Broken hinge on a Macbook Air - how to fix it?

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Broken hinge on a Macbook Air - how to fix it?

Hi,

I have a Macbook Air which has worked perfectly all this time, but a few days back one of the hinges broke. The system still works fine, but opening the lid seems to strain the body structure. Upon opening the bottom cover, I noticed that a wire is running through the broken hinge, which seems to be getting strained when opening and closing. I'm presently in India and I took it to an authorized service store, but they said that it requires a screen replacement and I think they're just trying to "upgrade" the repair to a more expensive option!

Has anyone faced this problem before or can recommend what parts should actually be replaced? I don't want to do it myself, but I want to go into a better service center armed with details on what they have to do!

Thanks,

Sid

(pictures below)

What a normal hinge looks like:

MacBook Air

Posted on Sep 2, 2013 6:31 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 2, 2013 3:12 PM in response to siliconpi

broken friction hinge on your AIr

I assume you threw open the monitor and the top over traveled?

Relatively a cheap fix.

Contact Apple for an appt. to fix it for you 😉

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Answer 2

siliconpi Author

Level 1

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Sep 12, 2013 12:28 AM in response to PlotinusVeritas

I actually tried getting in touch with two Authorized service centers and both of them said that Apple does not provide replacement hinges separately and the entire screen must be replaced.

Any thoughts on how I can fix it, besides buying a new one? 🙂

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Answer 3

Oct 6, 2013 4:34 PM in response to siliconpi

I am about to do this repair for a customer of mine. You can get a replacement hinge for about 25$ on ebay. The repair instructions are quite advanced, you need to follow the guide found on ifixit.com to remove all the components from bottom section of the notebook. Then it will release the entire display assembly. From there you have to heat up the metal film covering the LCD and carefully peel it off, there is a youtube video showing this process. That will allow you to replace the hinge. Pretty lengthy and somewhat difficult repair, especially if you are not a semi knowledable computer repairer.

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Answer 4

carl wolf

Level 6

14,625 points

Oct 6, 2013 8:10 PM in response to siliconpi

You may have been eligible for a "fixed rate repair" at Apple. Although more expensive than a DIY repair, it would be much less expensive than asking Apple or an AASP to "replace the screen". Now the bad news. Since you opened, and partially disassembled the computer, Apple may find you ineligible for the cheap repair. There's no harm in asking.

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Answer 5

siliconpi Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 7, 2014 11:33 PM in response to miniMOJOman

Hi miniMOJOman,

Did you have success with this? Would you mind letting me know the exact part number so that I may purchase the same as well?

Thanks!

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