Last month I wrote about reports of defective MacBook Air hinges. Here is my followup and advice for other people dealing with the same issue:

The hinge on my MacBook Air has been a little wobbly for a few months. After reading reports of the defect and Apple’s general unwillingness to repair the damage under the factory warranty I became a little perturbed.

I decided that while my MacBook Air  is still under warranty I wanted documentation of the defect in my laptop. I booked an appointment with the Genius Bar and went last week.

I showed the tech my laptop, the wobble, and the slight bowing in the hinge. I also highlighted the pristine condition of my year-old computer to to nullify the “consumer misuse” argument. He took it into the back-room of mystery and emerged a few minutes later to tell me that no one in that store has ever heard of the factory defect but they were willing to admit that there was wobble and bowing in my hinges.

The tech wanted to compare the wobble and bowing in my computer with the floor model. They had nearly identical wobble and bow. He viewed this as evidence that there wasn’t a problem… I saw it as confirmation that there is a design flaw. Regardless of interpretation, all I asked for was written confirmation that I did complain about the problem before my warranty expired – which he gave me.

If the hinge malfunctions I will use it for leverage to make Apple fix it under my warranty.

Mission Accomplished!

If you are having the same problem I recommend that you get some documentation as well. Be friendly and polite, but stand your ground.

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