Discoloration.....

For those that had their macbook cases replaced what did the palm area look like? Mine is starting to show signs of color change. I heard not all cases are being changed by Apple (i heard it has to have a purple tinge?). Can anyone provide a picture of what a discolored case that apple replaces might look like ? thanks.

Well Mines been changed twice, second time I had trouble and had to get an apple autorized dealer to email apple and complain for the to change it again.

Here is an example of my one that is being changed at the moment (did exactly the same thing before, this is the second time its done it).



See the sort of brown mark on the laptop. Apparently they couldnt change it because of the little mark on the side (acually took a picture of the mark, but you can see the discolouration quite well on it from this angle).

Also, here is an extreme case of discolouration: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2006/06/macbook.jpg

The guy who is now replacing my second top cover says he thinks its probably a case of apple using cheap or not enough thermal paste, as its either dried out because its cheap and nasty, or there is not enough.

Anyway, its being done and investigated as I type, and I get it back tomorrow morning, so will tell you have I get on with it then.

thanks! although mine isnt that bad yet im seeing symtoms of it. the smudge marks appear to be in the same outline as those you have posted, even near the spacebar like in that picture.

Damp a cloth and wipe it. If it doesnt comes off, then its discolouration. Have you used any alcohol based cleaners on it? I will let you know the outcome of mine tomorrow and why its done it (probably something to do with thermal paste).

i went to the apple store and he said my laptop was effected, he told me to go back all the memmory up and bring it back mananna! yayy my casing was a lil scratched so i was feeling all bummed out lol!

Got it back and they said that they looked at the thermal paste, but doesnt seem to be any problem with the thermal paste. Anyway they changed it and said it looks like the top is different from the old one (It is, its a slightly darker shade of grey).

Anyway, one thing that is slightly annoying is that they have sent me a UK keyboard, and always being so used to english ones it will take some getting used to (The enter key is much smaller then on the UK keyboards, and I always press \ by mistake hehe). Anyway, im just glad its fixed.

did you take it to the store or mail it in?

Well we dont have many offical apple stores here in the UK, so took it to an autorized apple service Center and they fixed it for me. I would recommend taking it to one of them instead of sending it off.

yea im taking mine to an apple store, seems less of a hassle that way.

My old Alienware laptop had signs of discoloration around the handrests and near the trackpad. I have a few questions regarding the Macbook discoloration.

First, are the white, gloss coated Macbooks prone to such discoloration?

Second, does Apple cover new cases under their warranty? If not, or one is past warranty status, how much do they charge/have charged you?

covered under warrenty since it is a "defect." not all macbooks are prone to this discoloration to my understanding, only a small portion of a batch are subject to this.

The glossy plastic on the outercasing of the macbook doesnt discolour, its just the palm rest area and the keyboard.

Yes thats correct, not all macbooks suffer from this problem. I must have just been REALLY unlucky for it to happen twice to me!

id reccomend getting an iskin for the keyboard.

mine is the track pad and the space button, sometimes it gets discolored were I rest my wrist and palms but usually seems to come off with sanitizing wipes, just not on the track pad and space bar