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Apple macbook air hinge defect -closing lid is considered accidental damage

Hi Apple

Is closing the screen normal operations of the macbook air?

my apple air has a defect with the hinge. could apple please change your policy to accept hinge as warrant on apple air models

purchased my air 28/2/2008 from Sydney Broadway apple shop. I think this was the first day they got delivery in Sydney.

Last week when closing the screen, it was about half way down, it made a crack noise, and the hinge moved. (see photo from link below)

I have been to two apple care centres in Saigon, Vietnam this week. Spoke to apple in singapore and usa. They all told me i broke it and the damage is accidental. Offically on paper it was "it might be accidental damage, warranty repair declined"

Many people have had this problem, mostly in USA.

Below is the link to a post i made on the problem. It has a photo of my laptop hinge, it is not as bad as others, because i stopped using the air as soon as it happened

http://www.crashzone.com.au/2009/02/04/apple-macbook-air-has-a-defect-hinge-prob lem/

some more links to more of the same problem

http://mindspacemind.blogspot.com/2008/06/macbook-air-damaged-hinges-little-too. html
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=495259&page=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7uEMfJVm4U&feature=related
http://flickr.com/photos/landung2008/3247328478/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKJLUMBCF98&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Siq84YBlv7E&feature=related

Regards Christiaan Hunter

PS. Apple Air is the BEST laptop yet for me personally. light, 13" screen, full size keyboard, multitouch huge touch pad, nice casing, no dvd player and osx
I have owned these laptops:
compact portable iii
dell latitude d600
toshiba portege 3500 tablet
fujitsu lifebook p7010
motion ls800 tablet
apple macbook air

Macbook Air, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Feb 3, 2009 11:19 PM

190 replies

Aug 24, 2010 4:22 PM in response to devondmass

As an update...we called back and were very persistent this evening. 45 minutes and four people later, we finally got Apple to agree to fix it. So apparently persistence really is key.

The thing that was most disturbing, however, was that the folks on the other end were saying there was a "sizeable dent" in the display. Luckily we had the genius bar work order, which stated "minor scratches and cracked hinge plastic" as the only cosmetic flaws present when we shipped it out. They had to concede that any person looking it over should have noticed - and made mention of - a "sizeable dent." They also agreed to fix the alleged dent for free.

I must admit it's a little disturbing...either they were making the issue of the dent up in order to not fix it for free or my computer got pretty badly damaged in shipping and they tried to pin it on us. I suppose I'll pick my battles.

Either way, waiting for my fixed MBA to get home safely now (and planning on checking it over thoroughly BEFORE I leave the store!!).

astcell

Level 1

0 points

Sep 13, 2010 11:04 AM in response to devondmass

My hinge broke last night. I was amazed at how bad the damage looks! I closed it by pressing the hinge back in place slightly. I have an appointment at the Apple Store this evening. I never expected to see so much online about it. Apple needs to be more preventative on this.

astcell

Level 1

0 points

Sep 16, 2010 1:26 PM in response to astcell

Well here I am back. I took my MBA to the Apple store. I was all set to give references to this site and lots of other data. But instead the guy looked at my MAB and started the check-in process. There was even a drop down on the repair menu for a broken hinge.

I gave it to him about 8pm Monday the 13th. I get to work today, Thursday the 16th, and a box is waiting for me, it is my Macbook Air all fixed and WOW did they give it a good cleaning! Same shell but they replaced:
Clutch
Clutch
Antenna Window
Magnet
Bezel
Logic Board
Thermal Module

They also left me my files and all that. I worried about a reformat of course.

THANK YOU APPLE!

carl wolf

Level 6

14,631 points

Sep 18, 2010 6:57 PM in response to Christiaan Hunter

"Well here I am back."

We've been holding our breath.

Oct 3, 2010 8:28 PM in response to DeidreW

The same thing happened to my Mac Book Air about 4 months ago...my laptop was out of warranty. I took my laptop to one of their store in UK and they replaced it free of charge.

The guy said it is a design flaw and apple is aware of it....that's the reason why they fixed it free of charge for me even though my laptop was out of warranty.

amandaxr

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2010 12:34 AM in response to nelsonesp

Just noticed that the right hinge of my macbook air looks a bit looser than the one on the left even though I haven't dropped it or anything. Should I get it looked at before the hinge comes loose, or would I be better off going when the hinge actually comes off?

