Taking Macbook to Apple store to have crack fixed, what will happen?

[jgbhardy]

Ok so my Macbook has the infamous crack on the palm rest, I've made a reservation at a genius bar. Could anyone tell me what has happened with their macbook when going to get this sorted? Will they have to take it away and if so how will i get back? I've heard that sometimes people have got their macs back with blank drives, I'm guessing it would be best to make a back up. Its quite an inconvenience for me not to have my Macbook during the week, is there anyway they can do this in one day?

Thanks

 

[gilkisson]

Not likely. It will require a disassemble and re-assemble into a new polycarbonate case.

My wife has a white MB as well, and the wrist-rest areas are cracking, peeling, quite badly. I called and was told to bring it in, plan on not having it for at least a week, possible two. They would ship it back. I should make sure to have a backup, as they could not guarantee I'd get my data back. Which means, rather than getting back the same motherboard, I'd be getting a refurb, in all likelihood.

We have decided to live with the cracks, for now.

 

[MacKiddyWiddy]

if the crack is minor, they might say come back tomorrow

but if it is relatively bad they may just give you a refurb and take that one away and make it into a refurb so Definately back up before hand and my ETA is between 1-2days and a week

 

[flopticalcube]

Not sure on the upper case but my lower case took 2 weeks to get fixed. It was a BIG job, apparently.

 

[grapejelly]

Mine was only at the mac store for a few hours when mine cracked. The same afternoon they called me to say it was done! Unfortunately it just cracked again last night. Now it is not under warranty, anyone know if they will still fix it?

 

[jgbhardy]

Thank you

Ok thanks for the help, I'll start making a backup now.
Here is a picture of the crack if it helps anyone.
The post about it being fixed by the afternoon is hopeful, but I'm at least 2-3 hours away from an Apple store so going back to collect it in short notice is a problem, so hope they post it back.

 

[Erendiox]

Not sure how apple operates in England, but here in NY, the apple stores are getting such a huge volume of customers that they don't do too many in-house repairs. They instead tend to ship machines to a repair depot in Texas and have it repaired there. It takes about a week and will often result in the loss of your data. If you can find a third party apple certified repair shop that will do it in house, it's most likely they'll quote you a day or two, or even do it while you wait. The actual repair only requires a new top case and about twenty minutes of work.

Regardless of what you think might happen, bringing your machine in for repair without making a backup beforehand is just a bad idea. Not backing your machine up regularly is also a bad idea. What I'm trying to say is make a backup!

 

[perkins]

When I had to take my Macbook in to get a cracked fixed at an Store, I handed it to the guy he asked what OS I had on it, what the password was if any, and a phone number to call me at when it was done. He told me it would take a somewhere around 4 to 5 hours, but about 2 hours later they called and said it was done. This was all stateside though.

 

[mr.stinki]

Since I don't have an Apple Store within sensible reach, I shipped mine to AppleCare. It arrived on a Tuesday at 6:30am, and by 10:00am it was already waiting to be shipped back.

 

[devburke]

Ok thanks for the help, I'll start making a backup now.
Here is a picture of the crack if it helps anyone.
The post about it being fixed by the afternoon is hopeful, but I'm at least 2-3 hours away from an Apple store so going back to collect it in short notice is a problem, so hope they post it back.

Not sure why everyone seems to have waiting a week or two, they had me come pick mine up with a fresh new white plate the next day.

 

[emptyCup]

Fixed mine in-store in 40 minutes.

 

[RedTomato]

I have a white macbook, santa rosa 2.2ghz, and it has the same cracks on the palm rests, plus cracks around the screen frame, and cracking on both sides of the hinge underneath.

It has 4GB of Crucial memory and a 500GB WD drive. Should I replace the RAM and the drive with the apple original drive and RAM before taking it in?

Secondly, I have a 3 year warranty, and apart from the cracking which is cosmetic, my macbook works like a dream - I use it for work every day. I'm reluctant to have it gone for a long while, and I don't really want to risk getting handed a refurb. (which might be the current 2.1 ghz model not my 2.2ghz model)

It's been suggested that maybe I should wait till a couple of months before the warranty runs out or at least until the whitemacbook is no longer made / sold in the refurb, then send it in, and see if they replace it with a unibody ... hmm.

