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Error May Cause MacBook Heat Issues

By Nate Mook, BetaNews

June 6, 2006, 12:10 PM

Not one to usually admit problems with its products, Apple acknowledged in a recent support article that heat issues reported by customers of the new MacBook laptops may be the result of a manufacturing slip-up. A piece of plastic may have been left on some systems, which covers the device's rear vent.

"This is used in the factory to prevent dust from getting into your computer. If your MacBook has the plastic still over the vent, simply remove and discard it," Apple said. The company also noted that it is normal for MacBooks to become hot after extended usage, as "increased operating temperatures in portable computing products are common throughout the industry."

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By zxocuteboy

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 10:14 AM

How is apple planning of fixing this?

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 10:55 AM

They'll be sending you a tweezers shortly. ;P

Score: 0

By drumcat

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 3:26 AM

iVent?

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 9:03 AM

No, iDon'tVent.

Score: 0

By GS5

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 7:36 PM

Wait a minute, I thought Apple computers were flawless!!! :-)

Sure, blame the piece of plastic. Maybe it's the fact that they are using Intel chips. It's no secret that Intel chips, though very good also run very hot. Maybe Apple should have gone with AMD since they’re just about to rule the market;-) AMD has a great track record when it comes to high speeds and low power consumption. But hey, I guess it’s probably that piece of plastic. (wink, wink) lol

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 7:48 PM

Intel has been around for decades. AMD has had stability and reliability issues that have plagued them since they came out and have only just begun to show promise in those areas with the last 2 generations of chips.

Any major manufacturer worth a hill of beans will take that into account and very easily wonder how long it will take them to fall back into old habits.

I am a big fan of AMD, but I would *not* rest my entire product line on the laurels of only 2 generations.

Score: 0

By Kramy

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 1:36 AM

But what about Intel? They've had crap for 3 or more generations now.

P1/P2/P3/P4 all make me cry. Conroe looks good, but IMHO that's their first quality chip in a while.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 8:59 AM

The first pentium was crap. But then, would you buy the first model of *anything* and expect it to be *flawless*?

Their chips since have been very stable and reliable. They may underperform, they may run hot, but they run, and they run well.

Personally, I hope conroe fails miserably. AMD could use that extra time.

Score: 0

By xprizex

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 1:57 AM

So true, Intel slacked off and AMD over took them. In 3 years AMD has come very far. Now it's a real battle for the CPU title.

Score: 0

By smarterthanyou

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 4:17 AM

Intel's only mistake was the Netburst architecture. The P1/P2/P3 processors were the most powerful PC processors of their time compared to the AMD K5 and K6 processors. The only decent processors AMD has made so far are the 32-bit and 64-bit Athlon processors.

Score: 0

By Tokar

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 3:47 PM

What a bonehead move.

Its like telling an oral surgeon: "your NO2 tank might explode since we forgot to allow the exit valve to actually open."

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 4:16 PM

Actually it's not. Not a bit, really. NO2 tanks exploding might well prove fatal. A crashing Macbook, at most, might cause a bit of sobbing on the part of a hardcore macaddict, but fatalities should be low. ;)

Score: 0

By Tokar

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 12:52 PM

Is the crotch area known to recover from molten plastic wounds?

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 2:07 PM

If it gets to that I'd wonder what you've been doing to make it so insensitive to heat to begin with. ;)

Score: 0

By GCoder

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 2:10 PM

What happened to Apple's quality control? It used to be good...

Score: 0

By Fickleflame

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 5:52 PM

OMG Were talking about a small bit of plastic!!! Quality Control? Buy a mac, then say that!

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 7:45 PM

OMG Were talking about a small bit of plastic!

Blocking the fan...

One might think at least *one* person might have noticed that.

Score: 0

By Tenoq

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 12:02 AM

Indeed. What sort of brainless user wouldn't notice a piece of plastic over a vent? :P

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 9:03 AM

On a laptop?

Am I the only one who checks the fan when I turn my laptop on?

Seriosuly...if there's anything that's going to kill a laptop, it's the fans not working.

Score: 0

By GS5

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 1:32 AM

uhmmm....a Mac user?!! lol;-)

Score: 0

By Bogunch

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:52 PM

Whoops!! There goes the MacJunk quality!

Score: 0

By yleclerc

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 12:30 PM

Not only this problem but Apple tech support apparently has a "standing rule" to apply a tube of "thermal grease" to the CPU and video chips. Most "hard-core" PC enthusiasts, who make their own PCs, know that only a "dab" is required.

Score: 0

By Tenoq

posted Jun 7, 2006 - 12:05 AM

As goes for most manufacturers. You ever had a look at how much thermal pad is on a stock heatsink? Or how much is in your Dell? Or perhaps looked under your GPU heatsink, or chipset heatsink?

You might very well replace "Apple tech support" with "tech support" as the same applies for nearly any company. I know if I was telling a user to put thermal paste on, I'd say use more rather than less. Why take the risk? There's no real downside to using too much. 1-2 degrees celcius, at most. :P

Score: 0

By azazel-

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:26 PM

It's not like it's a full tube of Artic Silver 5 or something. Each full tube only contains a small ammount, but still more than the dab required for most aftermarket compounds. Yeah, they use a bit too much thermal compound...will it hurt anything? Not really. It's probably just more expedient this way.

Score: 0

By ds0934

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 12:20 PM

Sounds like iCrash to me. :)

Score: 0

By skimore

posted Jun 6, 2006 - 1:03 PM

I had to return one of these new laptop it died within 12 hours of use. The apple tech said it was dead before we told him it was dead. He want us to send it in for repair. I sent it back to refund. Everyone is having this problem.. wait a while for apple to fix it then get one. make sure it's not a refeb'd unit since they will have alot of them to sell.

Score: 0

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