I'm honestly very tired about having to argue my case about the 'loose hinge.'

carl wolf

Level 6

14,631 points

Oct 4, 2010 5:32 PM in response to Christiaan Hunter

"Im honestly very tired about having to argue my case about the 'loose hinge.'"
Honestly, how many times have you had to argue the point?

"Should I get it looked at before the hinge comes loose..."
Honestly, yes.

sNoah

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2010 6:39 PM in response to Christiaan Hunter

I have a Macbook Air that I absolutely adore. I could barely contain the rage when this happened to me. The screen was loose when I bought it so I never thought of it as out of the ordinary. Then just today the left hinge snapped and actually protruded through the plastic cover on the back. I was feeling pretty discouraged when I ran some google searches for people with the same problem and not only came up with hundreds of cases of people unable to get Apple to fix it but an estimated repair cost of $800.

Half the cost of the computer for a problem with the hinge!!

Luckily I came across this board. Earlier searches on the Apple website did not turn it up. That post on page 7 was intensely relieving. I just got back from dropping my Mac off at the store in Madison and am holding a work order for $0.00. The staff there was incredibly friendly and forthright with the knowledge that I could have it repaired free of charge.

I am pleased to know that I can continue loving my little Macbook and continue loving the innovative company that produced it. I remain dubious, however, of ever purchasing brand new Apple products lest a similar situation should arise and I don't have the benefit of an angry army of Macheads going before me to clear a path through the red tape. I'll wait a year.

amandaxr

Level 1

0 points

Oct 5, 2010 12:00 AM in response to carl wolf

apologies, last line was more about 'having to argue my case about the hinge' was more of a misnomer. wasn't thinking straight esp. in panic mode. Was tired about having to cite cases of the other folks with hinge problems to substantiate as I have had to argue my case about ipod and earphone replacements in the past wrt to technical or user fault. (Pretty tedious process.)

Anyway, had the loose hinge checked, lady agreed that the angle looks a bit off but that they can only do something about it when the hinge comes off. To be fair, she was polite about it. Either way, I've extended my applecare just to sleep better at night.

Similar to my earphones problem in the past when the casing came off, wiring got exposed but I couldnt get it replaced because it wasn't 'audio-related problems' and by the time the wiring snapped the earphones had gone out of warranty.

Nov 9, 2010 11:40 AM in response to Christiaan Hunter

Oh my God! I LOVE you !!! Thanks *so much* for posting that.

That hinge has a shelf life of about 1.5 yrs. Mine just cracked again for the second time. The last time I had to argue for 2 hrs and show them several printouts of other user complaints before they fixed it for free and made me thank them properly thereafter.

Nov 13, 2010 11:57 AM in response to Christiaan Hunter

This happened to me the other night. I was just closing the lid when I heard....crunch. What??? Anyway, I immediately "googled" and found this thread. So, I made an appt @ the Genius Bar the next day. I took with me a copy of Apple's "Troubleshooting MacBook Air hinges."

I basically approached the tech person with the attitude that this just happened out of the blue, which is true. I said I'd read that others have had this issue, and Apple is aware of the issue. With that being said, he took my computer to the back, returned in 7-8 mins. He said they would order the parts, which would take 3-5 days. It would take 1-2 days for the repair. The repair will be free of charge. According to the receipt, the actual repair if it wasn't covered, would have been $645.

Kudos to Apple for covering this repair even though my MBA is 2.8 yrs old.

Good luck to others who might experience this issue.

Nov 22, 2010 9:58 AM in response to Christiaan Hunter

broken hinge few days ago.
Apple replaced the full monitor quite fast (apple care) for free. Thank you!

noticing strange shades on bottom of new monitor. I am checking what is the problem.

Nov 23, 2010 9:54 AM in response to Community User

today Apple assessed that the new monitor must be replaced again (for the bottom shade stripes)
Haaa these factories in China...!

Nov 28, 2010 2:40 PM in response to willrok13

I am also happy to report that I brought MacBook Air into my local apple store with the broken hinge on the screen - they replaced the screen even though my MacBook Air was long out of warranty.

Thank you Apple!

Dec 1, 2010 9:40 PM in response to Arctic Life

Dropped mine off last Wednesday. They are going to replace the LCD assembly free of charge. Thank you Apple!

However, they said the parts are backordered until Dec. 15th, 3 weeks from when I dropped it off.

Apple macbook air hinge defect -closing lid is considered accidental damage