College Students Buy a Mac & get a free iPod nano: 
“After many complaints from disappointed MacBook users, who bought brand new MacBooks and found– to their dismay– that their brand new MacBooks had begun discolouring at an alarming rate (within 1-3 weeks), it appears that Apple is beginning to replace stained/discoloured MacBook top cases (the plastic covering of the area around the keyboard),” Danielle reports for Cute & Adorable Gadgets.
Danielle reports, “The discolouration ranges in colour (it has been reported normally grey or orange, but sometimes can be pink or even blue). There are several theories to the cause of discolouration, including: ‘Porous plastics used in the MacBook allow tiny skin cells and sweat to accumulate within the microscopic openings, Skin melanin rubbing off and staining surface plastics, Acidic sweat damaging the plastic, or even Chemical reaction between the polymer and skin oils.'”
“A group of MacBook users, who all had discoloured laptops, started a web site called Stained MacBook… It is interesting to note that the last member with this problem recieved her laptop on June 12th. A forum at Apple’s discussion boards hypothesizes that the newer MacBooks are being made with a different type of plastic (they are ‘smoother’ in texture than the older ones, which are compartively ‘rough’). This leads me to believe that Apple has fixed the plastic problem in their assembly lines,” Danielle reports.
“According to the Stained MacBook blog, two members have sucessfully contacted Apple, and the Apple representative said they were now authorized to replace the discoloured/damaged areas of plastic of the top case. A member stated: “I just called up Applecare and informed them of my stain problem. The rep told me that they were aware of the problem and provided me with a case number for a replacement top case,” Danielle reports.
Full article with links and images here.
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Related MacDailyNews article:
White Apple MacBooks turning yellow? – June 27, 2006
Good for Apple.
And you see why we love Apple so much
Sure they couldn’t do a whole lot of product testing in the first place and maintain their secrecy regarding new products at the same time.
But they do take care of things if they can.
If you can’t handle being a “early adopter” then just wait for REV 2’s to show.
That’s all folks – Emler Fudd
uh keyboards are made for hands…this isn’t rocket science; Apple hasn’t produced a decent keyboard since the G3 tower.
botvinnik,
It’s not the keyboard. So, amazingly, you’re actually correct: it’s not “rocket science.”
MacBook keyboards have been universally praised in every review that mentions them – as have MacBook Pro keyboards, by the way.
Now sit down and keep that helmet on!. We’re not at the home, yet.
In Lost, what was the computer used to “Enter the code”?
*hint* It wasn’t a Mac.
Oh SHEET!!! My Little Snitch just went off, Apple installed a new process in this last update.
dashboardadvisoryd WTF??
The application “dashboardadvisoryd” wants to connect to http://www.apple.com on TCP port 80 (http)
Hmmm, what is Apple up too? First the Dock and now this process contacts Apple.
APPLE ][
I believe, is used in “Lost”
What’s my prize?
Ah, ‘botvinnik’ you O.K. bud?
Try to keep up.
MDN Magic Word: “quality”. That’s it, I think MDN is pulling words based on the articles. If not, it’s so eerie.
Its one of the greatest laws in business:
The only thing worse than recalling or fixing a broken product is not recalling or fixing a broken product.
Apple know this lesson well.
Z
My friend accidently pissed on my new MacBook keyboard the other day. Why did the keyboard turn yellow? Apple said they would replace my whole line of Apple products for the defect.
Hm.
APPLE ][
I believe, is used in “Lost”
correct
What’s my prize?
That your the first with the right answer.
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At Apple, quality is job 1. Or is it 2? or 3? where’s lee iacocca when you need him??
I reiterate for you youngsters who are new to computers, Apple has not made a decent keyboard since the G3 tower; where you rest your hands are an ergonomic no-brainer, so that is indeed part of the keyboard. Apple keyboards are practically worthless, from the iBook to the G5 pro keyboard: they are mushy and lifeless, similar to Short Bus’s sex life.
theres no better keyboards than apples.
have you tried using a dell? its like pushing on small stones at the beach.
this news makes me happy.
as an owner of a macbook i was worried about the fact that if i did get some discoloration on mine i would be stuffed. but this is good news.
although on the site: http://stainedbook.info/ there are photos of the discoloration happening up around the iSight. this wouldnt suprise me because this is where you touch to open the laptop everytime.
any ideas of what serial numbers have the new plastic? my macbook is 4H623XXXXXX hopefully its one of the ones with the new plastic.
“Sure they couldn’t do a whole lot of product testing in the first place and maintain their secrecy regarding new products at the same time.”
If you had to test every product for every single possible thing that maybe might could go wrong with it, you’d never get a product out the door. Something like this you just have to fix it as you go, and I’m glad Apple is doing just that.
Good for Apple. Now maybe I should start a website called: “Dead Frickin’ Airport Express” to help the thousands of people who had their Airport Express die right after the warranty period expires.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=222954&tstart=15
Wow, Apple let their mood colour macs out early. Imagine a Mac that changes colour as you use it. They would sell like hotcakes.
TAKE A BATH, NERDS!! It’s not Apple’s fault you are filthy!
And just think of all you “the Apple consumer is always wrong” types – including MDN – who were blaming this on the Apple consumers; not shoddy work by Apple.
You guys are totally nutz!!!
Macbook Armpit Edition? Raise your hand if you’re Sure.
Whew! This could have been a disaster for Apple if they had stuck their heads up their arses in denial. It was obvious, from reports of the inability to clean the stained areas, that it was a chemical and/or porosity problem. The MacBook is expected to be the biggest selling Mac ever and this incident could have led to a disaster for Apple if they did not jump on it. Jobs is not stupid. He must have gotten on the case early in the game.
“And you see why we love Apple so much”
and days ago “we” were in denial & making all kind of excuses about the problem being the buyers fault.
many love apple too much.
Apple always does the right thing for their customers.
They just have to validate and isolate the problem before addressing.
Back in my gigging days, I played with a guitar player that had the worst (chemically speaking) hands I ever met…
Bass strings, for those that don’t know, are rather expensive. I let him play my bass for less than one song, and the next day the strings were totally dead!
He was fastidious in his personal habits. Some people’s hands are just corrosive. I think that’s what we’re seeing here.
It was the right thing to do for Apple to replace the defective cases. And if the newer part has changed slightly most likely this problem has been fixed. Great work Apple, that’s how to make your customers happy again.