Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook Pro Kensington Lock Slot: Reamed!

Sun Baked said:
SOME STATES/PROVINCES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAYNOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE AND PROVINCE TO PROVINCE.price.
Click to expand...

this might be exactly the reason.. I'm in the Netherlands. Overhere, a company can not simply dismiss its responsibility by writing on a piece of paper it does not "consider itself" responsible. Nevertheless, making it stick costs more than the repairs I guess..

I know some people who service Apple's and who could fix it for 10-20 bucks, but then I would loose my warranty since they are not certified service centers.

Funny. I use the same model Kensington lock with my MBP and never had a problem like that. The rubber ring does make it more snug than other models and I was worried that it would damage the computer at first, but it never has. I have a feeling that perhaps Apple forgot to put the steel plate in yours, or something like that... but bleh... that's ugly... sorry .
Click to expand...

I have the plate, I can see it, bent and all, through the hole

anyway, I'm about to visit a certified apple repairshop

keep you posted

PS: on the american apple shop, a lot of people who bought this lock through the apple store have given user feedback and every single one has had this problem
 
allright,

I went to a certified apple service center this morning, their conclusion:

the entire bottom plate needs to be replaced, material costs and labour costs will be around €360,- (at the current rate, that's $565,-)

After that I talked about an hour on the phone with apple, not only with applecare staff, but also with a customer relations officer.

They point out that complete responsibility lies with Kensington, as it is a result of the design of their product that caused the damages, thus this does not fall under the 1-year warranty.

I pointed out that nevertheless Apple is selling this product, despite customer feedback saying the lock is rubbish and causes damages (first feedback 3 months old). The customer relations officer said he understood my point, but that I should claim the costs with Kensington and that the only thing they can do is try to take this product of the site, or at least make a notion that this lock is not compatible with a macbook pro, but they do not intend to cover any of the costs.

so now I have to call kensington again. If they are uncooperative, I'm afraid it will turn into a legal matter. If this will be the case, I guess its best if all macbook pro owners that suffered from this team up and sue kensington.
 
Original poster here...

Please keep us posted. I have been tooooo busy to take the MacBook Pro to the Regent Street (London) Geek Bar and as such have given up locking the thing.... Nonetheless I need to stress that I have been locking my ThinkPad up with the same lock (I have 3!!!!) for months without the same issue.

I blame the Apple Californian Designers on this. If it was the lock's fault, why hasn't my ThinkPad slot been shredded??? Get your sandals off the desk you post-hippie layabouts and fix this problem!
 
cormandy said:
Original poster here...

Please keep us posted. I have been tooooo busy to take the MacBook Pro to the Regent Street (London) Geek Bar and as such have given up locking the thing.... Nonetheless I need to stress that I have been locking my ThinkPad up with the same lock (I have 3!!!!) for months without the same issue.

I blame the Apple Californian Designers on this. If it was the lock's fault, why hasn't my ThinkPad slot been shredded??? Get your sandals off the desk you post-hippie layabouts and fix this problem!
Click to expand...

well, the're not really. Apple made the lock based on specifications delivered by kensington. The newer kensington locks do not have that thick rubber ring anymore.

Kensington already agreed that the lock could be faulty (in this case, by design) so it's just a matter of them paying the repair costs. Apple will never do this, as it does not fall under warranty for several reasons: 3d party product, damage cause by use, not from faulty manufacturered product.
 
e12a said:
get the combination lock version from Targus.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, if you're going away and someone breaks in - if they do so quietly, it wouldn't be very difficult for them to simply brute force the combinations - i've done it many times on holiday if i've forgotten the combo to my case.

I'm interested to know how easy it would be to simply use a file or something on the mbp itself. It doesn't look that strong.
 
I also have Orbicule undercover installed. When someone managed to steal it, orbicule will locate it and call the cops.
 
I've been looking around for a cable lock for my new 15" MacBook Pro. Despite all the warnings and bad feedback on the Kensington locks, I picked one up at the Apple Store today to try it out. Sure enough, only after taking it on and off a couple of times, the grey plastic around the lock port shows signs of wear.

Is there any lock out there that people have had success with? Some have recommended the Targus Defcon, but I've also read a lot of negative reviews on that one too with MacBook Pro users.

I also found the MacBook Pro Lock Z7 from Tryten http://www.tryten.com/products/macbookprolockz7.php, does anyone have any experience with it? There doesn't seem to be a lot of options out there.
 
same problem

I had the same problem. What ever my defcon cable clips on to inside my mbp broke off. So for a few days i can hear & see something moving around inside. I took it to the Genius Bar and was told it's accidental damage... and it would cost me an arm and a leg to replace because that piece is attached to the board or the case..... hard to remember what he said... So i left the apple store like a little kid who had to get the cheese pizza at lunch time because i was at the end of the line. On the way home i stopped at pc mall in torrance and asked them.... .. they removed the small plastic/metal piece inside my mbp free of charge..
 
