[Cody Dawg]

Is your MacBook staining?

Link

Apple glitch stains the reputation
Louisa Hearn
June 27, 2006 - 2:18PM

First it was swelling batteries, now some Apple computer users are reporting a very different problem, with their pristine white MacBook's displaying yellowish stains in the area around the keyboard where their hands rest.

The MacBook was introduced to the market early this year and, while there are several references on Apple's own user forums to the stains, a number of blogs devoted to flaws in Apple hardware have complained that the company has blocked or closed some of these discussions.

A website devoted to the problem of MacBook stains claims that Apple locked down the first thread from its Discussions website after it attracted hundreds of replies and more than 33,000 views.

One forum topic entitled "Yellow Discoloration" on the Apple website displays a large number of complaints about the problem. However it is clearly marked above the discussion that Apple has locked the topic, meaning that further replies are not allowed.

On the original post, an Apple discussions host has written: "Unless otherwise noted, your Submission should either be a technical support question or a technical support answer."

In the locked discussion MacBook users complain that any attempts to clean off the stains have met with failure.

"My MacBook is three weeks old and looks as though I've been using it for three years and rubbing my hands in turmeric each day (okay, a slight exaggeration). Everything else about my MacBook has been fantastic, and I'm really, really happy with it; but I am appalled that it gets discoloured so easily," wrote one forum participant.

Another said: "It looks like heat maybe causing the plastic on the palm rest to discolour. If Apple or anyone knows how to remove this or prevent it from becoming worse it would be good to hear."

Many users have also reported that the laptop gives off an extreme amount of heat and the company even warns on its website that it is possible to sustain burns if the unit is rested on a lap for prolonged periods.

Apple's reasoning is that the MacBook is a notebook rather than a laptop, and so is designed to work on hard surfaces.

However some users have also linked heating of the units to problems with some MacBook Pro batteries, another flaw recently highlighted by Apple customers on the company's discussion forums.

Link

I don't have a MacBook but now I'm glad that I don't and secondly, Apple locking topics that aren't conducive to making them look good (or makes them look bad) is terrible.

[euphras]

Uhmm, why not post this in the iBook forum?

[Cody Dawg]

Because the topic is not only a query and a heads up (notice) about this problem , but more importantly this:

Why does Apple refuse to allow people to discuss defects?

They've done this numerous times, from the Titanium hinges, to batteries, and now this.

[demograph68]

I know the feeling. The way they make them, it's as if you need latex gloves in order to prevent minor blemishes.

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

They've done this numerous times, from the Titanium hinges, to batteries, and now this.

Also this.

[Doofy]

Let's face it - we might love OS X and our Macs, but Apple are actually a bunch of a-holes.

[Cody Dawg]

Doofy, once again you have me laughing - and it's only 5:00 AM where I am!



What it is is Apple's form of controlling censorship and trying to squash reports and rumors.

Oh, demograph68, that thermal grease story is disgusting.

So, let's see here...I'll draw on my own personal experiences with problems that Apple initially refused to acknowledge...

-PowerBook Pismo and Lombard had screens that turned pink around the edges.
-The Cube had numerous plastic molding splitting/cracking problems
-PowerBook Titanium had snapping hinges and overheated.
-PowerBook Titanium had a lid that warped at the edges.
-There was the iBook battery fiasco (wasn't there one for PowerBook also?) where the battery leaked and ruined the iBook.
-iPod batteries were bad.
-eMacs were known for an evad/video cable problem (experienced that personally three times while we owned those)
-Airport Extreme wouldn't work when it came out (there was a handshake problem with about 50% of ISP carriers - we experienced that also and Apple engineering told us that when they called from Texas)

I'll add to the list as I remember them. Those are our personal problems.

Good thing we always have had AppleCare because it came in handy numerous times when I'm sure Apple would have ignored us.

[Hawkeye_a]

-iMac DVSEs that had the weird tinting problem due to faulty connectors/screws

[Peter]

Moo'ing MacBooks
Those ****ing iBook Logic Boards

Pretty much any mac product, if you think about it for a bit has had a major technical problem.

[Cody Dawg]

There has to be more than this...

C'mon...let's see if we can work up a cease and desist letter to MacNN that demands we remove the thread for commenting on these things!



I'll send it to the reporter of the original article who emailed me.

