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Warped Lid Issue

N

Nautigar

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 4, 2007
121
7
Hello,

maybe I am super picky ...

But the first MBP I got had a slightly warped lid. When closed, on the left side, it was possible to slide a thick piece of paper in between the bottom part and the lid. The right side was perfect.

I called Apple, and they offered me an exchange.

Today, the replacement arrived. But the lid is even worse. Except for the location of the magentic latch (front middle), there is always a gap between the lid and the bottom part, despite of the rubber band around the display, and the gap is wide enough to slide in a thick piece of paper. And this gap is not even uniformly wide. And if I press on the right side of the lid, the left side will move up a bit, and vice versa.

Now I am sort of frustrated. Is this normal? What should I do?

Those of you that own a new MBP: Could you please post whether the lid of your MBP is warped as well?

Thank you in advance!

Greetings from Germany,

Matthias.

Edit: Attached a picture.
 

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The right side of my new MBP lid is *slightly* higher than the left side when closed. IMO, I don't think its worth getting upset about. The screen quality is great and I have no other issues whatsover, so I'm going to attempt to swap it with another one and risk all kinds of problems.

FWIW, the lid warpage is nowhere near as bad as my 1.5 ghz Powerbook I had before the new MBP!
 
I went through three mbp's and all of them had varying degrees of warped lids. Also, all the display models in the store had warped lid. I'm sure there are ones that are prefect but it seems that a lot of them have this issue. But just b/c it's common does not mean it's not a defect/issue. If it doesn't bother you much then keep it and move on, but if it bothers you then return until you get a good one. For they money you're paying you have a right to expect perfection.
 
Geez the people on this forum are picky. Yes, I know you spent $3000 for the "best" laptop out there, but no product is perfect. A lot of the complaints on here are legit (battery cover wobbles making noise, computer won't stay asleep, etc.) but some of the complaints, including this one, are a little extreme. You can fit a piece of paper between the screen and the base? Really? And this affects the use of your computer how? I understand people want the most out of their new, high quality, expensive, and deserving laptops, but everybody should understand that nothing comes out perfect. If you're lucky enough to have a computer that runs perfectly, with a screen that has no bleeding, with a battery cover that doesn't move around, and stays asleep when you put it there, you should be thrilled about the quality and enjoy it. This is one of those "issues" that not only doesn't affect the use of the computer, but you, nor anybody else would ever notice it unless they were looking for it. Your machine is not perfect, and if you need a perfect machine then yes, send it back in and keep trying. On the other hand you could just enjoy it for how great it is already and not get screwed with a much bigger problem with a replacement and have Apple not want to give you any more chances.

/end rant. Sorry
 
Warped Issues Indeed

Nautigar said:
Hello,

maybe I am super picky ...

But the first MBP I got had a slightly warped lid. When closed, on the left side, it was possible to slide a thick piece of paper in between the bottom part and the lid. The right side was perfect.

I called Apple, and they offered me an exchange.

Today, the replacement arrived. But the lid is even worse. Except for the location of the magentic latch (front middle), there is always a gap between the lid and the bottom part, despite of the rubber band around the display, and the gap is wide enough to slide in a thick piece of paper. And this gap is not even uniformly wide. And if I press on the right side of the lid, the left side will move up a bit, and vice versa.

Now I am sort of frustrated. Is this normal? What should I do?

Those of you that own a new MBP: Could you please post whether the lid of your MBP is warped as well?

Thank you in advance!

Greetings from Germany,

Matthias.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but this absolutely without a doubt total insanity. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to pick on you Matthias but I've been reading far too much of this here. Are you kidding me though?!? A piece of paper??? wtf man. What do you use your computer for primarily if I may ask?

Getting a worse laptop back is Murphy's Law at work. My machine is only a week old and is at the Apple Store getting a logic board replaced. I could have gotten a replacement instead and declared it DOA as its only a week old but you know what? Its perfect otherwise....well other than some 'slightly' angled F keys but no way in freakin' Hell I'm giving it up over that or a logic board. That machine is great outside & inside, no audio issues, the screen is great...it just works. I'll be damned if I'm going to take a magnifying glass to the keyboard or a black light to the screen looking for particles. I'm certianly not running a piece of papaer around the lid to measure the gap!

Trust me, if my lid was warped so that it was noticeable I'd probably return it. Things like that bug me but I'm not going to go out of my way to find problems. This is just taking advantage of Apple's generous return policy and if this keeps up I wouldn't be surprised to see them clamp down and start getting more hard-asses about it. People push & push & push...this is crazy.

No Matthias this is not normal, and I'm not talking about the notebook. You should be enjoying your beautiful new machine not running paper along the cracks. Sorry but I'm just being honest here.
 
Updated with a picture

Thanks for all the replys, including the rants. :)

Just updated the original post with a picture.

Maybe my description was not very good, especially mentioning the "piece of paper". I meant a thick piece of paper, like a credit card.

The problem that I have with that is not that you can slide in a piece of paper at some locations, but that the machine, when closed, feels sort of wobbly in your hand, and not as solid as it should. If I grab it at one side, the lid will lift a little at the other side, and vice versa.
 
Nautigar said:
Thanks for all the replys, including the rants. :)

Just updated the original post with a picture.

Maybe my description was not very good, especially mentioning the "piece of paper". I meant a thick piece of paper, like a credit card.

The problem that I have with that is not that you can slide in a piece of paper at some locations, but that the machine, when closed, feels sort of wobbly in your hand, and not as solid as it should. If I grab it at one side, the lid will lift a little at the other side, and vice versa.
Click to expand...

hmm here's my take on the situation. My mbp looks exactly like that when its held up vertically. But when its on its base, the lid closes and the seal is almost prefect. For mine at least, it sorta seems like the left magnet isn't as strong as the right magnet. I feel it when its closing, like the right slide pulls it down stronger than the left. Im probably wrong but after going through 5 mbp's with dead pixels, bad fans or whatever, i'll take this little defect. Closed and sitting on the base, mine is pretty tight and its hard to slide a piece of normal a4 paper.
 
jhu2 said:
hmm here's my take on the situation. My mbp looks exactly like that when its held up vertically. But when its on its base, the lid closes and the seal is almost prefect. For mine at least, it sorta seems like the left magnet isn't as strong as the right magnet. I feel it when its closing, like the right slide pulls it down stronger than the left. Im probably wrong but after going through 5 mbp's with dead pixels, bad fans or whatever, i'll take this little defect. Closed and sitting on the base, mine is pretty tight and its hard to slide a piece of normal a4 paper.
Click to expand...

Thanks for a really helpful reply!

In my case, it seems that all the magnets are pretty weak. If I grab the notebook at the bottom part only (without touching the lid) and turn it slowly (around the hinge axis), the lid will fall, i.e. the notebook opens itself at an angle of 100-110 degrees already.

Is this normal? Or should the magnet be strong enough tho hold the lid, no matter what angle the computer is held?

Any input from MBP owners is greatly appreciated!
 
Why don't you actually take a picture of it ON A TABLE?

It seems that you are putting pressure on the right side top, with the couch, of course that would lean the screen to the right.
 
Consultant said:
Why don't you actually take a picture of it ON A TABLE?

It seems that you are putting pressure on the right side top, with the couch, of course that would lean the screen to the right.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to agree. The first thing I thought of was why the heck you didn't take the picture while it lay flat?
 
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