The same thing happened to me, terrible- stay away from kensington locks if you have a macbook pro at risk of this happening.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5772.jpg
    IMG_5772.jpg
    224.7 KB · Views: 158
Wow, thanks for the info. I was considering a Kensington lock, but after this I will avoid them.
 
It looks like the lock wasn't seated properly many, many times. That little pin next to the male thingy is supposed to go in the slot but it looks like it was outside the slot and able to rotate and scratch the case.

I had a Kensington way back when and it came with some foam washers so that any slack between the lock and the case (when locked) was taken up with those washers.

(But these locks are rubbish anyway as they can be picked in 30 seconds.)
 
How to make the Kensington lock work with the MBP

I bought the Kensington lock for my MBP, knowing that it destroys the security slot. But, I fixed the lock, so it fits perfectly. As you can see in my attached photo, there is a T bar and two medal columns on either side. I simply filed down each medal column for 30 seconds each. I only filed down each column a millimeter or two. This allows the T bar do travel deeper into the Macbook Pro's security slot. Now, I have a perfect fit!

Alaska Blue
 

Attachments

  • Photo 15.jpg
    Photo 15.jpg
    13 KB · Views: 1,793
The damage on the picture above was only after using the lock twice, I took it back the next day-

It definately is the two prongs that sit beside the T bar that do the damage as they grate into the metal of the casing and so i could see that filing them down would solve the problem.

Unfortunately i had to get another one as its part of my student insurance, but i got the combination lock which has a longer T-bar and this fits fine- but they are very easy to hack.
 
I'm afraid it's user error.

I have the same Kensington lock and after playing with it a little bit, discovered the correct way of doing it.

Before you push the lock into the laptop key hole, align the T-bar with the pins so from top down, they look like an I instead of a +, then push the lock into the laptop key hole. That way, both the T-bar and the pins go into the hole and there will be no metal (pins) scratching, rubbing against the outer ring of the key hole.

To align the lock, one hand hold the top rubber part where the T-bar and pins are, the other hand turn the key inside the lock until the T-bar align with the pins.
 
jmefun said:
I'm afraid it's user error.

I have the same Kensington lock and after playing with it a little bit, discovered the correct way of doing it.

Before you push the lock into the laptop key hole, align the T-bar with the pins so from top down, they look like an I instead of a +, then push the lock into the laptop key hole. That way, both the T-bar and the pins go into the hole and there will be no metal (pins) scratching, rubbing against the outer ring of the key hole.

To align the lock, one hand hold the top rubber part where the T-bar and pins are, the other hand turn the key inside the lock until the T-bar align with the pins.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid that your response falls within the category of "troll bait".
 
Mmm Kensington. Anyone remember the toilet paper roll opens them fiasco? They didn't acknowledge it for ages. It's one of those deterrents for some opportunistic thefts, but isn't the be all and end all. How did it get so mangled at the very outside part of the lock bit on the MBP? I'd imagine if you googled around you could find an alternative?
 
Looks like something was forced. Lot of wear on front where prong was
rotating against outside surface. Maybe someone tried to steal it
and just damaged it, but didn't get the computer.
 
I've seen this happen to a number of MBP's at the local Apple store. Customers usually "manhandle" them a lot more then you would your own computer but only after 2-3 weeks the kensignton slot would be so tore up and garbled the lock wouldn't even stay in there. The local store has had to remove a few MBP's from the floor because they can just be picked up and taken by the next guy walking by.

I'm sorry you had this happen mate. Hope appledontcare fix this asap :cool:
 
jmefun said:
I'm afraid it's user error.

I have the same Kensington lock and after playing with it a little bit, discovered the correct way of doing it.

Before you push the lock into the laptop key hole, align the T-bar with the pins so from top down, they look like an I instead of a +, then push the lock into the laptop key hole. That way, both the T-bar and the pins go into the hole and there will be no metal (pins) scratching, rubbing against the outer ring of the key hole.

To align the lock, one hand hold the top rubber part where the T-bar and pins are, the other hand turn the key inside the lock until the T-bar align with the pins.
Click to expand...

well, to me it looked pretty obvious that you need to do that, thus I don't have any damage on the outside. It's the rubber ring that prevents the T from going deep enough.

I was in an apple store just now (in the US) and the repair would be 400$ overhere, and ofcourse they need to send it away, so I'll be without for at least 2 weeks.

The steel strip is attached to the bottom plate which never falls under waranty.

As I was in the store I managed to take a look at the kensington locks they were selling there. Guess what, Kensington has adapted their product, the rubber ring is now A LOT thinner.
 
t0mat0 said:
Mmm Kensington. Anyone remember the toilet paper roll opens them fiasco? They didn't acknowledge it for ages. It's one of those deterrents for some opportunistic thefts, but isn't the be all and end all. How did it get so mangled at the very outside part of the lock bit on the MBP? I'd imagine if you googled around you could find an alternative?
Click to expand...

Kensington locks are of vey little practical value it deterring a determined theif. That being said, a lot depends on the implementation of the slot on the product, specifically the strength of the surround, and whatever the other end of the cable is attached to.

The biggest practical benefit of K-locks is to comply with certain insurance policies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back