Outer Case Buckling - RIght by the CD drive.

I think I would agree with Sig--this could have been caused by extreme heat. You say you make movies in the desert? Does the Mac get hot while doing this, maybe with the fans going full blast? If the desert air is hot, it will have more trouble cooling down the Mac. If you are using it in closed mode with an external display and keyboard, it could possibly get warm enough to warp. I don't see normal palm pressure on the palm rest as being sufficient to cause this degree of warpage. If it ever turned on in its case, and got super hot, maybe this could happen.

The alternate explanation would be a blow to that corner from below, which is what the Apple guys said. I think you would have noticed that much of a blow, and I would expect there to be a witness mark of some sort.

As a minor note, my MBP has a much smaller buckle just over the latch, and it was that way out of the box. I have no warpage on mine--it still sits on all 4 feet.

I would try showing this to other Apple guys and see what they might have to say.

Good luck!

shows it buckling from almost the left side of
the optical drive on the bottom and top of the
the case to the right hand edge. Heat would
uniformly affect a single surface, and usually
a single spot would be indented. This problem
they are showing is affecting the whole chasis
with exception for the display. What's
intriguing is there is no damage to the display.
The only way I could see this happen is being
dropped while the screen is open or using this
on top of a very hot indoor heater unit. Now
unless I'm mistaken, isn't the battery under a
different part of the machine?

Message was edited by: a brody

Message was edited by: a brody

I spoke with someone else and he thinks it is agrees it is neither defect, nor normal usage. Something about your usage or perhaps some outside mutilating force that you had no control over may have caused this.

Don't get me wrong, I know it shouldn't happen, best of luck trying to get it repaired. It is very difficult to get something like this repaired.

I don't believe there is any chance that heat caused the damage pictured, nor could any force that might be applied with the computer in normal use on a flat surface cause such damage. It looks to me as if the computer may have been bent by pressing down hard on the middle of it while it was supported on a user's lap, straddling the user's two thighs — as might happen, for example, if the user leaned far forward over the computer to reach something beyond it, and his or her belly pressed heavily on it. Or perhaps it was bent whle being transported inside a case or backpack that was overstuffed, so the straining container tried to "wrap" the MBP around the bulky other contents in the middle. If the display is bent in the same direction when closed as the lower case is, I'm sure this is the explanation. In any event, it's very clear to me that the machine has been subjected to a heavy external force — and probably not a sharp impact, which would have dented one corner or another of the case. Because there are no dents, I doubt that the machine was dropped, unless it was dropped inside a well-padded case. I would expect a padded case to prevent denting, but not bending, especially not if the case also contained other heavy objects.

I will be astonished if Apple or anyone else attributes the damage to anything other than abuse, knowing or unknowing. I don't think there's any other realistic possibility.

Don't get me wrong, I know it shouldn't happen, best of luck trying to get it repaired. It is very difficult to get something like this repaired.

You can purchase a top case from a number of used apple parts dealers at an affordable price and they are quite straightforward to fit yourself.

One thing one must take into account is the possibility of putting things in the carrying bag that may weigh down on the machine. If the machine is not totally surrounded by at least an inch (2.5 cm) of foam, anything as heavy as a hardcover book, or large flashlight could if pressed the right way start to bend the machine, and get worse over time. Unless your machine is totally sealed off from such pressure, and totally sealed off repeatedly from such pressure, you can't exactly assume that it didn't get affected by such items in your bag. If it has never been in a bag and always sat on a desk, of course this theory is moot.

Looks to me like the sort of damage that would easily occur if a person forgetfully used the front of the keyboard surround as a support while rising from a chair while the lid was open.

Cheers

Rod