Heat, Whine, and Now Yellow MacBooks

unPlugged-2.0 writes "It appears that Apple's woes with the new MacBook line continue as there have been reports on the forum that the finish on the new MacBook is flaking off or turning yellow. An article on Daily Tech summarizes this report saying: 'Some users have reported the palm rest area, touchpad and mousepad of their new white MacBooks has begun to discolor.' It goes on to say that 'some users on the Apple support forums are reporting moderate to severe discoloration near the palm rest and other locations of their new white MacBooks. At least one user has posted images of the problem to Flickr.' Is this a case of just dirty hands or could it be another problem in Apple's new Intel saga?"

Comments

it's not a new issue

[cultrhetor]

I have an iBook G4 - within 2 weeks, the palm rests were discolored. The oils in the hands - dirty or clean - will rub into any white surface and discolor it. A chemist friend of mine tells me that the same will happen with a sheet of typing paper, given several hours a day in contact with human skin. It's the reason that white shirts turn yellowish as well - until bleached (but don't try to bleach your computer). The oil from human hands is corrosive as hell - if you visit a national park with caverns, they inform you that touching the formations with your hand will STOP growth for something like six thousand years. My advice? Deal with it - I stopped caring about the marks when I realized that I still had a damn good machine.

Re:it's not a new issue

[Bombula]

Well I have a white guitar that is coming on 15 years old, and it certainly isn't yellowing. The secret? Lacquer. The underlying paint is probably titantium dioxide based, which stays brilliant white practically forever (as in artist's oil paint, titanium white permanence = 5). Lacquered objects, like my guitar, can take a beating and just be cleaned in any of the usual ways. There are lots of other ways to coat things these days, like powder-coatings (baked on) and anodizing/plating, especially if you're coating metal (a wooden guitar is harder). Sounds to me like Apple either just didn't bother to put a decent coating on, or used a white pigment (maybe like zinc dioxide?) that yellows with exposure.

Re:it's not a new issue

[timbck2]

iBook != MacBook.

The plastics are different - they look different, they feel different. I owned an iBook G4 and used it for years, with no discoloration. I've had my MacBook for 3 weeks, and it's developing faint yellowish "stains" on the palm rest that won't wash off. I'm a very clean person, a non-smoker, I wash my hands frequently, and this isn't dirt or tar from cigarette smoking (as a few people on the discussion forums have erroneously concluded). It's some kind of chemical reaction with the natural oils in my hands and the particular plastics used in the MacBook.

Re:Seriously...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not dirty hands per se. It's the sweat that some people have.

I've heard people say that sweat can be acidic, or that the oils are different for some people. Maybe that's true, maybe not, but I do know that I have to change the plastic watch strap I wear every year or so because it becomes brittle and cracks (other people can get away with the same strap for many years). I've even tried swapping to a silicone strap that is supposed to last a lifetime, and it is already hardening after 18 months.

I also own an iBook, and I can verify that when it hit summer and I was doing a lot of coding, the places where I rested my palms got discoloured very quickly - and it wasn't that my hands were dirty (I wash my hands about 15 times or more a day. Before and after eating, etc.).

These palm rest points get hot, and with some people's sweat and hand oil it just leads to discolouration on the notebook. It comes off with an eraser or the Mr. Clean eraser products, so it isn't damage to the plastic. It's just something that has been transferred to the surface.

Not surprised

[Nick Fury]

I bought one of the first gen 15.4 Macbook Pros and I have the damn whining noise (no it's not Jobs, myself or anyone else in the room... I've checked). Apple needs to do better testing with these machines before shipping. The problem is that they are to secretive about their designs and won't allow intensive testing. Good luck to those affected and getting Apple to admit they fucked up. They sure won't do it for me. My suggestion is to avoid the so called 'genius bar' at their retail stores. Some of them can be nice and helpful as well as knowledgable but others are just asshats who have no business working tech support, IMHO.

Dirty hands...or natural skin oil problems...

[thebdj]

I have a Dell laptop that I have owned now for about 18 months. The grey finish has been darker where it was worn away leaving a dark grey appearance. The problem also has translated to some of my keys, though I have not begun to lose letters off the keyboard as I have some desktop keyboards in the past. You can see this very clearly on my spacebar since i tend to rest my left thumb on the button at all times. This leads to a space about 1" or so wide that looks shiny/unfinished compared to the rest of the spacebar.

I know the reason for my having this problem is somewhat related to genetics and possibly diet. My family (on my dad's side) has a history of what I can only term high sebum production. These oils (possibly combined with sweat) make for a fairly damaging mix on devices, especially plastics which just seem to absorb them. It is a problem I have experienced with many devices, including a desktop keyboard that began to lose the letters from constant use and an old Intellimouse explorer that is much darker near the area where my palm rests.

This could be the problem in this case, since Sebum tends to be yellow-to-orange in color, it does make up part of ear wax to give you an idea. Of course, the easy way to test if this truly is a problem with the design or simply the ill effects of the human bodies natural excretions would be to use the MacBook with external keyboards and mice only and see if one discolors anyway. I really think you are going to have a hard time convincing anyone, especially if you decide to attempt a suit (which always seems like a common threat).

MacGyver Tip: Clean your Macbook with nail polish

[rabalde]

In lifehacjker.com you can find a cleaning solution that works: Non-acetone nail polish remover. Also, someone mentions that Mr Clean Magic Eraser also works.

Re:KISS Solution...

[Ruud Althuizen]

That should stop the oil and sweat screwing with the finish, and if you apply it to the keys too, it'll stop that fading that may happen to the letters as well - like my keyboard at the moment with missing A, S, D, E, and other letters faded visibly.

Don't you mean A, S, D, W? That at least is the combo that says the most to me.

Simple Green

[nuxx]

One of the best cleaning products I've found for removing hand oils (and other gunk) from electronics parts is plain old Simple Green. Just mix one part Simple Green to two parts hot water, dip a cloth in (terry cloth works great), and have a go. This works great for keyboards, mice, wrist wrests, desk edges, etc.

Sometimes for a bit more built up areas (around the edges of large keys and such) it helps to dab the icky spot to dampenen it, then rub back over it a few minutes later.

Just be sure not to get any drops down in between the keys... That has the potential for badness.

Re:OT: To get white, add blue.

[Red Flayer]

And I forgot to mention, Bluette is also a big reason why little old ladies often have blue-ish hair -- they use it to make white hair look brighter, even silvery. When they don't rinse it out all the way, it leaves too much blue tint in.

Re:As long as it works

[m874t232]

Discoloration doesn't happen on the aluminum cases. Metal seems to be a good material for the wrist rests.

The support threads Apple doesn't want you to read

[Zhe Mappel]

Here are MacBook owners on the Apple boards discussing their frustration and attempts to, er, get the yellow out, which is a major crisis in aesthete land. Not only that, but it's bringing people out of the woodwork to describe other problems with their BananaBooks. It's all too much for Apple moderators, who've shut down both discussions:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID =2516244
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID= 516645&tstart=0

Locked discussions get a terse, "Unless otherwise noted, your Submission should either be a technical support question or a technical support answer." Er...what part of it's turning #@$%^! yellow!!! don't you understand?