[Peter]

For a company thats making so much money, you'd think they'd expand their QA dept.

[rickey939]

Originally Posted by Peter

Those ****ing iBook Logic Boards

At least, after major pressure, Apple addressed that issue. I know I've used it 3 or 4 or 6 or 8 times already.

[Hawkeye_a]

Its sad that customers have to resort to this....u'd think warranty and such would cover these design/manufacturing faults.

[ort888]

It's a conspiracy to get more people to buy black ones for $150 more.

[Cody Dawg]

I don't know if it's a conspiracy or not, but Apple should offer all of those people with stained and defective white MacBooks a new black one...for free.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I don't know if it's a conspiracy or not, but Apple should offer all of those people with stained and defective white MacBooks a new black one...for free.

No. It is clearly a cosmetic issue.

Those stains can be cleaned off with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

And Apple's Discussion Boards are NOT for cosmetic issues.

[willed]

One of the OS updates (10.2.6?) totalled my iBook battery. It worked for a few minutes, but when it got to about 70% on the battery meter, it suddenly died and needed a full recharge.
I didn't even bother trying getting a new one from Apple, because 1) I needed a battery ASAP, not after exchanging several letters and 2) because Apple UK are useless

[Cody Dawg]

Person Man, I doubt very much that those stains can be wiped off with "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser."



Besides, did you READ the link?

You sound like an "Apple Board Nazi" BTW. You're an example as to why people distrust Apple with your comments about the Apple boards and cosmetic issues, which, by the way, is subjective. Apple always starts out by claiming that certain things are cosmetic and then when people get legal involved all of a sudden Apple "acknowledges a problem" and they will take care of it.

The shame of it is that it takes hundreds or thousands of people to get Apple to deal with it - that's just terrible - and in the meantime Apple tries to silence people.

Suggested Solutions

Users have tested many remedies, with almost all reporting failure or very marginal results. WARNING: using abrasives or chemicals could result in the damaging of the MacBook, it is not recommended to experiment with harsh chemicals.
• Soap & Water - no improvement
• Nail Polish Remover (NON-ACETONE)
Some users report improvement and lightening and/or removal of stains
• Nail Polish Remover (Acetone) DO NOT ATTEMPT an unfortunate few users have tried using acetone based products to remove the stains to catastrophic results, creating severe damage to the macbook surface plastics!
• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - Mixed reports, some users report success others report no difference - YMMV
• Ethanol based products - no improvement
• Alcohol based products - no improvement
• Hydrogen Peroxide - no improvement
• Windex - no improvement
• iKlean - no improvement


I have personally tried all the above, except iKlean and Windex, and none removed the nasty stains.

[ort888]

Apple will probably fix this with 10.5.

[Adam Betts]

Apple's products should be 100% perfect, not 99%!

"But.. but, it's impossible to get 100%"

"Shut it."

Anyway I pity Apple because all other computer manufactures can get away with product defects easily, Apple can't cause there's a giant spotlight on them.

[Cody Dawg]

Great post, Adam. You're right.

Did you see the pictures of what is happening?

This isn't a little defect...it's major:

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

So, let's see here...I'll draw on my own personal experiences with problems that Apple initially refused to acknowledge...

They just addressed the emac problem but someone I know who was effected their serial number doesn't fall within range.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Person Man, I doubt very much that those stains can be wiped off with "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser."

I based it on a report I read on MacFixit which said that Mr. Clean Magic Eraser could fix the problem.

And Apple is NOT trying to censor anyone. The discussion boards are NOT the place to discuss some of those issues. Apple would prefer it be reported to them directly.

[Cody Dawg]

Why is it that ANY other problems, except for problems where people start posting repeated problems with a particular issue, are allowed to remain up at their "Discussion Boards?"



The fact of that matter is that Apple has a HISTORY of trying to squash people and FREE SPEECH including attacking MacRumors, little girls writing letters about iPod suggestions, and their Apple "DISCUSSION" Boards.

[IceEnclosure]

you're just dying for them to shut this thread down too, so you can be the Queen of the CBB (Cody Business Bureau)

[Cody Dawg]

You made me laugh, Ice. I think that Apple would encounter a rabid pack of MacNNers if they tried to shut down any MacNN thread, doncha think?

