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My Unibody MacBook Pro Fire!

kenbrinkman

kenbrinkman

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 20, 2009
166
0
Daytona Beach, FL
Here's two links to pages on my MacBook Pro fire that happened last night. Apple is making a huge deal about this in terms of liability. I received several calls from the Apple Store and the Apple corporate headquarters in California.

Just a really scary experience. It really could have been bad.

My TUAW Article

My Mac-Forums Posting ( <- pictures here)
 
rgarjr said:
Care to tell us how/what happened that night?
Click to expand...
So the story is that I was doing an initial backup over my network to a time capsule. It needed to copy over 100GB of data and, as the manual states, "you may need to plug your computer in and leave it on overnight to complete the first backup". And that's what I did. I woke up an hour and a half later with it burning. I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad if I caught it early, but I was asleep. There was smoke coming out of the keyboard, around the edges and out the ports on the left side. It wasn't a black smoke really, it seemed like a lighter, grayer smoke. The magsafe, though, was completely engulfed. There were green flames coming off of it. I had a folder underneath the computer too and that burned as well.

Another thing, I believe it's the computer not the magsafe. This laptop has broken two other power supplies, granted not to this extent. Yesterday, I just got the laptop back from the Apple Store again because the logic board and fan assembly needed to be replaced, I think due to the same issue. I was so happy to get it home only to find 6 hours later it was on fire.

I am a perfectionist when it comes to my Apple products. I always utilize safe operating procedures when it comes to the magsafe.

I just got back from the Apple Store today and they're replacing it, no charge.
 
This is scary. Good thing you caught it in time. It seems that this is a very common problem. How come it hasn't been blown up yet?

Keep us updated on what's happening between you and the Apple guys in Cali!
 
Congrats on the replacement OP. Yeah, you are definitely lucky to have been home and able to catch it before it got worse. Continue to pursue additional compensation (a couple thousand dollars in Apple Cards/iTunes Cards would be a nice start and of course their maxed-out MBP, and don't forget the new iPhone to call 9-1-1).....:eek::cool::eek::cool:
 
If you had pictures of the magsafe with the flames and smoke coming off of it, that would have been amazing. Then you could be like.....um hey, how bout a new mac, or i let this scary little pic out lol. But it appears in your case that you have the magunsafe lol.
 
I would have tried to get a macbook pro out of them. That could be very dangerous if you were not home...Or I guess even if you were home. Im glad everything turned out ok though.
 
Hard luck buddy,
Apple loves to be bleeding edge with design rather than tried and tested technology. I guess what you gain in sexiness and functionality, you lose in your **** catching on fire.
 
Pretty scary.

A guess it is a huge reminder to us all that no product is perfect - Apple, or any brand, and that you should be cautious in general when leaving anything on unattended, be it a TV, computer or a mobile phone charging.

Glad the OP is ok, Mac getting replaced etc. Did you have a smoke alarm in the room the fire was in?
 
Getting a free replacement is the minimum to ask for. This was a life threatening defect, not to mention that it could have burned down all your belonging.

And that thing was just coming from their service, right?

What about compensation for your burned cabinet?

Apart from that: Fire detectors are to cheap these days. Always have at least one at home! Uncountable times one of these told me to get those "charcoal" buns out of the oven. :rolleyes:

brandmelder.jpg
 
WOW!!! Those pics are pretty nasty! I am glad you saw it before it got real bad. Also glad you are getting it replaced too! It is a good lesson to us all.
 
kenbrinkman said:
So the story is that I was doing an initial backup over my network to a time capsule. It needed to copy over 100GB of data and, as the manual states, "you may need to plug your computer in and leave it on overnight to complete the first backup". And that's what I did. I woke up an hour and a half later with it burning. I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad if I caught it early, but I was asleep. There was smoke coming out of the keyboard, around the edges and out the ports on the left side. It wasn't a black smoke really, it seemed like a lighter, grayer smoke. The magsafe, though, was completely engulfed. There were green flames coming off of it. I had a folder underneath the computer too and that burned as well.

Another thing, I believe it's the computer not the magsafe. This laptop has broken two other power supplies, granted not to this extent. Yesterday, I just got the laptop back from the Apple Store again because the logic board and fan assembly needed to be replaced, I think due to the same issue. I was so happy to get it home only to find 6 hours later it was on fire.

I am a perfectionist when it comes to my Apple products. I always utilize safe operating procedures when it comes to the magsafe.

I just got back from the Apple Store today and they're replacing it, no charge.
Click to expand...

They need to do a helluva lot more than replace the laptop. This could have been extremely serious, and killed people.
 
polaris20 said:
They need to do a helluva lot more than replace the laptop. This could have been extremely serious, and killed people.
Click to expand...

+1. You should have talked to Steve Jobs himself and asked for the new iPhone that they may or may not release in 2 weeks.

Seriously, I would have asked to be upgraded to a 17 inch MacBook Pro for free for the trouble/scare.
 
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