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My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

tobiasberg.net

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Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#401

Post by StingyJelly »

lelanthran wrote: post #189
VogonPoetry wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this also mean only using "standard" parts? Or does the manufacturer have to over-produce the parts for, lets say 7 years, and then warehouse and ship those parts, probably multiple times. Or keep a low rate production line running for 7 years? What happens to the parts that don't get used? Are they scrapped? That "what if" cost is going to be built into the cost of the laptop. Repairability doesn't always keep…

> Does this also mean only using "standard" parts? Or does the manufacturer have to over-produce the parts for, lets say 7 years, and then warehouse and ship those parts, probably multiple times. Or keep a low rate production line running for 7 years? What happens to the parts that don't get used? Are they scrapped? None of that is relevant in this context: The parts are available, but the laptop is designed and buil…

The laptop is deffinitely designed in a way that the keyboard is extremely hard to replace. Took me like 5 hours across 2 days. Rivets are not even the worst part, I used tiny drill and carefully glued in the replacement keyboard using phone screen glue (B7000) between the keys. (glue needs to go both on the frame and on the keyboard as there is a gap that needs to be bridged) Since there are screws along 3 of its edges, I deemed it good enough. drilling and tapping or riveting would have been extra painful.

What makes the repair more complicated is that 1) you need to take out basically everything to get to the keyboard. There are many different screws, luckily ifixit has a disassembly guides with their sizes. Still it was a bit painful to reassemble. 2) One of the things you need to take out or at least lift is the glued in battery - this took a lot of careful prying with thin plastic sheet and dousing it in ipa. 3) backlight is glued on to the case in an extremely fragile way, so it needs to be replaced with the keyboard or will probably look uneven after repair. (i reused the old one as I don't mind it but still, it could just have been glued to the keyboard itself and it would be easier to repair.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#402

Post by 999900000999 »

streetfighter64 wrote: post #359
999900000999 wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand this authoritarian need to ban everything you don’t like. Should the government have a reparability board ? Who gets to be on it ? If it pleases the King , may I buy a laptop while traveling and bring it home. An argument could be made for a refundable recycling fee. Say 5% that gets returned when you take the device to a recycling center after your done with it

I mean, do you also consider it "authoritarian" to have e.g. regulations on vehicle exhaust? Should the government have an environmental protection agency? Who gets to be on it? What about my right to insulate my house with asbestos and paint it with lead? And who's talking about banning private import of laptops? You do know that you can regulate national sales without controlling absolutely everything right? Whoeve…

> mean, do you also consider it "authoritarian" to have e.g. regulations on vehicle exhaust?

In the US this is why so many wagons have turned into SUVs which have more lax fuel efficiency requirements. They find ways around the regulations.

All Apple laptops have hard soldered SSDs. SSDs have to go bad eventually.

Should the government force apple to only sell laptops with replaceable ssds ?

The most environmentally friendly laptop is a used Thinkpad. But I respect others have a right to buy what they want.

Back to the original point, the laptop isn’t even hard to fix. OP just didn’t do there research.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#403

Post by vrganj »

piekvorst wrote: post #371
rjmunro wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I buy a can of soup and find glass in it, I have a valid claim against the manufacturer. What does that mean?

It means you can sue for product liability under common law. Negligence, breach of warranty, or strict liability, depending on jurisdiction. Court decides after harm.

Sue them in who's court? With who to enforce the ruling?

The... government?

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#404

Post by StingyJelly »

throwaway85825 wrote: post #382
10729287 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bunch of screws : 41.

The people that complain about the number of screws are very counter productive. The important thing is that repair is possible at all without permanent damage. Framework and some of the 'repair optimized' designs seem to assume that the device is going to be repaired daily and that it needs to be as easy as possible.

The bar should be higher than "Better than glue". While repair is possible, the number of screws with many different screw types still make it needlessly time consuming / expensive.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#405

Post by amluto »

sigio wrote: post #336

That's why I only buy Thinkpads from the business/professional lines... Replaced the keyboard om my t480 for $24, and replacing it myself was a 2 minute job (2 screws, pop 2 connectors, replace, and put back together).

At least some Thinkpads also have an actual drain: if you spill a not-especially-corrosive liquid on it, you should be okay — the liquid will drain through a channel and out a drain hole on the bottom of the laptop.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#406

Post by StingyJelly »

bonyt wrote: post #43

I replaced the keyboard MacBook Air M1 keyboard with a $20 model from Amazon and it's been going strong for a full year. I had spilled ginger ale on the original. The board is riveted in, but there are enough screws to hold the replacement in place. Removing the board is a shockingly violent process, but it worked for me. Keyboard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQBVMM3X (price has gone up). Video of rivets breaking: ht…

You can use tiny drill to drill off the rivets - much less violent. I covered everything in paper / masking tape to be able to vacuum off the metal shavings and used small dremmel like electric drill with chinese used re-sharpened pcb drillbit.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#408

Post by sham1 »

piekvorst wrote: post #371
rjmunro wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I buy a can of soup and find glass in it, I have a valid claim against the manufacturer. What does that mean?

It means you can sue for product liability under common law. Negligence, breach of warranty, or strict liability, depending on jurisdiction. Court decides after harm.

And pray tell, who comes up with common law? And who enforces the judgment of the court? And what gives the court the authority to judge on the matter of glass shards in your tomato paste?

Fun fact about the common law in fact is that it came into existence because the English government after the Norman conquest needed a unified theory of law for the king's courts that was distinct from manorial and canon laws. 1154 Henry 2 the Plantagenet ascended the throne and wanted a code of law that would apply everywhere in the realm as opposed to local laws, the aforementioned manorial laws, as well as being secular, unlike canon law.

So without the government, you wouldn't have this common law your legal theory relies on.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#409

Post by ezst »

rogerrogerr wrote: post #356
hilliardfarmer wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People need to stop buying apple products. Anyone dumb enough to have already done so deserves what they get.

I guess I'm happy being dumb if it means I deserve a laptop with a battery that lasts all day, a trackpad that doesn't feel like it's covered in dry syrup, a case that doesn't make noises when I pick it up, and a processor that feels like alien tech.

I haven't used a laptop in the last decade that wouldn't last a whole day on battery, or would hold any of those qualifiers for that matter, from Apple or other manufacturers. Not that Apple are bad devices, but they are flawed like the rest of them (often less, and sometimes more in areas that may matter less to you, the software being a major and increasingly one to me).

Also good to remember that Apple is a company of good devices and tremendous marketing, not a company of tremendous devices per se. That entails a lot of subjectivity and awkward tribalism.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#410

Post by hypeatei »

throwaway85825 wrote: post #377
hypeatei wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you want another authoritarian, corrupt, cult of personality leader like Trump? Proclaiming "both sides" and ignoring nuance like you're doing is how no one gets held accountable for the real harms that are taking place. Please stop holding water for the MAGAs/GOP.

America has had even more corrupt/authoritarian/cult of personality leaders than Trump. They were younger and their brains still worked so they did way more damage than trump too. Most Americans just don't learn much history so can't compare.

> America has had even more corrupt/authoritarian/cult of personality leaders than Trump.

Like who?

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