MacBook catches fire Down Under

Just when you thought we were done with those sensational photos of burned out laptop husks and smoking keyboards, along comes an Australian MacBook to resuscitate this dying meme. Normally we wouldn't even bother posting yet another set of these pics -- after all, recalls have been issued, apologies have been offered, and we've all moved on to complaining about other stuff, right? -- but the fact that this particular Mac's battery was reportedly not on any recall list is just a little bit worrisome. According to MacTalk forum member mattyb, he and his girlfriend were awakened around 3:00 A.M. Sunday night by the smell of smoke, which they quickly traced to a smoldering MacBook and the magazines it had set ablaze. It's clear from the images who the culprit is here, and sure enough, Matty claims that his battery had been acting flaky and draining more quickly than usual for the past few weeks. As much as we hope that this is some isolated incident which won't force the lucky ones from Recall Round One to lose precious computing time, we'd rather transition to our desktop for a few weeks instead of waking up to an apartment full of flames and a crispy hard drive. Keep reading for a close up of the disconcerting damage from Down Under...

[Via digg]

[Chris @ Mar 12th 2007 10:48AM]

Here's a novel idea: Don't leave a pile of magazines on top of your laptop, or leave it on a couch or blanket or other surface where the air intakes might be blocked.

Simple steps to prevent overheating and prevent a fire from starting if your computer does overheat.

[icepop4who @ Mar 12th 2007 11:01AM]

who would of thought. maybe the laptop wasn't on because they were sleeping. maybe the battery just caught on flame like all the dell innovations. great idea chris, but it really doesn't apply here.

[Christian Martin @ Mar 12th 2007 11:09AM]

The air intake (or any other vent) on a Macbook isn't on the bottom, dude: http://www.lookinsideit.com/macbook/index.htm

[John Doe @ Mar 12th 2007 11:47AM]

Chris,

That is the most retarded comment I've ever read on Engadget. Congrats.

#1-If you are putting mags ON a laptop it means the lid is closed and its asleep. That should not cause ANY problems what so ever.

#2- A system that overheats traditionally shuts down. It doesn't burst into flames, unless there is something drastically wrong with the system to begin with.

#3- Such precautions should not have to be taken for ANY laptop to begin with. See #2.

#4- A computer should be trusted to be left alone, ANYWHERE, without needing to worry about it catching on fire.

I'm sorry but my MBP is sitting at home right now in sleep mode. I should NEVER have to worry about the thing burning down my house. This applies to all other laptops and computers on the market as well.
Precautions my ass. Its a laptop not a fracking nuclear reactor.

[Camperton @ Mar 12th 2007 10:57AM]

so by that logic chris, no one should be able to put their laptop in their bag in sleep mode ever again.

this is simply unnaceptable quality control and more stringent safety standards have to be put in place in the manufacturing of batteries.

mac and pc.

[thatroom @ Mar 13th 2007 10:50AM]

funny.. even the god of Jobs can eff it all up sometimes.

[Optimus Rhyme @ Mar 12th 2007 11:12AM]

To be fair, let's not just jump to conclusions here. First off, the computer should never catch fire, no matter if its a Mac of PC. Secondly, we don't know if the computer was left open, so it would stay on, or if it was closed in sleep mode. If it was left open, and still on, then it was a bad move by the user to leave it near magazines, or anything else that could stop it from getting air.

When it all boils down though, no ones computer should ever catch fire.

[phenostar @ Mar 12th 2007 11:18AM]

I'm amazed he let a "flaky" battery go for a few weeks. If I paid $1200 for a brand new laptop, I'd at least have the battery checked out when it started malfunctioning. Matty dropped the ball on this one. He could have walked into a store and had the battery replaced. End of story.

[Tom @ Mar 12th 2007 11:27AM]

Some people have things called "jobs", which might prevent them from having free time that coincides with the business hours of an Apple store. Coincidentally, that "job" probably entitled him to purchase that $1200 laptop. Either way, he should be getting a new laptop courtesy of Apple.

[TheCount @ Mar 12th 2007 3:15PM]

Yes, because somehow having your apartment almost burn to the ground with you in it is a logical consequence for not bringing your laptop in for draining quickly.

You are a tool, End of Story.

[syncavocado @ Jul 14th 2007 2:31AM]

Remember, Australia doesn't have official Apple Stores.

