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Buying a used MacBook pro with an obvious dent - Will Apple refuse future repairs?

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circa7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2013
205
10
I might be buying a used MacBook pro that has some obvious damage (dropped one time), but there is no problems with the computer at all. The place where it was dropped is next to the battery- but I am concerned that if I ever bring in the laptop, Apple will attribute the problem to the dent and not fix it under the active AppleCare plan. Is this the case? Or will Apple overlook the dent since it is right at the battery? This is my first Mac computer so I am not sure how this whole AppleCare thing works.

Pic of the computer for reference:

YI8aj.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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Brettka7

macrumors 6502
Nov 5, 2011
458
406
It looks like it's bent around the ethernet port too. I wouldn't buy it expecting Apple to stand behind it. I know if I were a company I would refuse to replace a logic board, SuperDrive, hard drive, etc.
 
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ezramoore

macrumors 6502a
Mar 20, 2006
612
3
Washington State
There is a strong chance they will deny you future repairs based on that.
If your purchase is contingent upon needing a warranty, DO NOT BUY IT.

Most decisions regarding whether or not to cover something that looks damaged would be up to the tech.

For instance, based on that damage, I would deny any HDD claim.

If someone says they know for sure one way or the other, they are lying.
 
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Ploki

macrumors 601
Jan 21, 2008
4,308
1,558
I dropped mine 4 times (once nekkid, no skin/bag) and it doesn't look as bad as this...
 
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circa7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2013
205
10
z4x0n said:
Better buy a refurbished MacBook pro
Click to expand...

ezramoore said:
There is a strong chance they will deny you future repairs based on that.
If your purchase is contingent upon needing a warranty, DO NOT BUY IT.

Most decisions regarding whether or not to cover something that looks damaged would be up to the tech.

For instance, based on that damage, I would deny any HDD claim.

If someone says they know for sure one way or the other, they are lying.
Click to expand...

I ended up buying a 2012 model. Has a crappy 5400rpm drive but Ill upgrade that eventually.
 
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Ploki

macrumors 601
Jan 21, 2008
4,308
1,558
circa7 said:
I ended up buying a 2012 model. Has a crappy 5400rpm drive but Ill upgrade that eventually.
Click to expand...

Hey, you're the guy deciding between two 2011 models right?

Congrats on your purchase, I believe you made the best possible decision.
 
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circa7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2013
205
10
Ploki said:
Hey, you're the guy deciding between two 2011 models right?

Congrats on your purchase, I believe you made the best possible decision.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was me! I had a $1500 budget... but I ended up buying a 2012 model for $1600. And I'll have to buy an SSD for $200... And I'll have to buy 16gb of ram for $80... It only has 8gb ram and a 5400rpm drive, but I think you guys all talked me in to future proofing myself as long as possible. It also only has the 1440x900 display which bugs me, but I have an external 27" that will be connected to it quite often. Better to spend a little more now than having to buy a new computer sooner. Hopefully this saves me money in the long run. Thanks for all of your help.

----------
ezramoore said:
Good choice. Unless you need all the extra storage, get an SSD. You will be blown away at how much more responsive it feels.
Click to expand...

I have an SSD on my current Windows laptop, which scares me since I'm used to the speed. We'll see how I like the 5400rpm. To be honest, I don't really care about programs opening quickly.. I like how they actually perform. I do use Lightroom and other apps that do page the drive so they might actually see some performance drops with the slower drive. If it's unbearable I'll get the SSD sooner than later. I'm just concerned about it voiding my apple warranty. I have to read up on that.
 
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Ploki

macrumors 601
Jan 21, 2008
4,308
1,558
circa7 said:
Yeah, that was me! I had a $1500 budget... but I ended up buying a 2012 model for $1600. And I'll have to buy an SSD for $200... And I'll have to buy 16gb of ram for $80... It only has 8gb ram and a 5400rpm drive, but I think you guys all talked me in to future proofing myself as long as possible. It also only has the 1440x900 display which bugs me, but I have an external 27" that will be connected to it quite often. Better to spend a little more now than having to buy a new computer sooner. Hopefully this saves me money in the long run. Thanks for all of your help.

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I have an SSD on my current Windows laptop, which scares me since I'm used to the speed. We'll see how I like the 5400rpm. To be honest, I don't really care about programs opening quickly.. I like how they actually perform. I do use Lightroom and other apps that do page the drive so they might actually see some performance drops with the slower drive. If it's unbearable I'll get the SSD sooner than later. I'm just concerned about it voiding my apple warranty. I have to read up on that.
Click to expand...
As I remember disk is still user replaceable, i think there are also official apple manuals for replacing that.

There are no stickers or crap like that for accessing the drive bay, just the 12 philips screws.

you do void your warranty IF you damage anything while attempting to swap a drive.

But someone doublecheck me on this, I'm typing from my memory.
 
L

locoboi187

macrumors 6502a
Oct 3, 2012
711
375
circa7 said:
Yeah, that was me! I had a $1500 budget... but I ended up buying a 2012 model for $1600. And I'll have to buy an SSD for $200... And I'll have to buy 16gb of ram for $80... It only has 8gb ram and a 5400rpm drive, but I think you guys all talked me in to future proofing myself as long as possible. It also only has the 1440x900 display which bugs me, but I have an external 27" that will be connected to it quite often. Better to spend a little more now than having to buy a new computer sooner. Hopefully this saves me money in the long run. Thanks for all of your help.
Click to expand...

Forgive me for asking, why not just get the retina if you want to do those upgrades? You'd spend a total of $1900. $200 more for screen or $100 if you get discounts.
 
