Some MacBooks have premature age spots

What began as a few isolated reports of mysterious stains appearing on the wrist rests of Apple Computer’s MacBooks looks to be more widespread and the impetus for a growing Web community of displeased owners.

Reports of the discoloration, which seems to take place on the most frequently touched plastic areas of the white MacBooks, first surfaced in early June. A related post on an Apple discussion board got hundreds of replies — including many from MacBook owners experiencing the same problem — before it was blocked by the company five days later.

“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),” read one post from a London man. “Everything else about my MacBook has been fantastic, and I’m really, really happy with it; but I am appalled that it gets discoloured so easily.”

Frustrated by the situation, Jose Munoz-Olaya, a MacBook owner and molecular biologist from Spain’s Canary Islands, decided to put together a Web site devoted to pressuring Apple to respond fairly. As of Friday afternoon, his site lists 76 MacBook owners from around the globe who are experiencing the problem and have listed their device’s serial number.

Most of those on the site started noticing the stains just a few weeks after they began using the MacBooks, which went on sale in mid-May. The Intel-based replacement to the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook comes in three models. The two lower-end models (starting at US$1,099 and US$1,299) come in white; the top-of-the-line model (starting at US$1,499) comes in the apparently unaffected black.

Full story: ZDNet Australia