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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?"
It was always going to happen.
An Apple product whose novel, groovy and stylish exterior wasn't designed with longevity as a prerequisite?
I'm shocked, shocked.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
Everytime someone says 'who cares what it looks like' Steve Jobs dies a little bit.
Seriously, though, this is a company that has made it's living on how things look. When they tried to put out standard PC-looking beige boxes, their sales went into the toilet. If it isn't pretty, it can't be an Apple product.
Three computer users, one Windows, one Apple, one Linux go to the restroom. After being done, the Apple user washes his hands and uses a lot of paper towels to dry them. He says: "Apple users are very thorough."
The Windows user washes his hands, takes only one paper towel and uses even the last little bit. He says: "Windows users are not only thorough, but very economical."
Then they look at the Linux user who just walks out of the door, looks back and says: "Linux users don't piss on our hands."
#!/
Are they sure it is isn't the coating from cheddar cheese snacks that they've been munching on?
If there's a bit of orange then it's probably just the Cheetos.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
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.
"Tu fui, ego eris" - Virgil
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.
This new development means that, finally, it's possible to run Mac OS X legally on a Beige-box PC.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I guess these Apple users REALLY love their new machines, they should probably wipe them off afterwards if they want to avoid any unsightly embarassing stains, that or use a tissue in the first place.
To err is human. To forgive is not company policy.
I have had my Macbook Pro for several months as have some of my coworkers. The one thing we all agree we love about our notebooks is the lack of problems. I've been using computers since 81, Dos/Windows PC's since 86 and coding for Linux since 94. I didn't really want a Mac, but I had to support Windows, Linux and Mac while constantly traveling. The Macbook was the best solution. I'm running XP and Linux virtually with Parallels and both work great for system adminstration and testing code.
What amazes me is how much attention from the media and computer people these "problems" get. My Macbook did run slightly warm until the SMC update which fixed that. The whine people talk about isn't noticable if I set the notebook next to any desktop or old PC laptop I have. Also the whine typically last for 5 minutes in the morning when I boot. I use the notbook so much now that I put it to sleep and don't shutdown which means no whine. As for discoloration I've used mine everyday for two months and it looks brand new. Searching the net I've only found two cases so far of this.
When using Windows your entire OS seems to slow down. You have a constant barrage of spyware and crap attempting to install. When you uninstall a program you wonder how many pieces are left over and what the effects will be. I mean with Windows I just came to expect problems ever since I started using version 3.0. I'd say that I have had way less problems with the Macbook than any other laptop I've ever owned (at least 10 Inspirons and Vaios). After fixing heavy Dell laptops for clients I've come to hate them and their tech support and yet they are still one of the best PC hardware companies out there. I've had even worse times dealing with Toshiba and Sony.
People just expect everything to be perfect on Mac and any conceivable problem is major news in the industry. To me that says so much about how good the product really is. I always made fun of Mac in the past because before OSX and Intel they had huge roadblocks that kept me from using them. Even though I didn't really want to use one or support it now I don't think I can go back to using Windows or Linux for my client desktop. I will say for servers though Unix is still the only option for me. I believe in the right tool for the job. At this point Windows only use is for my clients who don't think they can live without it yet constantly cry for help. My Mac and Linux users very rarely ask for any help only the Linux guys are all developers.
Way for you and your moderators to not read the article or the link to the flikr images. Quote:
The spots don't wash off, I've only had the MacBook for two weeks. Genius at Apple Store told me to call Apple about it, as he's never seen anything like it. My iBook didn't discolor in the 3 years I had it -- can't be my hands. I don't smoke, don't use latex, etc. And for those who worry about my hygiene habits, thanks. I wash my hands.
What's amazing is that you have about 10 responses jumping to the same conclusion. Oh well, I guess that's what we've come to expect on Slashdot.
And when they put out toilet-looking boxes, their sales went beige.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.