I have a G4 iBook purchased in early 2005, and almost immediately after I bought it I noticed the white plastic area around the bottom of the monitor (where it attaches to the hinge) kind of peeling away from the monitor. A friend of mine who works for Apple told me that this was a pretty common problem and that his own iBook does the same thing. Anyway, I'm about to leave for a year-long work abroad trip and I have noticed that recently the peeling has gotten quite a bit worse - not anything affecting the performance of the computer, but still, I don't want any disasters while I'm in another country. Is there any home-repair thing that I can do myself to fix it? My Apple warantee has expired, so I wouldn't be able to take it into a store, but I might be able to take it to an independent repair shop if there were actually something that could be done for it. Anyone have any ideas?
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Plastic on iBook screen peeling away from monitor?
- Thread starter BadlyDrawnGirl
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Do you mean that the plastic casing / bezel around the screen is bowing out in the center -- like right above the place where it says "iBook G4"? How big is the total distortion -- how many mm away from the screen is the bezel at center?
You could always try repairing permissions 
Try taking it into an Apple Store. If its a serious problem that they've seen a lot of, they may repair it for free.
Try taking it into an Apple Store. If its a serious problem that they've seen a lot of, they may repair it for free.
mkrishnan - Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. It's only about 2mm away from the screen right now, but I'm concerned that it might get bigger - also, it kind of creaks when I open the computer and although I know all iBooks kind of make that sound, it makes me hellishly nervous...I feel like I'm going to break the damn monitor right off.
BadlyDrawnGirl said:mkrishnan - Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. It's only about 2mm away from the screen right now, but I'm concerned that it might get bigger - also, it kind of creaks when I open the computer and although I know all iBooks kind of make that sound, it makes me hellishly nervous...I feel like I'm going to break the damn monitor right off.
My iBook has shown the same symptoms since it was new and it hasn't gotten any worse. It should be fine.
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it either. There were some previous generation Mac notebooks that had a reputation for hinge breakage (TiBook), but the iBook is pretty solid -- I have not really heard of anyone breaking the hinge. So I wouldn't worry about the creaking. The iBook hinge is the same, as far as I know, from the late iBook G3 (after it switched to this form factor), and you still see lots of those G3s around... it's *very* sturdy. My iBook is almost 3 now and it's still doing very well.
As for the bezel bowing out, mine is slightly bowed out, but it's less than 1 mm... it's just a tension distortion effect. Meaning that it isn't glued on -- it's just bowing -- being pressed from the sides and bending out in the middle. I really wouldn't worry about it. It's very, very unlikely that anything bad will happen as a result of it.
As for the bezel bowing out, mine is slightly bowed out, but it's less than 1 mm... it's just a tension distortion effect. Meaning that it isn't glued on -- it's just bowing -- being pressed from the sides and bending out in the middle. I really wouldn't worry about it. It's very, very unlikely that anything bad will happen as a result of it.
Horrible!
Just to let you know...the same thing happened to me. My screen started separating from the frame... which I now know is because the bezel was cracked. The apple store said that it would cost over $1000 to fix it because they would have to replace the whole screen. I went to an apple certified techroom and they replaced the part for $250.... now, a little over three months later it did it again. only this time it started affecting the display... I guess apple only covers a new piece for 90 days, so my bezel that was just replaced 93 or 94 days ago, is cracked in two places, is causing damage to the LCD and going to cost a fortune to repair.
And the only question I have, is why is this piece so faulty? Why after less than 95 days does it break again?
just curious as to how many other people have noticed their screen starting to separate from the frame of the computer? And if there is anything we can do to petition to apple???
Just to let you know...the same thing happened to me. My screen started separating from the frame... which I now know is because the bezel was cracked. The apple store said that it would cost over $1000 to fix it because they would have to replace the whole screen. I went to an apple certified techroom and they replaced the part for $250.... now, a little over three months later it did it again. only this time it started affecting the display... I guess apple only covers a new piece for 90 days, so my bezel that was just replaced 93 or 94 days ago, is cracked in two places, is causing damage to the LCD and going to cost a fortune to repair.
And the only question I have, is why is this piece so faulty? Why after less than 95 days does it break again?
just curious as to how many other people have noticed their screen starting to separate from the frame of the computer? And if there is anything we can do to petition to apple???
