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MacBook Inferno! An Apple MacBook battery catches fire.

mactalk.com.au — The owner of a MacBook tells us of how his girlfriend, at 3am, "..said she heard it hissing like a steam valve, then smoke started pouring out of it and a couple of seconds later, a very large flash fire started. I'm sure you have read about these and seen the dell video. This is what happened to my macbook."

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  • samcam, on 10/12/2007, -14/+26Apple need to give that guy a new MacBook! And this comes just when everyone thought that the battery issue with the Sony made batteries was past...will be interesting to see how Apple respond.
    • Mrwasp, on 10/12/2007, -5/+37http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/418337161_7580a71270.jpg
      http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/418337165_458287efa1.jpg
      http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/418337168_c7875db696.jpg
      http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/418337173_bd82036a8b.jpg
    • NSResponder, on 10/12/2007, -50/+60TFA says that he bought it in June of last year, which would put it in the batch that's already been recalled over the battery issue.

      -jcr

    • superal1394, on 10/12/2007, -20/+12did it sleep properly? I caught my macbook pro getting stuck trying to go to sleep once, and I am sure now to make sure it actually goes to sleep. When it doesnt sleep properly, it heats up very quickly, and I imagine under the right circumstances it could set fire.
    • chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -8/+56@NSResponder

      if you took 2 minutes and RTFA you would see he already checked that.
    • miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -20/+4deleted
    • kman004, on 10/12/2007, -89/+19you guys are noobs for buying macs in the first place.

      and the digging down begins!
    • dobbinmon, on 10/12/2007, -52/+7@ kman004

      Yup.

      I'm a mac... I'm so cool and different... Look at ME!
    • tobsterius, on 10/12/2007, -6/+28The recall only applied to the Powerbooks and some Macbook Pro machines...
    • wild, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14Be smart as well, keep your laptops off of things like carpet and upholstry. Its has a heating effect on this stuff and will make things a lot hotter a lot faster. And especially be sure to leave your laptop on something hard and hopefully non-flammable at night. A kitchen counter works well.

      Not excusing exploding batteries, just saying use some common sense when it comes to where you leave things. By now we all know its not a myth.
    • SVPirate, on 10/12/2007, -11/+42@kman004

      "you guys are noobs for buying macs in the first place. and the digging down begins!"

      Yeh, because and no-one else has had problems with batteries catching fire in laptops other than Apple, right? Gimme a frickin break...
    • simpleid, on 10/12/2007, -35/+10I can't wait for iFans to invent ways of blaming Microsoft for this... anything to save the image of Apple and their delusional 'perfection.'
    • cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3@Wild - That doesn't affect the Macs. They don't have vents on the bottom like most laptops.
    • caketank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29@simpleid:

      You know who really gets pissed when Apple ships exploding batteries? Apple customers. Hell, Apple customers get pissed when Apple ships something that *scratches*.
    • caketank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10@cawpin:

      Check your macbook's temperature, let it sit on a bedspread for a little while, and check it again. You're going to be unpleasantly surprised.

      Anything that generates heat really shouldn't be left in contact with anything flammable or smothering overnight. Wild is right, that's just common sense. (Wild is also right that batteries shouldn't explode, of course.)
    • veracon, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4Breaking: Reports of mass shippings of MacBooks to the White House from al-Qaeda.
    • ciram, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Erm... by the looks of it, the guy was lucky... only about half the cells in the battery seem to have exploded...
    • screamokid, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1@tobsteius
      no, not just those, ibooks were also effected, i got a new one on my ibook, its a monster, it last 2x more then my friends macbook
    • jake8689, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@ kman004
      yeah i know noobs with there computers that will last 3-5 years.
      /sarcasm
    • kman004, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@ jake8689
      haha not when they catch fire they dont. btw if you arent a complete douche bag, getting a computer to last you 4-5 years isnt hard. my p4 2ghz computer that i bought 4 years ago is still going strong. Finally my laptop that i bought a year ago for under 1300 CAD (amd 64 3500, 2g ram, 200gb) - that has both windows and ubuntu installed kicks the ***** out of any macbook
    • zunipus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2OK, so this thread has declined to the level of Computer Warz. Great. Here is my POV:

      For all the 'noobs' using Windows: I have been working professionally with computers since 1989, started with ye olde IBM XT, graduated to a Mac II machine and never looked back. I now have 4 Macs at home, and that is despite the fact that I teach Windows every week.

