Discolouration

They tremble as they kneel before their almighty god, voicing their pain and hurt, but afraid to hear what they themselves are saying.

There's a still amongst them - a hushed fear. For they know they've been out of line again and they expect to be punished. They're waiting for the blow to fall. They deserve it. They're not abused - they just walked into a door again. Or fell down the stairs. This happens because their god loves them so much. It's their fault. Truly their fault, they will tell you.

Apple currently have no laptop worth investing in. Not a single one without major design flaws. They're all plagued with flaking paint, mooing, whining, overheating - now add discolouration to the mix.

Other OEMs never have these issues. Other OEMs are more ethical. But the other OEMs aren't running a cult.

Remember the poor sod who lost all his pictures of his newborn child because someone at Apple screwed up the final release of Panther and the install hosed all attached FireWire drives? It was never an issue in the betas.

Remember how Apple tried to blame the OEM making the drive? Remember how the OEM timidly protested they'd changed nothing?

Remember how it was all forgotten in a matter of days?

Remember how the fanboy community bashed the poor sod? For he'd made the one unforgivable mistake: he'd raised his voice against Apple and you just don't do that.

Things are getting desperate for the fanboys. The last G4 PowerBooks off the line had screen issues; the 12 inch G4 PowerBook was never any good; the MacBook Pro whined and mooed and overheated - and it turned out it was covered in an elephant stool of thermal grease...

Then the MacBook, the successor to the fabulous iBook, came out - and it started all over again. Whining, mooing - price gouging ($150 extra for a different colour coat of paint). A new keyboard which makes maintenance much more expensive; flaky black paint, recorded temperatures up to 95°C, gobs more destructive thermal grease - and now this: whether by overheating or by simply reverting to substandard products Apple have a discolouration issue on their hands. MacBooks start turning orange brown in three places and there's no cure.

And Apple will just pretend the issue doesn't exist, pretend the customers who get burned on their expensive purchases don't exist - and the fanboy logic layer will dictate that the unaffected also pretend those unfortunate souls don't exist - and then all can go on as before.

Jonestown has been saved from destruction.

And in about ten years CNET and Time and Business Week will have articles about how bad Apple products were 'way back then' (but not now).

And nobody will ever learn.

The people you read about here are to have not your scorn but your sympathy they shelled out major bucks to get a laptop computer - and got screwed instead.

First the iPod nano and now this? Does Apple even use their own damn products? If Apple is supposed to be the Porche of consumer electronics they better get their act together.
 - bdkennedy1

I expected better from Apple. This is the kind of mistake little companies make. I offered to beta test a product for a small startup firm, paying retail price and signing necessary waivers, but they turned me down, saying they had an accelerated testing regimen. As this proves, accelerated testing in the lab is fine for some things, but it's no substitute for long term real world testing.
 - Kolchak

I've noticed with my black MacBook that the plastic is loosing it's 'frosted' look in heavily used areas. Now I at first thought it would just be my greasy fingers - but I've tried everything to clean it and well, nothing! Still all greasy and dirty looking in heavy used areas!
 - Skylor

I have had my new white MacBook for about 1 week. After about 2 days, a small yellow discoloration popped up on the mouse button and where my hand rests when I am using the trackpad. Yes, I wash my hands many times throughout the day: I am a dentist. I did eat a couple of Wheat Thin crackers while using the computer a few days ago. Could the oils in the crackers cause this? Could be from the latex gloves I wear. I have tried every method I can think of to remove the stain to no avail. I hate for my beautiful new Apple to look dirty so fast. Any ideas?
 - orthodoc



I tried Windex. No good. I also just tried a Magic Eraser. Again, no good. The outside of the MacBook is real glossy and easy to clean. The area around the trackpad and around the screen and keyboard is a matte finish with a slight texture to it. This seems much more difficult to clean.
 - orthodoc

I have exactly the same problem with my MacBook. I've had it three weeks - two weeks after buying it, the yellow marks began to show. I have had no contact with latex or those wheaty biscuits or anything else I can think of. My two year old iBook has no such stains. I think Apple have used some sort of inferior plastic on the palm rest and trackpad that is *really* sensitive to skin oils - maybe this is why they are charging extra for the black one. The palm rest definitely feels like a different material to that on the iBook; either that, or the heat of these things is affecting how the plastic reacts to your hands, but I doubt that, given that my iBook was a lot hotter on the palm rest area than my MacBook.

