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Survey says: 20% of MacBooks are discolored
Either TUAW readers have especially sweaty, acidic, bacteria-ridden palms, or they're being hit hard by the MacBook discoloration issue so many have dreaded might strike their own smooth, plastic Apple laptops. Granted, you can't really take a poll with 1,556 votes to mean anything about a problem of this nature -- especially with so many haters and fanboys out there just waiting to bust out a script and tilt the scales -- but there's one company that knows just how many MacBooks have been seeing this issue, and until that one company issues a recall it's unlikely we're going to know just how severe this problem really is.P.S. -If you're having MacBook discoloration, don't be shy about sounding off in our comments. We're here for you, people, let it all out.
20% of TUAW readers' MacBooks are discolored
The results of our MacBook discoloration poll are in; 20% of TUAW reader's MacBooks exhibit discoloration. It's hard to judge how accurate these results are, but if the real numbers are anywhere near these levels then Apple has a serious problem on its hands. Fortunately, there are signs that Apple has taken notice: the creator of StainedBook.info recently managed to get Apple to agree to replace the plastic on the top of his MacBook's casing. That's a big step, but I'm sure many MacBook owners won't fancy calling up Applecare every two weeks after their replacement starts showing stains again. Clearly, a more permanent solution is required.
Incase hints at new Ripstop Backpack
Incase has posted a couple of teaser shots in their gallery of a new bag on the way, the Ripstop Backpack. Available in July from Apple, this bag looks to be a full-sized backpack that can carry more than just an Apple portable, a magazine and a pack of gum (I kid - I'm a big fan of Incase's stuff). I have also heard they have a new, fully-featured site coming later this summer which should help to settle the Incase + Apple conspiracy theories.Pricing and specs of the Ripstop Backpack are still to be announced.
Apple Genius says: Moo'ing normal
If you've been keeping up with MacBook sans-Pro news, you may have heard something about an infamous "moo"-like noise coming from the fan. Basically, the fan goes on and off and on and off and on and off continuously, in a vain attempt to keep the machine cool. Now, I'm no engineer, but it certainly doesn't take one to recognize that this isn't normal behavior. (MacRumors discussion here, video of the fan problem here.)I took my black MacBook to the Genius at the Apple store (Oakbrook, by the way) to get this fixed, and his response? "It's normal. A fan will do what it needs to do to keep the machine cool." Gee, thanks.As you may remember, I had a similar issue with my MacBook Pro. A new fan unit later, this problem was fixed, which certainly leads me to believe that this isn't normal behavior. (I also showed the problem to a friend of mine who is an engineer, and he confirmed that this isn't normal.) I've called AppleCare (an almost guaranteed better experience, every time) and a repair box is on its way. Sigh.Anyone else have this problem?
TUAW Poll: Does your MacBook exhibit discoloration?
Does your MacBook exhibit discoloration? Yes No With many owners of Apple's MacBook reporting strange discoloration of their machine on areas that come into frequent contact with the skin (wrist rests, trackpad, button and areas near the iSight being the main concern), we've created this poll to get a better idea of how many MacBooks are affected. When I first saw this issue I believed that the people reporting these problems were simply neglecting to wash their hands; that's until my own white MacBook started displaying symptoms. If you believe that your MacBook has this problem, vote on this poll, submit your details to Stainedbook.info and make sure to contact Applecare to notify Apple of the problem.Disclaimer: Please, only vote on this poll if you own a white MacBook. We're trying to get a handle on the percentage of white machines affected by this problem. Black MacBooks do not seem to exhibit this problem.
Tilt sensor: playing up the MacBook's strengths
Apple decided to outfit their newest portable, the MacBook, with "vampire video" thereby eliminating any chance of turning that thing into a serious BootCamping gamestation on the go. Sure, it'll run some of your older games swimmingly; F.E.A.R. 2 with 4x FSAA, eh, notsomuch. So, like Nintendo's zagging Wii controller, why not bypass the hobbled graphics system and exploit what the MacBook can offer: namely, an accelerometer.Installed to detect if the computer's falling and park the hard drive accordingly, this clever gamer used ams2hid coupled with Neverball to make the modern-day equivalent of the wooden labyrinth. Now how about the Mac Book Pro's light-sensor and a GBA emulator for some Boktai action?Embedded video of the deed after the break. [Via Lifehacker]
Tinkering with Apple portables' light sensors
He taught the Mac world to wonder again by unearthing the secrets of the Sudden Motion sensor and now Amit Signh is at it again.This time his sights are set on the ambient light sensors on more recent Apple portables (as well as those cool light up keyboards). Amit lays out how someone can programmatically take advantage of those sensors. Hackers, start you engines.
White MacBooks showing premature discoloration?
