“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,” Louisa Hearn reports for The Sydney Morning Herald.
“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,” Hearn reports.
Full article here.
Apple Discussion Thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=516645&tstart=0
According to Damien Barrett, writing for TUAW, “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.”
Full article here.
Some photos of the yellow stains: http://flickr.com/photos/tswartz/tags/macbook/
MacDailyNews Take: Natural oils from the users’ palms reacting with the particular plastic used in the MacBook case? If not, then why is the yellowing happening only on the palm rests? Heat affecting the MacBook plastic? A possibility perhaps, but, again, why only on the palm rests? There isn’t a plastic-warming processor directly under each palm rest. What do you think?
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ManMania is right, several posters indicated that nail polish remover worked. Anyway, I bought black one so
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Its the long term effect of using Windows XP via Bootcamp.
1. Go to the Apple Retail stores.
2. Look at the white MacBooks.
3. Notice this problem not occuring.
Lastly, know that the Apple Store is the place where MacBooks are touched by thousands and thousands of all kinds of hands, ranging in, oils, type, size, gender and cleanliness.
Again, their MacBooks look just fine. No yellow.
Not Apple’s issue. Some folks need to quit eating yellow curry-flavored foods with their hands before using MacBooks.
1. Go to the Apple Retail stores.
2. Look at the white MacBooks.
3. Notice this problem not occuring.
Or it could just mean that at first sign of yellowing they swop out the offending MB with a fresh one, no?
I think Foxconn should hire all the folks with yellowing MB’s and take them to China to work in quality control. If the cases turn yellow they can change the chemical composition of the plastic to prevent that from happening.
Steve Ballmer is sneaking into users’ houses each night and peeing on them.
And now I’m SURE Apple will be bombarded with crap from the media and anal-ysts, all making a huge fuss over such a small issue. It only takes a few bad machines to make them all look bad.
If companies like Dell didn’t suck so much, I guess the media would swarm over something like this (I didn’t hear about the Dell bursting into flames anywhere but here, and wherever the original article is from.). But how many problems are found every waking moment by those Dell/Windows sufferers? Redic. I hate people.
Or it could just mean that at first sign of yellowing they swop out the offending MB with a fresh one, no?
—
which, of course, would only be a band aid solution as they sell about a million MacBooks every quarter…
gee did you consider all the 3rd party retailers.. at least they don’t have a vested interest in lying.. i phoned a few, they’ve never heard of this problem
That yellow means it’s working!
Didn’t Apple file a patent on cases that change color?
this is not an issue of 1 guy with dirty hands complaining. this is a widespread issue, and has been reported to appear at around 3 weeks of use.
more info here: http://www.stainedbook.info/
there does seem to be a solution (worked on some macbooks), which is a non-acetone nail polish remover.
I have a white macbook and am worried about this issue. (ive had my macbook for a week now)
i do think apple needs to do something about it. whether it be supplying new keyboard hand rests, or a substance that can remove and stop further discolouration.
1. Go to the Apple Retail stores.
2. Look at the white MacBooks.
3. Notice this problem not occuring.
Question: Have you actually gone and taken a look? I have. The store I visited is extreemly popular and packed with customers. It is not occuring at that Apple Store’s MacBooks.
Or it could just mean that at first sign of yellowing they swop out the offending MB with a fresh one, no?
Answer: No. Apple does not do this. I once worked at an Apple Retail Store and this would be so cost prohibative, it would simply not be done. It would be eaiser to just fix the problem at the factory level – if there was a problem.
I have an iBook – white – three years old. The hand/palm area is indeed gray’d, but not yellow and no where near the issues posted online, but it is certainly not brand new white.
If this problem is occuring it is not at epidemic porportions, but hit and miss, and posted online as a huge Apple issue. Clearly, it is not a massive problem or it would be tens of thousands of users demanding a fix.
I seen this on a few but out of all the stores I been in where these laptops have been in use and some see constant, none have this happening.
I think it’s particular to individuals as opposed to a defect. Still sucks though.
I’m just saying that, “Hey I went to the Apple store where MacBooks are handled by hordes of grubbly little nose miners and I don’t see yellow MacBooks there so there must not be a problem” is really a thin argument.
Also, if the problem is non existent then why would it be cost prohibative? They obviously need to fix this at the manufacturing stage, but in the short term you can bet the farm that they will replace a yellowing MacBook that’s on display in one of their stores.
Wash you damn hands, nerds, and it won’t happen! Take a bath, stinky!
apple does have problems time to time. My macbook moos at certain temps. They need to fix that as well.
Yellow is the new white.
Now we know why Apple charges $150 more for black.
“My macbook moos at certain temps.”
That sounds like a hidden Easter egg joke on Longhorn. Be glad it doesn’t lactate.
“Take a bath, stinky!”
Milk bath?
It simply astounds me how Apple manages to sell anything at all!
First you have the pissed off bunch who own an older Mac/iPod/whatever who, in order to make themselves feel better, bitch about the new model. All it takes is one mention of a difference of design, or a percieved flaw, and dozens of idiots start parroting it all over the place. Never mind the fact they never have even seen the new model.
Then you have the truly scary fan boys who are so fanatical about their new Apple product that they bitch and moan over every single little imperfection they can manage to dream up. “My tab key is mushy, boo hoo!”
Get a frickin life! It’s a G. D. tool, a machine, and a damn fine one at that. Knock it around, scratch it up, yellow it, use it up and go buy yerself a new one for cryin out loud!
Or, make yourself happy – wrap it in shrinkwrap and set it on a shelf and bitch about the flaws you discover.
Sheesh!
Are they referring to a cleaning product called “Magic Eraser” or a true magic eraser? I am sure that a true magic eraser could remove the stains and a whole lot more.
one word……….
cheetos
“cheetos”
Isn’t that orange? Besides, wouldn’t that only affect 10.0 users?
<warning: requires thought>
I used 3M Scotchgard Paint Protection film tp protect the area below the keyboard on my Powerbook from getting scratched, etc.. It’s the same stuff I use to protect the paint on my car. Powerbook looked like it was brand new when I sold it.
I hate to say this, but I HAVE seen this at an Apple retail store. Some of the other employees didn’t even notice it until I told them – very faint, light yellow/tan discolring on one out of three white MacBooks. But the pattern is odd, almost as if it’s coming from inside… not from people touching.
Big Thanks to the Mac Daily News readers who helped me out with my eMacs at work .
Everytime the eMacs were booted up iTunes would automatically start up. I followed one of the suggestions posted by you guys and problem solved !!!
The soluttion was go to System Preferences, User accounts , login items and then delete iTunes from the list.
Again thanks guys
Dave.