As I write this, I’m sitting on the Greyhound bus, and my display is shaking ever so slightly with the bumps in the road. I had also placed my iPhone on the windowsill (albeit precariously) before it fell onto the edge of my MacBook Pro and then landed on the floor, making a noise loud enough to wake my neighbor across the aisle (sorry!).
Some slight shaking of the screen is normal under those circumstances, but the continuous motion and those like it will eventually wear the hinge down to a point where the display flops back and forth like a fish. Sometimes, with much labor involved, this looseness can be remedied with a thread-locking compound on the hinge screws. However, this doesn’t always resolve it, and the hinges themselves can be separated from the display assembly housing. The only complete fix for that would be a new display assembly, which can range from $450-750 or more. (…or one could live with the floppy-fish-like display.)
Fortunately, I have some advice to avoid this altogether. Being aware of these simple rules can keep your display hinge stiff and reliable.
- Never lift your computer by the display. I know it’s tempting, and I’ve done it many times myself. But this will be the most torque you could possible place on it.
- Avoid using cases that might add extra weight to the display assembly. It takes a lot of force to keep that much weight aloft, and adding more exacerbates the situation.
- Avoid using the computer against your legs in bed with the display at a wide angle (pushed far back) is a particularly precarious position and puts a lot of pressure on the hinges. If you do this, you may have noticed the display is sometimes far too eager to close.
The newer MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (Retina) models do have lighter displays, which have helped a great deal, but for those of us with the older, more ubiquitous unibody models, and even for owners of newer machines, following these tips can save your display and keep it lasting for years to come.