Does opening the Macbook Pro void the warrenty?

[Wolfpup]

I've passed on the Macbook Pro so far because i was always told opening it voids the warrenty. I have another thread asking about the case design in regards to replacing the hard drive, but maybe that's the wrong question.

A guy over on Apple's forums claims opening it does NOT void the warranty. So technically I could get one, crack it open, swap the drives, and keep the spare to swap back in if I need warrenty service.

Anyone know for sure? I think I'll have to ask about actual difficulty in another thread. I've built my own computers, but the Macbook Pro's innards look tiny and scary to deal with to me.

 

[Eraserhead]

Well it voids the warranty if you do any damage to it, but as long as you put it back correctly and don't remove any "do not remove" stickers you'll be fine.

 

[Wolfpup]

Where are the "do not remove" stickers? They wouldn't be anything involved with swapping the hard drive, would they?

Looking at those iFix it instructions, to me the worst part looks like not breaking the keyboard cable, not messing up the bluetooth modual, and not breaking the cables that are glued to the top of the hard drive.

Dang...this actually might be doable. Scary though Especially on a $2500 piece of equipment!

Thanks for the response!

 

[Eraserhead]

Where are the "do not remove" stickers?

I've never been inside my Macbook (as it's not a Pro version), but I'd imagine they'd be on the Hard Drive itself or the CD Drive itself or other similar components.

 

[Counterfit]

I've opened up my PB a few times, it's not too bad. But I think opening your MBP would only void your warranty if you broke something while doing it, or you reassembled it wrong. Swapping the HD, though, probably would void all or part of it.

 

[Wolfpup]

I've opened up my PB a few times, it's not too bad. But I think opening your MBP would only void your warranty if you broke something while doing it, or you reassembled it wrong. Swapping the HD, though, probably would void all or part of it.

Thanks.

I posted this question in Apple's forums too, and just got a response from someone who had literally every screw inspected on their Macbook when they took it in to Apple, for evidence of tampering. His advice was not to take the risk on a $2500+ piece of hardware. Logically, I think he's right (even if my heart wants one ).

So no Apple for me

 

[munckee]

Thanks.

I posted this question in Apple's forums too, and just got a response from someone who had literally every screw inspected on their Macbook when they took it in to Apple, for evidence of tampering. His advice was not to take the risk on a $2500+ piece of hardware. Logically, I think he's right (even if my heart wants one ).

So no Apple for me

Why don't you just buy one with a bigger hard drive? Seems silly to base your entire purchase decision on that one point.

 

[mustang_dvs]

Apple's policy is that if damage was caused by opening the case, then the warranty on the parts damaged is voided. Essentially, if Apple believes that you, and not an authorized service center, accessed non-"User Replacable Parts" (pretty much limited to battery and RAM), and they can find evidence of that, you're SOL on a warranty claim.

That said, if you are careful -- by this, I mean: use the correct tools (including spudgers and #00 phillips), track the location of every screw removed, ensure static protection and are careful not to stress or force any removal or reassembly step -- you are A) unlikely to cause damage, and B) unlikely to leave any signs that the case was opened. You just need a large, clean work surface and about an hour (on the conservative side) to make sure that you do it right.

 

[Wolfpup]

Why don't you just buy one with a bigger hard drive? Seems silly to base your entire purchase decision on that one point.

That has nothing to do with it. I can't send a system in for warrenty service with an actively used hard drive. I'm not willing to do that, and my company wouldn't allow it even if it was okay with me. I would have already bought a MBP seven months ago if the case allowed user replaceable drives.

Apple's policy is that if damage was caused by opening the case, then the warranty on the parts damaged is voided. Essentially, if Apple believes that you, and not an authorized service center, accessed non-"User Replacable Parts" (pretty much limited to battery and RAM), and they can find evidence of that, you're SOL on a warranty claim.

That said, if you are careful -- by this, I mean: use the correct tools (including spudgers and #00 phillips), track the location of every screw removed, ensure static protection and are careful not to stress or force any removal or reassembly step -- you are A) unlikely to cause damage, and B) unlikely to leave any signs that the case was opened. You just need a large, clean work surface and about an hour (on the conservative side) to make sure that you do it right.

Yeah...but that's a really big risk on a $2500+ piece of hardware. Especially since I'd have to be swapping it twice before the Apple people ever take a look at it. Logically I just can't risk that kind of money when there are lots of options with no risk.

 

[theBB]

So no Apple for me

Are there any laptop manufacturers that let you go wild inside the machine and still cover the damage you might cause under their warranty?

 

[Wolfpup]

Are there any laptop manufacturers that let you go wild inside the machine and still cover the damage you might cause under their warranty?

A lot of notebooks are designed so that anything that should be user accessible is. Apple's own Macbook is that way.

 

[Sbrocket]

Are there any laptop manufacturers that let you go wild inside the machine and still cover the damage you might cause under their warranty?

No, instead they design the machines so that certain parts are easily accessible to the user so they don't have to go wild inside the machine, just like the way that the RAM on the MBPs is easily reached. No need to be purposefully ignorant.

 

[Eraserhead]

That has nothing to do with it. I can't send a system in for warrenty service with an actively used hard drive. I'm not willing to do that, and my company wouldn't allow it even if it was okay with me. I would have already bought a MBP seven months ago if the case allowed user replaceable drives.

