Cracked battery holder (pictures)

[wixia]

Hello,

I recently opened my MacBook Air Mid 2013 and discovered something weird. The battery holder were cracked around the screw heads at the narrower part of the computer. These two:

Borrowed the picture from ifixit.

This is a picture I took myself:

I have googled this problem but haven't found anyone writing about it. Does anyone have any idea of what has happened?

Regards

 

[MarvinHC]

Any repair history? My first guess would be that someone has over tightened that screw causing the plastic to crack.

 

[wixia]

Actually yes, I had it sent to Apple to replace a bad screen when it was new. Your guess sounds reasonable. It's really annoying if the Apple technicians don't know how to properly fasten a screw and just fasten them as much as possible

 

[FuNGi]

Actually yes, I had it sent to Apple to replace a bad screen when it was new. Your guess sounds reasonable. It's really annoying if the Apple technicians don't know how to properly fasten a screw and just fasten them as much as possible

You are within your rights to request a replacement from Apple for repair damage – you should call them to at least get it in their system in case of problems down the road. If you plan on reselling it then definitely fix this. However, if you plan on using it for many many years and handing it off to family, it doesn't rattle inside the case, and you aren't OCD, then just live with it.

 

[wixia]

You are within your rights to request a replacement from Apple for repair damage – you should call them to at least get it in their system in case of problems down the road. If you plan on reselling it then definitely fix this. However, if you plan on using it for many many years and handing it off to family, it doesn't rattle inside the case, and you aren't OCD, then just live with it.

But I'm not allowed to open the computer myself? So how shall I explain how I found it?

 

[FuNGi]

But I'm not allowed to open the computer myself? So how shall I explain how I found it?

I believe you are; just claim concern about the repair after hearing a rattle or the desire to check out the repair job. You just aren't allowed to tamper with non-user upgradeable parts. You opened it but did nothing else.

 

[Agent47]

This can also happen when the laptop is exposed to sudden acceleration, e.g. being dropped. The battery is the heaviest part of the Air and those screws take the load when the laptop is dropped, or even set down too violently.

It's possible the tech over-torqued the screws however, but this is something to consider.

 

[PhelpsiPhan]

Don't listen to everyone else. Even when these airs have had no repair history, the battery brackets crack around the trilobe screws. It happens a lot from normal use. It causes no harm and was most likely not a fault by anybody (including you).

If you go complain they may replace your battery to make you happy, but it WILL happen again. Don't waste anybody's time by trying to make a big thing out of it.

Source: Former Apple Genius