Question for recent Macbook Purchasers.

[waremaster]

Hello,

I purchased a macbook aluminum 2.4ghz on Saturday but had some problems with it and had to exchange it. But while I had it I had a chance to do the updates and those updates included an EFI update and an SMC update.

On Sunday I had the Apple store exchange it for another one. When the guy brought the machine out of the back room I could tell that the box had been opened and I accepted his reasoning of they had to open it to put the iLife09 disc in the box. But the more I looked at the machine I was really wondering if it had been used for a couple of reasons. 1.) there was a bit of dust and grime on the display. I say grime but what I mean is there was just a spot that had to be washed with a damp cloth in order to get it off. No big deal I thought. But then I did all of my updates on this "New" machine and noticed I wasn’t prompted to do either the EFI or SMC updates.

From what I have read the SMC update 1.3 came out on 02/17/09. So my question is.. Is there a way to determine when my machine was made?

I had called and asked to speak to the manager and she said "Well the machine was probably manufactured after those updates came out" So if that’s true I will just deal with it but if my machine had been in the hands of someone else prior to me purchasing it I would want a new one. After all I did pay $1600.00 for this machine and I wanted a new machine.

What do you guys think?

Thank you for reading my long winded post.

 

[NC MacGuy]

The third-fifth digits of your serial number. They show week and year. ex. w8901 = manufactured week 1 of '09.

 

[waremaster]

My serial # is W8904 and my SMC version is 1.32f8

and here is some info from the Apple site.

MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.32f8 (SMC 1.2)
MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.38f5 (SMC 1.3)

It is looking more and more like I either got a return or a refurb.

My machine should have shipped with SMC 1.2 and updated to SMC 1.32f8 as of 02/17/09.

 

[NC MacGuy]

My serial # is W8904 and my SMC version is 1.32f8

and here is some info from the Apple site.

MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.32f8 (SMC 1.2)
MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.38f5 (SMC 1.3)

It is looking more and more like I either got a return or a refurb.

My machine should have shipped with SMC 1.2 and updated to SMC 1.32f8 as of 02/17/09.

Your MB was made in week four of 2009.

 

[waremaster]

Your MB was made in week four of 2009.

Right and that means it was made before the update came out.

I should mention the other reason I was concerned.. I was installing my Adobe Suite on the machine and during that install which was quite lengthy the temperature got to 174F and that slightly annoyed me.

 

[uicandrew]

From what I have read the SMC update 1.3 came out on 02/17/09. So my question is.. Is there a way to determine when my machine was made?

stop freaking out. take a deep breath, clear your mind, and think.

the smc update you're referring to is only applicable to the white macbooks.

if you read the smc update page, it says so.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3435

stop worrying.

 

[waremaster]

stop freaking out. take a deep breath, clear your mind, and think.

the smc update you're referring to is only applicable to the white macbooks.

if you read the smc update page, it says so.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3435

stop worrying.

That is actually not true. The update did get applied to my first macbook that I purchased only 1 day earlier. What bothered me was the fact that the one they replaced it with already had it installed. Look at the table that provided in the link.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237

 

[uicandrew]

i understand what you're saying, but there was another EFI update released specifically for the aluminum macbooks a while back

https://www.macrumors.com/2008/12/10/apple-releases-firmware-updates-for-late-2008-portables/

it is also called EFI 1.3

so what the manager told you still applies.

EFI released in December, your macbook was made in 2009

your macbook was made AFTER the update came out

 

[shady825]

Right and that means it was made before the update came out.

I should mention the other reason I was concerned.. I was installing my Adobe Suite on the machine and during that install which was quite lengthy the temperature got to 174F and that slightly annoyed me.

MacBook's run pretty hot. Thats nothing to worry about.
If it was at 174F all day then thats a different story. I assume it was just when you were installing Adobe Suite?

 

[waremaster]

i understand what you're saying, but there was another EFI update released specifically for the aluminum macbooks a while back

https://www.macrumors.com/2008/12/10/apple-releases-firmware-updates-for-late-2008-portables/

it is also EFI 1.3

That site lists MacBook SMC Firmware Update 1.2 (556 KB) which coincides with the table.

I havent even checked the EFI update release dates. But I can tell you that both had already been done on this machine.

 

[waremaster]

MacBook's run pretty hot. Thats nothing to worry about.
If it was at 174F all day then thats a different story. I assume it was just when you were installing Adobe Suite?

Yes to be honest after the install was finished I shut it down and waited till it got cold before I turned it back on.

 

[shady825]

Yes to be honest after the install was finished I shut it down and waited till it got cold before I turned it back on.

Yea everythings fine man. Mine gets pretty hot when doing a lot of photo editing or in your case installing a program. It worried me at first to but mac's just seem to run a bit hotter.
Enjoy the new machine!!

 

[waremaster]

Yea everythings fine man. Mine gets pretty hot when doing a lot of photo editing or in your case installing a program. It worried me at first to but mac's just seem to run a bit hotter.
Enjoy the new machine!!

But the real question was isn't it funny that I was sold a "new" machine yet the EFI and SMC updates had been done on the machine and it was obvious the box had been opened. That could have only happened if the machine had been opened used for a bit maybe updated and then the OS would have had to have been reinstalled in order for me to still have to redo every other update. I guess I just don't like the fact that someone else would have had to use the machine before me. If it was a return then what was the reason for the return and why would they not tell me that when I bought it?

