Replacement body for Macbook Pro

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Level 1

2 points

Replacement body for Macbook Pro

About 6 months ago I handed down my Macbook Pro (purchased May 08') to the VP of my company. Since then he's been 100% converted to Macs and absolutely loves his laptop. So much that lately he's dropped many subtle hints around ordering a newer Macbook Pro and passing his down to another employee. Gotta love the chain of command eh?

I'm all for this but when he showed me his current Macbook Pro I was mortified by how bent the body was! Each of the front corners bows downward and the edges of the display do not match up with the edges of the main body. He takes good care of his equipment so I'm not exactly sure how it go so bent out of shape. Regardless of how it happened I would like to get the MBP fixed before giving it to someone else to use. Does Apple offer a complete body exchange or a 3rd party company who deals with such requests?

Macbook Pro 2.66, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 8, 2009 12:37 PM

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Answer 1

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Oct 8, 2009 3:41 PM in response to strongpose

http://www.ifixit.com/

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Answer 2

CMCSK

Level 6

11,452 points

Oct 8, 2009 3:41 PM in response to strongpose

Does Apple offer a complete body exchange or a 3rd party company who deals with such requests?

The first part - no
The second part - call Apple & ask. This is a user to user message board. None of us works for Apple.

If you had Apple Care did you transfer it over to the VP?

Check with your company's insurance plan for "equipment" repairs. The computer was in the VP charge at the time the damage was done. Why should you be responsible for the damage to "his" computer?

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Answer 3

strongpose Author

Level 1

2 points

Oct 9, 2009 12:30 AM in response to strongpose

No we do not have Apple Care on any of our computer equipment. The MBP is a company laptop, therefore if any repairs need to be done the biz will pick it up. I'm not so keen on turning in an insurance claim on a couple hundred dollar repair either. It'll be easier and quicker if I can just have it sent off or order the body and have a specialist replace it. Anyone know of someone I can contact to replace the body?

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Answer 4

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Oct 9, 2009 1:02 AM in response to strongpose

As sig says, iFixit is a good place to start.

A lower case will probably cost you about $240US used.

An upper case (the bit the keyboard sits in) will run out at about $300US used.

The screen assembly is usually sold as a single unit (maybe $700US used)

None of these prices include labor. They assume you do the job yourself.

As you can see, it is an expensive business to replace these parts if more than one is damaged, and it would probably simply be substantially cheaper to buy a complete equivalent second hand computer than to have the parts you mention professionally replaced.

Other potential US sources include http://www.powerbookmedic.com and http://www.powerbookguy.com.

New Apple parts will cost significantly more again.

If you DO have insurance, then it probably is worth using it, despite any excess . By the sound of things your boss has done way more than a couple of hundred dollars worth of damage to the unit. It is easy to do if you accidentally lean on them, even just once, when standing up.

The new unibody units are much, much tougher, by the way. If he has done that much damage in such a short space of time I reckon you deserve, and he needs, one of the new unibody models! Probably make more economic sense , too!

Cheers

Rod

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