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Weak mag latch on new MacBooks?

M

mugzyuk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2008
4
0
Just picked up a new Aluminium MacBook - everything seemed perfect, but then noticed that when closing the lid, there is very little 'pull' from the magnetic latch, unlike the white MacBook, which closes with a nice sharp thwomp. Opening the new MacBook lid requires hardly any pressure.

I thought this seemed a bit odd, and on further inspection, closing the machine, picking it up and holding it vertically (latch at the top), the lid basically pops open a centimeter or so... Not enough to wake from sleep, but most definitely open. Just wanted to make sure that's it's just me before traipsing the 90mins back to the store for a replacement. Anybody else notice this behavior?
 
That's normal. They were trying to improve the ease of opening the latop as compared to the last gen MB where is was hard to open the laptop.
 
I am on my 2nd (and so far perfect) Alu MB. The first one had a very strong magnet, but it was so strong, it pulled the screen too close to the keys and I had oily key marks all over my screen as a result (which is why I exchanged it)...one theory as to why I had the screen marks. My 2nd MB does not have as strong a magnet, and does not leave key marks on the screen.
 
Thanks, Interesting.

I'm going to try and track down another shop that sells them locally and see if it feels the same as mine. This one feels very loose indeed. Don't want to make the return trip to the Apple store if they are indeed similar.
 
mugzyuk said:
Thanks, Interesting.

I'm going to try and track down another shop that sells them locally and see if it feels the same as mine. This one feels very loose indeed. Don't want to make the return trip to the Apple store if they are indeed similar.
Click to expand...

Have you tried holding it upside down by its base to see if the screen opens? If it stays shut, you should be okay.
 
Oh, it pops open way before it gets upside down. If you hold it up so the latch is up and the hinge is down, it'll pop open. If I close it, it pops right back open again.
 
mugzyuk said:
Oh, it pops open way before it gets upside down. If you hold it up so the latch is up and the hinge is down, it'll pop open. If I close it, it pops right back open again.
Click to expand...


Hm, seems like maybe there's no magnet in yours at all!
 
mugzyuk, I have the same behaviour on a new aluminium MacBook. It feels like there is no magnetic latch in the screen at all. If I rotate the laptop to about 80º vertical the screen pops open.

Yes, I know why would I rotate it to vertical? Well, if it is in a bag, it could pop open a bit I suppose. I think the latch should be able to keep the lid closed when the laptop is in the vertical position. Otherwise, why have it?

Never had this problem with my early 2008 MacBook, the screen on it stayed shut when needed, and was not too difficult to open either.
 
pilot007 said:
mugzyuk, I have the same behaviour on a new aluminium MacBook. It feels like there is no magnetic latch in the screen at all. If I rotate the laptop to about 80º vertical the screen pops open.

Yes, I know why would I rotate it to vertical? Well, if it is in a bag, it could pop open a bit I suppose. I think the latch should be able to keep the lid closed when the laptop is in the vertical position. Otherwise, why have it?

Never had this problem with my early 2008 MacBook, the screen on it stayed shut when needed, and was not too difficult to open either.
Click to expand...

Same here. My screen definitely opens when it's vertical as well as upside down.. However, I definitely would NOT want my screen touching the keys... hmm which is worse?
 
christiemp said:
Same here. My screen definitely opens when it's vertical as well as upside down.. However, I definitely would NOT want my screen touching the keys... hmm which is worse?
Click to expand...

You can always get a piece of cloth to put in between your screen and keys, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I always carry mine in a sleeve and then in my backpack, so I don't see it opening like that. BUT if it happen to open, and it slaps back shut, you could end up with a cracked screen! That would be a pain have to explain to an Apple Genius! :eek:
SO I would say take it, back, check to see if they can magnetize it better, or just get a replacement.

[EDIT]: My Apple rep just told me that the new Alu MB's are supposed to have a weaker magnet because last gen MB's had issues with the magnet being too powerful. I can see where a strong magnet would slam the lid shut rather than just pull it, or cause too much strain on the lid when it's closed (hence the problem with screen touching the keys). His point was that even when you carry your laptop in a loose bag, if you put in front end down, it shouldn't open up.
 
VSMacOne said:
You can always get a piece of cloth to put in between your screen and keys, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I always carry mine in a sleeve and then in my backpack, so I don't see it opening like that. BUT if it happen to open, and it slaps back shut, you could end up with a cracked screen! That would be a pain have to explain to an Apple Genius! :eek:
SO I would say take it, back, check to see if they can magnetize it better, or just get a replacement.
Click to expand...

Does yours open when you turn it upside down?
 
christiemp said:
Does yours open when you turn it upside down?
Click to expand...

YEs, upside down i think they all do! Mine does it from about 100 degrees angle. But if you face it with the front end down, or have it in a sleeve, i don't think it would hurt it.
I have to say that it only opens by itself for about 1/2 an inch, and then the hinge kicks in and stops it. Is that how everyone else's is?
 
__________________
30GB iPod video
13" Aluminum Macbook 2.4 GHz, 2GB RAM, 250 GB HD
I'm a mac convert as of October 15th 2008

Christiemp,
I noticed that we converted at about the same time :D
 
christiemp said:
Same here. My screen definitely opens when it's vertical as well as upside down.. However, I definitely would NOT want my screen touching the keys... hmm which is worse?
Click to expand...

You can always get a piece of cloth to put in between your screen and keys, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I always carry mine in a sleeve and then in my backpack, so I don't see it opening like that. BUT if it happen to open, and it slaps back shut, you could end up with a cracked screen! That would be a pain have to explain to an Apple Genius! :eek:
SO I would say take it, back, check to see if they can magnetize it better, or just get a replacement.