      Still up and running perfectly: (1) Quadra 650 upgraded with PPC card from 1993. I use it as an imaging workstation. All it every needed was a new PRAM battery. (2) PowerMac 9600 from 1997, upgraded with 900 MHz G3 card, currently running Mac OS X Server 10.3.9. Brilliant machine, never crashes. Runs two monitors, USB, FireWire and 100 Base-T Ethernet. Again, the only help it ever needed was a new PRAM battery. (3) PowerBook G3 Series WallStreet PDQ upgraded (notice how Macs are upgradable?) with G4 500 MHz card from 1998. The things come with crap metal in their hinge mechanism, leading to two replacements. Otherwise the thing is a workhorse to this day.

      So, let's put to rest this stoopidity about the lifetime of Macs, let alone their utility.

      Current Mac: MacBook Core 2 Duo 2 GHz. Killer box.

      Am I concerned about the battery? Damned right. I have a very low opinion of the current incarnation of Sony, and completely expected them to put out more crap batteries. This is one reason I happily have the two years of extra AppleCare support (one of the very few support plans rated as worth the cost by Consumer Reports Magazine). And /if/ my MacBook has any of the motherboard or battery troubles of the past, guess who is going to rant at Apple to 'do better dammit!' Me. I always do that. As I am always saying: We live in the STONE AGE OF COMPUTING. The things are still a PITA to use. This continuing battery nonsense is just more of the same. They must get better and I am very vocal in my futurism.

      That having been said, would I ever buy a Windows PC? Of course not! I am not willing to buy a POS. I want to move forward in quality, not backward. Thanks to the Microsoft monopoly I will undoubtedly continue to help people use the horrible things, but no way am I tolerating them at my house.

      :-Derek
    • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2(back to the original topic, and not performing reply abuse)

      Read the forum thread - Apple have agreed to replace it with a MacBook Pro, and pay for the property damage.
  • cheersrazer, on 10/12/2007, -11/+15Lets hope Apple act appropriately in this instance.
    • angusware, on 10/12/2007, -65/+7which is to do nothing, they recalled his computer months ago.
    • Shizlanski, on 10/12/2007, -6/+20angus, did you read the article?
    • uranium, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2You gotta take Apple's emails very seriously. I am a iBook owner and I received an email from Apple about a year ago offering me a free replacement battery. This free offer has also been on their website for the few models of iBook and PowerBook that are likely to catch fire.
    • bbhh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5there's really no doubt this guy is getting a new computer. my battery was screwed, and i had a bunch of (apparently un-fixable) minor problems with my 1st gen macbook pro, and after bugging apple care enough i got a free core 2 duo replacement. when they asked me about my battery problems and stuff, the girl was really careful, "did anything else of yours get damaged..."

      if i'm this guy, "hey my macbook exploded and almost burned down my house, what are you going to do for me?".
    • TravisG5, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@ agnus

      O RLY?
    • johnpaul191, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2yeah... i would totally call Apple first. if nothing else they would surely want to figure out if it was a fluke defect or a possible bad batch of batteries. no matter what you will get dud products in almost any manufacturing process, it just happens. the issue for Apple is to figure out if it's isolated. obviously the machine is toast, so hopefully they will replace it asap. not sure about the data he hopes to recover though? i guess MacBook HDDs are easy to pop out.. maybe he should try an external enclosure in case the drive is sorta functional.