[thatroom @ Mar 13th 2007 10:50AM]

so what you're saying is that mac users wouldn't know what to do if a battery issue comes along?

I can believe that. I see too many of you using your machines all untethered-because-you-can sitting right next to AC outlets.

[Camperton @ Mar 12th 2007 11:27AM]

look at those photos. it's a flat leather couch and a magazine. that should not be a scenario for freakish overheating. the battery was a timebomb and the manufacturer is to blame.

[Ray-- @ Mar 12th 2007 11:29AM]

that guy needs to wash/sweep his floors... nasty! And that couch looks like it needs a thourough shampooing as well...

yuck!

[Evinyatar @ Mar 12th 2007 11:31AM]

Ray: those pictures were taken outside, and that couch is just for the dog. (It's all in the original forum post).

[Matt B @ Mar 12th 2007 11:56AM]

Anything potentially volatile that is mass produced will have a percentage of defective rate. This is taken into account and added into the end price.

If the defect rate is %10 and that is what is budgeted for, the company still makes money. If it is over, it can be catastrophic for a company.

[regomodo @ Mar 12th 2007 7:17PM]

Ford Pinto being good example of when things go wrong

[Davin Wärter @ Mar 12th 2007 12:14PM]

Honnestly, looking at where the damage originates, the battery was not the issue. The point of origin is questionable. There are no electrical contacts on that side of the battery. Had the battery gotten warm enough to ignite paper it would likely have exploded. The battery isn't even bulging. There are no major power curcuits under that spot either. I suspect this is more a hoax to cover for soemthing else.

[Andrew Bowser @ Mar 12th 2007 12:15PM]

So this is what happens when you don't apply the latest patch for daylight savings time :|

[Kev50027 @ Mar 12th 2007 12:19PM]

Ah, I think the Mac Book looks better like that. They should come out with a new "burnt to a crisp" style of laptops.

[john robinson @ Mar 12th 2007 12:35PM]

There is a known issue with the MacBook battery that Apple have kept well under the radar. In addition to an older Powerbook (that was part of the previous battery recall program) - I have a MacBook. I started to realize I had a battery problem when, after not using the mac for just a few days, I would find the battery totally discharged. Eventually, the battery became totally useless, it would not charge at all - in fact the MacBook couldn't even see the battery. When I returned this to the local Mac shop, my buddy who runs the place wasn't surprised to see me at all - he has lost count of the MacBook batteries he has had to replace. His explanation was that after the previous batter problems, a sensor in the battery now had a particularly conservative default setting & this was the root of the problems. Not sure if there is any connection to the one that burned but the battery problems in general are still ongoing.

[Chris @ Mar 12th 2007 1:12PM]

I'm sorry you guys are offended, but I wouldn't personally leave a device that has the potential to overheat on a couch overnight or with a bunch of flammable papers or magazines stacked on top of it. Even though it is in sleep mode, it is not actually off and you can never be too safe.

These devices aren't supposed to overheat, but it seems like there is a lot of distrust of manufacturers with many people suspecting the quality of their work even if an official recall hasn't been issued. Call me a moron if you'd like but I'd rather be safe (if inconvenienced slightly) than have a burned down house or couch and a self-righteous smirk on my face.

I mean, it's so hard to put your laptop on a countertop with nothing on top of it instead of leaving it on the couch. Get a life.

[Lars @ Mar 12th 2007 1:30PM]

Paper is flammable at 451 Fahrenheit (232 degrees Celsius). For a laptop to reach those temperatures something must be wrong like, say, a battery overheating.

No way a normal sleeping (or even operating) laptop will EVER reach those temperatures, even with a couple of magazines on or under it.

[Moff @ Mar 12th 2007 1:52PM]

LOL.. according to Chris you should put the thing in a fire-proof concrete block. Even then, it may not be safe.

[Jason @ Mar 12th 2007 2:09PM]

So, this is one macbook of how many sold? The battery was acting odd for how long? He couldn't get in to get it replaced or even looked at because he has a job? Even if it meant possible damage to his very expensive machine?

It's a stupid user who should realize electronics are not touched by God and do fail sometimes, like someone said above. He had plenty of warning and should have taken the proper steps to fix or replace the laptop.

Why is this even news?

