Here we go - the first MacBook issue

Oriel

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1802
"Some MacBooks plagued by discoloration"

Looks like the dribble at the start of the river...

ChityWest

On a similair note is there a recommended way to clean an iBook ? (Not from the discoloration mentioned above just from general use).

damo86

phew...was about to order one...me thinks i will wait for the rev b series, prob have more graphic memory..i hope!!
I'm appalled at apple for this, first the ipod nano and now this!
I think apple are beginning to release their products too soon and not sorting out teething problems!

mikemac

Any idea when the rev b series will be released?

ButtermilkJack

WOW, was just sitting down to order one this minute but decided to check boards first. That's a pain in the a*s! Was looking forward to getting it.

By the way, in the linked Apple post above, some users refer to 'Mooing'. Can anyone fill me in on this one

mikemac

I don't know if you're allowed link to other forums on boards.
Don't see why not

I've done a fair bit of reading on this site lately

Hope this answers your question on "mooing". Not much info there though

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36084

ButtermilkJack

Thanks for the link, but it still doesn't really explain what mooing is. As far as I can gather it is fan noise. Is this correct?

mp3guy

Its a cosmetic issue, doesn't actually affect the working of the machine

ChityWest

Thats true - but it will affect the re-sale value.

flywheel

mp3guy wrote:

Its a cosmetic issue, doesn't actually affect the working of the machine

cosmetic issues with mac hardware would be a big thing for some (prob most) owners... aesthetics is an important component of mac equipment

greglo23

some updates on this issue and more http://tinyurl.com/4btt

440Hz

My advice to the people here thinking of buying that were put off by this thread is 'DONT BE'. I had an order for an MBP in this week and did what you lot are doing now, getting scared by horror stories in forums. I posted here for advice and some wise boardsie made the point that if we only knew how many horror stories there are with PCs that we just never hear about.... MBP arrived safely and I couldnt be happier, it is great! And as for the rev A issues. My first ipod was rev A and it is still going strong. I gave it away and bought new ones, just cos im gadget crazy but while friends newer and fancier mp3 players died, pod mark 1 is still going strong. So dont generalise and say that rev A is bad... no always, its just a bigger risk as less is known about the possible problems. So I say... go for it... order and enjoy!

ButtermilkJack

I agree with you in a certain sense, rev A is not always bad. But Mac products are popular partly because of their unique 'design' and appeal and I for one would not buy a Mac that has a possibility of going permanently 'dirty' in a few weeks time.

I'm a designer and have been using Mac's since 1998 and I really need to upgrade my machine right now but am very cautious about the white MacBook at the moment.

Does anyone know if this affects the Black MacBooks too? If they use the same polycarbonate then surely the same problems will occur (but obviously any discolouration will not be as noticeable, or maybe not noticeable at all on black).

EDIT: By the way, does anyone know if it is a chemical reaction to contact with skin oils or is it due to properties in the plastic being effected by heat? If it's skin contact then I may be persuaded to purchase now, as I will be primarily using this as a desktop machine hooked up to a larger LCD tv and using a mouse & keyboard, so skin contact with the machine itself will be minimal. Any thoughts/suggestions?

440Hz

ButtermilkJack wrote:

I'm a designer and have been using Mac's since 1998 and I really need to upgrade my machine right now but am very cautious about the white MacBook at the moment.

Does anyone know if this affects the Black MacBooks too? If they use the same polycarbonate then surely the same problems will occur (but obviously any discolouration will not be as noticeable, or maybe not noticeable at all on black).

I have only ever used macs, been using them for around 12 years and sure I was a little worried buying rev A but that would be the case with any company/product, like I said it is just more of a risk as less is known about the issues. I totally understand your point about discolouration after a few weeks, it is dreadful when something like that happens. It happened me recently with a Canon DSLR which came out of the box with dirt and fibres in the body of the camera. Canon refused to help in any way. Thing is this dirt affects the performance of the camera, and while it is really annoying and SHOULD NOT happen, discolouration near the trackpad is not going to affect the working of the machine.
As for the blackbook: I dont know about the discolouration issue and the blackbook, but I have it first hand from a friend working in an Apple store than the matte finish on the black MB gets really really dirty and grubby. This was always a problem with my white iBook but now with the slight change in plastics it seems to have gotten worse. In conclusion I think a white machine is ALWAYS going to discolour whether just through use or manufacturing faults. But.. it seems the black is no better. Personally, I would live with a bit of discolouration before purchasing a PC for example. Just my own opinion.

ButtermilkJack

Well, for the record, I was just on to the Apple Store here in Ireland over the phone. I finished the call feeling EXTREMELY insulted and annoyed.

I rang to say I was interested in a MacBook but was concerned about the discolouration issue and would like to know Apple's official line on this. The guy told me that he had not heard anything about the discolouration issues and was very surprised to hear that ("Well I'm sure from the surprise in my voice you can tell that this is the first I've heard of such problems...").

'We' all know of the issue, every Mac enthusiast knows of the issue, there are thousands of threads all over the net about the issue... and he insults me by trying to pretend that he knows nothing... and that all is 'rosy' in Apple land. Complete BS if you ask me. I was p*ssed off to say the least. The fact he concocted a story to fob me off just makes me sick. I know they are going to try and sell the products but I told him I was aware of the issue so there was no need to try and convince me otherwise. I was just looking for some honest advice on my purchase.

One interesting thing to note was that he said the plastic used is exactly the same as in the iBook. Hmmm...

440Hz

ButtermilkJack wrote:

Well, for the record, I was just on to the Apple Store here in Ireland over the phone. I finished the call feeling EXTREMELY insulted and annoyed.

