it but it looks horrible !

and when the left side almost came out of its place I've put a transparent sticker on both sides which doesn't hold that good :s

I bought it 10 months ago but this start to occur since the 5th month!!
I'm still within the one year warranty but the problem that i live in Egypt where there is no Apple Store, only retailers & resellers..

I don't know but after reading all of your comments I'm thinking to go check it out with them specially because two of my colleagues at work had the same problem..

We should do something !!
How come they still ignore this issue till now & repair it only when they like.
Can't we do some kind of petition or so?

It's my first mac but I'm so disappointed because here in Egypt a MacBook costs like 2 branded laptop with the same specs :(

Shicco

This can almost always be traced to the little magnet bits at the top of the LCD hinge, It seems to be that this problem occurs on various production runs from various manufacturing centres.

You may or may not be provided with a replacement, It really depends on the store the current employee and the mood they are in today. I've found this to be covered under "Cosmetic Damages" meaning most likely they will charge you for the repair, Which usually is simply changing the exterior case as well as possibly putting in a new bezel above the LCD (Which, I should add is held in with nothing more than double-sided sticky tape.)

For some reason, This seems to be more common on systems being sent to European customers. I have two MacBooks, One purchased in the states, One purchased at a shop in London, The MacBook purchased in London (Mid-2007 - White) hasn't showed this problem, But the MacBook purchased in the states has. So it seems to be a bit of luck as well as where you purchase / where you are located.

As was mentioned above, It will usually cost between £130 - £150 if you choose to have a third-party company make the repair. Luckily, I didn't need to pay for the repair to be done on the US based MacBook, It was covered via AppleCare. I'm not entirely sure how Apple will handle your MacBook, being that you decided to not purchase AppleCare (Known by staff as APP.)

-DK

Yep, same problem here. My macbook is 25 months old and therefore 13 months out of the 1-year limited warranty. I didn't buy AppleCare because i'm pretty careful with these things. Evidently, this is a design flaw. If not, then it is a design-intention so they can make more money a few years down the line from those who didn't buy the Apple care. I'm going to chance my luck with the Apple store in Milton Keynes. Will let you know how I get on.

See pics of my damaged macbook here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/guyweb/s...

I came searching for answers to this same question. I knew for a fact that I didn't do anything to damage my computer but couldn't figure for the life of me why the HE double hockey sticks it was falling apart. I've been fond of my macbook, got it 7mths ago, but now I'm thoroughly ticked off with apple for not doing something to rectify this problem. It wasn't my intention to pay for such inferior design - even in a "superior" product.

I started getting a crack on the left side next to the track pad a couple of weeks ago but I am not under apples warranty, this really blows because i really take care of my laptop

Both of my daughters and myself all got Macbooks last Christmas and all three computers have developed cracks on the right side!! We are a Mac family and have happily had Macs since day one, but this problem is a big concern and obviously a design fault. I am very disappointed with Apple.

Both of my daughters and myself all got Macbooks last Christmas and all three computers have developed cracks on the right side!! We are a Mac family and have happily had Macs since day one, but this problem is a big concern and obviously a design fault. I am very disappointed with Apple.

i have a macbook pro 17 - about two years old, problem has just started a few months ago, plastic on the edge above my front-loader superdrive slot. hard to avoid resting my hand/wrist on it when typing, but i'm hoping it doesn't break or catch on something one of these days!

I live in belgium, same problem right corner in the magnetic area, will go to apple store too bought it november 2007 and it broke 2 months ago, so it's only 8 months old!!! I thought it broke because it transport it in a laptopbag with school books and the schoolbooks had been pressing against the cover, if it wasn't for this site I also thought it was my fault!! Thx alot guys!!

Today mine also broke in exactly the same place like yours on the bottom right side and it looks like the left side is giving up too.
I am totally disgusted with Apple,as I have bought (via a mail order catalogue company) my laptop few months ago.I have shouted at my kids thinking it was them that done the damage,but I would have never thought that an Apple Macbook,would come with this sort of problem.I am disgusted.
I am still paying for mine which make me even more angry.I have also checked for my warranty and somehow the apple website it is telling me that my warranty is expired and this can't be.
I will be phoning them tomorrow and I live in London,so I do not know how it will end up for me and my laptop.
What a disgrace for a company like Apple.

Ours cracked in the same place. We had it fixed while under warranty. I thought we were too rough with it and could have caused the crack. Once it was replaced, we took care to not grab it by that edge (only the hinge edge). Well, just out of warranty it cracked again. I can barely stand to look at it. Great laptop, and it's embarrassing to have it taped together. Really classy. Duct tape would work better (thanks bertie!) cause clear tape just keeps peeling off... I was trying to 'disguise' it :) I don't have $200 to spend on a cosmedic fix. Like has been mentioned, Apple should replace since it's obviously a design/product flaw. I guess I'll try calling the Apple store.... but doubt anything will happen.

It happened to my mackbook as well. Started about 2 weeks ago. As I noticed and wanted to stop the crack going further, I used some superglue and the it appear to have fixed the problem. To my disappointment, today I noticed the crack is still growing alongside the edge of the keyboard, now pretty much stretching from the remote control sensor to near the right of the trackpad. I am now covering it with duct tape as I don't want for things to get worse. I am not sure if I should have it replaced if it will happen again in a few months. I seems to me that the only reason these macBooks are considered "affordable" is because of their cheap build quality. Not impressed.