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Is the Aluminum Case really that durable?

hugorganista

hugorganista

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 2, 2009
43
0
AZ
Apple claims the aluminum case is durable. Which, I can see why they would say that.

But, I've had my MBP for about a month, and it's already got a dent on it. And I take care of this baby as if it was a diamond.

Plus, the pads on the bottom aren't even that durable.

They are already wearing out.

Is this happening to anyone else?

Or am I just a bad owner?

I love my Mac and I want to know if I'm already wearing it out too much.
 
I have an aluminium PowerBook G4 12" and it's completely new, instead the MacBook Pro 17" I bought in december has an ugly tear in the front yet caused by a sudden car braking in which the computer fell from the seat to the ground. It's durable but not miraculous.
 
Maybe a Case?

Im looking at a 13" Hardshell Case from goincase.com


Do you guys think its really necessary to go that extent?
 
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hugorganista said:
Im looking at a 13" Hardshell Case from goincase.com


Do you guys think its really necessary to go that extent?
Click to expand...

Not unless you're going to be throwing it around. I've had my aluminium Macbook since release in i believe October 2008 And there aren't even hairline scratches. In saying that though I agree with an earlier poster that the rubber pads underneath are bad quality....
 
-Ryan- said:
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Not unless you're going to be throwing it around. I've had my aluminium Macbook since release in i believe October 2008 And there aren't even hairline scratches. In saying that though I agree with an earlier poster that the rubber pads underneath are bad quality....
Click to expand...

I carry mine around the whole house and I opened it one day and there was a dent on the side. Really small. The aluminum was lifted off. So i grabbed a nail clipper and tried taking the lifted part off. So, its off and now Im left with a tiny shiny part of aluminum. Its not even noticeable but yaa.... No scratches whatsoever.
 
The MBP is durable in the sense that it would hold up better than a plastic Dell in a 'throw it round the room event'......ie...it has a better chance of switching on and working. But as for cosmetic durability I think it falls down somewhat. The aluminum will dent and scratch more easily than plastic.
 
well, dents and junk won't break your laptop most likely.
if you seen that early early post of that guy who dropped their laptop on the cement, it bent really bad.
but then he just bent it back and it was all fine again and functional.
if that was plastic, it would have shattered.

and i don't know if apple means that it's sturdy in that way, like.
if you drop it, it will stay fine.
i think they might have just meant sturdy in itself, since it's all one solid piece it will not move around a lot. i mean, the only moving piece is the very bottom, where it screws in.
but maybe they didn't mean that.
but thinking about it, if you drop this unibody case and you drop a multi-piece case, i actually think i'd rather the multi-piece.
they're both going to take damage, but at least for the multipiece you can buy parts and put it back together.
unibody, you're pretty much screwed.

but as for carrying and using it i can see it as being more sturdy.
and aluminum compared to plastic is a lot more sturdy too, since it doesn't shatter. it just bends.
unless it's that like, bullet proof plastic that they make phones out of.

hmmmmmmm
 
hugorganista said:
Haha, Noo, I meant as something really valuable and precious :D
Click to expand...

Don't take this the wrong way but you DID dent your MacBook Pro. It may have happened and you didn't know it or it was bumped somehow. They don't dent that easily. I've had a 17"Powerbook for 4+ years, took it with me everywhere, it has fallen from the seat of my car to the floor while in it's bag and not a dent anywhere on it.
My Macbook Air which I had for 8 months was my business machine and it was used a lot in public places and has never gotten dented.
I currently have the new 13" MBP and it's quite resilient. There's no way that you could've babied your Macbook Pro like a diamond and automatically got a dent on it. The material is quite durable, however it's not designed for strong bumps and drops without denting.
 
They dent very easily. Aluminum is not a good material for an outer case. The best part is, though, if you have Applecare, a dent voids the warranty. Found that one out the hard way...
 
Aluminum is a great material for a laptop. Sure it will dent...if it's mistreated. Sure it will scratch. If these were made thicker so they didn't bend as easily, people would whine about the weight. It's a compromise across the board for everyone. Apple could have made these out of heat treated steel and someone, somewhere would find a way to put a dent in it. Then complain. Mine gets used and abused, but it ain't dented. It has a small bit of the anodizing that's come off, other than that it looks new. I can't complain.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
. The best part is, though, if you have Applecare, a dent voids the warranty. Found that one out the hard way...
Click to expand...

Well if my MBP had a dent and then later developed a fault totally unrelated to that dent and my Apple Care was void it would take me to be removed under force by police from the Apple Store.
Anyway I dont believe under Law they could void your warranty in that manor.
Same way as a car company cant void your warranty for a dented bumper.
 
There is a difference between durable and metal. the aluminum is nice, I like the look on the macbook pro alot. It's not a tough book though. I wouldn't classify it as a beefier machine than the plastic macbook, but just different potential problems.

What it comes down to, I believe, is Mac's are like cars. You can buy a new care and keep it new by locking it in the garage, or you can beat the crap out of it and have nothing at the end, or you can just split the different, use it as you need to w/o abuse, and just enjoy it.
 