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by ort888

Apple will probably fix this with 10.5.

10.5.1

10.5 will simply add tabs to the finder.

[olePigeon]

Do people not wash their hands, or what? We get brown eMac keyboards and iBook buttons and palm rests. We clean it off with some Simple Green Wipes and give 'em back.

10 people report a problem out of 10s of thousands of laptops. Suddenly it's an epidemic.

[Cody Dawg]

olePigeon, all respect intended to you, but this is the same story, different model. This has happened with a lot of Apple products.

What was Apple thinking, anyway? Why put out a cheap white notebook? Even the regular old iBooks had a problem. I refused to buy a soft plastic cheap enclosure notebook or subnotebook (iBook) for my son. Remember the first post-clamshell iBooks? They had aluminum cases and they were great. Then Apple went to that cheap white plastic nonsense. Why? Do they really need to make an extra $20 to $50 by using plastic instead of aluminum? Why not make a quality product and avoid these fiascos?

Form should follow function and Apple seems to think that function should follow form, sometimes, it seems.

I do agree that some people are pigs, though, with the way that they take care of their things. I've seen it firsthand. And I despise the people who abuse their Apple hardware and then expect Apple to give them some sort of freebie or replacement unit.

[iREZ]

hand washing is a simple preventive measure to keep an ibook cleaner...longer. i mean theyre complaing about wear and tear...if cosmetics are a huge issue, buy those stupid clear wristpad things. this goes for the people who complain about their ipods scratching when ive seen the same people drop their ipods in their pockets along with a set of keys and some change...

[Cody Dawg]

That's true. I remember when people complained about Titanium wear and tear - and then it turned out that they were wearing wristwatches and bracelets that scratched the finish.

[olePigeon]

The plastic might stain, but they're not cheap. Those iBook plastics are tough. One of my coworkers does sport trecking through Asia. He bought an iBook because that thing can take a hell of a beating and still work.

[Mastrap]

No problems to report here. My MB looks as good as the day I bought it. While I feel for the people who's experience is different from mine I too think that this is probably a couple of isolated incidents getting a lot of press.

Apple censoring their notice-boards is annoying in the extreme but nothing new. You would have thought that by now they would have learned the lesson that people simply go elsewhere to have the same discussion. And by now Apple have lost the initiative.

[greenamp]

Apple has remedied this problem in their labs, and Rev. B MacBooks are scheduled to ship with a 3rd party product which effectively eliminates this issue.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

^

[olePigeon]

[Adam Betts]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Great post, Adam. You're right.

Did you see the pictures of what is happening?

This isn't a little defect...it's major:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Dawg/213yk.png

Major defect:


vs.

Minor defect:

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Adam Betts

Major defect:


vs.

Minor defect:

Fixed

http://wcco.com/consumer/local_story_148150249.html

[Adam Betts]

Haha don't get me wrong, I don't like it either when Apple starts censoring defects like this but I wouldn't exactly call it a major defect.

[stwain2003]

Originally Posted by ort888

Apple will probably fix this with 10.5.

hahahahahahahahahahaha

[darth-vader000]

Originally Posted by Person Man

No. It is clearly a cosmetic issue.

Those stains can be cleaned off with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

And Apple's Discussion Boards are NOT for cosmetic issues.

If you read any threads you'd see that is not the case. So far no clear solution has unveiled itself.

Also I'm not sure how prevelent this issue truly is. Like here, the apple discussion forum attracts people who have problems. Those who don't have issues don't post - for the most part.

While I am holding my breath figuratiivly my Macbook is as clean and white as the day I bought it which is now just about a month old.

As for apple ignoring the problem, they have a history of not covering cosmetic issues. Remember the 12" powerbook and the pitting problem.

[Cody Dawg]

Great post, darth.

[Gamoe]

Apple's Discussion Boards are for everything except what Apple doesn't want you to post at the moment, probably because they interpret it as some kind of PR threat.

I once had a discussion on the Apple boards because people were posting pretty sexually-suggestive iChat threads and I objected. I was censored (my posts deleted) because my view was not "politically correct" as it happened to relate to some "gay" threads (which could have easily been "straight").

Why would I participate in a board where you have to be careful what you say? The Apple Discussion Boards are second to no other Mac board I've participated in in their censorship of "delicate issues".

