Wow, we really need to fix our MacBook Pro battery issue before things really get bad.
We first reported our troubles with our beloved Mac notebook last week and then the new week started with a replacement program from Apple, direct, explaining our problem. Well, we’ve been just a wee-bit busy here at SOT and haven’t had a chance to fill out that dandy form.
Today when we pulled out our MBP from our Swiss Gear backpack today, we found a bulge on the bottom of the unit. That bulge was from the the battery and it appears it gained some weight and blew up, as in expansion. No evidence of fire or sparks anywhere which made us all happy here at SOT and the Mac booted right up. In fact, it wrote our last session to disk (ala hibernate of Windows XP fame) and put us right back where we started from. Very nice!
After our heart beat came back down to a normal pace, we picked up the phone and called AppleCare (all good Mac-heads slap down the big bucks for this right?). About 30 minutes later a nice young man helped us get a new battery our way. About three days is what we’re told on getting the new puppy and do note, our AppleCare representative didn’t seem a bit surprised with our issue. Seems we’re not the only ones with this problem.
After just posting our odd behavior with out MacBook Pro battery, Apple makes it official today with its voulentary battery recall. If you purchased your MacBook Pro between February and May, then looks like you’re in the cutting-edge boat and will get a brand new spanking battery shipped to you free of charge. You’ll have to fill out a form and then sit waiting by your door for Mr. UPS (actually, doesn’t Apple use DHL?) to drop off that battery that won’t just shut your system off when it feels like doing so. Good times.
Dude, what up? Why is my MacBook Pro just shutting off by itself? No warning, no pop-up from OS X, no nothing. Just off!
Seems like I’m not the only one having this problem as the battery looks to be the issue. Sean Bonner has been reporting his problem for some time now and even has an account of an Apple Store employee tipping his hand that they know about this problem…without actually admitting it is a problem.
In my particular case, I’ll be working and off goes my MacBook Pro. At first, I just assumed my battery was dead and I had ignored the warnings. But when it happened after yanking the green lit MagSafe power cord, I knew something was up and turned over my MBP to find a full row of green lights on my battery. ‘I knew it!’ I thought to myself.
Now it’s happening more often than not while running on battery and it’s becoming annoying. The problem with this is if I call Apple Care, I’m afraid of losing my Mac for a week. Ugh, a whole week without my Mac? Heck, a half working Mac is still better than a fully working PC! But, I want this fixed and maybe I’ll complain about the whining, too, and get a new fan and logic board. We’ll see.
I’ll keep you posted how this turns out and let me know if you’re seeing this on your MBP.
Ever wonder what’s going on inside your Mac? How much memory is in use? How full is the hard drive? How hot is that CPU? Well we found a great widget for ya!
iSlayer’s iStat nano 1.51 gives you details on your “CPU, memory, hard drives, IP and external IP, bandwidth, CPU temperature, battery, uptime and the top four processes.” All for free. Only bummer is that the CPU temperature is not supported on Intel-based Macs at this time.
If you’re feeling like you need more power, check out iStat Pro. It’s currently in beta for 3.0.
If you’re looking for a sweet charger for your car and your home, then you need to read our review on BoxWave’s solution. It’s just straight up sweet! We love it and we know you’ll love it, too!
I sit in my air conditioned office that has been struggling all day to get to that 77° mark (it’s at 80° right now) as the outside scorches at 108°. Sure, those of you that live in Phoenix are use to this, but out here in California where the ocean is nice and close, we get humidity added to this and man, talk about hot! Add to the mix that you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro that like to run hot and your headed toward an AppleCare support call real fast!
Keeping your notebook, Mac or PC, cool in the heat of the summer is an important thing for any computer user. There are a few products out there that help keep your precious resource cool and SvenOnTech hopes that one of them will be a good choice for you and your computer.
A common universal solution is the USB fan cooler. These are plastic trays that have two or three fans built into them that help directly cool your Mac or PC laptop. Some come with batteries on-board while others suck its needed juice from your USB port. A couple of top end ones will actually power a computer with its own internal battery while others expand your USB with a built-in hub. Prices range from as low as $12 to just about over a hundred dollars. BuyExtras has an excellent selection to chose from if this quick fix interests you.
If you’re not into draining power from your already power hungry Mac, then you can consider a stand. Elevating the Mac to allow a flow of air under it will help keep things on the cooler side for sure. From offerings by Griffin Technology (iCurve), to Rain Design’s iLap, to Road Tools’ CoolPad, you have a few choices if you stand to go with this solution.
You can also keep track of just how hot things are really getting inside your Mac with the Temperature Monitor by Marcel Bresink. If your Mac is equipped with temperature sensors, then you’ll get charts, readings, and all sorts of information about the heat under your hood. Bresink kept it cool on the price as it’s a free download for your enjoyment.
Now if you could care less about your Mac and are more concerned with getting yourself chilled, then maybe you need an USB Beverage Chiller. It’ll keep that soda, water, or foo-foo coffee cold while you work hard!
Enjoy your summer.
If the 120 GB drive that comes with the MacBook Pro option isn’t enough storage for you, then you need to upgrade to MCE’s MobileStor. With 8MB cache, a seek time of 12 ms, rotation rate of 5400 rpm, and a transfer rate (sustained) is 44 MB/s, with bursts up to 100 MB/s, this is no sissy drive! Since it is MCE’s Mercedes drive, it comes with a five year warranty. Again, since it is the Mercedes of MCE’s drives, it’ll cost you $300 before shipping and tax. Ouch. But hey, if you have the need for much feed, then get that priceless credit card out and start charging!
[Via Macminute]
Looks like Tigers latest update, 10.4.7, didn’t just fix the Firefox font rendering issue but also added a new preference to the trackpad. MacBook users got to see this great feature ahead of the cutting edge crew as those with the iBook replacement have been enjoying the feature since its release. But no longer, MacBook Pro users now can place two fingers on the trackpad and then click the button and, presto!, up comes a context sensitive menu as if you had just hit a right mouse button! Woo hoo! How great is this?
All you need to do is download the update and then go to System Preferences. Go to Keyboard & Mouse settings and select the Trackpad button. Enable the “Place two fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click” check box and you’re set. After that, simply put two fingers on the trackpad and then click the button (while your two fingers are still on the pad) and there you go. This trick also works if you click the button first and then tap with your two fingers; however, if there is an applicable left mouse button event, this won’t work as the left action will happen. 
Enjoy the new added trick for all y’all MacBook Pro users!