It's not uncommon for electronics -- and especially laptops -- to begin showing some discoloration after a few months or years of wear and tear, but reports coming out of Mac forums and websites of three- and four-week old white MacBooks sporting heavy staining on the trackpads and wrist rests are causing no small amount of alarm among the Apple faithful. Having ruled out heat, smokers, and people not washing their hands enough, commenters are now starting to use ugly terms like "manufacturing defect" to explain why disparate white MacBooks are all showing signs of heavy use barely weeks out of the box, with afflicted users reportedly unable to remove the stains even armed with the harshest of cleaning agents. While it's too soon to really gauge the scope of this supposed problem, if we owned a MacBook we might start using external input devices just to be safe, and if we were in the market for a new one, well, we might even drop the extra loot for that fancy -- and seemingly stain-resistant -- black edition.[Thanks, Calamier]
White MacBooks Turning Yellow
When TUAW reader Rich sent us this link pointing to an Apple Discussions page discussing the tendency for some of the plastics on the new white MacBooks to turn yellowish after just a few weeks, I initially dismissed it as one or two overly-sensitive Mac users complaining about the inevitable hand grease, dirt, and muck that all of our laptops experience during their average use. At least that's what I thought until I saw the pictures [2] [3] [4] [slideshow] and started reading the many posts from many users experiencing the same problem.This discoloration is not dirt and cannot be cleaned by anything that people have tried, and the list is extensive: iKlear and similar cleaners, hot water, Windex, diluted bleach, a Magic Eraser...the list is long.There definitely appears to be a problem here with the plastic that Apple has used for the palm rests on the first-generation white MacBooks. I have not seen this yet personally (I've yet to even see a MacBook in person), but the numbers and anecdotal evidence is looking pretty convincing. Now, I wonder if Apple will acknowledge the problem and replace the plastics, or whether they'll pass this off as "cosmetic damage" as they've done in the past (cracking lines on the G4 Cube, anyone?).
Weekend Review: This week's rigs
Each week, we recap the Rigs of the Day that have graced our pages over the past seven days, and crown a "Rig of the Week." Here is the current entry. It's a rather short list this time around, folks.GeoffMyers showed the Blue and White G3 that he painted black this week, and Brendan Lynch posted a shot of the wall-mounted a display he connected to his MacBook. Both are great, but we're going with Brendan's set up for Rig of the Week. Well done.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We select one image to highlight each day, and crown a Rig of the Week on Sundays.
Nintendo-Apple merger? Don't hold your breath. [update 1]
Repeat after me: Apple will not buy Nintendo; Nintendo will never be bought. If I'm wrong, I will let the entire Joystiq staff and our top 5 contributors punch me in the gut. There is an article from CNET that came out yesterday (bearing a striking similarity to an O'Reilly blog post from February) that has given Nintendo and Apple fanatics a heart attack, but that article has no basis of a fact and is pure excrement speculation. The article extrapolates from a rumored Apple games division that the company may buy Nintendo. Let's look at their points: Similar corporate philosophies / design styles: "the DS Lite looks practically looks like [Apple designer] Jonathan Ive built it." So do a countless number of iPod knockoffs, but we don't think Apple will be buying those companies anytime soon. Size aside, even Microsoft's Xbox 360 appears inspired by Apple's sleek design philosophies, but it'd be a cold day in Hell if those two companies ever joined forces. "Cisco was rumoured to be looking at a purchase of Nintendo earlier in the year:" That would be a good support, except that the Cisco-Nintendo rumor spawned from another CNET article and was merely speculation by the author, with no factual basis (GameSpot denounced this rumor long ago). Now, let us take a look at why Nintendo would never sell.
Time Magazine's love affair with Apple continues
There are some serious Mac-heads at Time Magazine. The MacBook is their current "Gadget of the Week," and author Wilson Rothman had this to say in his article:"You get a computer that runs both Mac OS X and Windows XP today, and even appears to meet the minimum requirements for Vista once it gets here. Dell and HP should be very worried indeed."For those of you who complain about the integrated video ram, remember: This is the entry level machine, and will do the things most people are after (internet, mail, music, photos, etc.) very well. It should be a big seller.
Rig of the Day: Floating monitor
Here's a clever set up. Flickr user Brendan Lynch shows off a white MacBook 2.0Ghz connected to a wall-mounted Mitsubishi E35 18.1'' Flat Panel. It looks real nice, Brendan. If you could go the extra step and somehow hide the MacBook, you'd have a super-clean look."Clean rig" posted by Brendan Lynch.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We select one image to highlight each day, and crown a Rig of the Week on Sundays.
A quick glance at MacBook sleeve cases
Now that laptop case manufacturers have had a few weeks to react to the new MacBook, they've started to release an array of sleeves that fit perfectly around the MacBook's refined curves. There's something for everyone here, whether you want a sleeve with a little more padding than usual, a sleeve that makes a colorful statement or one that keeps your nether regions nice and cool. Read on for the round-up.
