Chosen Solution
I received the following email from my employer and am trying to decide if it’s BS: “We have staff reporting that their NEW MacBook Air has a broken hinge. The reports are that when they open their screen, it doesn’t stay up as it should. When we look at the computers, we are finding that heavy cases have been installed on these laptops. This is what is breaking the screens. Please do NOT install the heavy cases onto the Mac laptops. We would suggest using the skins (vinyl stickers that are easy to remove) instead. The skins allow you to personalize your computers, without damaging them. The thin plastic cases break and the thick ones are getting so heavy they are breaking the hinges. When the hinge breaks it is a very costly report. We are still discussing how the fees will be assessed for the repairs. “ Is this true, or are they just trying to blame the user so they can charge us for repairs?
The clutch within the hinge does have a limit of how much weight it can support at different angles. With that said I haven’t seen broken hinges caused directly by the few ounces added by snap on cases. If you are using sheets of steel or lead then thats a different issue ;-} The cause of failing hinges is more to do with heavy opening and closing so the clutch surfaces become polished and if grit gets in ground down. To be clear here we are talking hundreds of times in a day! If you are more in the 50 times (25 each way) I doubt you’ll encounter that. The other cause is bangs! So the hinge pair is no longer in align. Maybe people how have the thicker case think its more bang/drop proof so they don’t take the care and the cases can also hide damage. OK, so in my opinion this is a reach! So what do I use on my systems? I use a Black, Red & Yellow carbon fiber skins! I prefer the tactical feel and the grip they offer. And in a pinch somewhat bullet proof ;-}
