MacBook Air hinge defect not covered by Apple's warranty?
By Paul Miller 
posted Feb 26th 2009 3:03PM
posted Feb 26th 2009 3:03PM
Our rocky history with the MacBook Air Rev. A has been well documented, and while Apple would very much like us to forget all about it and plop down another $1,800 for the much-improved Rev. B, not everybody has that sort of birthday money to throw around. Reports of cracked hinges on the laptop are nothing new, but we always assumed Apple would eventually 'fess up to the problem and comp those repairs. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case, and we just got another report of a hapless MacBook Air owner who has a broken hinge that Apple says will cost $800 to repair, despite the fact the laptop is under warranty. Our own MacBook Air Rev. A had the exact same problem -- the hinge becomes loose over time, then suddenly catches and cracks from normal use, it's not from undue stress -- and Apple did the repair for free, but only after we escalated the issue to a manager, who let us know how very nice of them that was. From reading various reports, that seems the exception to Apple's repair policy, which lists this sort of damage as "accidental," and we're wondering how widespread this issue may be. If you or a loved one has been affected, hit up the poll below and pour out your heart in comments. If you're unscathed or MBA-free, feel free to show very little compassion to your fellow man. Wiggle hinge and broken hinge video is after the break.
Read - Apple Discussions forum thread
Read - MacRumors forum thread
Read - Crashzone's link roundup
...Nothing is covered by Apple's warranty!
That's not what they say at the Apple Store.
One salesman was tooting the fact that extended warranty will help you when your hard drive dies on an iMac, which he said was a common problem. He then went on to describe the troublesome process of replacing the hard drive on your own.
Suffice to say, no one was saying "Congratulations" as I left the store.
Sucks man. Where all the fanboys at now. Guess you should have gotten a Linux or Windows based netbook. At least if they break, you can afford to replace those.
Untrue, they've replaced my battery in my MBP twice because it slipped below 80% health in the first year. I was not covered by the extended warranty yet when they did this. For Free
They replaced my screen when lighter blotches appeared at the far edges. For Free.
The replaced the chipping and browning top cover of my wife's white macbook. Twice.
They replaced 3 keys on my keyboard when the scissor mechanism broke while I was cleaning the keyboard.
They replaced two power adapters whose cords were fraying slightly, even though they visibly had been chewed on by my cat.
All of this was done at the Salt Lake City Apple store, and I will sing their praises until they either disappoint me or I die.
No wonder Macs are expensive.
@Nailbunny
You've just proofed what an idiot you are. With all those problems you are still coming back to Apple - shows how badly you are trying to fit in with all the other apple fanboys. I bet if something happened to your Vaio, you would have a grudge at Sony for the rest of your life.
I had a loose hinge. I brought it bag to the apple store. They sent it in to be repaired. I got an email from apple offering me a brand new MBA (rev2). I now have a brand new MBA 1.86ghz.
If you're like my girlfriend and go in there in an attractive outfit and throw the flirty eyes now and then, you somehow get everything.
Dropped Macbook? No problem, new free mobo and HD.
Dropped iPod? No problem, new iPod.
Dropped macbook AGAIN? No problem, new free optical drive.
I go in there asking for just about anything, and they're rude. FML.
@Nailbunny:
Interesting... i've never had to take my IBM Thinkpad in for repairs... ever. And that sucker not only gets used almost everyday, but it takes a beating on my trips to and from Mexico.
Apple... what a bunch of sheisters (sp?)...
@anonymouspimp
Yeah, too bad your thinkpad looks like it dropped out of the late 90s. IBM computer are built well, but I think they look like shite. Some Apple products might break easily, but design is half the product.
As for me, a co-worker spilled coffee on my Macbook, I took it in and they gave me a brand new one for free. I've heard warranty horror stories, but my experiences have all been great.
Honestly, what is covered by the warranty? There's no reasonable explanation for a hinge torquing like that other than manufacturer defect.
When I was in charge of laptops at my last job, we bought Dell and I kept a very close eye on hinges for the full duration of the warranty, because they are such a common point of failure. To Dell's credit they almost always erred on the side of replacement with any issues we had.
But not covering the hinge? That's like having a powertrain warranty on your car that doesn't cover the transmission.
@gunner,
You just "proofed" what an idiot you are... can't even use proper English.
