Screen hinge broke. Where can I fix it in Canada if my town doesn't have Apple store?

[Marconelly]

Today I noticed that on my MBA Rev A, right screen hinge got damaged somehow. Wife said she heard a crack when she was closing the screen, and sure enough, something's messed up inside and won't close fully anymore. Screen also won't keep open as firmly as before, as right hinge became loose.

The warranty is out since last year, so I tried opening it to see if there's something that I can do. Looks like some part of the hinge is broken. One little metal piece fell out of hinge when I scratched a bit there with a tiny screwdriver.

On top of that, just last month my battery stopped holding charge anymore (have to keep laptop plugged in all the time or else it shuts down losing all my work when the battery meter shows ~20% life remaining)

And since few days ago my desktop icons and dashboard screen started looking garbled sometimes. No idea what's going on with this computer, it's like it all started to fall apart

I live in Canada and in the place where I live there's no Apple store to bring this in for repair. I bought it from Best Buy where they have a small Apple corner. Can I bring it to them, so that someone there can fix it? Or do they just send it to Apple which will take even more time than if I send it? Or is this something that I can possibly fix if I can buy new hinges somewhere?

 

[tangje]

Take it to an authorized Apple service provider. It will be fixed even if you're out of warranty. See http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2948

 

[Scottsdale]

Whatever you do, don't mess with it or keep opening and closing it. I would try to keep it as perfectly safe as possible so it doesn't break through the top lid assembly as some do. That is when Apple has blamed people, and while Apple is now replacing these when the hinges break, it sure seems a lot simpler to show them an MBA with the hinge broken when it hasn't damaged the casing of the lid.

Call AppleCare and mail it in to them. It might take a bit longer, but it will ensure that Apple gets it and fixes it properly. I never like taking my Apple products to third-party "authorized" repair facilities, as I don't trust that they'll do what's best for me and my Apple product. Plus they can impede progress when it's something they're not personally familiar with, as might be with an MBA's hinge problems.

Good luck with it. I hope you get it repaired or replaced without any hassles or blame put on you. Although I hope Apple is beyond that since they have admitted this is a hinge problem and not users damaging their MBAs.

 

[Marconelly]

Thanks guys, this is good to know. Well, now I wish I wasn't unscrewing the bottom and trying to remove the screen hinges on my own -_- You can pretty much see on some screws that they've been tampered with. Luckily only the hinge piece is broken, no damage to anything around it - the only potential problem I saw inside was that one wire that goes through hinge was starting to be damaged (still not cut, though), which probably happened when I first tried to close the screen before I noticed it wasn't going to.

 

[Scottsdale]

Thanks guys, this is good to know. Well, now I wish I wasn't unscrewing the bottom and trying to remove the screen hinges on my own -_- You can pretty much see on some screws that they've been tampered with. Luckily only the hinge piece is broken, no damage to anything around it - the only potential problem I saw inside was that one wire that goes through hinge was starting to be damaged (still not cut, though), which probably happened when I first tried to close the screen before I noticed it wasn't going to.

There's no way to fix those hinges yourself. It requires the entire lid assembly with display when Apple fixes it. I would stay away from messing with it and send it to AppleCare for replacement/repair.

 

[tangje]

The reason I suggested an authorized repair centre is because Applecare doesn't do mail repairs in Canada.

As Scottsdale said, don't mess with it. Just leave it alone and take it in. It would have been better if you didn't poke around with a screwdriver, but hopefully they'll just fix it.

 

[calderone]

Unfortunetly, some people have to use their laptop even if it is broken. I continued using mine. It got pretty bad, but Apple fixed it anyway. Take a look at the photo.

 

[snberk103]

Which part of the country are you in? Perhaps if you are near someone with an authorized Apple repair place near them they can let you know whether that store is good or not. If you can find an authorized Apple repair place that will do the repair, then you just have to ship it to them.

Good Luck...

 

[frankgardine]

Unfortunetly, some people have to use their laptop even if it is broken. I continued using mine. It got pretty bad, but Apple fixed it anyway. Take a look at the photo.

Where and how did u get it fixed? Any apple service center can fix this? Even i am having same problem like your's. So sad