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Does your white macbook show signs of discoloration?

  • YES

    Votes: 55 25.3%
  • NO

    Votes: 162 74.7%

  • Total voters
    217
I just noticed what looks like the start of discoloration on mine yesterday! Damn! I'll keep an eye on it to see if it starts getting out of control.

i've got a week 20 MB.
 
<stupid question> How do you know waht week your macbook is? Just...count the number of weeks between release and purchase?? </stupid question>
 
beg_ne said:
I just noticed what looks like the start of discoloration on mine yesterday! Damn! I'll keep an eye on it to see if it starts getting out of control.

i've got a week 20 MB.

If you can afford to be without it for a few days, you might as well just get it fixed now. I guarantee that it will get worse as time goes on. Mine is not horrible yet, but has gone from "am I seeing things?" to "that looks bad" in just a few weeks.

My local apple store ordered a new top case for me, and I'm bringing the macbook in on friday to have them install it.

edit:
purelithium said:
it's the 3rd and 4th character in your serial number

It can't be the 3rd and 4th in the serial number... It's gotta be either the 3rd and 4th in your build number (21 for me) or the 4th and 5th in the serial number (20 for me).
 
discoloration

I have had mine for about a month and a hafl.. and ther eis slight discoloration on palm rest. they look really light almost a dark shadow but when you look at a angle u can tell where its getting darker.. i want to send it into apple but only if i can def get it fixed and replaced. i dont want it sent back like pssh there is nothing there.
 
White 2 GHz MacBook, week 25, had it for a week with intensive use, I both use an external keyboard and the built-in one resting my hands on the computer itself, and normal skin.

No discoloration at all.
 
Week 19 white MacBook.

In the past four days I've noticed that hideous black stains have sprung up on the palm rest and on the trackpad's mouse button.

I've washed my hands religiously before using the MacBook, so the problem certainly is not with 'greasy hands'. Also, attempting to clean the stained area is an excercise in utter frustration. For thirty minutes, I cleaned and cleaned - there's nothing you can do to remove the stains.

Honestly, the stains are so bad that it appears my computer is at least two years old, and that it was never cleaned.

I am seriously pissed off.
 
WabeWalker said:
Week 19 white MacBook.

In the past four days I've noticed that hideous black stains have sprung up on the palm rest and on the trackpad's mouse button.

I've washed my hands religiously before using the MacBook, so the problem certainly is not with 'greasy hands'. Also, attempting to clean the stained area is an excercise in utter frustration. For thirty minutes, I cleaned and cleaned - there's nothing you can do to remove the stains.

Honestly, the stains are so bad that it appears my computer is at least two years old, and that it was never cleaned.

I am seriously pissed off.
Have you called Apple yet to get the top cover replaced? If so it would be great to hear how it went.

So far we've had yellow, brown, blue and black discolorations, can we get all the colors in the rainbow? ;)
 
mine has some red stains, i think its from some rasberry syrup. dont ask how it got there...
 
clasicks said:
mine has some red stains, i think its from some rasberry syrup. dont ask how it got there...

Is this supposed to be funny?

If so, then okay. I have nothing against that. If you're suggesting that I'm making all of this up then that just pisses me off

My MacBook has been with Apple for over a week now - that's one week during wich I've had to stay at home, anchored to my desktop PC. There's no assurance from Apple that the discoloring won't reappear on the new top cover. In fact, a local technician has said, verbally, that Apple has NOT found a solution. People here at this forum who have had their top covers replaced, however, have said that their new cover is 'a different color' and 'feels different'. Well, what am I supposed to do? Sit around and wait for Apple to make some kind of announcement that the problem has been resolved - Apple hasn't even acknowledged that there is a problem!

Well, I bit the bullet and sent the MacBook in.

Serioulsy the stains are disgusting. While I was at a coffee shop, one woman, interested in having a look at 'the new iBook', even asked me why I didn't take more care to clean my computer, which she thought was otherwise beautiful.

Maybe for you money grows on trees. For me it does not. When I spend this much money on a new computer I don't expect it to have hideous, unremovable stains on it after just five weeks.

And by the way, people can't agree on what the color is for one simple reason: It's not obvious what the color is. It's more of a smudge than a color.
 
Had mine a month almost with no signs of discolouration but have been using a mix of MacBook keyboard and external keyboard, probably half and half. I'd say I have 'normal' hands :eek:

Manufactured week 22 (between May 28th - June 3rd) bought on the 28th June. It moos at 66C.

Usage: I'd say highly intensive - it's been H.264ing my DVDs for 14-24 hours a day for the past two weeks, running at 78C with fans on all the time when encoding.
 