@Chris Are
You aren't serious are you - "design is half the product"? So what you are basically saying is, if I could get to destination B on a very nice looking plane x - but my chances of survival are 50%, you will pick plane x over plane y - that might not look as good but will get you in one piece? Last time I checked a laptop will not pick up a girl or impress somebody. A laptop is an "instrument" to get work done. When it comes to getting work done, I don't want my "instrument" failing on me and wasting my time trying to get it fixed.
@BMWFanatic,
Too bad my spelling didn't cost me 1800$ down the drain.
Wow fanboys will defend Apple to the death. Sure they have nicely designed electronics, but that is not suffice for the price tag, especially if they break down often (i'm looking your way nailbunny). What's the sense of having a nice looking laptop if it will end up being a great doorstop/paper weight. I guess Apple fanboys love gimped/defective products; no cut and paste, picture messaging, stereo/wireless keyboard bluetooth compatibility, broken hinges, etc. Worst thing is they wont fess up and make wrongs right. It's okay if a company messes up and fixes their mistakes, Microsoft, Nintendo, AlienWare, but this Apple shit is inexcusable.
Where's the "we should slit apple's throat" option for the poll...I think it should be a must with every poll they are involved in.
@Nailbunny,
Let me let you in on a secret. Once your warranty has expired you are shagged. That thing is designed to fail. Like me, you will be spouting out of the other side of your face as soon as you are asked to fork out $400 for a failed part that is not covered.
Mark my words, Beware the Ides of March, or the Ides of Warranty expiry. Thou shalt be royally shafted. Get rid of it now whilst you still can.
I swear Apple and Dell are made for each other. They can also throw Nailbunny in the mix
HAHAHAHA!!!!
MacBook Air is turning out to be exactly what I thought of it from day 1 - a piece!
If you live in the UK you should be covered under the Sale of Goods Act 1979. If it's a common fault then they will have to replace it regardless of when your warranty ran out. If they say otherwise then they're taking the piss.
Notice how Nailbunny stopped saying "For Free" after his second failure.
@ ALCie, JAmerican, NHAnimator, gunner, anonymouspimp, chispito, DJManoloco, kccboy2004, loujob, & RoboDan:
It would be a big mistake for any of you to buy Apple's products. If you're all half as annoying in person as online, my next visit to the Apple Store would likely result in several broken jaws... and no, those aren't covered under warranty.
@who,
There are gonna be a few more things broken than just your MacBook Air hinge. For one thing Apple just screwed you over. Second there goes your money -haha Fool. Third due to your violent nature you don't seem to have any brains, therefore I assume you got the 1800$ from a loan shark. Lastly, because the economy is down and you can't get a job cleaning anyone's house (since they too lost their jobs), the loan shark is definitely gonna brake more than your "jaw". Look on the bright side you still have a broken laptop - with an Apple logo.
@gunner
The Engadget 2009 most obviously flamebaited comment of the year prize goes to.... gunner! Congrats, and good luck maintaining a sense of dignity after taking some of the most obvious flamebait ever seen in the Engadget comments section!
Seriously, who in their right mind would take on ten Apple haters at once? LOL.
@who,
Your tears were obviously obstructing your eyesight from reading the posts cause obviously I am not an Apple Fanboy.
@everyone except gunner
Does anyone speak gunner here? Whatever. He took the bait, it counts.
@Gunner
You're the fool here.
Seriously, those things are all things that most PC users would just IGNORE. Believe me, I see it ALL OF THE TIME.
Mac users care about their computers, so they won't hesitate to take it in to get serviced.
If you get frayed power cords with your PC, Dell or whoever, will just laugh at you and tell you to buy a new one. If your screen starts to die, they MIGHT fix it if they can't find a way to blame you for the failing monitor. If you break the keys on your keyboard while cleaning it, they definitely won't fix that for you unless the person that you're talking to feels like being generous.
@anonymouspimp
Take your laptop to IBM and complain about it browning or something and watch them laugh their asses off at you.
Speaking of which. I've only had ONE problem with any of my Macs. My iMac had a videocard problem. A problem that I caused (long story) Apple fixed me up for free, no questions asked.
Oh, another thing, they saved my data at NO CHARGE too! Most PC repair shops either charge you for data recovery/transfer or nuke and pave your hd and say to hell with you.