In order for those updates to have been preinstalled on my machine the machine would have had to been manufactured in the 8th week of 09 minimum but based on my serial # it was made in the 4th week of 09 do you see why it bothers me?

 

[uicandrew]

But the real question was isn't it funny that I was sold a "new" machine yet the EFI and SMC updates had been done on the machine and it was obvious the box had been opened.

But didn't I prove in my post that the efi update FOR THE ALUMINUM macbook came out before your machine was built, therefore, there was no prompting for you to do an EFI update?

 

[waremaster]

But didn't I prove in my post that the efi update FOR THE ALUMINUM macbook came out before your machine was built, therefore, there was no prompting for you to do an EFI update?

No you are talking EFI I am talking SMC. They are both firmware updates but SMC controlls the system management controller. Which of other things controls fan speeds and such. The absolute newest macbooks get a different version yet.

MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.38f5 (SMC 1.3) vs what mine should have come with.

MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.32f8 (SMC 1.2)

 

[HockeyGuy]

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Hello,

I purchased a macbook aluminum 2.4ghz on Saturday but had some problems with it and had to exchange it. But while I had it I had a chance to do the updates and those updates included an EFI update and an SMC update.

On Sunday I had the Apple store exchange it for another one. When the guy brought the machine out of the back room I could tell that the box had been opened and I accepted his reasoning of they had to open it to put the iLife09 disc in the box. But the more I looked at the machine I was really wondering if it had been used for a couple of reasons. 1.) there was a bit of dust and grime on the display. I say grime but what I mean is there was just a spot that had to be washed with a damp cloth in order to get it off. No big deal I thought. But then I did all of my updates on this "New" machine and noticed I wasn’t prompted to do either the EFI or SMC updates.

From what I have read the SMC update 1.3 came out on 02/17/09. So my question is.. Is there a way to determine when my machine was made?

I had called and asked to speak to the manager and she said "Well the machine was probably manufactured after those updates came out" So if that’s true I will just deal with it but if my machine had been in the hands of someone else prior to me purchasing it I would want a new one. After all I did pay $1600.00 for this machine and I wanted a new machine.

What do you guys think?

Thank you for reading my long winded post.

why did you return the original MacBook?

 

[waremaster]

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why did you return the original MacBook?

I returned the original one because of two reasons 1 I was unable to read the original install DVD's that came with it. I wanted to do a system restore onto a bigger HD when I realized I could not read the disks to do so. And the other reason was no matter what I did I could not get bootcamp to install and boot windows. When I did the drive as a fat32 drive I got "Drive Error" and when I tried as an NTFS partition I got a missing or corrupt hal.dll error.

So the first thing I did was goto the apple store with my discs and checked that the display model would or would not even boot my disks and they didnt either. So that meant bad media right? But yet my machine still would not work with bootcamp. I bought the machine to be both a windows and mac osx laptop afterall. I have had previous experience doing bootcamp installs as I also have a mac pro and was one of the original people to help get it running at full speed on the mac pros back in 2006.

 

[alphaod]

Now let's analyze this; if you got a computer and the firmware did not release publically, but you had the updated one, would you still be concerned?

I certainly hope not!

Same idea—firmware for a router; friend bought a router with Build 4 firmware; I had to wait almost 6 months for the firmware to be available for me to download.

Just because your computer came with firmware release after what you think is the build date does not mean you computer is used or refurbished.

 

[sallythemac]

No you are talking EFI I am talking SMC. They are both firmware updates but SMC controlls the system management controller. Which of other things controls fan speeds and such. The absolute newest macbooks get a different version yet.

MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.38f5 (SMC 1.3) vs what mine should have come with.

MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3) 1.32f8 (SMC 1.2)

Am i missing something... but what's this MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)?? Wasn't the last MacBook revision October '08? I bought my MB last week and the SMC number matches that of MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3)...

Answering that question might answer waremaster's...

 

[fibrizo]

Am i missing something... but what's this MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)?? Wasn't the last MacBook revision October '08? I bought my MB last week and the SMC number matches that of MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009) MB51.0073.B06 (EFI 1.3)...

Answering that question might answer waremaster's...

That's the new nvidia whitebook. -_- The EFI and SMC update for the aluminum one was on Dec 10 2008. My first defective Macbook aluminum 2.0ghz had it already installed.. (3rd week of dec 08 build) while my new macbook aluminum 2.4ghz did not (3rd week of oct 08) build, and asked me to update it.

The 1.3 SMC update only applies to the nvidia polycarbonate macbook, since yours is not a nvidia polycarbonate macbook, it does not apply.

My 2.4ghz macbook aluminum with all updates (I check daily) is running SMC version 1.32f8 (or 1.2 if you will.)

I think that your macbook was built after the SMC update release on 12/10/08... and I think that either A. Someone at the factory didn't follow protocol when closing it up (ie ungloved hand etc) or the store people touched it when they put in the disc. Of course it comes in plastic wrap, which would most likely show any tampering, which you haven't stated if it looked like new or not. But the EFI and SMC should not need updating if your computer was built this year.

To sum it up. Your computer is up to date. No matter what your computer will not update to SMC version 1.3 because it is not for your computer. Your computer was built after 12/10/08 so it already has the latest EFI and SMC updates applied.

 

[Chase R]

Dude... you need to take a chillaxative.