First of all, I've combed the manual. Second, the latch you mention is not visible. Third, there is a grey strip across the body of the laptop below the place where the computer divides into body and screen. It looks like a permanent part of the item. Is it just a piece of tape? I don't want to tear it if it's not.
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.
I appreciate the attention, but I'm not stupid, guys, so please pay attention to my question.
When I look at where I presume there is a latch, what I see is a grey strip of some kind of high quality material. I think it's a piece of tape (to protect the latch?) but it could be decoration or have some other function. I do not want to tear off an integral piece of the machine as my first act with my new purchase. Is it just a piece of tape?
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.
If you would stop being snarky and pay attention to my query, you will note that I have said that I do not see the latch in the picture. I see a grey strip of seemingly high quality material that adheres very well to the surface, so well that it could be designed to stay where it is. I suspect, however, that it's a piece of tape. Is it?
Hint: Don't assume that someone is stupid just because his or her question seems to have a self-evident answer. I was using unix text editors before, I trust, some of the people on this forum were born. I bought my first PC in late '86 and I've opened many laptops. If the answer to my question were obvious to me, if I could see a latch, I would not be asking.
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.
