How much will it cost to repair an accidental dent in my laptop?

AppleCare doesn't cover accidental damage of the kind your machine has suffered, and the only way to repair it is to replace the damaged parts. Depending on which parts they are, I would anticipate a price range similar to what you've suggested: several hundred to a thousand dollars.

Unfortunately, you WILL have to pay for such a damage..Apple states this about their Apple Care Warranty and 1 yr Limited Warranty:

This warranty does not apply: (a) to consumable parts, such as batteries, unless damage hasoccurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; (b) to cosmetic damage, includingbut not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports; (c) to damage caused by usewith non-Apple products; (d) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, liquid contact,fire, earthquake or other external causes; (e) to damage caused by operating the productoutside the permitted or intended uses described by Apple; (f) to damage caused by service(including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative ofApple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (“AASP”); (g) to a product or part that hasbeen modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple;(h) to defects caused by normal wear and tear or otherwise due to the normal aging of theproduct or ℹ if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced.

They do not cover any accidental damages. Buying the extended Apple Care just insures they will fix hardware related issues after the original warranty expired. If cosmetic issues bother you a lot, the only thing to do is replace the outer chassis. I think it would be cheaper to buy a new MacBook though. I bought the original white Macbook in 2006 and the case cracked all by itself and the palm rests stained after 2 weeks. They told me to replace the bezels would cost me $800, so I just sold the Macbook for $800 and bought a new one.

The newer aluminum chasis cost more I presume. It might be better to just accept the dent.

cukier wrote:

I'm really starting to think that it'd be better to just leave it like it is and instead just buy a case for the laptop: both to hide the scratch and prevent the computer from scratching again in the future. Save a bunch of money.

Exactly.

I saw some people post that they were going to use a silver pen to color in the dent to give the illusion that the scratch was never there. Might try that out but I'm scared it might be the wrong color on the aluminum unibody.

Anything you do to try to cover up or fill the scratches and dents will only make them more apparent. Don't waste any time or money on such futile endeavors.

The pen trick works on the old Titanium G4 powerbooks... but it doesn't look right on the aluminum. I tried the pen trick on my aluminum G5 Powermac and it looks terrible... Get a case and try to not look. I know it breaks your heart. I have 2 G5 towers, one of them I bought new in 2005, and when I moved to China, the shipping company cracked the crate and I have a 8 inch scratch down the side... and the pen trick made it much more obvious. Broke my heart to peices. 😟 But at least they didn't break the handles!

You're welcome! I wish they would just powder coat Macs in different colors... they made the first few generations of iPod to scratch on purpose, and the "scratch resistant" aluminum they use on everything today seems to be more prone to scratches in my opinion. Or maybe just the scratches are more obvious. All the white Macs could be scratched a millions times, and you never notice it unless you shine a light on it.

😝

Don't accept the dent!

Okay, you may have to, but I'd strongly suggest visiting your local Apple Store's Genius Bar before assuming that the dent can't be repaired. If the damage isn't that bad (and it doesn't seem to be), it may be possible for someone to bend the aluminum back into shape in just a few minutes. There's a strong chance that there won't be any costs for repair.

Well, I guess he could try. But it is highly unlikely to be fixed. Especially if the dent is on a corner. If it is on a flat part, the it can be pushed back out theoretically. But annodized aluminum is tricky if there is any actual blemish on the surface layer. It would have to be stripped and re-annodized to fix any real surface scratch or deep blemish even if the dent is popped back out.

I'm not sure how much it would cost bringing it to the Apple store.

Call them & ask!