      reading his story, he's really lucky he was home when it happened. who knows what would have happened if it went up while he was not home. you figure a lot of people leave their laptops in their bag which would probably also contain paper. the bag might be on a carpet or couch. i'll admit i often do it. i have a desktop i use at home and an old iBook i carry around. i mostly leave the iBook in my bag while i am at home (and it's in sleep mode). gee, maybe i should rethink that?
    • turpenine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1when you put a mac in a bag you close it, which puts it to sleep. If it doesn't sleep your screen would fry so bad.
  • toasterwaffle, on 10/12/2007, -15/+4When I saw the words "catches fire", I -- as any boy would -- became very excited. Needless to say, though I will anyway, I -- as anyboy would -- like my (fire-based) news to have pictures...
    • gaehl, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7@toasterwaffle there are pics on the second page it took him a while to getup as his main machine (the macbook) is a bit fubar.
  • toasterwaffle, on 10/12/2007, -12/+3Ooo, spoke too soon. Dugg!
  • kapi, on 10/12/2007, -20/+2I really hope that doesn't happen to mine.
    • miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -7/+32Really? I was kind of hoping it would...
  • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -21/+122The guys ***** Mac exploded and he still insults Windows. Funny.
    • samcam, on 10/12/2007, -47/+20Hey, this has been an issue with PC laptops too. Dell have been the worst hit - just try doing a search for laptops catching on fire...it might make you a little more informed. ;)
    • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -21/+75So? If my Dell explodes, I don't say "***** Macs".
    • littleblckheart, on 10/12/2007, -29/+15Just goes to show how much of a headache Windows is. :)
    • IUPstudent, on 10/12/2007, -25/+7That is funny. That being said, the MacBook is such a POS. I can't believe Apple has done so well with them after RSS, crappy plastic and so on. I returned mine two days after it came and bought a MacBook Pro.
    • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+25Oh and by the way, it's not just computers. Any Lithium-Ion battery contains a seperator, and when the seperator pierces the energy is released in the form of an explosion. Phones will also do it...not just computer batteries.
    • danjal, on 10/12/2007, -6/+44talk about a matchbook pro =/
    • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -10/+33Windows is a laptop....!?
    • littleblckheart, on 10/12/2007, -19/+13" So? If my Dell explodes, I don't say "***** Macs". "

      You might if you're used to a certain OS, and then you're forced to use a less-than-ideal platform to sort out your pictures. Perhaps in your case "less-than-ideal" is a Mac, but obviously his Mac burning doesn't dissuade him from finding Windows to be frustrating in comparison with what he is accustomed to, or what he prefers.

      I see no real irony in his statement.
    • etx313, on 10/12/2007, -12/+10Yeah, No kidding.

      Good thing he wasn't running Windows, the battery would have exploded during the install process! /sarcasm
    • celerate, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14It looked to me (from the context) like he was implying he had to use a computer running Windows to post the message and get the pics up. After all, we know he didn't post that from his MacBook.
    • griz, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8That's because Macs are only intolerable while actually on fire.
    • AppleOSuX, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4I believe you meant to say that Macs are only tolerable while on fire...
    • pazimzadeh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0yeah, because the OS that you have makes a big diff when a battery blows up in your computer? He was talking about frickin' Windows functionality in uploading photos. Or do you mean that if he was running Windows it wouldn't have happened? Because then I really laugh at you.
  • sunletd, on 10/12/2007, -28/+2Hope that doesn't happen to me!!
    I have just bought a battery from http://www.replacement-battery.eu.com/
    It works well with my laptop!
  • Auzy, on 10/12/2007, -15/+2Batteries explode all the time. Not just Laptop ones. Mobile phone batteries even have been known to randomly explode, it does happen. The reason they dont explode on some other brands of laptops is because they are rarely used.

    And theres no point jumping to conclusions and saying they are faulty batteries. For all that we know, the magsafe adapter may have shorted or gotten damaged somehow shooting 240v into it.
    • miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Wrong. If the battery exploded while charging, it's because there's a problem with the battery being unable to handle the load.
    • Lyph4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28I've had tons of AA batteries pop on me. A battery popping in your mouse as you're using it scares the ***** out of you.
    • ciram, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Been there.
  • godamit, on 10/12/2007, -19/+5******............................................
    ........***.......................................
    ............*.....................................
    ............. *..................................
    ...............***********************.....

    apple stock price graph

    (* i'd write "apple stock price" vs. "digg count for this post" but that's tooo much ASCII :)
  • s2djfinc, on 10/12/2007, -17/+28But I thought they "Just work"?
    • chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -15/+63now they "Just Explode".
    • godamit, on 10/12/2007, -15/+32"Just work.
      Then explode."
    • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -16/+11They do (when Sony's not involved).
    • acomj, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11ah they do "just work.."
      although it depends on your definition of work.

