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Bent MBPR - Not dropped

B

ballcoach12

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 8, 2016
2
0
I have a mid 2015 15" MBPR that I just noticed is bent.

At first, I thought it was the lid/screen that was bent, but upon further inspection, it is bent just to the left of the trackpad. It has never been dropped, but I do carry it around in my book bag a lot. It has it's own compartment in my bag and I never have any heavy books or anything in there.

Curious how this would happen? The only thing I can think of is if I was wearing it and sat down and leaned against something? Or if I had my book bag leaned against the wall and my infant fell on it?

Everything works fine and there are no dings or anything cosmetically, just curious if anyone has had any experience with this. It does not sit even on the table now, the front left side does not touch.
 

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It's hard to tell from your pictures...
If you open the lid, then place something flat along the edge in front of the trackpad/palmrests, is it the case that is warped, and NOT the display?
Anyway, yes, it's bent, but does not appear to be any dings or scratches that indicate a fall.
I suspect that it has been over-stressed, with something underneath that supported that area in left center front, but there was down force on the near left corner, causing the whole case to warp severely.
Apple can fix that, but, of course, it would be considered accidental damage.

Looks like, in this example, that carrying your laptop in a soft bag left it vulnerable to damage. Or, you may have left it in a location where someone (or something) accidentally fell against it, and probably stayed there for a length of time (too much, or too quickly might have cracked the display, rather than just bending the case), or placed another heavier object on top, and the laptop was located in just the wrong position, leading to a lot of pressure in just the wrong part of your laptop.
I have seen some MacBook Pros get a minor warp, making them rock on a flat surface. You can try an opposite force - lid open, keyboard down, resting on a narrow board - 2 or 3 inches wide should be pretty close, positioned on the approximate center of the warp, so that the left corner is in the open (upside down, so it would be the right front corner :D ) Press down on that right corner, slowly with even pressure. Hold pressure for a minute or two (unless you feel it move - you might!) You may move it enough to be able to experiment to get it flat again.
Yeah, you need to be brave to try that kind of manipulation.
And, the bend that you have may be too much for such "massaging". It's something that I would try - but that's just me :D

If you live close to an independent Apple repair shop, you might give them a chance.
An Apple store "genius" would likely tell you "too bad". The repair will involve replacing the entire case, and perhaps some of the internals (hard to tell until you take it completely apart)
 
ballcoach12 said:
I have a mid 2015 15" MBPR that I just noticed is bent.

At first, I thought it was the lid/screen that was bent, but upon further inspection, it is bent just to the left of the trackpad. It has never been dropped, but I do carry it around in my book bag a lot. It has it's own compartment in my bag and I never have any heavy books or anything in there.

Curious how this would happen? The only thing I can think of is if I was wearing it and sat down and leaned against something? Or if I had my book bag leaned against the wall and my infant fell on it?

Everything works fine and there are no dings or anything cosmetically, just curious if anyone has had any experience with this. It does not sit even on the table now, the front left side does not touch.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately you would likely be looking at a replacement for the casing. That's my opinion. It doesn't appear to be severe in damage, but significant where the bend clearly shows.
 
Do you carry the laptop in a backpack. Looks like that could have been the cause.
 
It's aluminum. Which doesn't return to its prior shape when stress is removed.

You should have seen the first batches of the original MacBook Pro.

This is one area that plastic is superior. Plastic will naturally return to its formed shape unless stressed enough to snap.
 
maflynn said:
Do you carry the laptop in a backpack. Looks like that could have been the cause.
Click to expand...

I do carry it in a backpack but it is in it's own sleeve. Only other thing i have in there is two legal pads, and pens. Never carry anything more in there.

Only thing I am thinking is that if I had it in my bag and my bag leaning against the wall, if my 10 month old fell onto it or my 95lb lab laid on my bag.

It wouldn't simply bend just from sitting at an angle in my bag would it? Per se, I had the bag leaned up against the wall at an angle?
 
ballcoach12 said:
I do carry it in a backpack but it is in it's own sleeve. Only other thing i have in there is two legal pads, and pens. Never carry anything more in there.

Only thing I am thinking is that if I had it in my bag and my bag leaning against the wall, if my 10 month old fell onto it or my 95lb lab laid on my bag.

It wouldn't simply bend just from sitting at an angle in my bag would it? Per se, I had the bag leaned up against the wall at an angle?
Click to expand...

It sounds plausible someone or something sat on the laptop and caused the bend in the aluminium. It's a tough situation to be in but whatever options you have to get it fixed, it will come expensive. If it's purely cosmetic (i.e. simply damage to the aluminium) and hasn't damaged anything inside, you might just need to accept what's happened and be careful from here on. It's the first case I've heard of a MacBook Pro being warped like that, so it really does sound like the damage was caused by something applying too much pressure on the laptop when it was seated at a specific angle - like, as you say, your dog possibly resting on it.

One of those live and learn moments unfortunately.
 
Last edited:
It looks like the lid is bent away from the body. In a bag they would get pressed into each other. This could have been caused by the lid being pulled in the other direction. For example, if you open it from that corner all the time it would apply a bit of extra stress there, and if it can't handle being opened anywhere but the middle, that's how it might end up looking. Or, if it was opened and the screen got pushed back a bit too much by that corner, like if someone tried to push it past the limit
 
ballcoach12 said:
It wouldn't simply bend just from sitting at an angle in my bag would it? Per se, I had the bag leaned up against the wall at an angle?
Click to expand...
no something sat on it, sounds like your dog leaning on it, may be a plausible explanation
 
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