Thoughts?

 

[Kebabselector]

Will they have to take it away and if so how will i get back?

I took mine to the Solihull Apple store, they took 4 days to fix it. OS wasn't touched, it came back and was normal (though I did reinstall the original 1gb memory). I'm local to the store so it wasn't a problem to return.

 

[MacFanUK]

I had a crack in the bottom of mine and I took it to the Apple store and I got it back 2 days later all fixed. The genius says it's not the normal place where they crack but offered to fix it anyway.

 

[jgbhardy]

Should I replace the RAM and the drive with the apple original drive and RAM before taking it in?

I took mine to the Solihull Apple store, they took 4 days to fix it. OS wasn't touched, it came back and was normal (though I did reinstall the original 1gb memory). I'm local to the store so it wasn't a problem to return.

I almost forgot about replace the original ram will have to do that before I go thanks.

Fixed mine in-store in 40 minutes.

So hope they can do this for me. It should just be a quick replacement of the top part. Also I have an American Macbook and I prefer the enter key on here its much easier to reach when touch typing.

Thanks again for all the help. Wish me luck for it all going well tomorrow... even though I don't believe in luck.

 

[jgbhardy]

Packaging?

One last question, will I need to take it in the original box with the grey install DVDs? As it may be a problem because I don't have the packaging anymore.

 

[logana]

One last question, will I need to take it in the original box with the grey install DVDs? As it may be a problem because I don't have the packaging anymore.

All you need is the MacBook - you do not need a box or install discs or a charger.......

When you are at the Genius Bar tell them it is a 3 hour drive back home and if they could Fast-Track the repair for you.

In the UK they seem to have 2 Q's for the in-store repairs - one is for MacBook topcases (mostly) and the other is for the other repairs.

It is 15 minute job maximum......

 

[grapejelly]

Grrrr

well I took mine to the Apple store yesterday... they said they will fix the top case out of warranty but they didn't have the part in stock, so they'll call me when they get it. I pointed out that the bottom case is also now cracked. Theres a horizontal hairline crack where your thumb goes when you open it and a vertical crack right where the remote sensor thing is. He said they couldn't fix that out of warranty. My warranty ran out in May. I'm so sad! I didn't cause those cracks! My macbook is perfect besides the cracks I don't even use it without washing my hands first, much less drop it or bump it even.

 

[jgbhardy]

Update

Just to let you know what's happening with it all.
I took the macbook in to the genius bar, the guy looked at it and scanned some parts on the inside to get serial numbers i guess, then printed off a sheet saying what was needed and I had to sign it. He told me that it would take between 5 and 7 days, and that was just what he had to tell me for all repairs. Here in England they repair in store and then call you when they've finished. you then have to go collect it.

I'm still waiting for mine I'm having to use an old PC, I can feel stress levels rising just from having to use windows. I hope they call me today to say they have finished. I would hope it would have been quicker, but i think it might take longer because i have an American keyboard which they are replacing too it seems from the receipt. Guessing they ordered in the part.

Having Macintosh withdrawal symptoms

 

[Kebabselector]

Most of the edges on my MacBook have the thin horizontal hairline cracks. I think that's fairly normal

I found this image on MR.....

On this thread, maybe I should investigate a more........

 

[jgbhardy]

Its Finished

I got a call from Apple this morning saying that it was ready. Some of you have said that yours was fixed in a few hours, when I called yesterday they said they had received the parts, so I assume that as my keyboard was an American one they had to order parts in.
So for those of you who read this thread for reference on what happens in the U.K. they will fix it in store if you have an English Macbook they might fix it quickly before the 5 days, they will have to tell that it takes 5-7 days for legal reasons.

So happy that i'm getting it back today, I was starting to go crazy from having to use a windows PC, my friends had predictions I would be dead by monday at the rate it was annoying me. Going to get Snow Leopard as well when i go to the store!

 

[jgbhardy]

Got it back

Collected it today, they replaced the American keyboard with an English keyboard I'd rather have the American one but I don't want to wait another 5 days.
So yeah to those who are in England with an American one you will likely get an English keyboard put in.