      This would be perfect for starting a campfire....

      This is why I always keep my computer on a non flamable surface, although anything just catching fire for no reason is worrying..
  • gh0st121der, on 10/12/2007, -30/+9if i were this person, i would have got as much of my personal stuff out of the house ( pictures people pets, and then let my house burn to the ground.

    Then sue the ***** out of apple, and never work again.
    • n0ydz, on 10/12/2007, -5/+25And this folks, is what is wrong with America nowadays. Stupid people look for the littlest thing to sue someone over in hopes they can sit on their asses for the rest of their lives and collect part of a settlement every month.


      How depressing...
    • celerate, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10That wouldn't stand in court, if you had enough time to rescue your valuables but didn't try to put the fire out. Plus the nature of the fire would be examined, and they'd determine that a) the fire started small, and b) in the amount of time you had to rescue your stuff, you could have put the fire out effortlessly while it was still small. By the time you were done, Apple would be getting a settlement out of you.
    • selrahc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Well if you were going to do that, you should leave the other people and pets inside the house... then you have a better chance of winning the lawsuit *rolls eyes*
  • dvsbastard, on 10/12/2007, -11/+23Oh I can't wait till the next "I am a Mac / I am a PC" ad airs... I wanna see that smug prick burn!!!

    (I have nothing really against Macs but those ads still irritate me...)
  • mindsnare, on 10/12/2007, -16/+5I'm glad he mentioned that the couch it's on is his outside dog couch. I was beginning to wonder how a hobo could afford a Macbook
  • Ndric, on 10/12/2007, -23/+38See, if this was Dell, you'll hear the hate parade marching in. But since this is Apple, it's going to be downplayed and any anti-Apple will be buried because of the Apple fanboy army

    Steve Jobs is always right because as you know, all Macboys are equal, except those with Macbook Pros
    • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17Hint: The hate parade is already here. You're missing it.

      If it was Dell, it might be a little more (because there are lots of dell haters round here, probably with good reason)...
    • noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13No since this is Apple every prick with a chip on his shoulder is going to come out of the wood-work blaming a rather obvious battery malfunction on a company who doesn't manufacture batteries.

      If I remember rightly a lot of the 'Apple fanboys' were defending Dell when idiots were trying to blame Dell for battery malfunction.

    • Dumbledorito, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4No, he's right. On Boingboing.net (a site that was mac fanboy and now is mac/linux fanboy), they reported with glee when the Dell's exploded and caught fire, commenting as if it were a great joke on all those Windoze Luzers.

      The second the Macs started to do the same thing, they took it as if civilization itself was under siege, and that anyone who laughed was a blackhearted cad (ending with a sniff and a calming sip of chamomile tea).
    • noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It was a great joke. Do you know why?

      It is funnier when your timeline is in order. Weeks before the Dells started to explode Windows Fanboys were giddy trying to attribute the same problem in Macs to Apple, completely ignoring the part Sony played. So when it started happening to Dell Apple fans had a lot of munition to play with.
    • Dumbledorito, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3MY timeline is messed up? Let's see, all the Dell stories date from June, 2006 (here's the snarky one I mentioned): http://www.boingboing.net/2006/07/28/dude_your_dell_just_.html

      And the stories for Mac start in August of the same year: http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/06/another-powerbook-violently-explodes/

      Funny how the "Windows Fanboys" crowed about this to you, since the stories of exploding batteries didn't start until '06, yet the recalls began in '04. So if Macs were 'splodin' all over the place for two years prior to this, it seems nobody was talking about it, not even the tech-savvy Microsoft watchers at Boingboing.

