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: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.