@#!$!! I broke my iBook

man, i wish apple hadn't made the ibook so hard to get into. i was trying to swap the 40 gig drive it came with, with a new 100 gig drive. but during dissasembly, i broke off the socket that connects the start button to the mobo!! i barely liffted it and the bare contacts just snapped right off. now i can't turn my ibook on.

im hoping that i can maybe get apple to repair it on warranty as i still am under warranty. i was thinking of saying that it just stopped working and that i can no longer turn it on. i put it back together quite cleanly, barely any sign of "tampering". the back edge is jagged a little bit from some prying. but other then that, it looks fine. anybody have any suggestions as to what i could say to apple to help convince them that it was defective (which perhaps it was?? (Wishful thinking of course)).

 

Ehhhh, well, goodluck, though I can't really say whether or not Apple will honor their warranty or not, since it is pretty obvious it was tampered with, since it shouldn't break that easily.

Goodluck.

 

Sounds like a great excuse to get a new MacBook to me.
But seriously, that blows. Apple seem very vigilant about putting any potential warranty repairs under pretty close scrutiny, and if they detect the pry marks on your case then they've got pretty good grounds to lay the onus on you. And even if they don't, since it is a hardware problem you're sending it in for (power button not working) you can bet your sweet behind that they'll open it up and discover the broken contacts anyway. IMHO it sounds like a no win situation, but I guess all you can do is try. Good luck to you.

 

thats the thing tho, it did break off really easily. i've toyed with many an electronic device (also have made my own micro controller from scratch). and feel safe to say that it should have been stronger then that.

 

Personally I'd go ahead and just be honest with them about what happened, and hope they might be able to fix it for you, even though it might not be a warranty issue per se. It's not like Apple doesn't expect people to ever take their iBooks apart, and I think if you just said you were genuinely working in there and that part broke, you might just get them to repair it. It strikes me as something that, if it does require paid repairs, shouldn't cost all that much to repair.

 

On the contrary, they actually don't ever expect (or want) people to take them apart. They specifiy a very finite number of user upgradeable parts under the keyboard on the iBook, and the HDD isn't one of them. Essentially if anyone other than an Apple Authorized Service Provider cracks open your case you've automatically violated your warranty, end of story.

 

I'm with zadillo on this one. Tell Apple what happened (the truth) and leave it to them.

 

I'm sure apple has seen others who have inadvertantly broken their ibook trying to replace what should be a user-replaceable item. Chances are Apple will be stringent on their policy...

You probably disassembled the laptop incorrectly if you were breaking off connectors. If it doesn't look like it has been tampered with, I'd try sending it in just saying the problem, not how it happened. If it does look pretty damaged, I'd try to fix the part myself. It's just a connector, how bad can that break? Best case scenario, it'll be a quick 5c replacement part...worst case, you'll have to solder the connector back on (unlikely). If it's the latter, I'd pay an experienced shop $15 bucks to do the job...that is, ofcourse, if Apple charges $15+ for a repair.

It would be a whole other story if you slipped and took out a line of traces with your screwdriver. A connector doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but I have no idea exactly what damage has been done.

 

Ahh, didn't realize that. I guess that is something they have changed with the MacBook then (where the RAM and hard drive are both easily user replaceable, and which they provide instructions for).

 

I say LIE! Lie all you can to get Apple to fix it under warranty. Deny you ever opened it (well, don't bring it up unless they do, then deny). It's a warranty - they can fix the problem, so let them. You paid good money for the computer and warranty, do what you need to do to keep that computer working - Apple can spare a few dollars to fix a computer...

 

That Sucks

 

Yup, they made a lot of things easier to deal with on the Macbook. On the iBook the only user accessible/upgradeable parts are the RAM and the Airport card. Breaking down an iBook to change the HDD is an absolute nightmare.

 

i was following the guides on www.ifixit.com/guides which are pretty thorough. i have a fair bit of experience with electronics, (i built my own microcontroller), and know that the connector that broke off would not be that easy to resolder (prolly will mean logic board replacement ), plus the very fact that it shouldn't have broken as easily as it did. a properly mounted socket shouldn't come off that easily.

one of the main annoyances about it is that i was really close to getting the new drive in. just a couple more steps.

 

You don't say if your iBook is under the regular warranty or if you purchased Applecare. Purchasers of Applecare are likely to get a little more leeway.

I disagree with the poster who had the attitude that Apple (and presumably any big company) deserves to be lied to about a user's mistake just because they can "afford it." That attitude hurts all consumers in the long run, but particularly the ones who take good care of their products. On the other hand, you don't need to volunteer the information unless they ask you or refuse warranty repair. Let them assess if they'll cover it, don't overplay your relatively weak hand.

Here's what I'd do:
If you are still under the one year warranty, call Apple and purchase the Applecare two year extension--become an Applecare customer. Then wait a few days.

When you bring it to an Apple Store, you can let them assess what it needs. Since it's under warranty, they'll either look at it themselves, or ship it overnight to Apple repair. If you don't have an Apple Store near you, then you'll have to call Apple support. Just tell them the iBook no longer turns on. Let them lead you through troubleshooting and then they'll schedule a repair. If they fix it, they fix it! They may suspect you took it apart, but if they see the joints were a little weak or a possible manufacturing defect, they'll probably just repair it and send it back.

If they don't, however, if they call or e-mail and say there's a problem, you might as well fess up. Apologize. Tell them you have electronics experience, you were carefully following those online disassembly instructions to upgrade the hard drive (gripe about how it's too difficult, carefully avoiding seeming to blame the hapless support tech for that design decision). And tell them you believe it snapped off much too easily, and please have another look at it to see if it was weak/defective. And, it might help to say something along the lines of "I just wanted to get this thing a bigger hard drive so I can give it to my nephew to replace his PC laptop, and I want to buy a new MacBook. If I have to pay for this repair, the MacBook purchase will be delayed." Stretch the truth a bit if necessary.

And if all else fails, bargain with them on the price of the repair! They may have to escalate the issue, but someone above may see the wisdom in compromise.

In the end, forget the HD upgrade on this model. Sell it and get a MacBook. They are awesome. Or get one of those small Firewire 2.5" portable enclosures, and put the bigger drive in that for your iBook.

In the end, you violated the terms of the warranty which were available to you to read at any time. It was a risk you took, and there is some amount of personal responsibility that is called for. But Apple will hopefully give you one chance... unless you've had "shady" repair work done before.

A side note: I replace the HD in an iBook which was out of warranty for a client last year. 50+ little screws (2 were left over when I was finished). We don't know the exact reason for the design as such, but I did see when i had it all apart that it would have taken considerable "re-design" to make a user-replaceable drive on an iBook. I was so relieved when it was back together and purring like an iKitten.

Good luck.

 

when you've boughten two notebooks in two years (on a line of credit no less, (got a cheap buggy averatec before ibook)), its really hard to justify upgrading to a newer apple, even though i would love to. if they charge an insane price to fix it, maybe just replace it, but who knows.

i've called applecare and mentioned that i know that it won't start because the start button is no longer attached to the mobo. and he was like" uhh, so you've been in the notebook?" and i said yeah and that i was being very very gentle and careful inside. he then proceeded to tell me some local places i could go for assement/repair where they would assess whether it was accidental or environmental. if they end up saying accidental, i am so going to argue that the socket wasn't even attached to the mother board and that even a "fully certified tech" would have a hell of a time getting that connector off without breaking it themselves. otherwise they will use the one year warranty to fix it locally.

as for adding a hd vs external, its easier as a student to have it part of the notebook instead of needing to carry the external one around to use up my only two usb ports (can need both to power the one i bought).