Apple WILL fix my MacBook Air Hinge

Apple admits problem, fixes it

Aaron H — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:43:40 +0000

Apple has admitted the problem and will fix your macbook air gen 1 without any cost to you whether it is in or out of warranty.

Please see the appropriate article in their support pages.

I didn’t realize that this hadn’t been posted yet, but in fact I’ve had my computer fixed for almost 2 months now and I’m glad Apple finally did the right thing, even if it took them almost 10 months to admit the problem.

The damage continues

Aaron H — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:00:57 +0000

So while I sat down at the airport to go to Boston this afternoon, I noticed how the hinge was sitting even higher than normal. I adjusted it down into what would be the normal range, but when it was time to close the laptop (gently as usual) another crack and the plastic came out as well as part of a cylandir. Pics to follow. This is getting ridiculous. My mic no longer works, and my USB is sporadic. I’m so sick of not having a laptop that works the way it should.

Check the blogroll

Aaron H — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:27:58 +0000

I am amassing all the relavant links to other places where this issue has been and is being discussed. If you have more that you think should be added, then let me know via comments.

OK Apple, let’s do this

Aaron H — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:55:39 +0000

Hi, I’m Aaron and I want my MacBook Air fixed.

The hinge on the right side decided it no longer wanted to stay where it is supposed to be. One evening I was done working and closed the laptop. As I was closing it made a loud sound and then I noticed the back wasn’t closing all the way. The plastic housing near the hinge was out and the hinge was all weird.

Mine looked almost exactly like this, but on the other side

Notice the gap between the screen and the body of the laptop. It will not close flush at all due to this hardware failure.

I backed up my machine and took it down to my local Apple certified repair service (MacExperience) and they told me to take to to Apple because they were afraid that they would say it’s accidental damage. I sent it off to Apple and after a very unpleasant phone encounter with Leah (who declined to give her name or other contact details) they said they could not fix it. I called back a day or two later and got Shaleem. While she was very nice, she seemed to go out of her way to make sure and check on all that I told her, she still concluded that Apple would not cover this because it was “accidental damage.”

Well it’s not, and there have been a number of people who have dealt with this exact same issue. Engaget picked up the story but did not pursue it. The most compelling page is this one, notice in the comments how many people have had this problem, about two dozen or so. This is no longer an isolated issue. I plan on taking number of pictures of my machine to further document this. I will also be inviting others to share their story here as gues authors. We need to get Apple to listen to this and fix these under warranty.