Filing the corners off my MacBooks • Hacker News Board

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#471

Post by mjlee » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC

notpushkin wrote: post #454

mjlee wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

13 year old me who anodised remote control car chassis completely agrees the process is quite simple. In the context of a MacBook, it’s not. Removing just the aluminium components and leaving everything that doesn’t like baths undamaged is practically impossible for amateurs. I’m not sure it’s something many professionals would take on.

I think it could be possible for the bottom half. The lid would be way, way trickier (unless you have one with a broken screen already and know how to put the new one together). I’m wondering what custom colours you could do with that process btw!

Practically anything! Vibrant colours work best, and there are techniques to do transitions, fades, and masking to get multiple colours, though I’ve never done those myself.

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#472

Post by hansvm » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC

wraptile wrote: post #310

I 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…

People come in all sorts of different shapes, sizes, and configurations. I don't have any pressure on the sharp edges in my normal day-to-day, and I'm having a little trouble figuring out how I'd contort myself to change that, so that particular issue is fine.

The glare is annoying. I would like to work outside more often.

Mind you, I don't really like the poor isolation and floating ground causing a tingling sensation when you touch it while charging, the lid hinge doesn't quite have enough internal resistance, the keys get stuck way too easily, etc. The sharp-corners build defect is fine for me though.

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#473

Post by scarybeard » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:31 PM UTC

I have literally cut my finger with a sharp edge of one of my Apple laptops. Like a paper cut. Filing the edges down is the right way to do it. However - for that price it should've be done by Apple at their factory.

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#474

Post by burnt-resistor » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:35 PM UTC

It's a symptom of improper prioritization of values: form over function and usability.

Form only matters to a tool if function and usability are present, otherwise that object becomes more like art than a tool.

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#475

Post by rlonstein » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:37 PM UTC

CGamesPlay wrote: post #200

420official wrote: post #144

I 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

Oh is that why it happens? Was wondering why the spot directly under my wrist was pitted into a sawblade. I also filed it, though just enough to remove the pitting, nothing like the OP did. It's easy for me to feel the mains frequency while gently rubbing the top surface of the MacBook while it's plugged in. Really feels unsafe, but neither me nor the computer have suffered any serious injuries yet.

Finally. Someone else has mentioned this, I thought it was just me who I experiences the sensation of there being stray current on MacBook frames.

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#476

Post by stogot » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:40 PM UTC

If this was a service in San Francisco I’d pay for it. I don’t want the particles in my space if I were to do it in my home

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#477

Post by rbanffy » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:43 PM UTC

zith wrote: post #447

rbanffy wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My only complaint is with the EN-international keyboard my company prefers - there is no way to reverse the tilde key position back to the same place next to 1 on the US keyboard. The OS knows what keyboard the laptop has and refuses to change it.

I've created my own keyboard layout plus do some key remapping on my mac. Are you sure this won't work for tilde? The tilde key exists in the key map here: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/technotes/tn2450... You can see how I did mine here if you're interested: https://github.com/bruse/dotfiles/tree/main/macOS (I suspect com.local.KeyRemapping.plist is most interesting, but the key layout file is there to…

Thank you. I'll check as soon as I can. I remember having asked that in the Ask Different Stack Exchange forum, but I couldn't even find my question.

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#478

Post by nl » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC

Factory distressed Fender Stratocasters coming up...

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#479

Post by bilekas » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC

> This was on my work computer.

I would love to see the guys reactions when you have to give this back.

Re: Filing the corners off my MacBooks

#480

Post by namibj » Sat, Apr 11, 2026, 12:46 PM UTC

15155 wrote: post #242

Tsiklon wrote: post #225

Earlier 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.

No they isolate L and N not PE.