Fragile USB socket?

[baryon]

I had my MacBook Pro (15 inch late 2008 model) in my lap with a USB pendrive in one of the USB sockets (the one closer to the MagSafe), and I wanted to put it on the chair next to me and I accidentally bumped the USB drive into one of the chairs in front of me. The bump was very gentle, and it didn't even interrupt the file copy that I was doing from my computer to the USB stick. However, since then, I noticed that things that I plug into that USB port sometimes disconnect if I move the cable a bit. Sometimes I can move the cable around a lot without any disconnection, but sometimes a very gentle move will cause whatever is plugged into it to loose communication. This has happened with two separate devices, both on the same USB port (a pen tablet and an external hard drive).

Basically, I'm wondering whether it is possible that such a gentle bump can break something inside the USB socket, or whether it can break the soldering that connects it to the logic board... My MacBook Pro is no longer under warranty, so can anyone give me an idea about how much it might cost to get this repaired at an Apple store?

Thanks.

 

[maflynn]

Of course its possible, especially given the fact that you now are incurring problems with it. I'd say that the odds are rather high that you did damage it.

 

[PMB]

I do have the same issue, the port near the power port, the USB port is physically fine, but it disconnects when i press it down just a bit. i never bothered trying to fix it, i just try and be careful. its the cheapest and easiest method.

but if you are looking to fix it, look inside the USB port and check to see if anything is bent, or if any internal cables are loose, and if there are, it should be an easy fix, if not, you can try (gently, and slowly) bending the usb connector strips (but be extremely careful, one small move and you could break it, only do this if you are very confident in what you are doing.)

 

[baryon]

Thanks, I looked inside but it looks perfectly fine. I looked at photos of the inside on iFixit and it seems like the USB connectors are screwed to the board so they should be pretty strong...

Does anyone have an idea about how much a repair like this would cost, basically I'm suspecting that it just needs a bit of soldering... Does anyone have any experience with Apple repairs, how much time do you have to live without your Mac, etc...?

 

[baryon]

I don't know, maybe I'm just too scared, but the problem only happens very rarely, and sometimes I can move the cable around without any problems... Could it be that USB can get disconnected if you move it around too much by its nature? Does that happen to anyone?

Still, any ideas about repair prices?