09-03-2007, 07:41 AM

Hi guys, my mac was recentley in an accident and to my dismay, a headphone jack plugged into the headphone socket snapped, leaving the tip inside the socket. After ringing apple i then found that this would not be covered by applecare, as it was a 3rd party problem and would therefore be costly to fix (they quoted between 40 and 570 quid).

Anyway, basically im looking for a (prefereably cheap) solution, either to

A) remove the tip of the jack myself (very risky,could void warranty and likely to fail)

B) Find a short term solution i.e. somehow bypass the mute activated when headphhones are plugged in.

C) find a another way of playig audio i.e. USB soundcard, streaming over wifi/bluetooth etc.

I looked at using airtunes, but it appears that only works for Itunes, and not general audio.

Many Thanks in advance

09-03-2007, 01:40 PM

is it like a completely broken off piece stuck inside? hmm i would just try to pull the tip out. get a very small sharp screwdriver and try to wear a hole down into the broken piece and use the hole as a way to try to pull it out. there's gotta be some way to pull it out

09-03-2007, 01:42 PM

mmm sounds like a plan, i just dont want to risk damaging the indsdes by possibly pushing it further!

cheers anyway

it looks like an external/usb soundcard might be the answer, but any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

09-03-2007, 01:45 PM

you could get a toothpick or a q-tip and superglue it to the tip of the jack and pull, maybe use somehting stronger than a toothpick though.

09-04-2007, 01:46 AM

hmm what about one of those magnetic stick things? they come on a bendy arm or even a telescopic one.... maybe that could pull it out without using glue...

09-04-2007, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by wesleyclark

you could get a toothpick or a q-tip and superglue it to the tip of the jack and pull..

beat me to it. this is what i would try

09-04-2007, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by wesleyclark

you could get a toothpick or a q-tip and superglue it to the tip of the jack and pull, maybe use somehting stronger than a toothpick though.

SHOOT! we dropped our tickets down the gutter! give me your shoelace!

what?! why?!

here! chew this gum! now come on man... the shoelace!

09-04-2007, 09:41 PM

lol ki99

09-04-2007, 10:02 PM

what is that from. lol

09-04-2007, 10:54 PM

LOL ~ when I first read this thread I thought about MacGyver.

09-04-2007, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by ki99

SHOOT! we dropped our tickets down the gutter! give me your shoelace!

what?! why?!

here! chew this gum! now come on man... the shoelace!

thanks, but seriously it should work, just be careful and don't get glue on the laptop, and especially don't get glue in the jack and glue it in, that would suck.

Just go slow and think. I never do this and i just ruined a video card, because i though it was broken so i tried to fix it and broke it even more. Turns out i didn't plug it in. I know I'm a genius.

09-04-2007, 11:48 PM

I uno about the glue idea... glue and electronics make me nervous....

09-05-2007, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by Chimpur

I uno about the glue idea... glue and electronics make me nervous....

I don't know what to say other than be careful. But i wouldn't try the magnet idea.

1. I don't know if the plug is magnetic.
2. To get enough magnetic force to pull the plug out(if it was magnetic) you would need a pretty nice electro magnet, which i wouldn't place anywhere near my HDD or electronics.

09-05-2009, 01:15 PM

Did anyone ever find a solution to this? This happened to me last night. Half of the plug is still stuck in the jack. Is there a way I can override the audio jack so I can use my speakers for audio? Please help!!!!