[darth-vader000]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales

Apple's Discussion Boards are for everything except what Apple doesn't want you to post at the moment, probably because they interpret it as some kind of PR threat..

I agree they're pretty strict on what you can and cannot post and they typically remove posts that are disparaging towards them or their products. Its there forum so they have that right, I just wished they'd put that energy towards customer service and fix the MB's issues rather then censure the posts.

Over all I'm very pleased with my MB, but there does seem to be consistant problems being reports, moos,whines, discoloration, etc.

[Cody Dawg]

Don't forget to check out AppleDefects.com also.

There are a LOT of other complaints about the MacBook there also.

My MacBook under load runs up to 95 degrees celcius, or 203 degrees fahrenheit. It isn’t rocket science to understand that is extremely hot, easily hot enough to inflict a wound. Those of us who have complained to Apple about the heat and discomfort it causes typically receive this snotty answer “The MacBook is a notebook, not a laptop, refer to your user manual.”

“We had a MacBook Pro in our lab today, where the user complained of a problem with his track pad clicker button. It appeared that the clicker was stuck, and when pressed sometimes it would unstick for a moment, and then go back to having the track pad button continuously pressed. After a short investigation, we found the problem to be the battery. The battery had swelled and had even separated some to the point where it was pressing up on the underside of the track pad area causing the button not to work.”

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Why is it that ANY other problems, except for problems where people start posting repeated problems with a particular issue, are allowed to remain up at their "Discussion Boards?"

The fact of that matter is that Apple has a HISTORY of trying to squash people and FREE SPEECH including attacking MacRumors, little girls writing letters about iPod suggestions, and their Apple "DISCUSSION" Boards.

Oh give me a freakin' break! "The fact of the matter?!?" Please. It's a wonder that Apple has the boards up at all with that ranting people seem to think they have a right to do.

- Apple pays to run and maintain the boards
- The boards are there for asking technical questions and providing answers.
- They are not there for ranting about how much Apple sucks
- Most customers want an answer to their question, and they don't want to wade through 1000 posts saying "me too" to find it.
- The forum is not there for opinions.
- Apple owns the boards. You do not get or deserve "FREE SPEECH" on these forums.
- If you want free speech, write a letter to the editor of your local paper, make a blog (as opposed to using a forum for one), or do whatever you like. Apple has not squashed your or anyone else's free speech.

Honestly, if you sold a product, why on earth would you allow people to use your resources to rant about you? Why would you expect Apple to pay for their own negative publicity? How does ranting help anyone? When I go to a forum for a product, I want to find an answer, not several other people saying "I have that problem too, they suck!"

Geez, this "Apple is censoring free speech! Boo! Hoo!" is such a non issue. I don't know why people still harp on it. Apple is not going to provide their customers with a free bitching forum.

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Great post, Adam. You're right.

Did you see the pictures of what is happening?

This isn't a little defect...it's major:

There's a reason why professional photographers plan lighting conditions, use light meters and reflectors. Lighting and photography can make all the difference between something being noticeable at all vs looking severe. For all we know, those can be barely noticeable in person.

[Cody Dawg]

I love it when links PROVING serious defects are provided and some of you rant and rave about how minor the problems are, or how it is "in the lighting," yet don't even visit the links.

You can hardly deny that Apple has had serious design issues in the past.

[Adam Betts]

Not too wide-spreading.

BTW:

"Apple is replacing my top case !!

I just received a call from Apple Spain. The Apple HQ have authorised them to replace my top case.

The lady said they’re still investigating this issue and that the don’t know what is causing the problem. However they decided to repair it under warranty."

http://web.mac.com/jmmo20/iWeb/stain...858FFDBE8.html

[Cody Dawg]

I'd say that 20 out of 100 is a serious problem, actually.

But, it's good to hear that Apple is going to deal with some (hopefully all) of the problems.

Personally, I've never had a problem with Apple replacing or fixing ANY problem I've had...but I also buy AppleCare for each and every system.

[Stratus Fear]

My watch is made of brushed metal. It gets dings and scratches, and gets pitted from whatever acids and salts are in the sweat of my skin. I have a white pillow case. It has a yellow spot from the body oil that builds up on my hair and face every day. Should I bitch at Timex to replace my watch? Should I bitch at the pillow case manufacturer to replace my pillow case?