Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Unibody quality issue

P

Puqq

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2009
117
0
My 2yr old MBP started showing a peculiar wear on the body approximately in a year after purchase. The right palm rest edge (above the status LED and to the right) started darkening and became quite rough. Initially I assumed it was some sort of my mishandling, yet a couple of days ago I spotted that my friends computer has the same problem. Both of us use computers mainly at home and wear watches on the left arm only- I cannot think of any other source of this problem.

Has anyone experienced such wear?

I have also realised mine's lid is noticeable offset (1-1.5mm of the above edge is not covered). Though the friends MBP seems to be OK. Could I possibly have readjustment / repair for this issue under warranty?
 
Puqq said:
My 2yr old MBP started showing a peculiar wear on the body approximately in a year after purchase. The right palm rest edge (above the status LED and to the right) started darkening and became quite rough. Initially I assumed it was some sort of my mishandling, yet a couple of days ago I spotted that my friends computer has the same problem. Both of us use computers mainly at home and wear watches on the left arm only- I cannot think of any other source of this problem.

Has anyone experienced such wear?

I have also realised mine's lid is noticeable offset (1-1.5mm of the above edge is not covered). Though the friends MBP seems to be OK. Could I possibly have readjustment / repair for this issue under warranty?
Click to expand...

Some people with particularly acidic sweat can cause pitting of the aluminum's finish. A friend of mine has the same "problem" on his older computer, mine is spotless and they both have roughly the same age/usage pattern.
 
snaky69 said:
Some people with particularly acidic sweat can cause pitting of the aluminum's finish. A friend of mine has the same "problem" on his older computer, mine is spotless and they both have roughly the same age/usage pattern.
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense.

Do you know whether Apple can do anything about this?
 
Same here. When I have my hand on too long, the sweat usually wares my MBP.

I have couple black spots on the right side palm rest due to my sweat and dirt.

The only best option is to clean off your sweat if you notice it and clean it with substances such as "iClean".
 
snaky69 said:
Some people with particularly acidic sweat can cause pitting of the aluminum's finish.
Click to expand...

I've seen many like this at the office, therefore I think ones sweat has very little effect on it. Not all of these people have the same ph. It's one of the weaknesses of Aluminum as used by Apple. It's beginning on my MBP as well. Had Apple put a good clear-coat on it, there would be no problem.

Ironically my fresh as new, 2009 ThinkPad T with it's super durable composite carbon fiber... shows no such degradation. To top it off, it was $800 less than the MBP and has held up so much better.

Just because it's more expensive doesn't' always mean it's higher quality. Oh well that's the price I pay for preferring Macs and OS X. I won't quit using Macs until they've made them too similar to iOS :)
 
ixodes said:
I've seen many like this at the office, therefore I think ones sweat has very little effect on it. Not all of these people have the same ph. It's one of the weaknesses of Aluminum as used by Apple. It's beginning on my MBP as well. Had Apple put a good clear-coat on it, there would be no problem.

Ironically my fresh as new, 2009 ThinkPad T with it's super durable composite carbon fiber... shows no such degradation. To top it off, it was $800 less than the MBP and has held up so much better.

Just because it's more expensive doesn't' always mean it's higher quality. Oh well that's the price I pay for preferring Macs and OS X. I won't quit using Macs until they've made them too similar to iOS :)
Click to expand...

If one's sweat has no effect on it, why does mine show absolutely no signs of pitting? It's been used the same way for 4 years now, and I always rest my hands there, if it were to pit, it would've.
 
Ves said:
Perhaps Palmguard from Moshi is an (future) option.

http://store.moshimonde.com/macbook/palmguard.html
Click to expand...

As soon as I bought my 17" in August, I purchased this, an incase shell and a top case keyboard cover. Couldn't be happier with my purchase, as I wear a watch on my left and a tungsten bracelet on my right arm. This has definitely eliminated any possible wear effects that could arise from those.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back