      So please, show me where I'm wrong about my timeline. Perhaps my Google-Fu isn't as strong as yours.
  • somewitches, on 10/12/2007, -29/+8My iBook's battery is completely *****, in the couple of years i've had it i've rarely ever used it on battery power, I mean I can actually count on one hand the number of times i've used battery power for more than an hour on the ***** thing and yet because i've kept it plugged in and in ***** sleep mode all this time the battery is completely ***** dead WTF KIND OF ***** PRODUCT DO YOU HAVE TO NURTURE AND ***** CARE FOR 24 HOURS A DAY TO MAKE SURE ITS NOT CHARGING "TOO MUCH"

    ***** you Apple you are full of *****, I should be able to leave my laptop plugged in and asleep and I should be able to open the ***** lid any time or take it away any ***** time and not have to worry about it being uncharged but no, your ***** retard product obviously needs careful charging and not too much of it else the battery will curl up and die. I obviously cannot use the sleep function, I must obviously shut the ***** whole thing down every time im not using it and I must clearly be required to pull the plug out lest the piss-take of a product starts an idiotic cycle of "discharge for 5 minutes, undercharge detected - engage charging circuit, charge for 5 minutes, full capacity detected, disengage charging circuit, discharge for 5 minutes..." until the battery is ***** DEAD.

    Apple would make you think they are so ***** brilliant that their products glide like magic over your ***** coffee table like some nirvana of white ***** plastic and yet you would thing, no you would ***** EXPECT to be able to plug your ***** laptop into the wall, close the lid and have it sitting on your desk, ready to use at any ***** time, by the way they advertise it that would seem like a pretty normal ***** thing, but alas, no, your battery will die.
    • nextgengames, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Sorry to burst the rant, but any rechargeable battery being used in the way you used your iBook will ***** the battery. If you dont intend on ever using the battery or not often, then simply take it out
      that way it wont burn out in that manner. I have a 12" iBook and a 15" HP Laptop, the iBook is frequently taken to class and the battery is fully cycled on a regular basis (because i use it a lot out and about). The HP Laptop is about the same age but for most of its life just sat on my desk as a media player, and the odd windows game.

      Because i didnt take the battery out, its pretty much *****!

      If your really annoyed, though call Apple Support ask for a replacement.
    • spilla, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Mine works fine. Ever heard of a service centre?
    • Lyph4, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6If you're not going to go mobile with your laptop for an extended period of time, you really should take the battery out. It's going to either result in the battery dying or exploding.
    • dnields, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Its called calibrating your battery. It isn't an Apple thing, its a rechargeable battery thing. If you never intended on using battery power, then take the battery out.
    • dotcom101010, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3@ somewitches
      Let me give you a lesson on Lethem ion batteries they like to be used. If you don’t use it, it will die
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_(electricity)
    • SVPirate, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@dotcom101010

      Sorry to be a spelling Nazi, but as you referenced a Wikipedia article I should just point out the article states they are *Lithium* Ion batteries...
    • Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@dnields
      "If you never intended on using battery power, then take the battery out.".

      Just to nitpick, you're meant to store rechargeable batteries at 50% charge.
    • panique, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Like @dnields said, the calibration procedure is clearly documented in the brief user manual included with every Apple notebook, and it is presented as a mandatory procedure. Perhaps you should RTFM before you RANT.
    • MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You must excuse somewitches rant. His mythical iBook seems to have every probably problem under the sun depending on the topic. Today it's batteries, yesterday it was some QuickTime problem, tomorrow it may be faulty ram or some other problem that a few people have had.

      Apple has it's share of faults, but ranting like somewitches is really just foolish.
    • dotcom101010, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@ SVPirate
      your a *****
  • joseguia, on 10/12/2007, -12/+15Thats funny, my Apple burned too, .. its probably because I set it on fire.
    ;-)
  • Adrianc333, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8Apple FTL!
  • godamit, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2< some ***** radio station >

    - Hi, I'm Jamie. Today is my boyfriend Tom's birthday. Can you please put Bloodhound Gand "Burn" song for him and his $%^king macbook??!!!
  • tobsterius, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5OK, so the Macbooks aren't burn resistant...
  • Luigi30, on 10/12/2007, -17/+3So this guy had a MacBook that had a defective battery since June 2006, it caught fire, now Apple is evil!
    • chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6you didn't even try and read it did you.
    • bearda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9...except in the first post he says he checked if it was on the recall list and it wasn't.
    • supvine, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Yes, that's the same analogy that you iFans typically put forth. It is raining outside - it is Windows fault, it is too cold - Windows at fault, the economy is in turmoil - oh yes, it is Windows at it again, heck all the wars from ancient times till now - it is the damn Windows fault!!!!!
  • BenBenMan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Now who else looked at the title and though of the song Disco Inferno?

    *disco music plays* I heard somebody say burn, baby burn! Macbook Inferno!
  • triont, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1That's a hot MacBook!
  • deviouskoopa, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I'm more surprised he has a couch outside on his lawn.
  • mikewhalley, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Slightly OT, but have any other MacBook owners out there found problems with it not going to sleep properly? I've noticed if I enable the password screen it doesn't sleep or wake properly. Also if you have an external screen connected and then sleep the MB, taking out the ext screen connector wakes the macbook, which is highly annoying, and I keep forgetting to unplug it first! :-/ This caused problems for me the first time it happpened, I closed the lid to the MB, watched for the light to start to pulse, then unplugged the MB and stuck it in my Crumpler case (all snuggly zipped up), only to return a few hours later to a MacBook hot water bottle (and a noisy one a that!) The battery had swelled and now it doesn't fit flush with the rest of the casing :-( The battery life seems okay though, so I'm hoping the damage is purely cosmetic.

    Pretty ***** what's happened to this guys MacBook. They could have died during the night if it weren't for them having a dog.
    • norbiu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Sometimes when I close the MacBook I can hear iChat logging out ... then logging back in a few seconds later ... then logging out again. It doesn't happen often but it's pretty annoying. Also, when I open it up again, I type in the pass and the screen won't show. What's up with that?
    • mikewhalley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yep, had that happen too. In the end I just stopped passwording it and it sleeps properly now.
    • j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I use Adium on mine so I can't attest to the iChat thing. I haven't had problems putting it to sleep. But I also don't enable the password prompt on going to sleep (something I am going to do right now, though.) I have one of the newer batches though - from January.
    • Jimzip, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Mike I would seriously get a new battery.
      Any battery that 'swells' is not a safe battery to keep..

      Jimzip :D
    • mikewhalley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1good call jimzip, I think I'll take my Macbook in to be looked at, maybe they can swap out the battery.

      j_bellone - Mine's a C2D version... I'm not sure if they've revised it since they introduced the C2D versions, but it would be interesting to know if they've fixed this issue (that's assuming it's a common issue!)
  • MeatFlaps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Looks like I should rethink charging mine underneath my bed at night.
  • naio21, on 10/12/2007, -8/+34PC: "I'm a PC".

    Mac: "BOOOOOOOOM!!!"
    • Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Justin Long on fire? Dugg!
    • Jimzip, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Monty Python style.. now *that's* hilarious..

      Jimzip :D
    • supvine, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3But you know, the idiot Macboys will somehow find a way to blame it on Windows!
    • MDrake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2lol dugg for making me laugh out loud
  • mannypdesign, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Sony really needs to get their sh*t together. How many batteries have they recalled between Dell, Apple, etc.?
    • SVPirate, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Do you not think they might be dragging their feet to boost VAIO sales? It's not outside the bounds of possibility goven Sony's recent 'marketting' strategies...
  • godamit, on 10/12/2007, -7/+6So sweet for terrorists!

    Bunch of iBooks= WMD
  • cowabuse, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7Haha, can't blame Windows this time!
    • daller, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4or Linux, Mac OS X or any other OS not even DOS.
    • panique, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Sure he can. He's only using a Mac because Windows is so crappy.
  • daller, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I would call Apple about this and if you mention smoke or fire when talking to them they should put you through to 2nd line support witch will help with the replacement of the machine. What is scary is that i charge my computers by night and this might happen to good batterys aswell, this is not only computers its mobile phones and all other crap on battery aswell.
  • darthhelmer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I sent my MacBook in about a month ago for a cosmetic issue. They couldn't see the flaking issue, although the CompUsa tech and myself did and marked it clearly.

    However, they did replace a part called the Battery Transfer Board Unit. Don't know why. Maybe I do now?

    • Billman1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2That is the part that connects your battery to the logic board of the computer. Don't know if that would be related to this issue or not. System profiler will tell you some neat things about your battery in a mac like charge capacities and cycle counts.
  • almalax19, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Looks like we might have another battery recall on our hands. Wonder who the manufacturer of the Macbook's Battery is??
    • panique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That, and probably a knee-jerk ban of all notebook batteries on planes.
  • hadak, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1daymn.
  • vinieux, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3So this guy blames windows for not being able to get some pics going? Why does this reinforce my belief that fanboys seem to be helpless about the simplest tasks without their Macs. Or is it about doing things the Windows way?
  • VhaidraU, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9"I picked it up and blew on it and swung it around to put the flames out."

    Isn't that the last way you would ever out out a fire? By fanning the flames and giving the fire more air?
    • noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I can't believe people are digging you down...
    • adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1depends on how big the fire was, i'd say in this case it doesn't look like like it got all that big so by blowing on it/fanning it, your smothering it with air. On this scale it's about the same as blowing out a large candle.
    • caketank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Yeah, everybody knows you're supposed to put out a battery fire with bacon grease. That's why I always keep a jar of bacon grease warming on a gas burner, just in case.
    • Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@adml

      "On this scale it's about the same as blowing out a large candle."

      Empirical evidence, ie the burnt laptop, show that whatever anti-fire measures were taken did not work.
      Don't try and theory your way out of fact.
  • Torv, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Off topic, but when I close the lid and want my Mac to sleep, since I have 2 gb ram, the process is rather slow. I would love it to just instantly fall a sleep, and ditto turn of the harddrive.

    Is there a way to bypass the dump-all-memory-to-disk feature in OS X?
    • CatcherInTheWhy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm not sure how it is on macs but windows pc's generally have "Hibernate" that writes memory to disk and powers down and a "stand by" mode where just a tiny amount of power is used to maintain the memory. Are these separte functions in OSX also or no? If they are separate, I'd go with a "Stand-by" type mode.
    • tico24, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Macs don't dump memory to HDD. They keep the ram powered up enough to keep the data in the sticks.
  • embraceware, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2The smoke while burning a disc in Disco gets more realistic in each release - guess this was a beta tester... ;)
    I guess a bad burn in this case would be a lunch tray rather than a coaster...
  • thesoze, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2piece of ***** - buy a pc!

    dig me down and I know you are a Phag!
  • noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Are we ever going to get it through people skulls that these are battery issues, not hardware issues?
    • caketank, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Wait, what? What the hell is a battery, if not hardware?
    • noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1In this case, vapor-ware but you're being over-literal.
    • almalax19, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2It could be the power controller...
  • tufwats, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Usually the people here are sharper than they seem to be today. The pics posted by mrwasp (I am assuming they relate to this article) are obviously of a 12" G4 POWERbook, and not a MacBook Pro. Dare I suggest the owner of this laptop did not comply with the powerbook battery recall?
    • arkhangel78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually, he purchased the computer in June 2006 so it couldn't be a PowerBook. You can also see the keys in the last picture in his post are the white keyboards from the MacBook line. Now, if we visit Apple's support site, you'll notice that they do not have a recall program for a MacBook. So this would be something new... I'd definitely call Apple about it. They'd be more than interested in the situation.
  • cfizzo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3should have got a macbook pro
  • dooraque, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2I'm sure that guy put his MacBook on fire himself just to harm Apple!111!!!
  • vondur, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6This exploding battery effect is a feature, not a bug.
  • gheide, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Check out stories on Li-Ion batteries in the R/C hobby - they explode or catch fire from abuse all the time...

    http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1584

    a little more info on li-ion batteries:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery
    • longofest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2except the MacBook doesn't use a Li-Ion battery. It uses Li-Polymer.
    • andycr512, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2True, but Li-Poly batteries are just as, if not more, explode-happy than Li-Ion.
  • MrViklund, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Guess someone forgot to switch battery? :)
  • 7levels, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3im starting to think that maybe macbook fires are a problem apple needs to fix
    • Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Then you are ignorant.
      Apple don't make the batteries.
  • everfresh59, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1She probably had it plugged in and lying on the couch for a few hours.....
  • sekhui, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1***** microsoft and their terrible battery manufacturing plants, amirite?
  • foxmajik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Just like a woman to jump up and down screaming for her boyfriend instead of putting out the damn fire.

    Ooooh god my mac is on fire my mac is on fire, come put it out with your paycheck!
  • foxmajik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4> that couch is outside and it's for the dog which is why it's so dirty

    I'd hate to be this guy's dog...
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