“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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White plastic yellows with age and UV exposure. Usually because it yellows evenly and the effect is gradual it’s not that noticeable (until you place it near an New white unit).
likely the plastic is getting prematurely oxidized by sweat. if that’s the case basically nothing will remove the stain.
Apple would need to change to a different plastic.
Maybe people are peeing on their computers?
Maybe some fetish cult of Apple users that believe urine is the way to happinesss. That and peeing on a whit Mac.
“I think people need to wash their hands. Apples fault? Dont think so.”
WHAT??!!
Of course it’s the manufacturer’s fault (Apple in this case). No one is going to use hand sanitizer each time they want to type an email. I mean, you don’t have to do so when using a Dell, why should you when using a Mac?! There was something similar happening with the black Macbooks alittle while ago.
Are you all sure those are not ass cheek prints on their computers? I have seen several photos of these and it looks like people are dropping their trousers and sitting their asses on the computers.
And the stain between the ass prints….testicle prints anyone???
I think it’s too early to tell. There are however some ignorant people who act like apple can’t do anything wrong. scratchy iPods anyone?
We will use any means necessary to keep our hegemony intact.
If you think this or the iPod nano scratch or the sweatshop claims or the MacBook heat stuff or the Mac virus fakes were dirty moves, you’re super naive.
We fscking invented dirty pool and we haven’t even started to play, yet.
Watch and learn, little rebel Mac-using boys and girls.
We didn’t fscking get here by accident.
Could it be from smokers….I know my Grand-Dad turns somethings in there house yellow with the ciggerete smoke.
I think it is just from dirty people…
….If you used a white dell or accer or IBM computer it might have the same problems the iBooks were pretty good but this is first gen we must remember….
People should stop eating Pizza while working on their computer.
My MacBook is perfectly white and tidy.
-L
People’s body oils and sweat are very individual in their consistency. Some can be outright corrosive, some stink, some don’t stink at all. My informed opinion is, the plastic coating of the MacBook interiors is reacting with a particular kind of oil/sweat. This is why not everyone’s MacBook gets stained, and why even people who clean their hands before use have stained MacBooks.
No stains here, and I have pretty oily skin.
Apple could readily determine the source of the defective handrests if they have traceability on their vendors sources of raw material. It is possible the problem is a result of erratic controls on the molding process or contaminated resin. I think it is unlikely that the cause is the users of the machines. Assuming the plastic is supposed to be the same as in the iBooks (where there does not appear to be a problem) maybe they have a new vendor manufacturing some of the handrests. Obviously Apple should address this problem quickly.
“cheetos”
Isn’t that orange? Besides, wouldn’t that only affect 10.0 users?
<warning: requires thought>
10.0
code name “cheetah”
did i get it?
Apple continues to create crap that explodes and kills. Everything they create is a disaster and needs to be pulled from the market. Now maybe people will see the problem and purchase real computers from Lenovo and Dell.
I promise the American people that I will keep them safe from destructification by the products of Apricot Computers Inc.
I have commissioned the Notional Suckurity Agency and other government departments to discover whether Apple is developing a WMD programme in direct contravention of United Nations reservations.
I’ve studied a fair amount of chemistry, including organic chemistry, and I’ve also worked extensively with thermoplastics and large batches of photo chemistry. My Dad was a pharmacist. I ‘picked up’ some things from all of this…
It occurs to me that the cause of a problem like this could be relatively simple -poor quality control in materials- bad or contaminated polycarbonate or mold release material, or relatively complex -an unlikely combination of body chemistry and drug or vitamin interaction.
It has been stated that the discoloration is (almost) impossible to remove. This observation leads to a potential hypothesis that the discoloration is not a surface affect, but rather imbedded or immersed into the plastic. Polycarbonate is known for its strength and virtual imperviousness. If it is true that a chemical mechanism is affecting the plastic just so, then with a chemical analysis of the plastic itself (and perhaps a list of the owners’ perscriptions and supplements) a determination can be made of just what chemical interactions are at the root of the problem.
My advice for those seeing the discoloration on their otherwise perfect MacBooks?
Cut down on the meds!
News From Apple – Source of stains found!
————————————–
Some white MacBook owners are surfing too much porn. Glossy screens also reporting strange “stains”…………….
Apple Replacing Stained MacBooks
nittany4: Ding! Ding!
I had to replace my yellow keyboard, over a long period of time it turned yellow.
The replacement keyboard has started to turn yellow already, just after a few weeks OMG? it wasnt cheap to replace either?
So its a random, not to do with our hands.