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

Thanks to the folks on this thread I have taken my Rev. A MBA (1.8 Ghz, 60gb SSD) in with jut the "wobble" for a free repair. I've had some looseness or "play" in the left hinge for a few weeks, but ignored it, until I found this thread.
I took it in, they found my AppleCare serial number and I'll have my MBA back in 5 days. It will suck not having my MBA for my business trip today, but I'll borrow my wife's MBA.
Strongly recommend that any Rev A owners bring their MBAs in for repair prior to having an actual break/slippage of the hinge.
I agree that Apple probably has a defective part here, just based on the sheer number of posters that are experiencing problems.
For those of you who's MBAs have no obvious signs of droppage/spillage you should be able to get a manager to approve repair/replacement.

just a quick follow up... Apple did the right thing and my MBA has been repaired at no charge... and that is 2 months out of warranty with "no" AppleCare. thanks Apple.

the process took about 4 days start to finish, my screen is now much tighter, so hope it doesn't happen again... looks like they replaced about 6 items including a new bottom case.

mine had the "wobble" of about 3/4 an inch from the day i got it, but thought it was normal since others had the same condition... i guess that is a sign yours may do the same thing... but i can't confirm it.

only thing i'd like to add is i would often adjust the screen by the upper right corner and since this thing is so light, it would put the entire weight on the right hinge each time. i'm right handed, so it would be interesting to know if left handed people have the left hinge break? anyway, the MBA is a great unit so thanks again Apple for fixing this issue without hassle.

The Apple Store took my broken hinge and sent off for repair at no charge. I was 9 day out of warranty. Only had a three day turn around. Can't beat that..... Thanks APPLE

The Apple Store took my broken hinge and sent off for repair at no charge. I was 9 day out of warranty. Only had a three day turn around. Can't beat that..... Thanks APPLE

The Apple Store took my broken hinge and sent off for repair at no charge. I was 9 day out of warranty. Only had a three day turn around. Can't beat that..... Thanks APPLE

I too took my MBA in with the looseness....

The genius said he had never heard of this problem (I explained this thread to him).
He said "let me look at our internal site" after which he promptly ordered a replacement display.
(got no confirmation that it was on their site but I'll take his action as partial confirmation that it's known)
3 day cycle to get my mac back

Thanks guys!

Mine is being repaired under Apple Care at this very moment, not only, I have a 2006 imac out of warranty with the pixel lines on the screen and they took that in too, good old Apple 😉

I have a first edition Air...it's 10 months old and the hinge is beginning to get rather loose. The Genius expert didn't even question the repair. They agreed to replace the hinge and screen (it's all one piece)....no problem at all. They are even throwing in a new airport card since streaming video gets kinda choppy. They thought it might be a faulty part.

I told the guy I was very prepared to argue, fight and cause a massive scene if they refused to fix it, but I didn't get the chance.

Apple has won me over once again. If they release a new iPhone tomorrow...I'm buying it!

LOVE APPLE. Good luck to everyone with the same issue.

Hi Lewmac. I can beat that! I took my MBA into an Apple Store in the UK. I bought it in March 2008, so it is nearly 15 months old - 3 months out of warranty. The Genius guy agreed that their was a fault and said he would extend my warranty so that the work could be covered. I handed over my MBA on Monday of this week and he rang me back on Tuesday to say it was ready to be collected! How's that for service! They replaced the whole screen assembly and did a perfect job.

It is good for Apple - I tell everyone how good they are and I have several friends who have bought Apple products because of my recommendations. I am also an ICT teacher in a school and my pupils are very aware of the differences between Macs and PCs!! A little bit of goodwill goes a long way.

Just had the same problem happen to my MacBook Air version 1.1. Girlfriend had same problem v1.1 to her MacBook Air in April. Contact Apple support ... "no, nope ... never seen the problem before. Sorry you SOL". Ask to speak to a manager "sounds interesting, send us some pictures ... our QA guys would love to see them but nothing Apple will do for you right now".

Use the MacBook Air for my personnel use (very little travel, sits on my lap most of the time web browsing) but had started to migrate my photo business to Apple hardware and software. Based on today's conversation I may be looking to STOP that migration process and consider other hardware options. Maybe Apple is more of like the IPod when it comes to computer hardware ... when it breaks (1 year later) you just throw it away like the IPod and buy a new one. Probable is that just doesn't work for expensive hardware (notebooks, servers, business products).

Love the Apple products but need the hardware to last longer then a year and a company the fixes defects otherwise I just buying into another GM product and not the Lexus I thought I owned.

not all apple stores fix this for free

i have a apple 1.8ghz with ssd

i took it to apple store and they would not fix my wobble which i have

i told them i kept my machine in mint condition since i bought it and also pointed out that i have apple care.

they then took me over to their mac air and tried to prove to me my hinges are like that, but when i tested the hinges out on their air, it was rock solid.


so for people in vancouver, you will not get a free repair, even if you buy the apple care. iwasted my money on it as apple care should cover it.



note that i went today and was rejected the repair on a mint apple air i babied since i got it with apple care

There may be a solution to prevent the hinge break! I bought MBA three months ago. From the very beggining I was aware of often reported cases of hinge break. Few weeks ago, I noticed a cracking noise beneath the left hinge of my computer. This was quite a worrisome development, especially given that the cracking noise is often mentioned by victims of hinge break as the first indication that occurs prior to the accident. Today, I noticed that screws on the back side of my computer (only those which hold the screen) are quite loosened. I just took my screwdriver and tightened them up. Now there is no cracking noise anymore and both the screen and the hinges seem to be quite tightened up, just like they were when I bought the computer three months ago.

Maybe the problem with hinge defect is actually this: screws by the time get loosened, users dont realize it and they keep opening up their screens. This puts an additional pressure on hinges and as a result ends up in breaking.

Filip from Belgrade

This happened to me a few weeks ago. Applying very light pressure, I heard a snap. Computer still worked, but when I closed it, I saw the hinge was completely broken. It still worked, but by the time I took it to Tekserve in NYC (I was leaving for SF the next day, so I was hoping for a same day fix), the screen had stopped working and they said it looked like a 700 dollar repair, even from apple (said you can't replace just the hinge).

After getting back from SF I went to the apple store, explained what happened. They said they send it away to be looked at, and let me know if it could potentially be fixed under Apple's $280 flat fee for internal repairs to the macbook air. I was pessimistic, and when I didn't hear from them I went back to the store (Chelsea in NYC) 9 days later. They apologized for the delay, saying they had gotten the part, but it was going to be installed later that day. I said I hadn't even been told it was being fixed, at which point they informed Apple had decided to fix it at no charge. HUGE RELIEF!!!

Perhaps Apple has started to recognize this problem. I definitely did not get in argument with the Genius like other people. I did however, firmly asserted that I definitely had not done anything that should have broken the hinge (Apples flat $280 fee doesn't cover damage to the case, which is when I disputed the notion that I had "damaged" anything).

Oh, should have mentioned that my macbook air was 15 months old, and not covered by Apple Care.

The exact same thing as most others with this issue happened to me a couple of days ago. I just opened it and heard a horrible cracking sound. I called the AppleCare people, and they referred me to a Mac Centre, and luckily, I just go the call that it will be covered by the extended warranty. As with most of those that I've since seen on the internet, the hinge that snapped was on the left, where it heats up most during use-could this be an issue?
Anyway, I have dropped it off at the Mac Centre, but was now wondering, as I forgot to ask, with this repair, will all my files on my computer be ok or will I lose them?