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circa7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2013
205
10
locoboi187 said:
Forgive me for asking, why not just get the retina if you want to do those upgrades? You'd spend a total of $1900. $200 more for screen or $100 if you get discounts.
Click to expand...

Only 8gb of non-upgradeable memory. The 16gb versions are out of my price range. Unless you can show me where I can get a 16gb version for $1900? Ill buy one for sure and sell the one I already bought.
 
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z4x0n

macrumors newbie
Nov 3, 2012
23
0
Isla de Muerta
good choice, i wouldn't buy the Retina, it's overpriced and it's not future proof. the one that you got is the one to go for, after a couple of months when they release the 16gb ram modules, you could benefit from a 32gb. as for the SSD you could find a bargain on eBay, a couple of weeks ago i got a 256 SSD Crucial M4 for 140 bux brand new.

5400 rpm will drive you nuts, mine was so slow, i used to think that my laptop was broken
 
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circa7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2013
205
10
z4x0n said:
good choice, i wouldn't buy the Retina, it's overpriced and it's not future proof. the one that you got is the one to go for, after a couple of months when they release the 16gb ram modules, you could benefit from a 32gb. as for the SSD you could find a bargain on eBay, a couple of weeks ago i got a 256 SSD Crucial M4 for 140 bux brand new.

5400 rpm will drive you nuts, mine was so slow, i used to think that my laptop was broken
Click to expand...

Will the computer support 32gb of ram? I was under the impression that 16gb was the absolute max? Maybe I'll just hang on with the 8gb for as long as possible.

That sucks about the hard drive. Damnit. I was hoping that it would be "good enough" for a while.
 
Z

z4x0n

macrumors newbie
Nov 3, 2012
23
0
Isla de Muerta
circa7 said:
Will the computer support 32gb of ram? I was under the impression that 16gb was the absolute max? Maybe I'll just hang on with the 8gb for as long as possible.

That sucks about the hard drive. Damnit. I was hoping that it would be "good enough" for a while.
Click to expand...

Rumors say that yes, my Polycarbonate MacBook 2010 used to support 8gb, now it supports 16gb
 
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Ploki

macrumors 601
Jan 21, 2008
4,308
1,558
circa7 said:
Will the computer support 32gb of ram? I was under the impression that 16gb was the absolute max? Maybe I'll just hang on with the 8gb for as long as possible.

That sucks about the hard drive. Damnit. I was hoping that it would be "good enough" for a while.
Click to expand...

Depends on the drive actually. 750GB drives have quite a density and strike a serious punch to a smaller capacity 7200rpm drive. More storage > more density > more speed.
320GB 7200RPM scorpio black is slower than 750GB 5400RPM scorpio blue drive. Funny isn't it?
If you had a 200mb/s SSD you can expect about 2times slower access times.
If you are coming from a 500mb/s SSD... You're probably going to lose it.

I'm currently working on Raid 0 setup with 140mb/s, and when I work on a single drive setup I already notice the performance drop.

I believe Ivy Bridge is suppose to support 32GB of ram when sticks eventually emerge.

My 2nd biggest regret for ordering a retina and not a cMBP.
 
Z

z4x0n

macrumors newbie
Nov 3, 2012
23
0
Isla de Muerta
Ploki said:
Depends on the drive actually. 750GB drives have quite a density and strike a serious punch to a smaller capacity 7200rpm drive. More storage > more density > more speed.
320GB 7200RPM scorpio black is slower than 750GB 5400RPM scorpio blue drive. Funny isn't it?
If you had a 200mb/s SSD you can expect about 2times slower access times.
If you are coming from a 500mb/s SSD... You're probably going to lose it.

I'm currently working on Raid 0 setup with 140mb/s, and when I work on a single drive setup I already notice the performance drop.

I believe Ivy Bridge is suppose to support 32GB of ram when sticks eventually emerge.

My 2nd biggest regret for ordering a retina and not a cMBP.
Click to expand...

What's your 1st?
 
C

circa7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2013
205
10
Ploki said:
Depends on the drive actually. 750GB drives have quite a density and strike a serious punch to a smaller capacity 7200rpm drive. More storage > more density > more speed.
320GB 7200RPM scorpio black is slower than 750GB 5400RPM scorpio blue drive. Funny isn't it?
If you had a 200mb/s SSD you can expect about 2times slower access times.
If you are coming from a 500mb/s SSD... You're probably going to lose it.

I'm currently working on Raid 0 setup with 140mb/s, and when I work on a single drive setup I already notice the performance drop.

I believe Ivy Bridge is suppose to support 32GB of ram when sticks eventually emerge.

My 2nd biggest regret for ordering a retina and not a cMBP.
Click to expand...

What hard drive comes stock in a 2012 Macbook Pro 750gb 5400rpm?
 
C

circa7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2013
205
10
Ploki said:
Depends on the drive actually. 750GB drives have quite a density and strike a serious punch to a smaller capacity 7200rpm drive. More storage > more density > more speed.
320GB 7200RPM scorpio black is slower than 750GB 5400RPM scorpio blue drive. Funny isn't it?
If you had a 200mb/s SSD you can expect about 2times slower access times.
If you are coming from a 500mb/s SSD... You're probably going to lose it.

I'm currently working on Raid 0 setup with 140mb/s, and when I work on a single drive setup I already notice the performance drop.

I believe Ivy Bridge is suppose to support 32GB of ram when sticks eventually emerge.

My 2nd biggest regret for ordering a retina and not a cMBP.
Click to expand...

I just tested my SSD with a program called Roadkill Disk Speed and it said I have a max read speed of 250mb/s - cached speed of 101mb/sec . So this is what I am coming from with my new clunky 5400rpm MBP.
 
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