MacBook Air dent

It depends. If you have purchased AppleCare+, accidental damage is covered and repair will be charged a nominal fee of $99 USD. If you don't, you will pay full price of the repair which would be parts and labor.

With that said, if you do not have any operational effects or a cracked screen from this incident, I would just keep using it.

dankitydank wrote:

I have filed it along the side but not yet on the top. Do you think normal sandpaper could work filing on top of the palmrest corner?

Sandpaper won't be precise enough and I doubt it will do the job. You do need to round the top to "side" edge when filing the ridge so that it is smooth, otherwise it will be very sharp. You can practice on the bottom part since I see a bit of the corner has stretched downward as well. At least the underneath is not visible when using the laptop and will give you a bit of practice for the visible top portion.

Apple Care can only be purchased at the start of when I bought the Macbook right?

You can't apply it to a laptop with previous damage AFAIK.

Here is an Apple article regarding AppleCare+ where at the bottom of the page it mentions you can purchase it within 60 days of purchasing you new laptop:

AppleCare Products - Mac - Apple

woodmeister50 wrote:

From this page:

AppleCare Products - Mac - Apple

"Unlimited incidents of accidental damage protection, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage"

Yes, that is poor wording. I know from personal experience dealing with several AppleCare+ damage incidents for our organization that this article is poorly worded and misleading.

"External enclosure" to them means the the Rear Housing of the Display Assembly. The $99 cost is for any damaged to the Display Assembly (or lid as many like to say). The "enclosure" designation is a hold over from when the Rear Display Housing (the metal or plastic portion of the display which used to hold the translucent Apple logo) was a replaceable part back in the non-Retina days.

The OP shows damage to both the Display and the Top Case Assembly. The Top Case Assembly is the "Other" category which includes everything except the Display Assembly. If the OP actually had AC+ the total cost of this repair to replace the Display Assembly and the Top Case Assembly would be $398 since the "Other" category does not include the Display Assembly. The OP really only needs the Top Case Assembly replaced if the worst of the damage is on the corner of the palmrest (hard to know the orientation of the laptop in the picture).

woodmeister50 wrote:

It depends. If you have purchased AppleCare+, accidental damage is covered and repair will be charged a nominal fee of $99 USD. If you don't, you will pay full price of the repair which would be parts and labor.

The $99 US is for replacement of the Display Assembly. I believe it costs $299 US to replace anything else such as the Top Case Assembly which is damaged. If both the Display and the Top Case Assembly are replaced, the cost would be a $398 US ($99 Display + $299 Top Case Assembly). Very hard to say if Apple would insist on replacing both parts or just the one.

From the photo it looks like only the one part would need to be replaced since the damage to the other one is cosmetic.

With that said, if you do not have any operational effects or a cracked screen from this incident, I would just keep using it.

If the damage prevents the Display lid from fully closing, it may make the Display more susceptible to being cracked while being handled (even in a bag). The other possibility is the laptop may not register the Display being closed for activating sleep (or it may even cause the laptop to wake up since the sleep sensor may not register the Display as being closed).

On our organization's laptops, I usually just gently file the damaged areas so they are a bit smoother so no one gets cut and it won't catch on anything like fabric. I have even filed down the raised area on top of the palmrest corner to allow the Display to fully close. Keep in mind that filing the metal will leave a bright spot even with this lighter silver style case. I just use a very small narrow width fine grade file so I can control how much gets filed off.

It depends what your goals are. If you despise the damage, then you would need to have both replaced. However, if you only want the worst of the damage fixed, then just replace the one part where the damage is worse especially if it prevents the Display from closing all the way since that could cause the display to crack if too much pressure is put on the laptop when the Display is closed....it also reduces the cost of the repair (check with Apple or AASP to be sure there is a difference in the repair price). Assuming Apple will even allow you to replace just the one part. Apple will insist on replacing any parts which impact the function of the laptop, but usually won't replace a part just for cosmetic issues unless the user insists (sometimes not even then).

I was only suggesting an option to possibly save money.

Keep in mind without AppleCare+ coverage, the cost to repair this damage will be even more expensive than the AC+ prices quoted previously, perhaps even prohibitively expensive depending on how Apple or the AASP handles the repair. Either they will order the parts and install them in house, or they will send the laptop to an Apple mail-in repair depot where repairs are priced in Tiers. Tier based pricing can sometimes be beneficial to the user while other times it is not. Apple places various parts in different tiers....so out of all the parts needed for a specific repair, the part in the highest Tier determines the cost of a Tier based repair.

If the AASP or Apple Store performs the repairs in house, then the Display Assembly and the Top Case Assembly are both about $450 US each, plus there will be labor as well. If the laptop is mailed to an Apple repair depot the cost may be less or it may be even more expensive depending on the Tier involved (it can vary on the model and the parts involved). In the US it may be possible for the user to mail the laptop to Apple for the repairs, I don't know about other regions. No matter what it will be expensive to repair.

So you can see why I just file the corners of our organization's damaged Apple laptops as long as the laptop is functioning properly. You just got to be careful to take your time and go slowly. You want to use a fine grade file of a narrow width so you only touch the damaged area and only remove small amounts of metal until raised areas are flat & smooth again so the display closes fully without having a corner raised. Be gentle if you choose this option.

You want the display to fully close without the corner causing it to be raised up. The rubber gasket of the display should mate with every part of the Top Case Assembly evenly. I always file the corner to be smooth (or nearly smooth) with the rest of the palmrest, although the very edge which sits outside of where the display rubber gasket mates can be a bit higher.

A narrow width file with fine teeth (they may call it a "smooth" file) so only a tiny bit of metal is removed with each pass. It is all about controlling the amount of metal removed with each pass. I personally use a half round file since it limits the area being filed even more, but this is not a good choice for beginners since you can easily file a groove into the metal if you are not extremely careful. A very narrow width file with a flat side is best for a beginner. I use a file from a craft or hobbyist set something like this one (I'm not advocating this brand as I've never used it, this is only for an example....the last set I bought was of very poor quality even though it was a name brand that I had to toss them out without using them).

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Nicholson-5-1-2-in-Assorted-Hobby-Craft-Mini-File-Set-6-Piece-42030L/203336567

I've been able to "fix" multiple laptops as described previously for the same kind of damage (and same extent of damage). Once the raised ridge is flat, the Display should close properly like it did before the damage. Of course it will still show damage, but at least it minimizes the chance of cracking the Display when the lid is closed because the Display is not sitting flat.

No, the color coating is gone as the coloring is only on the surface. The area may darken naturally just a little bit after a while, but not a lot. The main thing is for the display to fully close flat all around, otherwise the display is more likely to become cracked.

halal2011 wrote:

and I also got a little scratch near the bottom black part pls say its not too expensive

Apple has no inexpensive repairs. Expect to pay $500+ US if you want any major component replaced. You can confirm the repair cost by having Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop to provide you with a repair estimate.

If it is just a scratch, then it is best to ignore it unless it is on the glass & is interfering with using the laptop.

From this page:

AppleCare Products - Mac - Apple

"Unlimited incidents of accidental damage protection, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage"