After a Something Awful denizen took apart his MacBook Pro and discovered that Apple had slathered on far too much thermal grease, he found that using a more modest amount dropped his MacBook Pro’s temperatures by several degrees. Now the forum has recieved a threatening letter from Apple’s legal staff, requesting a link to this image be removed because “The Service Source manual for the MacBook Pro is Apple’s intellectual property and is protected by U.S. copyright law.”
Of course the real problem isn’t the single excerpted page being linked from Something Awful, but instead the fact that the image shows the extremely sloppy manufacturing process that is causing the MacBook Pro to run at temperatures as high as a 95 degrees Celcius under full load. (A temperature so high that the processor is at risk of malfunctioning.) Rather than addressing the problem of the shoddy workmanship, documented not only by those who purchased Apple’s $2,500 laptop but by Apple’s own service manual, Apple is trying to silence those from the Macintosh community who are trying to help other Mac users fix Apple’s mistake.
It could also be Apple don’t want the flame wars that will result when they denying warranty coverage because some yahoo tore into his laptop. This procedure voids warranty. I’ve never liked thermal paste, despite of all those claiming miracles from different metallic mixes. The phase change thermal pads are pre-measured and do the job. You just need to fill micro scratches and voids. Polish the HSF base and you’ll need less.
I’m a Mac user, but even I have to admit. If it weren’t for Microsoft Apple wouldn’t have the most sterling of corporate images.
Sounds like something Microsoft’s legal team would do!
Well, the thread is for the link to an internal manual that Apple considers a secret. Still stupid, but different. By the way, I am not clear whether the recomendation from Something Awful makes things better or worse. Some people claim it makes the processor hotter by cooling the case.
And then people look mad at me when I say that Apple’s are sh… argh I almost said it again 😛
“why is comment #1 published? it’s pure spam.”
Thanks Paul!
1. why would i want to learn about WEB HOSTING??
2. is this ABOUT the pic, or that they OPENED the system.
they were probably scared to take a PERSONAL pic of the insides, as that is copyrighted also, and could REALLY get them introuble. so they took the only rescource they had.
hmm … and all the Mac people claim the superior workmanship/design is the reason they pay so much more … something wrong here … (correct me if I’m wrong – I’m not a Mac guy)
This guy should happily comply by replacing their image with his own, which includes a footnote that calmly explains what an idiotic design job that is. Let the lawyers choke on their own bullshit.
stupid apple. they need to calm to fuck down. that pic makes me hungry.
Bruce — I switched to Mac and OS X after 23 years. Now own 2 minis [powerpc and intel] and a powerbook. The Mini cases never get above room temperature. The PowerBook runs about as warm as any other.
I’ve taken them apart and reassembled [upping the RAM] and it was as easy or easier than any of the other dozen or so pc’s I’ve owned over the years. Plus quieter.
And OS X Rules. IMHO.
In fact, now that I think back to the single XP machine I still hide in the corner — download security updates once a month in case I need it — the one time I had a [pretty good, actually] factory authorized service center change out the heat sink/fan on the cpu because I didn’t want to mess with the thermal goo, they twisted the heat sink to remove it — and the cpu turned with it ripping out a chunk of the motherboard!!
Fortunately, still under warranty at the time. They replaced the whole disaster. And like the other examples cited — including the original — just one subjective example.
#3, Sorry, but I think that no, this is something that actually not even Microsoft’s legal team would do. 😛 Actually they do foster community cooperation, which is what makes their products so popular. As a developer, I frequently smash against MS bugs and it is so often to find workarounds to those in the community by simply googling for them.
Apple might be very cool, but if this is their behaviour with such low market share, even though a steeply rising one, imagine if they had Microsoft’s share at the software level. Just imagine.
Eideard, what the hell where you running 23 years ago? Back when everyone was using Commodore 64s, and Apple //e. Mac and Windows were barely in the market even if you WANTED to “switch” to Mac OS; it barely existed.
I was using an Atari 800XL, my first love.
I actually switched from a Kaypro CPM to a PC clone 22 years ago. 23 years ago there was no Windows, and Apple was, if I remember correctly selling the Lisa, not yet the Mac.
#15 and 16, he said he switched AFTER 23 years … which means he’s been a computer geek for a while 🙂 Although I believe his story pointed to crappy service, whereas I was commenting on the design – completely different issues.