Comments on: Yet another gripe: MacBook Hinges

By: Kendall Tawes

Kendall Tawes — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:24:17 +0000

I still use a Titanium PowerBook and while I had to replace my hinges twice (damn) I do like the ability to flatten it out. But hey at least you PowerBook’s screen has never been held on by wires alone.

By: Mitch Groff

Mitch Groff — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:55:27 +0000

This poorly-designed hinge (one of the very few things on anything Apple that is poorly designed) is one of the reasons why I sold my MBP and went back to a MB C2D. Those 10 to 15 degrees of extra monitor angle make a world of difference.

By: Joey

Joey — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:30:02 +0000

I don’t like the button to open the laptop, its hard to push :O

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:05:25 +0000

the problem for me is that since I came from a dell that went all the way flat when i first started using my macbook pro i had a tendency to push the screen back to far and i was afraid i would forget and push to hard and it would snap off. I am also afraid that someone who has a screen that goes all the way back will be using it or sitting in front of it and try and yank it down.

By: Peter v.

Peter v. — Thu, 03 May 2007 08:17:49 +0000

In regards to the “digital picture frame” re-purposing: don’t you think the 100+ degree MBP will cause a huge fire? Yes, I don’t think that enclosing this notebook in wood is the safest idea ever. . .

. . . I’m just saying. And I’m not even complaining about the heat, I know that Apple choses design over good heat dispersion. You want a cool running laptop? That’ll be an extra inch, please?

By: Peter Durkee

Peter Durkee — Thu, 03 May 2007 04:37:07 +0000

The MacBook hinges are pretty much the same as recent Powerbooks and iBooks, so they’ve been around for awhile. When they came out originally, the advantage cited was that, because of the hinge design, the screens don’t stick up as high when opened, and therefore fit much better on airline seat trays, especially when the seat in front is reclined.

By: Chris Ainsworth

Chris Ainsworth — Thu, 03 May 2007 02:32:11 +0000

I think this is a big corner use case for the product designers. Keeping the Macbook Pro around 1 inch thick had to be a big requirement (thankfully), and certainly more important than being able to open the notebook completely flat. Slow news day, indeed.

By: Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith — Thu, 03 May 2007 01:18:42 +0000

I have an 800 MHz powerbook and the hinge is having problems that cause the screen to cut out unless it’s at just the right angle. Also, the hinge is very loose. My friend has one of the newer 1.67GHz powerbooks and its hinge is so much more sturdy. I did notice the limitation on how far it can open, but I think that’s a small price to pay for sturdiness.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 02 May 2007 22:35:54 +0000

Another reason why I would want my screen to completely flatten out is the following;

What do you get when you plug into a laptop all kinds of accessories via USB, like mice, keyboards? You get the whole desktop experience!

So then, why not hang your big all hooked up 17″ on that wall in front of you and you almost have an iMac.

By: Tyler Bye

Tyler Bye — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:33:09 +0000

I’d like to add that I believe the hinge is too loose. I’m used to being able to tip a notebook up so the keyboard is near vertical, but if I do it with my 17″ Core 2 duo MBP, I get a slammings on my digits… or across the nose, whichever is in the way of the screen as it swings near shut. I’ve had to give up some of my favorite lounging positions.

By: Molten

Molten — Wed, 02 May 2007 19:43:01 +0000

This is clearly nothing more than nit-picking. Stop the whinning and get on with it….

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 02 May 2007 19:19:57 +0000

It’s a fair point - headless TiBooks make for some really neat mods.

All in all though, the tradeoff for a much, MUCH sturdier hinge was well worth it. In my days as a repair tech I saw more broken TiBook hinges than nearly anything else. It was a design disaster from a durability point of view.

By: Churry

Churry — Wed, 02 May 2007 19:19:49 +0000

I completely agree! My biggest complaint about baout my MBP is exactly the limited hinge angle. Call it a slow news day, but in my opinion, this is something Apple needs to fix. This is more than an inconvenience. This really limits users’ ability to use their laptops in their laps.

By: dave

dave — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:42:55 +0000

another gripe? *sigh*

But I do agree. My main box is a 15″ MPB, and I’m curious why they didn’t increase the hinge angle even to par the G4 PB. It annoys me when I’m standing giving presentations with the laptop on the table in front of me.

By: rddb

rddb — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:30:07 +0000

Although I hear your point, I think the old titanium G4 hinge was prone to breaking. Once one of the hinges was broken, the wires from the base to the monitor were exposed, allowing even more problems to arise. It costs more than 300 to fix the hinge. The newer hinges seem to be sturdier and less exposed in case of a bump or drop.

By: Lime

Lime — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:10:44 +0000

slow news day?