Are you talking about what is seen in pic #4 at:
http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=483
The bottom of my '05 iBook bezel is a bit wavy and always has been, I think it's common and hope it doesn't lead to problems down the road.
http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=483
The bottom of my '05 iBook bezel is a bit wavy and always has been, I think it's common and hope it doesn't lead to problems down the road.
Hi,
I've noticed the same thing on my second hand 12" ibook 1.33. It's exactly like on the 4 th picture. I've thing it's because the plastic material of the screen bezel is too thin then the lcd screen heats up.
It doesn't say much about Apple's choice of materials when making the bezel.
I've noticed the same thing on my second hand 12" ibook 1.33. It's exactly like on the 4 th picture. I've thing it's because the plastic material of the screen bezel is too thin then the lcd screen heats up.
It doesn't say much about Apple's choice of materials when making the bezel.
Broken for the 6th time in 2 years
New to this. Looks like an old thread. Did you get anymore replies to the last 2 questions. My sons I Book has had the bezel replaced 5 times over the last 2 years, last time a week ago and I just checked it this morning and you guessed it! Broken again!!!! I can put a couple down to accidents but I know he has been a lot more careful on opening and closing it.
This has cost me a lot over the last couple of years. Does anyone know if a stronger bezel is available or if there is anything that can be done to give it extra support. Getting tired of paying $200.00 each repair. Fortunately no other damage seems to have occured but it can only be a matter of time!
New to this. Looks like an old thread. Did you get anymore replies to the last 2 questions. My sons I Book has had the bezel replaced 5 times over the last 2 years, last time a week ago and I just checked it this morning and you guessed it! Broken again!!!! I can put a couple down to accidents but I know he has been a lot more careful on opening and closing it.
This has cost me a lot over the last couple of years. Does anyone know if a stronger bezel is available or if there is anything that can be done to give it extra support. Getting tired of paying $200.00 each repair. Fortunately no other damage seems to have occured but it can only be a matter of time!
I am not an expert, but I believe the problem is due to two problems.
One, the hinge tends to be less lubricated over time. If you open it by putting your hands at the top of the screen (near the latch) all the force puts torquing pressure (I am not a scientist and am making up these terms) at the lower part of the screen. This pressure causes the screen to separate from the case.
The other is, in my opinion, a design flaw. The hinge is relatively small (compared to the width of the screen). Unless you put all the pressure at the top center of the screen when you are opening it, there can be a tendency to slightly twist the screen, (if you put more pressure on one side, than the other). If you open it with only one hand, off center, that will exacerbate the situation. Over time, the twisting will cause the case to separate from the screen
As a work around, try unlatching the case and then move your hands to the top side of the keyboard corresponding to the bottom side of the screen. Now try opening it. By applying pressure to this part of the screen, you are supporting the case, not stressing it.
In my opinion, this is a design flaw that Apple should cover. The newer Macbooks have a longer hinge, reducing the possibility of this twisting.
I was incensed when the Apple Store suggested the problem was due to abuse. They have no way of knowing that but said it to protect them from having to do warranty repair due to this design flaw. Anyone with this problem should NOT pay for repair. Instead, they should call tech support and speak to a supervisor and complain. Apple wants you to pay for their design flaw.
It seems that they must have known it was a flaw when they changed the hinge on the newer models.
One, the hinge tends to be less lubricated over time. If you open it by putting your hands at the top of the screen (near the latch) all the force puts torquing pressure (I am not a scientist and am making up these terms) at the lower part of the screen. This pressure causes the screen to separate from the case.
The other is, in my opinion, a design flaw. The hinge is relatively small (compared to the width of the screen). Unless you put all the pressure at the top center of the screen when you are opening it, there can be a tendency to slightly twist the screen, (if you put more pressure on one side, than the other). If you open it with only one hand, off center, that will exacerbate the situation. Over time, the twisting will cause the case to separate from the screen
As a work around, try unlatching the case and then move your hands to the top side of the keyboard corresponding to the bottom side of the screen. Now try opening it. By applying pressure to this part of the screen, you are supporting the case, not stressing it.
In my opinion, this is a design flaw that Apple should cover. The newer Macbooks have a longer hinge, reducing the possibility of this twisting.
I was incensed when the Apple Store suggested the problem was due to abuse. They have no way of knowing that but said it to protect them from having to do warranty repair due to this design flaw. Anyone with this problem should NOT pay for repair. Instead, they should call tech support and speak to a supervisor and complain. Apple wants you to pay for their design flaw.
It seems that they must have known it was a flaw when they changed the hinge on the newer models.
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