On the other hand, I have a TEN YEAR old Powerbook, that still works, no problem whatsoever. I have two powermac g3's the STILL WORK. Never had a problem out of those either.
My 1995 powermac 5260? No problems there. Still works. My Apple //e from the 1980's? No problem, still works fine.
@kccboy2004
No, they aren't designed to fail after the warranty expires.
That doesn't even make sense.
Seriously, if that happens, there would be so many pissed/disillusioned people that would take their business elsewhere.
On top of that, the warranty on my iMac wore out two years ago. I run it all day, EVERY day. Still works. I haven't shut my G3's off in how many months? And they're HOW OLD? Granted, there hasn't been a tower computer made YET that is as tough and durable as a G3 from 1998.
Nothing is covered under Apples warranty? Then how do you care to explain this free $2500 MacBook Pro sitting in front of me right now? Jackass.
You guys saying how other companies have products that don't break, seem to miss the reason many people buy Macs. No, I'm not talking about being "cool" and sitting at Starbucks, but for the OS. Ever since I switched to Mac, I have been much more efficient with any kind of work or multitasking. Now I only use Windows (Vista x64) only when I play games, as that's a thing OS X sucks donkey balls at.
I don't want to make this into an argument about which OS sucks or not, because each one has it's strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, people make the decision which they use. Sure, the hardware is expensive, but you do mainly get what you pay for. Just because a couple people have problems, doesn't mean everyone is. Sure you can get a similarly specced laptop for half the price of a Mac, but the build quality is the thing that made me switch to Mac. My Acer I had before was just way too bulky to take to school and the build quality was worse than the plastic MacBook palm rest (which sucks a damn lot).
Anyway, I went kinda off topic here.
It's apple care... NOT WARRANTY!
I found a law firm is investigating the situation. My MBA's hinge broke a couple of days ago from normal use. The apple store quoted me $650 for it and the mac genius pretty much said it caused it. Why would I want to purposely break a $2k piece of equipment?! I bought my MBA 8 months ago. What the heck are warranties for?! Apple, get ready for a class action lawsuit. The link is right here http://www.sfmslaw.com/pages/cases.php?id=752.
Okay, to explain (i have the 3-year extended warranty):
During like the third month that I had my MBP, i dropped it from about four feet (i put it in the laptop compartment in my backpack, forgot to zip it up, attempted to sling it over my shoulder and BAM: laptop on the floor!) Yes, the computer was on, but thanks to the nifty sudden-motion-sensor whatever in the HD, no hard drive failures were suffered. There is however a small dent in the bottom right corner under the screen hinge. It popped out a screw in that corner, but no biggie. About a year later, my optical drive began to refuse to write to any disc (it still read everything fine). I took it to the "genius" bar (what noobs!) and i happened to get the complete douche working that day (well, the biggest one out of the staff). He confirmed that my optical drive sucked, so he took my computer in the back for like 30 sec. then brought it back out. "sorry, there is physical damage on the exterior. we can not open up the computer" liability blah blah might break something bull crap whatever. I went home pissed that day and I looked up some pics of the inside of my computer and found that there was about a square-inch of empty space where i had dented the case, so obviously nothing was harmed on the inside, which is what they were worried about. About another year passes by and my battery (second one, due to a recall) craps out. I take it in again, and i get some fairly attractive girl about my age at the genius bar. She was new to that position as of like a couple weeks prior. She pulls out the battery-testing device (a bootable iPod nano) and sees that the battery is indeed crap. To my demise, she tells me that batteries "are like tires. they wear and tear, so they are not covered by the extended warranty" Well that's gay...so i thought i'd give my optical drive another chance. I told her about the dent, the empty space, the fact that my drive stopped working way after i dropped the machine, etc. She was much nicer, and said they would replace the drive for free. Score!
Moral of the story, it all depends on who is working at the genius bar that day. Learn who is nice, and try to schedule an appointment for when they are working, and you will have a much easier time.
Come on now apple... even Alienware fessed up to their hinge issue on the m15x, don't sink to an even lower level.