An easier method to get Windows Vista to run with Boot Camp
Yes, before you fire off a flaming comment, we know this is The Unofficial Apple Weblog, but we thought it might be nice to post a tip for those of you who either want or need to play with the next generation of Microsoft Windows, reportedly due out within the decade (hey, it was originally due in 2003 - by its present 2007 date they'll be almost half a decade late already). This Apple Discussions forum thread details a slightly more appealing trick for getting Vista, now in a public beta (but overloaded with download requests as of this writing), to install and run with Boot Camp. Basically, you need to have Boot Camp already set up and installed with Windows XP. Then, burn a DVD of the Vista beta you just downloaded. And before you ask: no, unfortunately, Vista won't run on Parallels Desktop - yet. Parallels has publicly mentioned making this work with a future version, but there is no ETA for when this support will land.Now - and this is the 'at your own risk' part - you need to use some kind of partition manager (the forum poster used one from within XP, but I've heard you can use one that starts up from within the Vista installer when booting from the DVD) to delete an ambiguous partition that Boot Camp creates that is around 180-200 MB in size. Again, we can't stress this enough: this is done at your own risk - you are messing with your boot record and after this step, Boot Camp won't be able to adjust your partitions or blow away and reclaim your Windows partition anymore. Mac OS X and Windows will still boot just fine, but this isn't an ideal setup for the faint-of-heart Boot Camp user.if you take the plunge and nuke that partition, however, you should now be able to boot from the Vista DVD and use it to upgrade your copy of Windows XP - which in and of itself could spark a discussion as to whether one should upgrade or install clean new versions of Windows; it usually isn't recommended with Mac OS X, who wants to take bets on Windows' ability to have a smooth OS upgrade ride?If you try any of this stuff out, feel free to post your thoughts on the experience, and then go wash your hands of one of the dirtiest things you can do to a Mac.
TUAW Podcast #10
Here it is ladies and gentlemen: TUAW Podcast #10 for 6/7/06. In this edition I sat down for some coffee talk with Dan Pourhadi and Conrad Quilty-Harper on everything from Apple's new 5G iPod U2 Edition to Macs in Best Buy, as well as gaming on, the finish of, and that darn glossy screen in the MacBook. We also discuss that "Why 1st Generation Apple Products Suck" article and other various bits of Mac culture.You can download the podcast in MP3 format here (42.2 MB), and it should appear in our TUAW iTMS Podcast feed soon, if it hasn't already. We recorded this via an iChat audio conference using GarageBand (which rocks by the way), and we're still working on our podcasting and audio editing skills, so there will be a little bit of noise. Also, Conrad was using his MacBook's internal mic, so let that be a testament to its quality. Nevertheless, it's a good podcast that we hope you'll enjoy.
M-M-M-MacBook Pro eBay scam
If you remember the P-P-P-Powerbook scam last year, then you're going to love the new and improved M-M-M-Macbook scam. Once again, a Something Awful forum dweller by the name of isnoop has documented quite the adventure involving a MacBook Pro sale on eBay, and the intrepid scammer who didn't quite get what he ordered. Check out the first post in the forum for links to the key events of the scam, and marvel at this wonderful entertainment the internets make available.[thanks C Keigher!]
First hand pictures of the new U2 iPod
Ash over at techpaedia dropped us a line to let us know about some photos he took of the new U2 iPod at an Apple retail store. The four photos over at his site show the rear black metal enclosure a little more clearly than the official ones on Apple's site. Ash reports that "like the traditional stainless steel mirrored finish enclosure, it is a fingerprint magnet." We'd also have to assume that it scratches as easily as the reflective mirror finish on most other iPods too.Now that Apple has created a completely black bodied iPod, how long do you think it'll be until they start bundling black accessories with its black products? Or will we just have to live with it, just like we've been living with the fingerprint and scratch magnet "feature" present on practically every iPod?
Apple: "MacBook may run warm because rear vent is blocked"
Well, guess that settles the issue we had a couple of weeks ago about whether Apple really did accidentally leave some plastic film over the rear MacBook ventilation area. When we last left off, it looked like it might be a sporadic issue with some models shipped to Europe; now Apple's come clean with the whole vent-film issue, plainly stating "some MacBooks may have left the factory with a thin piece of clear plastic covering the rear vent." Apple's support page goes on to say, however, that if you don't have the film and are still having heat issues, please see Apple support article 30612 -- which itself is an article about how it's normal for MacBooks to get hot. Well done, well done.
Support doc: MacBook may run warm because rear vent is blocked
First Engadget reported it, and now there's an official Apple Support document explaining the issue: some MacBooks (and Pros) are apparently making it out of the factory with a thin piece of clear plastic blocking covering the rear vent. The article states the obvious: that this plastic is used to protect the notebook from dust while in the factory.So if it looks like you're starting to get a tan from using your MacBook on your lap too often (which Apple doesn't recommend anyway), you might want to check that rear exhaust vent for any clear, plastic blockage.
