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Screw fell out of New Precision Aluminum MacBook Pro - Late 2008

J

JoshHawn

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 21, 2008
88
0
Hanford/Lemoore, CA
After 3 Days of owning my new precision aluminum MacBook Pro, i noticed a problem...
...one of the four screws on the bottom of the MacBook Pro had mysteriously gone missing :eek:...

I'll Post some pictures of it... It's the screw that would go in the hole directly opposite of where the power button is located on the top.

Tell me what you guys think; I have already called my local Apple Store, and they told me to come in and have a Genius look at it, so i'll probably take it there after the weekend. Now i'm just freaking out! and worried that the other screws might fall out too :eek::eek:
 
When I was changing the RAM on my MB, I noticed the screw in that same location felt really loose. It almost felt like that completely cosmetic screw on the old plastic MB's (although I don't think this one is purely cosmetic).
 
Pics of the Hole

Here are the Pictures of the hole where the missing screw is.

You can compare the gap that now exists on the side with the missing screw to the side with the screw still in place.

in the 3rd pic, you can see the gap goes away when i press it back down to look like the other side.
 

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You're not alone!!!

Just purchased my Macbook 2008, apparently that's my first Mac too. Just when i was busy installing softwares and getting used to the new system... Screw fell out, funny enough from the same location as your Macbook Pro. It happened an hour ago, registered to Macrumors for help and saw you message.

So what did they say? Are they offering a exchange? It's my first Mac and i really don't know what their policies are...:mad:

NB. The apple technician actually installed the 4GB ram for me... i didn't touch it...
 

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billyjo said:
Just purchased my Macbook 2008, apparently that's my first Mac too. Just when i was busy installing softwares and getting used to the new system... Screw fell out, funny enough from the same location as your Macbook Pro. It happened an hour ago, registered to Macrumors for help and saw you message.

So what did they say? Are they offering a exchange? It's my first Mac and i really don't know what their policies are...:mad:

NB. The apple technician actually installed the 4GB ram for me... i didn't touch it...
Click to expand...

looks like the screw is still in there on your picture of your macbook lol

anyway, all i did was call the apple store; guy on the phone said bring it in and have a genius look at it...

it sounds like maybe the screws were tightened too much when they were put together in the factory, causing the screw to strip the aluminum threads :eek:
blew some air into it, and powdery aluminum came out :(
 
billyjo said:
Just purchased my Macbook 2008, apparently that's my first Mac too. Just when i was busy installing softwares and getting used to the new system... Screw fell out, funny enough from the same location as your Macbook Pro. It happened an hour ago, registered to Macrumors for help and saw you message.

So what did they say? Are they offering a exchange? It's my first Mac and i really don't know what their policies are...:mad:

NB. The apple technician actually installed the 4GB ram for me... i didn't touch it...
Click to expand...
I have a feeling they'll start off with just replacing the screw and seeing if it'll stay on this time. If the threads are gone then it might be a more widespread problem.
 
My Mac is now in the box lol, and you feeling is right... i swapped it with the screw next to it and the screw and i still couldn't feel the thread... It seems like a replacement to me, but i'll be really mad if they tell me they'll attempt to fix it and tell me to wait for their phone call.. If that's what they say, then i'll just have to return it which is my last option.
 
i'm with you BillyJo,

I think once they find out that the threads have been stripped (if that's the case), they'd have to replace it with a new unit, because the threads in the hole are part of the aluminum unibody :rolleyes: which shouldn't be to much of a hassle with these machines: just get a new one and easily swap those dandy hard drives ;)
 
JoshHawn said:
i'm with you BillyJo,

I think once they find out that the threads have been stripped (if that's the case), they'd have to replace it with a new unit, because the threads in the hole are part of the aluminum unibody :rolleyes: which shouldn't be to much of a hassle with these machines: just get a new one and easily swap those dandy hard drives ;)
Click to expand...

i might even see you in Applestore tomorrow if you happen to live in manchester. lol
 
JoshHawn said:
it's unlikely cuz i live in California, and am not going until monday afternoon :D
i have too busy of a life to suddenly put everything on pause for an Apple problem :p
Click to expand...

lol! i just wanna see what they say, as i won't be able to return it after Nov 4. If a special trip to the store can save me from weeks of waiting... then i think it's worth sacrificing an hour of my social life:D
 
billyjo said:
lol! i just wanna see what they say, as i won't be able to return it after Nov 4. If a special trip to the store can save me from weeks of waiting... then i think it's worth sacrificing an hour of my social life:D
Click to expand...

Make sure that you call and set up a genius bar appointment!
 
Hey everyone, I saw on some youtube video outlining the steps to remove the back of the Macbooks/MBPs etc. And there was a stern warning that one of the screws on each side of the 4 screws is shorter than the rest (for example, you need to remove 4 bottom screws and 4 top screws to get the back off.

So it very well could be the case where the short screw may have been placed in the wrong hole and it "popped" off.

If my memory serves me correct, if you flip the computer over (with the battery cover facing towards you or south), the screw that is the furthest left of the case is the shortest of the 4.
 
Well, after doing some research on it, and going over the MacBook Pro PDF manual, it looks like the one that fell out is the short screw...

Why do you think this could be?

my thoughts are that the person (or machine) that installs the screws may have put too much torque on the screw, causing it to strip the threads in the hole, allowing the screw to fall out and make that side of the cover come loose.:confused::eek:
 

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Hi.
I had the exaaacct same problem with my MBP. I just happened to notice that one side of the back casing was a little less secure then the other, and when I examined it, to screws fell right out. First one opposite of the power button, the other next in line.

Took it to the Apple Store the next day, right after i did a fresh install of Mac OSX and saved all of my data to an external, and they examined it for a few seconds, realized the screws no longer "reached" the threads, and swapped it out immediately. The whole process took about thirty seconds really (minus the 2 hour drive).

So, take it in, apparently its a semi-common issue, and they should swap it as they did mine.
:D
 
JoshHawn said:
awesome, that sounds like good news ... Hopefully your new machine will not have the same loose screws :eek:
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that when I got the replacement at the store, I asked to open it and examine the screws before taking it home. They sure enough let me, and all is good. Mind you, this happened about a week ago.
 
odd

I have a diff problem with the same screw though, it is tight, but not flush, i think they put 4 long screws in mine, not a huge prob, but the case could be tighter if the screw was shorter

... when i open it up to add memory ill take a closer look
 
xXriderXx7 said:
I forgot to mention that when I got the replacement at the store, I asked to open it and examine the screws before taking it home. They sure enough let me, and all is good. Mind you, this happened about a week ago.
Click to expand...

great... Do you think they would have let you swap out the harddrive too? So that you don't have to take two hours copying all your stuff again? LOL
 
shoulin333 said:
I have a diff problem with the same screw though, it is tight, but not flush, i think they put 4 long screws in mine, not a huge prob, but the case could be tighter if the screw was shorter

... when i open it up to add memory ill take a closer look
Click to expand...

I dont know, thats the same deal that mine had. It was loose, I pushed it back into place, and out came the screws.
 
No matter what they say when you visit the Store, a replacement is the only suitable solution for their rubbish build quality in some of these MBP's.

It could be worse, mine has scratches on the side and makes a loud noise 100% of the time.
 
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