Some of the first Emachine/Gateway Athlon64 machines had a cosmetic only issue that they covered as well. I think the chassis was built by Quanta, but the grey plastic hinge covers would crack and/or break off leaving the bare hingle and some screen wires exposed. The screen was not in danger of falling off as the hinges were perfectly intact, but it made the machine look horrible. After a bit of consumer complaining they fessed up and offered to fix the problem.
But it seems that Apple would rather push users to buy a new machine then foot the bill to repair the problem. $800 for a hinge, please $25-50 tops parts and labor with $775-750 in Apple tax to get you to shell out for a new machine. Which usually works, atleast it did when a power supply went out in a G5 power mac where I work. Instead of dropping $600+ on a new supply they just replaced it with an iMac. Seriously $600 for a p/s, PC Power and Cooling doesn't even charge half that for a 1200W bullet proof supply.
Apples QA need a good kicking. This is the kind of thing that laptops are tested for!
It seems as though there has been issues since the G3 days with consumer laptops, look at the amount of ibooks on ebay with faulty logic boards. The Macbook isn't much better. They really need to pull their act together. Dell's new machines are all pretty solid, especially the ones in the same price and featureset ranges as the MB. Also, from the sound of it their customer service isn't up to much either.
Quality at it's highest!
This is not a great gesture by Apple. I see where this is going, just like gen1 ipod nanos. Come on apple, its not like u don't have the dough. You make a bad product, you make a bad name. Correct it and you correct your reputation along with that.
Here, here.
Knowing Apple, they probably patented exactly how the hinge would fail, so no one else could steal their issues.
Fixing the problem cuts on Apple profit.
Selling 3 different models of iPods in the same year to the same set of customers has given them enough profit. Don't you think its payback time ? At least i think it is.
@firephoenix -- it's "hear, hear" as in "I think you should all hear what this man has to say"
I personally had never had a issue with a Apple product being service or exchange, not that am saying people haven't had issues, I have had some issues with Dell & Sony in the past but not with Apple, Also you can't expect that if you drop your laptop 10x for them replace the hinges for you for free, sounds crazy but some people think that that's the way it's suppose to be. If you give them attitude don't specs them to even try to help you, it's the same way as when you go into a restaurant, some people have the balls to give the waiter's attitude not knowing what will they do in the back with your food lol.
hinge defect or no hinge defect, still slice my cakes pretty well
EXACT same thing happened to mine. I paid $900 to get it fixed!
My wife wants one of these. This article is just what I need to make the decision to not get one easy.
Choose that new MSI in stead, she'll never notice the difference ;) + its more bang for buck :D
wow no offense but you got jerked
Gah. That sucks for everyone affected. Tight Apple bastards.
I've got a unibody MBP. I guess you could call it the Rev A. version as well. I hope I don't get affected by something like this cause I open and close mine constantly.
=/
This is going to serious mess up this fancy cake cutting knife!
But, it still fits in a manila envelope, so Apple isn't worried...
Glad I didn't waste my dollars on a MBA, I went the economical way and got a netbook. Much cheaper, better gpu (9300) and CPU (1.6 GhZ atom OC'ed to 2.1GhZ), a 10.2" screen instead of 12", a 92% of a full sized keyboard, a bunch of small features like led backlighting, ambient light sensor, altec lansing speakers, etc, and all for the low price of $740. Expensive for a netbook, but my Asus N10-J is almost an ultraportable in terms of specs, and cost less than half the price of a MBA. How's that for ya, Apple?
You seem very impressed with yourself...
Enough to post a comment that has nothing to do with the article.
the atom processor is not nearly as powerful as the core 2 duo in the MBA. While I agree with you that a netbook is every bit as useful as the MBA, the CPU in the MBA blows the atom out of the water.
@Skeezle
He is right in talking about his decision. His decision was informed and he is enjoying a good product worth his money now. Fall for the Ads and you will be let down. Why pay almost 2 grand and get a defective product ?
Really, Sam? Because all anybody has to do is point out that the Macbook Air has a 13" screen and you automatically lose.
Really, a netbook with 1/3 the processing power (yes, an Atom is shit compared to the Core2Duo the Air uses) and a tiny screen costs less? REALLY?!
*facepalm*
in that case, Zak, my 15.4" 2003 1.2ghz celeron automatically beats the crapbook air.
Because... it's slower? I don't follow. Oh wait, I get it. You missed the point of my response, which was that comparing a netbook to a laptop with a much larger screen, much faster processorS etc. and then saying the one with clearly superior specs is more expensive... is incredibly stupid.
