Help, I Can't Open My MacBook Pro!

Push on the latch release button on the front center. It looks like this linked image. Then, I'd suggest you take some time to read the user guide!

By latch, they mean it has a rectangular push button that looks like a silvery gray shiny piece of aluminum between a black circle, which is for the infrared sensor, and an long gray thin slot you can fit a DVD into, which is the slot loading DVD burner. The button is rectangular, about an inch and a half wide, and has curved corners. Just depressing that button should release the latch inside and let the machine pop open.

If you can peel it off, it's not "+an integral piece of the machine+". We do understand that you're being cautious with your expensive new acquisition. The glove box of my new car had a piece of tape on it too. Peel away...

Or, if you really that concerned, follow Allan's astute suggestion and carry it into an Apple Store. I'm sure they will help you, very politely, but I can't speak for what will be said after you leave. (Mind you, a friend once called animal control to ask them to remove what he though was a dead opossum on my property...they very politely told him to be patient, and sure enough, a few hours later it got up and walked away, because as you have probably surmised, it was only "playing 'possum.". I can only assume that he became a running joke at the animal control office... 😉 )

If you can post a picture with an IMG SRC="URL" (adding a less than or greater than in the appropriate places for simple HTML) of the image of what you are seeing on your machine, maybe we can help you. Without an image, we are just blind men and an elephant.

Take a picture and post it on the forum for us. Everyone in this forum has received a Macbook Pro without this additional piece of covering, so it's normal for us to assume you're simply overlooking the obvious. Don't retaliate, provide us more to go off of.

Still until we can actually see what you are talking about, it is just guesswork which side of the notebook you are looking at, or if what you are looking at is one thing or another. Without an image, we can't tell if it is the thin foam that often comes with the machine, or if somehow the optical drive foam is on the loose, or if you are talking about the thin plastic strip that molds the edges of the machine which is bothering you. Give us an image, and we can tell what you are looking at. Just describing it by text is not going to be sufficient.

"...Chapter 2, pg. 20 does not describe the situation. It's a picture of the MacBook Pro showing what could be a latch, but there is no label, as you will see when you look at the page again."

Mine says "Display release button."

Sulli55,
Welcome to Apple Discussions!

As you might have suspected your advice while good for the original poster seems to have been misdirected. When you want to reply to the original poster, find an individual post of the original poster, and click on reply to that post, so it is obvious your reply is intended for them, and not for someone else. I know this forum can be confusing to the uninitiated, but with time I'm sure you'll get used to it. Just so you know, others have indicated what you have already. I don't know how you are viewing the forum, but it is most obvious in My Settings -> Topic Page View -> Threaded who has replied to whom, except if you are using dialup or behind a large firewall on a long thread, in which case Tree view loads quicker.

I'd recommend turning the computer around 180 degrees. The "strip" you're talking about is a back panel, and should be left in place.

At the opposite, front end, you'll find the latch that's shown in the illustration.

Press this in - at the same time insert a nail or finger between the lid and the bottom portion of your MacBook Pro. Raise the lid, while depressing the latch.
You will now have succeeded in opening your MBP.

To close - just snap the lid shut. To open, repeat the above steps.

abgerard,

it has been 6 weeks since you first posted about not being able to open your macbook pro. I guess we can assume you have resolved this since you are not any longer replying to the many posters trying to help you.

Please mark your question as answered.

What color is your new Apple computer? Metallic aluminum, black, or white?

Hi abgerard;

Take it back to the Apple Store. They will show you how to open it.

Allan