Bad mistake

[ohhmaar]

So it's been 2 and a half months with my magnificent MacBook Air. I love this thing, it's beyond perfect for my needs. I was walking around campus and the roads had sheets of ice laid firmly. I slipped and fell backwards, the MBA was in my backpack, and it smacked the concrete ground.

Unfortunately this happened:



I know..devastating...
On the bright side everything works, however, over time this is going to put stress on the hinges and the screen might pop out.
Do I un bend the part? Or have apple take a look at it?
What should I do?

[blueroom]

That sucks, if you're near an Apple store make an appointment and ask them if they can suggest what to do.

[JohnLT13]

Well if it were mine I would visit Genius to see if they could help. If they wont touch it, as I think they may not. I would use pliers and try to bend the screen side back to position, file any rough spots to try to make flush and get a nice vinyl skin to cover blemishes. good luck. JMO

[Nimravus]

Omg, that's horrible. I know how it feels. If it was my Windows PC I would laugh but if that ever happened to any of my Macs I would cry!

Yeah try apple first, you didn't get the Accidental coverage? If not they probably won't do anything. Maybe gently bend it back so at least it works without touching?

Again, I know how you feel and I hope the best luck fixing it.

[53x12]

Originally Posted by ohhmaar

I know..devastating...
On the bright side everything works, however, over time this is going to put stress on the hinges and the screen might pop out.
Do I un bend the part? Or have apple take a look at it?
What should I do?

Yeah unfortunately not much you can do that will be cost effective vs. cost of a new machine. I would try doing what JohnLT13. Do you have renters insurance or maybe if your parents have home owners insurance it might be worth seeing what your options are. Obviously if the deductible is $1000, it won't be worth it. But if the deductible is lower like $250, that might be an option to get a new one. Or if it was purchased on a credit card, they sometimes have a 90 day accidental coverage policy depending on the card.

[KPOM]

There's not much that can be done about the cosmetic damage (that's one downside to Apple's affinity for soft aluminum), but they may be able to at least bend it back so that it doesn't cause any physical damage or cause the case to crack.

That said, since it is just 2.5 months old, check your credit card policies ASAP. American Express offers 90 days of accident protection, and I think Visa Signature and MasterCard World cards do the same.

[throAU]

Originally Posted by ohhmaar

What should I do?

Carry on with your life.

It is made of metal to withstand stuff like this, think of it as an identifying mark for your particular machine.

My philosophy with hardware is if it still works, don't fix.

Because murphy's law says that as soon as you fix it, you'll have some other more serious mishap to the newly repaired device that necessitates further repair. Wait until it doesn't work - then repair


edit:
otherwise, if you paid with credit card as above, attempt to claim your accident cover, if any. apple will most likely charge you for repairs (unless you have accident cover with applecare - maybe get applecare?).

[ohhmaar]

Thank you all for the suggestions but I didn't buy it with a credit card, used a debit card. Um I do have applecare but applecare does not cover damages that's only on the iPhone.

And this didn't happen at home so I don't know what home insurance would do..

[solo118]

Originally Posted by ohhmaar

Thank you all for the suggestions but I didn't buy it with a credit card, used a debit card. Um I do have applecare but applecare does not cover damages that's only on the iPhone.

And this didn't happen at home so I don't know what home insurance would do..

Maybe your debit card has some coverage?

Anyways I have a dent like that (on the opening of the laptop) and it never affected my screen or anything.

[snberk103]

Originally Posted by ohhmaar

...
Unfortunately this happened:

...
Do I un bend the part? Or have apple take a look at it?
What should I do?

My wife's 1st generation MBA had the exact same damage, and we resolved it just fine.

But... I am assuming your newer model MBA has a lid similar to our 1st generation. In our case the dent in the lid is confined to a bit of metal that is purely cosmetic. That is, when you look at the inside of the dented part of the lid you are looking at the flip side of same piece of metal as your photos. As an analogy, think of a coin and a metal box. If you dent the coin, you can flip the coin and see the other side of the dent - while if you dent a box, you can't see the inside of the dent because it's inside the box. Hope I've been clear. If it is like the coin, then the resolution is relatively easy.

Try an Apple Authorized Shop first - they have more experience in general repairs. You may need to visit a few... don't call, visit. What our Apple Authorized Shop did was take the lid off, and bend the metal back with pliers. You want to take the lid off first so that you don't wrench the hinges trying to forcefully bend the metal back into shape. The shop may charge for the labour, but it is cheaper than paying for a new lid.

Our shop did so entirely at our own risk, and with no warranty included. The worst case scenario was that we'd have to pay for a new lid. We had the repair done years ago, and she still has that MBA ...however, ironically Apple the hinges did finally break. But that was a known design defect and there was an extended warranty for that part - the MBA was way past the AppleCare period. So, in the end she got a new lid for the MBA anyway.

Good Luck

[ybz90]

Having rebuilt some MacBook Airs, I will say the damage is cosmetic only for sure. However, given the way it has dented, it seems likely there may be some scraping of the lid and the bottom case when you open and close it. Try to bend the lid back into place gently, so theres some clearance. There's nothing you can do about the bottom case short of replacing it, which means taking out every part of the Air.

Mental note made though: watch out for ice.

[jamojamo]

Originally Posted by ohhmaar

So it's been 2 and a half months with my magnificent MacBook Air. I love this thing, it's beyond perfect for my needs. I was walking around campus and the roads had sheets of ice laid firmly. I slipped and fell backwards, the MBA was in my backpack, and it smacked the concrete ground.

Unfortunately this happened:



I know..devastating...
On the bright side everything works, however, over time this is going to put stress on the hinges and the screen might pop out.
Do I un bend the part? Or have apple take a look at it?
What should I do?

Call your insurance company and explain the situation. I asked my insurance company some hypothetical questions around damage and theft before my son went to college this year and they said as long as he is my dependent and is living with us (when not in Dorm during the year of course), he and his property is covered by my insurance.

States vary their requirements so maybe you will get lucky too. Worst thing that happens is you know a little more about what your insurance does and does not cover.

Good luck!

[Fireproof!]

Yikes - that looks painful.

Wish I had suggestions - but others have offered what I thought of (credit card insurance, etc, etc).

[JoshMKB24]

Originally Posted by 53x12

Yeah unfortunately not much you can do that will be cost effective vs. cost of a new machine. I would try doing what JohnLT13. Do you have renters insurance or maybe if your parents have home owners insurance it might be worth seeing what your options are. Obviously if the deductible is $1000, it won't be worth it. But if the deductible is lower like $250, that might be an option to get a new one. Or if it was purchased on a credit card, they sometimes have a 90 day accidental coverage policy depending on the card.

That probably isn't a great idea.........you don't want your premiums on your HOI or RI to go up over something as trivial as a 1100.00 laptop.

Yeah, I'd suggest trying pliers or try to sell it as damaged and cut your losses now and just get a new one.

[BeeJee]

Yeah the screen should be pretty easy to bend back. Honestly I don't think it will be too bad if you can get that screen bent back correctly again. It is just a laptop after all, life will go on.

[bigmacs]

Ouch...thats gotta hurt !! glad it still works.