Why am I not surprised that you didn't pick up on that?
i think you guys should stop before Zak starts crying...
Zak, my DS wins because it's hinge works and it has games.
you overclocked an atom processor?
did you hear the WHOOSH as it passed over your head?
Let's see a $60 processor vs. a $300 processor. Which on is better with a greater longevity? I think you need to add the $740 you are going to pay for a new on in a year and a half and then see how much you spent.
Really now, $800 dollars to fix? Customer support seems to be high priority at Apple.
Class action! Drag them through the mud on TV a few times. That'll get them straight.
They need to class action all of their hinges made from the MBA on. Even the new ones in the unibody just dont seem right and I also had to fight to get mine repaired.
Where's enohpi?
Eh, this isn't really his thing...I am waiting for Riakoobcam to show up.
Obviously his hinge broke.
You get what you pay for.
$800 to repair a hinge? You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat do you?
You bet. A toilet seat has TWO hinges, plus a custom-designed hand-crafted ceramic shape unique to toilet seats and therefore difficult to procure!
http://www.electric-chicken.co.uk/itoilet.html
+1000000000000 for the Independance Day reference.
Independence Day Fucking Rocks!
Oddly enough, I was in a store just other day and they had a MacBook Air on display with a cracked hinge just sitting on the counter like a sad looking clam. They have to know that this is an issue. Not nice Apple.
It's not an issue it's a feature.
haha the third option "My hinge broke, Apple won't cover under warranty." shouldnt be that high.
i'm an apple hater and was about to vote for that but decided to just choose to see the results. others obviously chose the evil route.
the exact same thing happened to mine. Said it would cost 800 euro to fix and that it was accidental!!!!!
Max, it's actually a pretty common problem with Rev. A macbook Air machines. Mine has a cracked hinge, took it into Apple, sent it in to Apple Depot for repair. I got a notice saying "Not covered under warranty" and an option to fix it for $800.
Hell. No. Although my American Express extended warranty may be able to save me.
+1 for the "Independence Day" reference.
"I just want to see the results. 80.4%"
Does anyone even own a MBA? :P
um the remaining 19.6%?
By the looks of it, pretty much 20 % of those reading this article which would be a significant amount if you think of it. I have a rev. B but the display has frickin lines that are hard to not notice. Damn you Apple, now you give those who waited a display which sucks in comparison to the rev. A.
dell sucks apple's gr8
dell sucks apple's gr8
except that whole warranty thing....
and building crappy firewire absent laptops...
and costing twice as much as the same dell...
maybe dell doesn't suck and is a much better buy after all?
heck for the money dell will frigging come to your house and fix it for you
Show me two spec-for-spec systems where the Dell is twice the price.
No, really, I want to see the comparison. I keep hearing this argument, but it's always as exaggerated as yours is.
Er, where the Apple is twice the price, you know what I mean.
Umm, show yourself. Try the 17" MBP for example. You pay a premium to be "hip".
Dell Studio 17, 4gb RAM, 5400rpm 320gb hdd, wifi a/g/n, 1920x1200 17" display, discrete graphics, 9 cell battery, $1424 vs 17" MBP @ 2799.
Dell Studio XPS 13.3: £829.00
BASE Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40Ghz, 1066MHz, 3MB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 - English
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1Yr XPS Premium Warranty Support - Priority Call In and Onsite
LCD 13.3" WXGA (1280x800) CCFL Display with TrueLife
MEMORY 4096MB 1067MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
HARD DRIVE 250GB (7200RPM) Serial ATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD nVidia® GeForce 9400M G Graphics card
OPTICAL DRIVE Internal DVD+/-RW (DVD & CD read and write) Slot Load Drive
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery
The aluminium 13-inch MacBook.
£1,223.00 incl. VAT
2.4GHz
WXGA (1280x800) screen
Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Illuminated keyboard
Aluminium unibody
I did it with 4gig ram as apple doesn't do it with 3gig.
£394 difference.
