MacBook Air developing "play" or "slop" in hinge

[EspressoLove]

And you didn't show any wobble from just typing

yeah, he didn't produce Pixar quality explanation and showcasing, so we dismissing it?

(with the MBA on a firm desk).

dude, at last - MBA something more than just a laptop - versatile, go everywhere I go personal companion ...
If you need a computer which is suitable only to a firm desk, may you by some dell?

 

[EspressoLove]

Thanks for the video. I can see how it irritates you, but to be honest, I am not sure if it is a genuine problem.

Didn't mean to offend or anything
But I'm sure would be mad as hell if my laptop would become machine I have to use as if crippled - looking for hard, firm, flat, well supporting desks to use at, afraid to breath on it.


... as I stated before, second look through video, really shows that there is a problem - much bigger & easier going "play" than any of us have on our MB/MBPs.
"Play" in itself is not a big problem, as long there is some resistance, and it seems there is very little of it.

 

[steve31]

Not sure what the whole "screen slop" issue was till I saw the video on this thread. IMO that is VERY minor. Most notebooks I have had all do this to some point. Just my 2 cents.

 

[SirJ]

while i don't actually own a MBA (yet) i've played around with one at the local best buy and the display model is horrible. the screen on that one literally has no support, if you raise it to 90 degrees it will fall down to 135 or however far it can go. i assume this is because its a MBA and everyone wants to play with it, but there has to be some way to fix it.
can't apple change out the battery? or disassemble the casing in some way? all you would have to do (presumably) is open the case and tighten some screws, right? perhaps not but it seems simple enough. once you open the sealed case. lol

 

[dibara2003]

I think I mentioned this before, but my local apple store said that they can't tighten the hinges. To respond to the other poster who said it's normal, none of the 10 different apple notebooks I work with have any issues

 

[dual64bit]

I also have this problem with my MacBook Air. I am an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician, which allowed me to take apart my unit and I can confirm there is no way to "tighten" the hinges, the entire top assembly (one piece by warranty standards) needs replaced. This piece includes the screen, so Apple would have to spend $400-500 per unit to replace. I want mine replaced, because it really makes the machine look stupid. When I type the screen shakes, back and forth, it's dumb.

 

[SFStateStudent]

Nice scary video! I've had mine since Aug '08 and I notice that mine opens up a bit more than the OP's in the video. I'd say mine fully-extended is about 4" more than the OP's. No play in mine. See attached photo:

 

[n0de]

Mine has it too. It is a pre-order, so about as old as it can get +/- a couple of days and I have a full 1" play.

The 5 year old G4 MBP it replaced never had any!!!!

 

[dual64bit]

Mine has it too. It is a pre-order, so about as old as it can get +/- a couple of days and I have a full 1" play.

The 5 year old G4 MBP it replaced never had any!!!!

Yeah, mine was a pre-order too, maybe most of the originals have this problem. I didn't start experiencing the play until about a month or 6 weeks ago.

 

[ScottFitz]

I've had mine since about june and no play whatsoever...... yet.

 

[BWhaler]

I have the same exact problem. It started about two months ago.

I spent $3,300 with tax on this computer, and it's already got quality issues.

This is totally unacceptable.

Apple's shoddy quality will be the death of them. It's starting to happen.

(Typed on a MBA while the screen wobbles.)

 

[maxdboy100]

Hinge Problem on Macbook air.

That sucks. I would have thought that if you have AppleCare and you throw a little fit someone might be able to get this taken care of. Too bad.

Now I'm wondering what percentage of Air's are falling victim to this problem and how long mine is going to hold out...

my MBA has the same problem are there any other apple places that might fix it.
like a mac store

 

[maxdboy100]

Hinge on MBA

Finaly some people that understand my problem unlike the genius at the apple store

 

[etaylor3971]

no wobble

I've had mine since about june and no play whatsoever...... yet.

Got mine in February '08 and it was replaced on the spot within two weeks because the trackpad button stopped working.

The screen has shown no play whatsoever and I have it open at various angles and mutlple times during the day. Sometimes I have it nearly closed at 30-45 degrees when I've hooked it to my plasma to watch TV.

So it's been put through its paces without a problem for 8 months now.

Could there have been any physicial maneuver or trauma in the past that could have resulted in the condition? Or just daily wear and tear?

While maybe expensive to replace, I think Apple ought to.

 

[epark89]

Macbook Air Hinge

Hi. I've just had the same problem.
It starts like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7uEMfJVm4U

Then quickly becomes this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKJLUMBCF98&feature=related

And will end up like this (all within a few openings and closings):

http://mindspacemind.blogspot.com/2008/06/macbook-air-damaged-hinges-little-too.html

So far, the "Genius" Bar says it's not a "known" problem. I guess if you don't know about it, it's not known. But it looks like people are having the same problem. I'd guess it's like a loose shoulder joint that just pops.

The Apple customer service said they'll take a look but no guarantees. Once again...this was not forced open. It is a slop evolving to a click, then a fracture in the plastic or fracture in the hinge.

I'll let y'all know what becomes of it.

 

[madmaxmedia]

I'm ressurecting an old thread, but interested if the problem gets worse over time, or if others have this problem.

From a little googling around, it seems the problem is not the hinge itself. The problem is in how the hinge is mounted/fixed to the display. The hinge seems to be surrounded by plastic, and it's the plastic that tends to weaken over time. Thus the tiny (or not so tiny) amount of flex that develops.

The other Mac notebooks have different hinge mechanisms, there's no plastic and everything is screwed on pretty well. The hinges may go soft over time, but the mounts are good.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

mine is less than 24hrs new and it has the same issue.

 

[oscillatewildly]

Do you have a Sale Of Goods Act in the US? Legal action? A website to register instances of Slop? Don't accept this.

Cheers,
OW

 

[silverblack]

Mine is developing the same problem. It was tight as a rock when it was new, so the problem definitely developed as I opened and closed the unit day by day.

 

[ducatidoc]

Do you have a Sale Of Goods Act in the US? Legal action? A website to register instances of Slop? Don't accept this.

Cheers,
OW

sniff, sniff. what's that i smell? incensed customers with core-shutdowns and bad hinge joints? nope, just a good ole' american class-action lawsuit cooking....

 

[bidwalj]

mines had that and core shut downs. My apple store replaced the entire lcd panel to fix the hinge and installed a new logic board for the core shutdown. My fans had died too and they replaced those as well. They did all this with no questions asked.

 

[maxdboy100]

"macbook air screen problem"

my MBA has the same problem i bought mine in march when the first batch of them was introduced. do you think apple geniuses could do something about it.

Thanks

 

[MontrealMonger]

Very discouraging to read this as I'm seriously considering buying a new MBA. It's unacceptable for the company to expect consumers to fork out so much money to fix a design flaw on an already-costly machine. I wonder if Apple strengthened the hinge on the newer models?

 

[twist2b]

Does it effect your lappy "experience" in any way? Becuase the hinge only goes so far anyways. I am just saying, you usually push it ALL the way back anyways right?

Let me know.....

edit - I have OAKLEYS, its an O2 model (plastic-ish) and the hinge is actually plastic. Over time it actually wears out SLIGHTLY. Even though in this case it doesn't matter, I really wonder how they designed the hinge

 

[GoCubsGo]

FWIW, I had similar play on my MB (late 2008) before I returned it and it exists with my Rev D PowerBook. It never bothered me nor did it have any affect on my computing experience.