Unibody MacBook Pro catch a fire, owner want no more trouble
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 20th 2009 11:41AM
posted May 20th 2009 11:41AM
As if you needed further proof that Apple is the favorite company of firebugs everywhere, unibody MacBook Pro owner Ken Brinkman has snapped some pics of his spontaneously combusting MagSafe cable. Apparently, he was fast asleep at 1:30 AM this morning when the smell of burning plastic caught his attention. Luckily, the young man is safe as of this post -- but the condition of his data has yet to be determined. Once again, we implore you: does your MagSafe cable look like this? If so, get it replaced. And while you're at it, you may want to make sure you don't have any first gen iPod nanos laying around. We hear those things can be dangerous! Trust us, you'll be far better off listening to Natty Dread on your Zune. One more pic after the break.
All this stuff is starting to make me wonder whether they do much, or any long term testing on their products.... I mean, you'd THINK they would, because thats common engineering practice, but maybe they should do more or something? I'm in my 4th year of engineering in college right now, and we took an oath the other day (yeah, kinda lame, i know) that said that as an engineer you need to be responsible for your actions because at times people's lives could be at stake (bridges for example). These guys need to watch it or someone's house is going to burn down, or maybe even a life will be lost. Then its more than just bad publicity. Same goes for Sony batteries
I'll be sure not to leave the Magsafe cable connected when I go to sleep.
BURN! That second to last comment was great! Yeah, I own a Zune, but it's because of the perfect setup for the pun that I had to do this.
Had a similar issue with MagSafe adapter. Apple replaced it for free even if it was out of warranty.
I dont deny that there is a design fault in the magsafe adapters, they should be engineered to account for the people who abuse them.
No problems arise with the connector when you pull it off by holding the block rather than the cable. When you yank the cable it just stuffs it by pulling back the insulation and then you get a short circuit.
moral of story: pull by the block not the cable and Apple, fix your damn adapter by putting the macbook air ends on them, then douchebags would be able to damage them cause pulling on the cable would just lever it off and not damage the insulation
Does endaget have to suck the M$ titty every time there's an Apple related article? Seriously, are you comparing a Zune to an iPod?
@ Paul A. Chapel:
"I laugh at all these guys who complain about an Apple bias, because they're the guys that make Apple posts popular.
Engadget doesn't have an Apple bias, Engadget has a click bias. If you mention Apple, the Apple Haters will come and will bring wine... I mean, whine. I'm actually grateful to people like Look_Around_You (seriously, that is a really dumb name) because they guarantee that Apple news will be posted, no matter how trivial.
So here's to the crazy Apple Haters.
The conformists.
The monopolists.
The square pegs in the square holes.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
But they keep Apple in the news.
Thank you."
Mate, this is fucking WIN!! I actually laughed a little out loud as I read it. ;)
@ everyone else: I'm an Apple man myself. But all the Mac vs PC arguments are irrelevant really - it's all a matter of personal choice. What's right for one isn't necessarily right for another. Personally, I can't stand using Windows unless I have to (some games, that is all) but that's just me. :)
I don't and won't always recommend Apple stuff to people. If someone asks me about what sort of computer they should buy for gaming, I'll direct them to a Dell XPS (if they're casuals) or an Alienware import (if they're serious). If they want to do more stuff like music, video, photos, email, Internet, Facebook, etc, with possibly the odd game or two, then I'll recommend a Mac.
It's all about square pegs, round holes, and sensible thinking.
Let's se... did anyone bother to check if there was a piece of scrap metal or a shaving of any type of metal in the port or on the Mag Safe? I've heard that if you put a sliver of metal in there, it can short out the entire cable, as well as the Mac.
Hi, I'm a mac, and I'm a PC...
Hey Pc I'm playing iTunes, as usual, what are you --- brrruuuaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrghhhhhooooooo----uuuaaaaaarrrrrgghhh oooh God Killmeeeeeeee noooww bruuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh
Haha Mac, so u finally got ur firewire port back? Good decision if u ask me