[James @ Mar 12th 2007 2:24PM]

Mac Books shut off at 125 Celsius, so even if it was one, it would have shut off well before it got hot enough to light paper on fire. And as Davin said, there is nothing in that area, (other then the end of the battery, the contacts are on the other end) to actually start the fire. This will more then likely be traced back to a faulty battery.

[phenostar @ Mar 13th 2007 12:14AM]

thecount:
Not a logical consequence? Did you sleep through the sony/dell/apple battery recalls?! Anybody who still takes battery problems lightly needs to see this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeWq6rWzChw

[dabomb @ Mar 12th 2007 4:45PM]

it looks pretty! hehe!

[ten cent @ Mar 12th 2007 7:36PM]

Aww.. Dang! I bet that's hot enough for a decent Barbie, good riddance to another Mac, what's their excuse this time?

[Znarfaggle @ Mar 12th 2007 8:44PM]

how was he awakened by the smell of smoke? the nose is the first think to shut down when you go to bed, your entire house could burn down around your ears and (providing you don't catch fire or get owned by a falling burning piece of wood, or get touched by the fire at all, although that's not very likely) you wouldn't realize it. you aren't awakened by the smell of smoke.
just thought i should mention that.

[Matt Hadder @ Mar 12th 2007 9:32PM]

"$#!T happens... wear a helmet"

For a couple bucks I bet manufacturers could put a heat sensitive alarm in a laptop (or other device) that would beep if it reached a critical temperature.

Something as simple as a bi-metal strip wired to the speakers or a beeper would do the trick, might save laptops and lives.

Patent anyone?

[Craig @ Mar 12th 2007 9:55PM]

To those who think they know everything including how things work here in Australia, it is not so simple to just get things checked out. Every man and corner shop sell Apple products, namely IPod's. But when I had to a problem with my IPod I was told to take it to my local repair centre and advised to take it my self as a number of one's sent through the post had not arrived. One slight problem, my local repair centre was a little over nine hours drive away. Thank you Apple!

[Brian @ Mar 12th 2007 10:50PM]

This is what pisses me off most about Apple fanboys. When a Dell notebook catches fire, it's Dell's fault. When an Apple notebook catches fire, somehow it's the user's fault.

Bullshit. No notebook should EVER catch fire for ANY reason, PERIOD, unless the user is deliberately heating/igniting the notebook.

HP recalled thousands of batteries in *2005* because they knew about this problem. As a result, I have yet to hear a report of an HP notebook catching fire with a battery that has not been recalled. Apparently, Dell and Apple waited too long.

[Chris Bennett @ Mar 13th 2007 8:59AM]

You guys are making a lot of assumptions without reading the full story on the forums:

The MacBook wasn't left on that couch, it's dirty cos it's outside and used by the dog (as previously mentioned).

The MacBook was left on a bookshelf, in sleep mode, charging. There weren't any books or magazines stacked on the MB but they were on the shelf, hence the damage when it burst into flames.

The battery life had been poor for 3 weeks or so and he was planning at getting it looked at soon.

The guy was awakened by his housemate yelling (she'd dozed off in the same room) and the dog barking. It may have been to dog that woke his housemate, or it may have been the noise that came from the MB before it burst into flames that woke her (it reportedly hissed like a steam valve).

[Tom @ Mar 13th 2007 11:06AM]

Ummmm.... no... I'm saying that he probably couldn't get to an Apple store to get his faulty battery looked at before it burst - likely due to the full time job that let him purchase the laptop in the first place. Somebody said he was stupid for not going to the Apple store to get it fixed, and I simply stated that it could have been that he couldn't have gotten to the Apple store. I'm not sure how you extrapolated "stupidity" from "job".

[thatroom @ Mar 13th 2007 11:34AM]

well.. what i was saying is that I wouldn't need to go to any store to tell me if my battery is screwed. if it's on a list, i replace it. if it's acting stupid, i just call in a replacement. I don't have to go to a store to tell these things.

[spanktron @ Mar 13th 2007 9:56PM]

Bottom Line, Do not leave you computer on any surface where the vents are going to be blocked...just dont do it, if you are going to sleep...turn the computer off, and certainly dont leave it by magazines, or a soft cushiony surface, thats just plain idiocy, and about havinga job and not able to go to the applestore?..take a day off, also, applestores are open pretty late. also if you are having battery problems, dont use the computer until it gets fixed....i mean christ.

[Adam @ Mar 15th 2007 11:34AM]

i wonder if it had a dell battery....