Can anyone chime in on this? MacBook Air bent at SD card slot.

[Minhimalism]

Hey fellow MacRumors members! I bought a mid-2013 MacBook Air over the summer and have been absolutely LOVING it! Only today, though, did I use the SD slot for the first time when importing some pictures from my camera. When I looked at the slot I noticed it was bent? It doesn't affect the functionality of the slot, but I'm scared of the stress this could be putting on the area.. what should I do? It's not like the surrounding bottom cover is damaged either which would result from a drop impacting that area.. I have never dropped this MacBook and it's been babied since I bought it, there is literally not a single scratch or ding on it..

Thanks for the help and feedback, I'm wondering if I should just go to the Apple Store or what..

 

[pastrychef]

Personally, I would bring it to an AppleStore.

 

[bizzle]

That can be bent back and look like it never happened. It didn't happen on it's own though...

 

[RightMACatU]

It has been a few months... good luck proving that it wasn't you
I would still try because it will put a ding on your resale value.

 

[Mr Rabbit]

More than likely that area isn't really weakened or something to lose sleep over. Apple would need to replace the top case to fix it, which would likely be performed at an out of warranty cost around $200-300. If you plead your case well they may agree to fix it under AppleCare though.

In my opinion this looks like it was rested on a pen or some other uneven hard surface at some point. It's definitely minor damage though, I wouldn't associate this with a fall or even the usual "rough handling".

 

[robvas]

That can be bent back and look like it never happened. It didn't happen on it's own though...

You can only bend metal so many times...

 

[TheRealDamager]

I would completely ignore that. First, it isn't weakened, and wont cause any other problems. Second, it doesn't seem to affect the functionality of the SD card slot. Third, more than likely noone will notice it when / if you go to sell it.

 

[ZERROZ]

Consult apple it's free of charge.

 

[Mrbobb]

Relatively easy to fix with a vise.

 

[Minhimalism]

Thanks for the advice everyone.. I was going to try and just bend it back myself but there were stress marks on the inside corners of the slot, so I didn't want to risk weakening the aluminum. I went on ahead and went to the Apple store to see what my options were, and the genius said he'd go take a look at it and came back with it like this..

He was like "**** man the pliers messed it up, it's straight now but I know you don't want those dings.." So he whipped up a repair authorization and they're ordering the part and fixing it for me! Great customer service (though it's weird that he damaged my MacBook with pliers ..) so I am out of a laptop for a few days

 

[bizzle]

The person who helped you is clearly an idiot. There is a tool for fixing this stuff that Apple has. It's a white flat stick with a wedge shape on the ends. We used to use them to fix compressed optical drive slots on white MacBooks. I forget what it's called but it's for this exact purpose. Hell, I probably could have done it with just a black stick.

 

[neteng101]

The person who helped you is clearly an idiot. There is a tool for fixing this stuff that Apple has.

Even without any special tools, I'd imagine a flat head screwdriver with electrical tape could have done a better job than pliers.

 

[Mr Rabbit]

The person who helped you is clearly an idiot. There is a tool for fixing this stuff that Apple has. It's a white flat stick with a wedge shape on the ends. We used to use them to fix compressed optical drive slots on white MacBooks. I forget what it's called but it's for this exact purpose. Hell, I probably could have done it with just a black stick.

I concur with the black stick (ahem, nylon probe tool) idea.

I always used Mac mini opening tools (cough, paint scrapers, cough) to fix MacBook optical drive slots. Insert mini opening tool into optical drive, put a couple of fingers between the tool & mat, press down on the MacBook's edge, rinse & repeat.

Glad to hear they're taking care of it for you! This is exactly why I rarely buy the "Apple scratched my Mac and told me to get lost" stories. The Genii are very rarely talked to about service metrics outside of turnaround time and customer satisfaction, they have no reason to be jerks about it. Typically if you're courteous and nice they'll do what they can to help you.