I rang to say I was interested in a MacBook but was concerned about the discolouration issue and would like to know Apple's official line on this. The guy told me that he had not heard anything about the discolouration issues and was very surprised to hear that ("Well I'm sure from the surprise in my voice you can tell that this is the first I've heard of such problems...").

'We' all know of the issue, every Mac enthusiast knows of the issue, there are thousands of threads all over the net about the issue... and he insults me by trying to pretend that he knows nothing... and that all is 'rosy' in Apple land. Complete BS if you ask me. I was p*ssed off to say the least. The fact he concocted a story to fob me off just makes me sick. I know they are going to try and sell the products but I told him I was aware of the issue so there was no need to try and convince me otherwise. I was just looking for some honest advice on my purchase.

One interesting thing to note was that he said the plastic used is exactly the same as in the iBook. Hmmm...

That IS really bad. However, you should call to an apple store or ring one. Apple sales line are notoriously crap. For example when I bought my MBP I wanted to trade my ibook... which my local Apple store does, and the online store does, but when I rang Apple on the phone they said they had never heard of such a scheme, even though its on the official apple site - thickos!

If you want some honest objective advice I would ring an Apple store, your local one if you know them or if not I would rec. CompuB in Limerick. Im not saying you need to buy from them just that they are very decent and will give you an honest opinion.

As for the plastic being the same, perhaps it is. Like I said the plastic on the iBook discolours easily. IN that case the answer to your earlier question is mostly likely that the rapid discolouration of the macbooks is most likely a heat issue, and THAT is not good. That implies the aesthetic flaw is being caused by an internal fault/mafunction in the machine and not just a badly chosen material for the casing. IMHO

whippet

In all fairness the lad on the end of the phone in Apples cork head office probably has no interest in macs, it's his job ... he more than likely never heard anything about the talk on forums across the web .. I can just imagine him laughing at his mate when you got off the phone with him, the lack of your sale probably cost him about €1 in commission.

With regards to trading in macs, the Apple store as far as I am aware don't offer this (correct me if I am wrong with a link please) . I know that CompuB historically did, and I don't think any of the other resellers in ireland do, apart from when the Dual boot G4's were discontinued and there was still a great market for them. The resellers were only delighted to get their hands on them

damo86

440Hz wrote:

My advice to the people here thinking of buying that were put off by this thread is 'DONT BE'. I had an order for an MBP in this week and did what you lot are doing now, getting scared by horror stories in forums. I posted here for advice and some wise boardsie made the point that if we only knew how many horror stories there are with PCs that we just never hear about.... MBP arrived safely and I couldnt be happier, it is great! And as for the rev A issues. My first ipod was rev A and it is still going strong. I gave it away and bought new ones, just cos im gadget crazy but while friends newer and fancier mp3 players died, pod mark 1 is still going strong. So dont generalise and say that rev A is bad... no always, its just a bigger risk as less is known about the possible problems. So I say... go for it... order and enjoy!

Thats a macbook pro is made alluminium so it wont discolour.
if its made from the same materials as the ibook , ive has my ibook for 2 yrs if not more and had no problems with discolouring, whats going on, maybe something fuelled by heat issues?

440Hz

@whippet, re trade in, this is available with the online store but not if you order on the phone, which in my opinion is bizarre to say the least.

@damo80, yeah I know I have a Macbook pro and I know what it is made of. My point was, if you read it, that I HAD an iBook and it discoloured also. So the discolouration of the Macbook is not a new issue, just that is SHOULD NOT happen as quickly as it has. Mine discoloured after years of use.

ButtermilkJack

440Hz, I take your point, but I think the discolouration you are referring to is just 'wear and tear'. Everyday dirt and grime so to speak. This is something I could live with as I'm quite a neat and tidy person and would take care of any laptop I had so as to keep this 'wear and tear' down to a minimum. Obviously it is to be expected that something will not look new after two years of use.

The problem with the MacBook however is very different. It's not 'everyday wear and tear' that is showing after years of use, it's some sort of heat/chemical reaction that shows up almost instantly after using the machine for a week or two. This is something I'm not prepared to live with.

At this point I'm just waiting to hear Apple's official line on it before making a decision. Hopefully this will come soon...!

whippet

@440hz .. are you sure about trade-in's on the apple store online. As much as I have used it over the last few years I never saw anything like that. Have you actually traded anything in with it?

ButtermilkJack

whippet wrote:

@440hz .. are you sure about trade-in's on the apple store online. As much as I have used it over the last few years I never saw anything like that. Have you actually traded anything in with it?

I'd also be interested to know this as I have a machine to trade in.

eth0_

Well now I bought a (black) macbook today in the o2 experience and the sales guy was a real mac-addict, I happened to mention the discoloration issue and he said he had read about it on the web but no one had returned a macbook to his store because of it.

Perhaps it was a dodgy batch of plastic used in some macbook cases.

440Hz

@Buttermilk, re the discolouration: yeah i agree, like I said earlier the iBook discolur due to use and as you put it 'wear and tear'. I was maticulous about looking after mind, but the discoluration of a white laptop is inevitable. But like you said, unacceptable after a few days/weeks which implies a more serious fault.

@whippet and buttermilk re trade in: I have traded machines with *real* stores myself but know of two friends who have traded online. Just looking at the site now though and I think it might be business only. I thought I saw it as a general offer before but perhaps that has expired as this offer has an end date also.

Trade-in Offer for Business Customers
Business customers can trade in a qualifying second-hand Mac and get a rebate of up to £800 when buying a new one from the Apple Store for Business. The trade-in value of the second-hand Mac depends on the model. Offer ends on September 30th, 2006.

philologos

sinecurea wrote:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1802
"Some MacBooks plagued by discoloration"

Looks like the dribble at the start of the river...

happened to my HP Pavilion after a month as well... it's not just a mac issue