Why not just upgrade the HD with Apple?

 

[Wolfpup]

Why not just upgrade the HD with Apple?

That doesn't help anything. I need to be able to swap out hard drives when I get the unit, and before being sent in for warrenty service, without voiding the warrenty in the process.

 

[theBB]

A lot of notebooks are designed so that anything that should be user accessible is. Apple's own Macbook is that way.

Oh, I see... Well, I am pretty sure there were trade-offs between user serviceability and other aspects of its design.

In any case, just out of curiosity, why is Macbook performance not enough for you?

 

[Eraserhead]

That doesn't help anything. I need to be able to swap out hard drives when I get the unit, and before being sent in for warrenty service, without voiding the warrenty in the process.

Why? Can't you just copy the image onto the HD it comes with?

 

[aricher]

That doesn't help anything. I need to be able to swap out hard drives when I get the unit, and before being sent in for warrenty service, without voiding the warrenty in the process.

I'm still not getting something here. Why do you need to swap out the drive when you get it or send it in for service. Can't you just dump everything on it to an external drive or clone the whole drive?

 

[Wolfpup]

Oh, I see... Well, I am pretty sure there were trade-offs between user serviceability and other aspects of its design.

In any case, just out of curiosity, why is Macbook performance not enough for you?

I need a real GPU-at least something mid-range, a larger screen, and I'd prefer the updated chipset and non-chicklet keyboard. Plus, in a way I hate investing in more Apple software if there's never going to be a guarantee I can buy a system that meets my needs down the line.

Why? Can't you just copy the image onto the HD it comes with?

What good would that do me? I need to be able to swap hard drives so I can get warrenty service on it. Without the ability to swap drives, I effectively don't have a warrenty, and I can't take that risk on a $2500+ piece of hardware.

 

[JoeBeCrazy]

Voiding Warranty? Nah!

I used to work for apple and brought my laptop in numerous times. The key is there is no void of warranty, BUT it's always up to the Mac Genius to make the call. There aren't any "void warranty" stickers, trust me. but if your computer dies, and there are obvious traces of the computer being open they'll probably assume "this has obviously been opened, did you open it?" Some people stubbornly say no. They then take it to their big cheeze to see his call, and probably then escalates to another big cheeze, until the end call "replace it" or "don't replace it". So technically, if you're careful, you will not void warranty if you open the computer. Make sure you keep the old parts and drives, so when your computer does crash, you can swap it back. If you leave your new parts (new harddrive) in there, they will immediately blame that part as the cause of your system malfunction. Be Careful! can't emphasize that enough!

(i got a way from damaging the insides of my laptop a few times because of opening it, they fixed it without charge)

 

[Wolfpup]

I actually don't have a local place-this would have to be sent in. Do you think that would affect the situation?

With any notebook, I'd plan on swapping the drive out first thing (after doing basic hardware tests on the system, I suppose) and then swapping it back if it ever needed warrenty service.

 

[munckee]

With any notebook, I'd plan on swapping the drive out first thing (after doing basic hardware tests on the system, I suppose) and then swapping it back if it ever needed warrenty service.

I think the part that no one understands here is WHY

Drives can be copied and backed up to another drive. So if you're not worried about the size of the drive (which can be upgraded when you order it), where is this burning need to swap drives coming from? Is this for security reasons (so you always send it in with no personal info on it)? What can you not accomplish by copying your MBP drive to another one that you're going to accomplish by swapping the physical drive?

 

[Eraserhead]

If it's for security reasons you could always do a 7 pass wipe of the HD in the case of needing to send it in for Warranty service if this is the case, alternatively you can use FileVault on your home directory and then not give the technicians access to that. When I gave them my Macbook I set up a new account called "Apple" with admin rights and they were happy with that.

 

[Wolfpup]

I think the part that no one understands here is WHY

Drives can be copied and backed up to another drive. So if you're not worried about the size of the drive (which can be upgraded when you order it), where is this burning need to swap drives coming from? Is this for security reasons (so you always send it in with no personal info on it)? What can you not accomplish by copying your MBP drive to another one that you're going to accomplish by swapping the physical drive?

Security. There's no fool proof way to secure a hard other than having physical control of it. And even Disk Utility's secure erase requires that the system be working well enough to run it (and run it throughly).

It's a risk I'm not willing to take, and the company I work for wouldn't allow even if I was willing to take the risk.

 

[Eraserhead]

Security. There's no fool proof way to secure a hard other than having physical control of it. And even Disk Utility's secure erase requires that the system be working well enough to run it (and run it throughly).

It's a risk I'm not willing to take, and the company I work for wouldn't allow even if I was willing to take the risk.

What about Filevault?

And you can wipe the HD from the OS CD.

Alternatively you could call Apple and see what they say about this, they might be able to do something (i.e. let you go into the Apple Store with the technician to take out the HD if it went wrong).

 

[munckee]

Security. There's no fool proof way to secure a hard other than having physical control of it. And even Disk Utility's secure erase requires that the system be working well enough to run it (and run it throughly).

It's a risk I'm not willing to take, and the company I work for wouldn't allow even if I was willing to take the risk.

Guess your best bet is probably to wait until the next "big" revision. It's probably a pretty reasonable expectation that Apple will make the MBP HD user replaceable in the future.