Does opening the Macbook Pro Retina void warranty?

noiseordinance

I have a Macbook Pro 15" Retina model with those annoying pentalobe security screws. This is my third replacement (first one had bad battery, second on had broken hinge). After a week of usage, something is very loose inside of the unit, and it feels quite large (like the battery isn't glued in, or a board is missing a screw, etc). I went to the Apple Store and had a "genius" look at it. He couldn't hear or feel the very obvious rattle. He took it into the back room, and apparently opened it and found nothing wrong, and had "15 of his associates" shake it and couldn't feel / hear the rattle. What's strange is that the looseness of the item increases as the unit heats up, leading me to think that it could be some of the glue that holds the battery in place.

I'm at the point of returning the thing once again, but figured I'd take a look inside myself. I've fixed many a laptop in my time, but this is my first with security screws. I am just curious, does anyone know if opening this thing voids warranty? Additionally, if anyone has experience inside of one of these, any ideas of what to look for? I'm going to start by wiggling the batteries and go from there.

Matt Bodell

Apple products have a motion sensor inside the hard disk and will sound like a rattle or click if they are moved. Usually it is this. If you have ever seen inside one there isn't much room for things to move... But in answer to your question, if anyone but a Apple Store / Reseller opens it, it voids the warranty.

noiseordinance

I can feel something hitting the bottom of the aluminum case. It sounds and feels large. And of the three rMBP I have had, this is the only one to do that. Besides, I didn't realize that the rMBP has a motion sensor... it has an SSD after all...

Matt Bodell

Sorry, my bad, as you have as SSD it doesn't have a motion sensor in the HD, but there is still one located in it. An impact sensor. 

I'd take it to a Apple Authorised Reseller and not the Apple Store (Apple Stores are forbidden from opening up machines in front of customers, something to-do with Steve Jobs and magic lol). The AAR will open it up in front you, saving both your warranty and peace of mind.

noiseordinance

Just wanted to do a follow up. Got my pentalobe screwdriver today. When I opened it, everything was fastened just fine. "Hmm," I thought. I closed the bottom, started the computer up, played a game to heat up the system a little, turned it off, opened the bottom, here's what I saw:

As you can see, three of the battery cells aren't even adhered to the chassis. Obviously Apple's little glue job isn't sufficient, and explains why the clunking is hear when I move the laptop when it's warm. A pretty stupid problem, if you ask me. This is why we shouldn't be using glue in electronics. Back to the Apple Store.