I thought Apple already admit this problem, and offering a service to fix it to anyone who is afflicted? That's what that press release said I believe.
 
dpaanlka said:
I thought Apple already admit this problem, and offering a service to fix it to anyone who is afflicted? That's what that press release said I believe.

That's the problem. They know it's out there, but really have done nothing to change the actual affected part. They just replace the top cover with another one, and 5 weeks later, that one is discoloured too.

Apple needs to change the material it's made of, or put a fricton/solvent resistant lacquer on it... I'm thinking about getting them to put a new top cover on mine and then I'll lacquer it myself....
 
Week 26, no discoloration. It's only been out of the box 3 days, though ;)

The MacBook's palmrest plastic feels softer to me than on my iBook. My iBook's palmrest just got replaced (sleep issues), so I'm comparing two essentially new components.
 
Mine's a week 20, and 2months old now. There is a slight yellow mark on the right side of the touchpad now :( I have a feeling it's going to get much worse.
 
I had a week 24 MacBook and returned it a week ago to the Apple Store in Walnut Creek because of the discoloration issue. I wash my hands plenty of times during the day.. and obviously before using the MacBook. The stains were hard to notice during regular use, but when I happened to place it at an angle, the stains were small but obvious and I did not want them to get worse. Being that it was my first Mac [and all white computer, at that] I was obsessed with keeping it clean, but it still didn't stop the staining. I called the store first and they immediately told me to come in. They recognized the problem and there were eager to exchange it for a new one, even though I purchased it over two weeks before. I must say, I can already feel the difference in they material and it's as white as can be.

Go Giants!
 
Talking to the Apple Store in Toronto at Yorkdale Mall on the phone...

They started off denying that this was an issue and I asked the guy on the phone to ask a Genius about it. I was on hold for about 5 minutes, and then he came back saying that they'll replace whatever is affected.

So I guess I'll take the 2 hour drive to the store to see what's up, I'd really actually like a nice pristine macbook for when I go to Mexico next monday...
 
looks like my "no" should actually be a "yes". it's been about 3 weeks and has just now started showing signs of the discoloration... :(

and this is actually the replacement of an originally bought MB (i traded my PB for this one, which the guy before me had just gotten as a replacement for the one he'd bought back when they first came out).

ah well, looks like a call is in order...

btw, this is a week 26.
 
had it about 4 weeks none yet, BUT i think some is starting to creep up from the bottom of the case where the magnets latch. its a little dark. There is some dirt. i try to clean it regularly. I could be paranoid. Could someone tell me the best way to deal with this.

what bothers me more are the scratches that are coming on the lid.
 
mashinhead said:
had it about 4 weeks none yet, BUT i think some is starting to creep up from the bottom of the case where the magnets latch. its a little dark. There is some dirt. i try to clean it regularly. I could be paranoid. Could someone tell me the best way to deal with this.

what bothers me more are the scratches that are coming on the lid.

If the scratches bother you more than the discoloration, then just wait a while longer - the scratches pale in comparison to the hideous stains. The stains are just disgusting, and look completely out of place. Imagine having a conversation with a drop dead gorgeous blond, but everytime she smiles you end up seeing her yellow teeth. Okay, that's what the disoloration on the MacBook is like.
 
I picked up a 2GHz white MacBook two weeks ago today. By Saturday of that week the palmrests were turning visibly orange. I took it into the Edinburgh Apple Centre and they replaced it with a brand new machine. Hooray!

Just a shame that the second machine appears to be from the same batch, and five days later it too is turning a remarkable peachy colour all over the palmrest and this time on the trackpad button too.

Perhaps not the best experience for someone switching to Apple from PC, if it wasn't otherwise such an excellent little machine I'd have gone nuts by now!
 
rodti said:
Perhaps not the best experience for someone switching to Apple from PC, if it wasn't otherwise such an excellent little machine I'd have gone nuts by now!

I agree with you. I'm on my second MacBook partly because the first one discolored within two weeks. I was lucky enough to get a replacement that hasn't discolored (on its third week) from my Apple Store with no problems. I think you should take your new one back and try for a good MB one more time! And, I must admit, it makes me kinda sick to use Windows now. I don't know what took me so long to switch.. but I'm so happy that I did. :cool:

Good luck!
 
24 people voting yes, but only about 6 or 7 who've said so on the thread? So much for "definitive". :rolleyes:

Someone was concerned that a repaired or replaced MB would discolor as well...has anyone had a repair or replacement and the second one has discolored too?

FYI, apple says the units effected have serial numbers in the range 4H617 to 4H627. If you get a replacement (or buy a new machine), probably a good idea to try and get one newer than that.
 
milo said:
FYI, apple says the units effected have serial numbers in the range 4H617 to 4H627.
He-he... my MacBook is smack in the middle of that, week 22, and shows no signs of discolouration after 7 weeks of (heavy) use...
 
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