Apple's use of aluminum is a clever way of denying AppleCare coverage because they can always tell when the MBP has been bumped or dropped. :)
 
Smoothie said:
Apple's use of aluminum is a clever way of denying AppleCare coverage because they can always tell when the MBP has been bumped or dropped. :)
Click to expand...

Yes....but so what if your MBP has a dent on it. It might have had that dent for 3 months before your logic board fails - and you go along to Apple who say 'Sorry mattey, you got a dent here - not covered, you gotta pay.'
Aye dead on!
Only thing I would be paying for is a Wheelchair for the 'Genius' if he uttered that turd to me.
 
I've seen way too many threads on here about people denting their Macbook Pro's and claiming Apple denies them their Applecare warranty when something is defective on their computer. Once the posters show their pics of dented Macbooks it makes sense as to why Apple denied their Applecare.

I've seen crunched ethernet ports, warped lids with dented corners from dropping the computer. Light cosmetic denting such as from being inside of a backpack should not get your Applecare denied but those incidences I mentioned are blatant misuse and that's from the majority of the pics I've seen on MR.
 
Seems pretty far fetched for a manufacturer to go to all the trouble of building up the supply chain for an aluminum case for a laptop just for the reasons of denying warranty claims. Wouldn't it be cheaper to mold them out of plastic at like a tenth the cost per unit and add a small flashdrive to the logic board to record all the data from the accelerometers already installed?
 
redshovel said:
The aluminum will dent and scratch more easily than plastic.
Click to expand...

No, solid aluminum will SHOW scratches more easily than cheap plastic, but it doesn't scratch more easily. Have a look at shiny plastic and see how it scratches when you so much as breath on it.

As for dents appearing magically out of nowhere... :confused:
 
alphaod said:
Diamonds are neither valuable nor precious. They're just ridiculously expensive because their prices are fixed.
Click to expand...

Well, then, by your definition, nothing except air, water, and food is valuable or precious. :p
 
Smoothie said:
Apple's use of aluminum is a clever way of denying AppleCare coverage because they can always tell when the MBP has been bumped or dropped. :)
Click to expand...

Hayduke60 said:
Seems pretty far fetched for a manufacturer to go to all the trouble of building up the supply chain for an aluminum case for a laptop just for the reasons of denying warranty claims. Wouldn't it be cheaper to mold them out of plastic at like a tenth the cost per unit and add a small flashdrive to the logic board to record all the data from the accelerometers already installed?
Click to expand...

It was a joke. I even used a smiley face. Here's two more for good measure. :):)
 
yes it is

I had a 15" Macbook Pro Core Duo for 2 years, in which time the machine did sustain light drops from time to time, and the case only had some very light scratches and no dents.

After having that Macbook Pro for two years I purchased a Asus 1000HE to use as an occasional toy, and that's all it turned out to be. Within 3 months the screen on the asus suffered some permanent pixel damage to the LCD screen due to a small object pressing against the plastic lid causing a small dent.

My original Macbook Pro went through the same abuse as the Asus, and the Macbook lasted for 2 years, versus the 3 months my ASUS lasted before becoming permanently damaged.

I have since sold both machines and now have the new 13" Macbook Pro. While I try to take care of the machine as much as possible, but it did suffer from a drop off a bed and scratched some metal object on the way down. While the drop scratched paint off the metal surface onto the lid of my Macbook, the paint "scratch" wiped away and my lid still looks brand new!

Durability test = Pass in my book
 
HLdan said:
Don't take this the wrong way but you DID dent your MacBook Pro. It may have happened and you didn't know it or it was bumped somehow. They don't dent that easily. I've had a 17"Powerbook for 4+ years, took it with me everywhere, it has fallen from the seat of my car to the floor while in it's bag and not a dent anywhere on it.
My Macbook Air which I had for 8 months was my business machine and it was used a lot in public places and has never gotten dented.
I currently have the new 13" MBP and it's quite resilient. There's no way that you could've babied your Macbook Pro like a diamond and automatically got a dent on it. The material is quite durable, however it's not designed for strong bumps and drops without denting.
Click to expand...


The dent is on the side.
Ok let me explain, it's not really a dent. What happened is that on the edge, the aluminum lifted up a tiny little bit. Almost as if you could break it off with your finger nail.

I still have no idea how it happened. I opened it up one day, and I noticed it.
 
redshovel said:
Yes....but so what if your MBP has a dent on it. It might have had that dent for 3 months before your logic board fails - and you go along to Apple who say 'Sorry mattey, you got a dent here - not covered, you gotta pay.'
Aye dead on!
Only thing I would be paying for is a Wheelchair for the 'Genius' if he uttered that turd to me.
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAH!!!

Apple tries using big language to make a customer believe something and make the customer be satisfied by it.

I got the 13" in Aluminum Macbook right before the AMB became the MBP. I went back, told them I wanted an exchange. They wanted to charge me $115 to return.


I told the manager I wasn't going to pay to return a product that they didn't even tell me would come out a week later 10 times better.

BULL!!

I got it without the restocking fee. :)
 
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