If anyone finds some way of fixing this, I would love to hear about it. At the moment it seems like a really horrible design flaw (others are complaining of the same thing over on the Apple support forums). Shame, as I love everything else about my MacBook.
 - Keyembi

Actually, I'm on my third white MacBook 2.0 for various reasons; however, the reason the 2nd one went back was because I noticed a little discoloration on the top left side of the trackpad button and attempted to clean it off using iKlear Apple Polish and one of their blue microfiber chamois clothes. When I did this I found that the area I was wiping off had become blue just like the cloth.
 - iHeartTheApple

I have a three week old MacBook. The plastic on the palm rest and on the screen bezel where you open the screen has begun to have a yellow discoloration. At first I thought it was dirty so I cleaned it with the stuff that I used to clean my iBook with and it had no effect (tried several things, a damp cloth, Windex, Magic Eraser). I thought it was some dirt from touching it but then I noticed that it was starting to appear at the bottom of the screen where I have never touched this thing. I am concerned that there is a problem with the plastic that they made the palm rests out of. It is a different material than what was used on the iBook I think.
 - stauffere

Yeah I have the same problem, I was convinced someone with grubby hands had been using it; now it appears not. The iKlear products I used on the PowerBook will not shift it.

It looks like heat may be causing the plastic on the palm rest to discolour.
 - Porkspeare



I have exactly the same problem too. I posted about it a week back - my MacBook was only two weeks old when it began to show. Everyone advised me to buy some cleaning products like iKlear, which I haven't got around to, so it's distressing to hear that these don't work (though at least it saves me £30). It is *really* annoying. My MacBook is three weeks old and looks as though I've been using it for three years and rubbing my hands in turmeric each day (OK a slight exaggeration). Everything else about my MacBook has been fantastic, and I'm really, really happy with it, but I am apalled that it gets discoloured so easily. I have a two year old iBook which has no yellow discolouration whatsoever, so I agree that they must be using a different material (and one that is nowhere near as good). I too feared that it might be the heat, but I don't quite see how it can be, as the affected areas are some of the coolest parts of the machine (and moreover although my MacBook is hot, it's not one of the really hot ones judging by posts to this forum). So yeah, I too would be interested in how to sort this out. (And there's no way I want to go anywhere near the Regent Street store, which has deservedly been getting a bad press in the Guardian recently.)
 - Keith B

Here I am thinking that white is the way to go after having a black one and returning it for moo and adapter noise but also noticing how sensitive the surface seems. And I went from a MBP to MacBook because of whining, heat, fit and finish issues. This is all so depressing. Why don't other manufacturers have these stupid issues?
 - PaulNYC

Just posting to say I have the discoloration as well. I'm taking it into the store tomorrow to be looked at for the coloring, the mooing, and some warping that is going on around the casing.
 - tswartz

I don't normally care whether a laptop looks used or dirty at all - but I do when it's only three weeks old. If I'd been using it intensely for six months, I'd be mildly annoyed that it didn't hold up as well as my iBook, but not really bothered. But to turn yellow after only two weeks?
 - Keith B

Minor? It's a 3 week old €1300 piece of a equipment. This looks like it could be a major design flaw.
 - Christiaan

I am well and truly not happy (to put it mildly) that my three week old MacBook has yellow discolouration of the sort that I would expect on a product at least a couple of years old (especially when my two year old iBook has no such problems). But on the other hand, I don't want to take it anywhere near the Regent Street store (I have had dealings with them before - the 'geniuses' themselves are pretty good, but getting anywhere near them, and actually getting your computer back, is another thing) and I can't afford to be without my machine. I bought this machine so that I could ensure my shareware app is Intel-ready, and frankly I'm scared of trying to exchange this MacBook for one that turns out to have one of the other worse problems (and yes of course it is not really acceptable that there are any such problems but I need a working Intel machine right now). As for my comment about it being a cosmetic defect about which Apple are unlikely to do anything, I'm merely being realistic - I think it will be hard to get Apple to care about 'cosmetic' issues now that they have your money.
 - Keith B

Not funny. My 13 inch 2.0 GHz white MacBook should arrive tomorrow. I went to the Apple store today after seeing this post and guess what? I've noticed the complaints that both the white and black MacBook owners stated.

I bought my MacBook and I do not want to have the discolouration problem noted on these boards.

Apple seem to cave in to concerns only when they reach critical mass. If I encounter this problem, I too will complain.

I wonder if I should return my CTO MacBook for a black one? Or maybe a MacBook Pro? But that's $1000.00 extra.
 - Eduardo

Please, please, please. Someone release some form of MacBook palm protector.
 - Eduardo

Said as I sneak off to place crystal film for my recently bought 4 GB white Nano - for $50.00.
 - Eduardo

But it would be smart to wait until AFTER Apple has identified the issue before seeking a solution.
 - nagromme

Oh like the thermal paste issue? Or the nano scratches? Yeah, Apple's always on the ball with saying 'my bad'!
 - slughead

As far as we know Apple employees do not read these forums.
 - Nick A at the Apple discussion forums

Apple don't monitor the forum, only host to make sure it all flows well.
 - Nick A at the Apple discussion forums