My Mackbook is a crackin.

March 21, 2011 6:06 PM

How can I make the topcase (wrist area) of my 2006 white Macbook stop cracking? I have had Apple replace this part twice, and it has cracked yet again. There is a way for me to solve this problem. I know there is.

The cracks occur where the little nubbins above the screen touch the topcase.

Thanks, as always for your help.

posted by 4ster to computers & internet (9 answers total)

Honestly, this is a huge design flaw and something that BOTH my MacBooks developed and had repaired. Twice, as well. There's just a lot of pressure right there from the lid on the top case. If you can put your lappy in a bag that doesn't press against the screen, or avoid putting things on top of the computer, it will help.

As far as I know, Apple will just keep on replacing them free of charge. They did both of mine for free, but I may have been under AppleCare.

I bet this is why they went to the aluminum design and reworked the white MacBooks!
posted by jstef at 6:38 PM on March 21, 2011

I have never had mine replaced, since it's one of those things that will keep happening. It's something to do with the magnets and the sticky out-y bit on the screen. I just cover my broken bits with scotch tape. Pretty lame looking, bit it works. I wonder if something like this http://www.decalgirl.com/category.view/MacBook-Skins would work since mine seem to have stopped cracking since the scotch tape fix
posted by ridiculous at 6:44 PM on March 21, 2011

How long ago was the most recent repair? The technician at the place (authorized service provider, not an Apple store) I went to told me that sometime in the last year they changed the top of the case and shaved a tiny amount off of the nubbins, which should stop the cracking.
posted by mhz at 7:05 PM on March 21, 2011

Would something like a Moshi Palmguard help? That particular one is for a newer model but maybe you could find something similar for yours on eBay. It could either hide the cracking or provide enough protection to deflect the pressure and prevent it getting worse.
posted by bcwinters at 7:06 PM on March 21, 2011

I just taped mine up with packing tape. Looked bad, stopped cracking.
posted by sugarfish at 7:27 PM on March 21, 2011

I had to replace mine 4 times.

The last couple of times the tech said the same thing that mhz's did: they've changed how we fix it, this won't happen anymore.

But for me it kept happening.

I used tape on mine but it kept happening.

This is not useful to you at all. But I was so frustrated about it for the past 18 months it feels good to talk about.

I traded mine in for a MacBook Pro out of aluminum. This is the best solution I know.
posted by miles1972 at 7:32 PM on March 21, 2011

It is a design flaw.

If you take it into an Apple store, they will replace both the molding surrounding the keyboard/trackpad, and the molding surrounding the screen free of charge.

I brought mine in to the Apple store two weeks ago for a charger problem. The technician at the service desk told me before anything else that he would be happy to replace the cracked moldings.

I don't know if there is a time period where they won't replace it for free, so maybe call your nearest Apple store, or authorized repair service and check. In my experience, they will usually take good care of you.
posted by clearly at 10:28 AM on March 22, 2011

It will just continue to break, even with the most current revision of the replacement part. Most of them are still covered under a quality program, but I've noticed the original models are no longer eligible.
posted by BryanPayne at 5:17 PM on March 22, 2011

Thanks to everyone for the input. What I did was to install four of these on the bezel at the top of the screen. We will see how well it works.
posted by 4ster at 6:16 AM on March 29, 2011