Dell XPS M113
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6400 (2.0GHz,2MB,800MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1- English
13.3" UltraSharp™ WXGA (1280x800) CCFL Display (220nits) with TrueLife™
128MB nVidia® GeForce® 8400M GS
3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]
250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Fixed 8x DVD+/-RW Slim Slot Load Drive, including SW
1Yr XPS Premium Warranty Support - Priority Call In and Onsite Support
£679
Macbook 2.0GHz
* Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB DDR3 Memory
* 160GB hard drive1
* NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
* Standard keyboard
* Aluminium unibody
* Ships: Within 24hrs
* Free Shipping
* £929.00
£150 difference for same spec, in fact the Dell has a better spec with an extra 1GB of ram and on-site warranty.
when my white macbook developed a crack i had to drive 20 miles to Apple's approved repair center and go back and collect it.
They said it was a design flaw that Apple had fixed by making a thicker top case (below the keyboard) and guess what ? 4 months out of warranty its back.
I will never buy an Apple laptop again until they offer onsite warranty at least, Asus have started offering 2 year warranties and with any HP or Acer i can extend my warranty to 3 years onsite for £45.
Apple's support sucks and once all their customers start to realise this Windows 7, Dell,HP,Acer,Asus etc. will be waiting.
hahahaha..ack154 was asking for it when he said show me the specs. Dude the whole world knows Apple rapes you.
Dell service and machine are superb compared to Apple.
Something goes wrong, even if your ejectable optical drive needs to be replaced, Dell will send you an approved technician (very professional, too) at your place starting from the next day to any business day you want at the time you want. Or, if you like it, Dell can send you the part with a full service manual (and you can call for assistance) for you to do it, and return back the broken part (shipping is paid both ways). Customer Service, Tech-support Chat, Tech Support phone is all from local region (Canada in my case), which don't treat you like a stupid idiot. Super nice service, will even call you every time to make sure that everything has been done correctly. If a technician even light scratch your machine, Dell covers it. If your machine needs to be replaced, you get to keep it until you receive the new one, and then you can switch HDD between both machines if you want to avoid a re-install. In other words, you get to keep your machine with you all the time.
If you look at the latitude series, it's very similar to the MacBook Pro. Same or better performance, same features (ambient light sensor, backlit keyboard, anti-glare screen, LED backlit screen, metal base and screen lid, standard, quiet keyboard layout, quiet mouse buttons) And the machine has more, such as dual mouse (touchpad or pointstick mouse, which if you tap on it (the point stick mouse) it clicks, also you can continuously scroll onto a page non stop with the touch pad (perform the same scrolling method but instead of lifting yu finger you performs a circle at the center of the touchtad)), eSATA, slim optical drive, 4-USB, standard Display port with audio (backward compatible to DVI and HDMI), VGA, 9 ours of battery (with the 9-cell battery, with wireless ON), similar video card, 1 screw panel to have full access to the system (easily change the CPU, RAM, HDD, motherboard, wireless card, blutooth card, and those internet on to go cards), SD card reader, support a second 12-cell battery (will make the laptop thick as an ordinary laptop) for 19--21hours of battery life (with the 9-cell battery). Oh and is lighter (1.95 kg versus the Mac 2.49 kg). Minimum warranty that you can get for these machine is what I talked about for 3 years. You can't go lower than that (well in Dell Canada).
How much (with 4GB of RAM, Vista Business 64-bit)? ~1650$.
@major4play. I take it you only had the base warrenty. Under the Sale of goods act, goods have to last a reasonable amount of time, the generally accepted time for a laptop is about 3 years.
Apple = Dell
when denying any problems and also not fixing any of them.
Class Action.
Class action suit in T minus 5...
I don't see it happening. A large majority of Apple users I've run across are too loyal to Apple to participate in a lawsuit. They don't mind being screwed by Apple so they can say "at least I wasn't screwed by Microsoft". Me? I'd rather not be screwed at all.
Hmm-hm. I can't remember a time during the last 10 years when Apple was NOT involved in a class action lawsuit or another.
I think what will happen is more public humiliation - like this article - then they'll cave and fix the issue for free at some point.
To those affected, be persistent. If this happens to my new unibody MBP I will go to the store and not leave until they have agreed to fix it under warranty. I mean - come on. They have to.
I don't care how much someone is a "fanboy"...if they feel that they're getting $800 ripped out of their pockets, they'll do what they can to get that back.
Apple, make good on this and replace the hinges on all 40 of them that were sold.