[EDIT]: My Apple rep tells me that the new Alu MB's are supposed to have a weaker magnet because last gen MB's had issues with the magnet being too powerful. I can see where a strong magnet would slam the lid shut rather than just pull it, or cause too much strain on the lid when it's closed (hence the problem with screen touching the keys). His point was that even when you carry your laptop in a loose bag, if you put in front end down, it shouldn't open up.
 
VSMacOne said:
You can always get a piece of cloth to put in between your screen and keys, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I always carry mine in a sleeve and then in my backpack, so I don't see it opening like that. BUT if it happen to open, and it slaps back shut, you could end up with a cracked screen! That would be a pain have to explain to an Apple Genius! :eek:
SO I would say take it, back, check to see if they can magnetize it better, or just get a replacement.

[EDIT]: My Apple rep tells me that the new Alu MB's are supposed to have a weaker magnet because last gen MB's had issues with the magnet being too powerful. I can see where a strong magnet would slam the lid shut rather than just pull it, or cause too much strain on the lid when it's closed (hence the problem with screen touching the keys). His point was that even when you carry your laptop in a loose bag, if you put in front end down, it shouldn't open up.
Click to expand...

Ahh...I was under the impression that you should always have the bottom of the laptop facing down...because the screen part shouldn't have the weight on it... was this an incorrect assumption?! Yay we converted at the same time! :p How much do you love your new mac?!? :D
 
VSMacOne said:
You can always get a piece of cloth to put in between your screen and keys, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I always carry mine in a sleeve and then in my backpack, so I don't see it opening like that. BUT if it happen to open, and it slaps back shut, you could end up with a cracked screen! That would be a pain have to explain to an Apple Genius! :eek:
SO I would say take it, back, check to see if they can magnetize it better, or just get a replacement.

[EDIT]: My Apple rep tells me that the new Alu MB's are supposed to have a weaker magnet because last gen MB's had issues with the magnet being too powerful. I can see where a strong magnet would slam the lid shut rather than just pull it, or cause too much strain on the lid when it's closed (hence the problem with screen touching the keys). His point was that even when you carry your laptop in a loose bag, if you put in front end down, it shouldn't open up.
Click to expand...

The magents are very strong on the white MacBooks, just put your MagSafe bellow the indent and it will stay there. Although, if you carry your notebook without a sleeve, it can be a good thing.
 
MysticMage said:
The magents are very strong on the white MacBooks, just put your MagSafe bellow the indent and it will stay there. Although, if you carry your notebook without a sleeve, it can be a good thing.
Click to expand...

I know that my friend had issues with his Whitebook ... because the magnet was so trong, the plastic around the top of the screen started cracking.. I dont now if it's a widespread problem.
Has anyone tried calling Apple Care about this? Or an Apple Store and talk to a Genius?
 
christiemp said:
Ahh...I was under the impression that you should always have the bottom of the laptop facing down...because the screen part shouldn't have the weight on it... was this an incorrect assumption?! Yay we converted at the same time! :p How much do you love your new mac?!? :D
Click to expand...

Does that bag that you carry your MB in have a separate laptop pocket? Or is it just a regular bookbag or sidebag? I can see how that would be annoying... but then again, I've heard that it's not good for the laptop to be loose in the bag so that it doesn't rattle around...

Christiemp, OMG! I love my mac.. So far i'm glad i switched (knock on wood:p ) and i can't believe how much fun everything is on a mac. I came from Vista, and eventhough i didn't have PROBLEMS with it, i still enjoy the simplicity of the OS X.
I feel like we should celebrate our 1 month anniversary pretty soon here by throwing a party or something... :D hahaha...
 
I may be the outlier here, but I would not worry about the latch at all. I'm not sure any latch is really important. Three years ago, my IBM X40 ThnkPad fell from an airport ticket counter breaking off the latches. I've used it for three years of global travel without any problem. My new MB is far sturdier.
 
same problem here...

however, there are two magnets, just in the left and in the right upper part of the screen (try with something)...

but when you close it, they are very very weak... too much i think...

anyone has news abou this "problem"?

i hate to have defects on my things...
 
I've had my Alu Macbook since the week they were released, and I'm just now noticing this. Either that, or the magnets are weakening over time. Granted, I have started moving the laptop around a bit more than usual, but I did take it quite a few places when I first got it and don't recall this being an issue.

The issue is basically just as stated earlier in this thread. I went to go get it out of my messenger bag today and the lid was just barely popped open. I thought that was a bit odd, so started playing around with it closed while in my lap and realized it didn't take much tilting for the screen to pop open. It most definitely will NOT stay closed while holding it upside down.

I'm inclined to believe this really is the way it's supposed to be. While in Best Buy today I tried similar things with their display model and it did the same exact thing, in almost the exact spot.

I've tested all the magnets using a paper clip, and all eight magnets (four under the screen glass, four in the battery/HD compartment) seem to be working perfectly. Quite perplexing indeed.

Was a consensus ever reached with this issue? Is it normal? If not, I'm struggling with sending it off for repair (which would entail replacing the entire top portion, including LCD) and risking losing my pixel-perfect display or whether I should just deal with this and start putting the laptop in sleeve before placing it in the messenger bag. This is probably better for it anyways, but I'm not sure putting it in a sleeve would even help.

Thoughts? Experiences? Some people want to tilt their Macbooks upwards or hold them upside down and see what happens? :D
 
VSMacOne said:
YEs, upside down i think they all do! Mine does it from about 100 degrees angle. But if you face it with the front end down, or have it in a sleeve, i don't think it would hurt it.
I have to say that it only opens by itself for about 1/2 an inch, and then the hinge kicks in and stops it. Is that how everyone else's is?
Click to expand...
Mine does the same thing also. I think it's pretty normal on the Alu Mackbooks.
 
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