I have a white macbook and I want to change the keys so they are black. Will this void my warranty? I'm not planning on opening the macbook, just picking off the keys and replacing them that way. I'm pretty sure the answer is still yes, but just wondering. Thanks for the help
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Will this macbook mod void my warranty?
- Thread starter LKeighty4
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I would call and ask, but if you ever had a problem, cant you just undo the process and change back to the original keys?
doubt apple would do it for you - highly doubt it. the are WYSIWYG type company (unless you do a BTO mac).
even if you use a 3rd party, I think it will still void - but who knows; a quick call to an Apple rep could tell you.
Yea I thought about that.... wondering if they could tell if I had done it though even if I switched it back...
Because it is modification of a "non user serviceable part", it technically voids AppleCare, but there is no way for them to tell if you switch all of the keys back (ensuring all of the scissor mechanisms are functioning) prior to having them work on it.
But couldn't you have taken the keys off to clean them? If the keys are designed to be removed without opening the system up (and I don't know if they are on the WhiteBook) then as long as the originals are on when you are at an Apple store, they should not care. If you don't want to let on what you are thinking of doing, at least ask Apple if the keys can be removed to be cleaned without going to an authorized dealer. If they say no, then you have to decide whether you should wait until after your warrantee ends to make the mod.
Yeah it really depends on if your keys can be removed without opening the case. You can ask to be sure but I'm pretty confident they could care less if you removed your keys (example to clean them). If you happen to replace them with black keys I don't see how that's any different. That's like saying the sticker on my shell voids the warranty.
But even when I called AppleCare about replacing my HDD on my own the guy just told me to put the old one back in when I get service...
How exactly are you getting these black keys?
i'm curious to know where you get these black keys too. And how would you replace them without ruining the computer?
Well you can just pull off the keys. They are replaceable. The chiclet keys might have to be removed after removing the case, but that I'm not sure of. A quick trip to iFixit.com would show you everything.
You can paint the keys black if you know a keyboard well enough or have the right paint or you could acquire them online I'm sure.
I haven't picked out a place to buy stuff yet really. I saw a picture and I thought it looked cool. I saw some for sale on ebay which were in the 20-40 range (for the entire keyboard). I have also seen some websites that sell the keys individually for like 5-10 per key. The problem is that right now I am in school and have important school stuff on my computer and I don't have the money to fix my computer if something really bad were to happen so I don't want to mess around with voiding the warranty.