I broke my headphone jack off in the input.... oops...

Timothy,

Welcome to apple discussions.
Did you break off the headphone jack (from your headphones) so it is now stuck in your PB? Or are you saying that the port is broken? If you still have the jack inside your PB, the port may be fine. If it is the port that is broken, you can take it into an apple store. But, as far as I know it is connected to your logic board and cannot be replaced separately.

Hope this helps.

Timothy,

Welcome to apple discussions.
Did you break off the headphone jack (from your headphones) so it is now stuck in your PB? Or are you saying that the port is broken? If you still have the jack inside your PB, the port may be fine. If it is the port that is broken, you can take it into an apple store. But, as far as I know it is connected to your logic board and cannot be replaced separately.

Hope this helps.

Well, the cost of a smaller pair of tweezers will sure be less than the cost of a logic board, so I don't see how you can go wrong giving that a try. I didn't respond earlier because I was pretty skeptical that a Genius Bar was going to poach on the territory of a certified technician and make any hardware repairs for free. But that's not to say you shouldn't try to do so yourself.

Never having seen the broken-off end of a headphone plug, I don't know whether it's a hollow tube or a solid bar. if it's the former, you might try inserting a very sharply pointed screw, such as a #6 drywall screw, into it and screwing it in until it grips, then trying to pull it out. I think that if you're able to do that, it might enable you to exert more pulling force without slipping than tweezers would. Good luck.

I agree that any tools you decide to buy would definetly be cheaper than a new logic board. And I also agree that poking around with tweezers and such would not damage your PB any more than having a broken off headphone jack inside the port. The screw is a great idea eww.

Unless the piece that broke off is hollow, I don't think a drywall screw will work. It won't dig into the metal of the jack. You'd need a self-tapping screw to be able to do that. I don't think they make self-tapping screws that small, but you could check at your local Home Depot. Either way, if the broken piece is loose enough to turn inside the port, it won't work anyway.

I think a really small tweezers might be the best tool to try. You could also try this, if all else fails and you feel you have nothing to lose:

Take a large paperclip, straighten it, and put a small glob of Superglue or some other STRONG adhesive on one end. Carefully insert it into the port until you make contact with the broken piece of the jack. Hold it, or support it somehow, until the glue/adhesive sets. Then, gently and as straight as possible, pull the paperclip out of the port. The broken piece should come out. I've done this, successfully, with broken pieces of metal in very small holes.

The key is not to use too much glue that the paperclip gets glued to the inner sleeve of the port. But you need enough glue to allow it to adhere to the jack. The worst case scenario: You ruin the port. But, if you can't get the broken piece out any other way, the port is essentially ruined anyway. So, like I said, if you have nothing to lose ...

Good luck!

Hi, sbaek. Only AppleCare can tell you whether the particular repair you need will be covered, so by all means ask. In general, damage that appears to have resulted from abuse won't be covered, and component failures where there is no sign of abuse will be. But AppleCare itself is always the final arbiter.

One way to get small things out of small holes is with sewing needles. Assuming it not broken off deep in the hole you can take a needle and pry it out. Stick the needle tip against the exposed piece and just pry it out. Sometimes using two needles, one in each hand, and you can get a better grip. The danger of course is slipping and sticking the other hand ouch. Be careful.

Try a small crochet hook (available from your wife or girlfriend and at your nearest notions store) however. this will only work if the piece is hollow and have a flange that you can hook on too.

In response to this, does applecare cover the replacement of the logic board if the sound isn't working properly? or do i have to pay for that out of my own pocket? thanks!