Can we get some pictures with the hinge closed?
Filing the corners off my MacBooks
401–410 of 700 posts
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#402I used a macbook for almost 2 years and genuinely don't understand how people can tolerate these machines. My wrists would be cut up all the time to the point where I looked like I was self harming myself and the glary screen is entirely unsuable anywhere but a darkest basement. Not to mention the terrible keyboard. To this day I'm perplexed how macbooks have such high desirability by full time developers when they'r…
It's been a problem for a decade (or more?) but, for me, it's not just the sharp edge, it's also the angle of the keyboard.
My Dell XPS is almost as sharp (there's a microscopic chamfer, which won't be enough to explain the difference), but because the body is wedge-shaped, the keyboard sits at a slight angle which makes it feel so much better to me. Propping the back of the Macbook on something helps - only needs to be 2-3mm to make a difference.
It's like the static electricity issues that plagued them in the 2010s. They produced shocks that were actually painful, the sort that I've only experienced before from CRT screens in metal housings. The chargers contained a grounding pin internally, but it wasn't actually connected to anything. Utter madness, and would have been such an easy thing to fix - but it persisted until they replaced the charging port with usb-c.
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#403Earlier quoted context omitted.
I switched as a long time Linux user to a MacBook because of the hardware: - Battery: no other laptop comes even close - Trackpad: I don't use a mouse anymore, no other laptop comes close - Audio: No other laptop comes close "Sharp edges" really don't bother me to be honest, I wouldn't have noticed it if nobody told me. I have a nano-texture screen, and it works great in daylight. Just goes to show how opinions can d…
I remember multiple reviews of other laptops that indeed came close in all of those categories. So those statements are objectively wrong. Problem is that I dont remember which, and if I remembered the model might very well not be in stock anymore. The other vendors with their always changing lineup of models make that impossible by choice.
The HP ZBook G1a comes close in computing power, screen, sound and trackpad quality - but not at all in battery life: about 7 hours. It's also pretty overpriced, but discounts are common.
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#404Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's easy for me to feel the mains frequency while gently rubbing the top surface of the MacBook I haven't been a regular Mac user, but I've had maybe 3 work MacBooks since 2010 and I recall having this issue with all of them. Why haven't they fixed it?
They can’t, it’s caused by the capacitors required to suppress electromagnetic interference caused by the switch-mode power supply. These allow a very very tiny amount of current to leak through from the mains side, which is then capacitively coupled to the metal case (IIRC Apple do not connect the case to power negative) reducing it further, but it’s enough for humans to sense it. It can be avoided by using a ground…
Thank you for explaining this! I've been feeling this on my girlfriend's macbook for years and I've always wondered what the hell that was. :D
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#405Earlier quoted context omitted.
I switched as a long time Linux user to a MacBook because of the hardware: - Battery: no other laptop comes even close - Trackpad: I don't use a mouse anymore, no other laptop comes close - Audio: No other laptop comes close "Sharp edges" really don't bother me to be honest, I wouldn't have noticed it if nobody told me. I have a nano-texture screen, and it works great in daylight. Just goes to show how opinions can d…
I remember multiple reviews of other laptops that indeed came close in all of those categories. So those statements are objectively wrong. Problem is that I dont remember which, and if I remembered the model might very well not be in stock anymore. The other vendors with their always changing lineup of models make that impossible by choice.
But the above criteria are mostly subjective, so objectivity largely doesn’t apply.
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#406I salute your can-do spirit and your will to customise your tools to your preferences.
I also think you're an animal and need to be stopped before you do more damage to perfectly well designed machines.
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
They’re all actually aluminum, anodized to the color you choose. The silver one is the only one not anodized. Filing off the anodized layer is indeed bound to look awful.
Not to well actually your well actually but they’re all anodized to prevent corrosion and scratches (the oxide layer is harder than the underlying aluminum) - the silver one is just undyed.
And in the pictures you can see a clear color difference between the anodized silver body and the exposed aluminum. It's subtle from a distance, but if you zoom in a bit its pretty obvious
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#408Earlier quoted context omitted.
How? The (US) charger's only got 2 pins so ground stays unconnected.
There are grounded duckheads for this purpose, e.g. https://amzn.to/4cnzuef (note out of stock. I guess your best bet is to use a UK duckhead, but half of those have a dummy ground...) if you take the plug part from the brick you'll note that there's only two pins but the button-like thing is a ground as noted in a sibling, the power adapter extension cable does plumb the ground through ( https://www.apple.com/shop/p…
Got a bunch of cheap ones from Ali Express and they worked fine.
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#409I just did this to my MacBook not because of the sharp edge but because the pitting turns a sharp edge into a sawblade. Something about the grounding on on the frame when plugged in mixed with my sweaty hands leads to damage along this sharp edge on every MacBook I've ever owned. See https://www.reddit.com/r/macbook/s/hbyVh5SJhw for another poor soul with the same caustic skin
Holy moly, that guy in the reddit post needs to see a dermatologist asap and figure out why their skin is emitting acid.
Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks
#410Earlier quoted context omitted.
The extension cable they used to include in box with the computers, it has the third pin for the charger brick connector which is wired to ground
There's zero chance that the DC ground in the laptop is tied to earth ground in the charger: they use LLC resonant converters and flyback converters (depending on vintage) - an earth ground tie would defeat the purpose of these isolated topologies.
However it’s wired up the fact is the electric buzzing feeling goes away if you use a grounded extension cable instead of two pin.