Apple Faces Inquiries In the EU On iPhone Accidents 174
o'reor writes "As more cases of iPhone screen explosions emerge in the news on this side of the pond, Apple is now facing official inquiries and lawsuits in France. This situation has forced Apple finally to break silence and acknowledge the incidents: 'We are aware of these reports and we are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers. Until we have the full details, we don't have anything further to add.' Following those reports, the European Commission had already decided last week to step in, while Apple tried to dismiss the problem as 'isolated incidents.' Meanwhile, iPhone explosion-related sites are now popping up on the Internet, releasing games such as iPop to chill out and relax on the subject, but also giving users advice on preventing iPhone accidents, or detecting imminent explosions."
It's a new app... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's a new app... (Score:4, Insightful)
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There's a funny story about an iPhone that actually flew away from its owner!!!
http://pieroxy.blogspot.com/2009/08/news-from-missouri-my-iphone-flew-away.html [blogspot.com]
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Only on the iPhone 3GS
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You won't get such an app passed. Mine got rejected for having an "adult theme". I mean, come on, how are explosions adult only?
Anyway, I had a much nicer app name picked, iExplode is too long. iBlow on the other hand...
Really? (Score:4, Insightful)
Was it really necessary to link to the iPop advertisements 3 times?
Re:Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
Come on Slashdot. This is pretty lame. No wireless even. Not funny even.
FTFA:
If you're going to make a goof ball web site, at least proof read your text. Even the Time Cube guy does that....
Lame.
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That's not a lack of proofreading. It's being nearly illiterate in your second or third language.
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The following are verbatim quotes from the page, taken from a section about 'steps you can take to be safer':
If the iPhone is getting hotter, if its start to make noises, raise smoke or shake un normally, it's a sign something is about to happen.
Or even worse...
Listen to your iPhone and get to know when the iPhone is about is explode in you hand on in the pocket. When you feel this is the time, the best thing to do is to throw it away and let the iPhone explode far from you. Later on, please collect all the pieces.
So... their advice on determining if your iPhone is at risk of explosion boil
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Was it really necessary to link to the iPop advertisements 3 times?
Isn't that the sound of an iPhone when it explodes ?
Lithium Ion Batteries (Score:5, Informative)
Are the cause I hear. Lots of devices use these kinds of batteries, simply because they are easily rechargable. It's said that if one gets too hot, and is under a certain amount of pressure on the inside, the battery can explode. I didn't RTFA I'm sure its mentioned somewhere in there. Things that use L I batteries have exploded before in the past, it's just become common that everyone owns either an iPod or an iPhone, so when 13 or more stories arise of exploding Apple devices people take notice.
But, like the summary says, Apple hasn't received the broken equipment yet, so the battery is not the CONFIRMED cause of the explosion.
Anyone want to take a bet?
Re:Lithium Ion Batteries (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5icQWJ2mlc--irCjF-iJMQTGfcIIQ [google.com]
Apple is claiming that the screens were broken due to an external force according to their initial investigations.
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Now THAT -IS- interesting.
I mean, it appears to me as though Apple found a couple of cases where it wasn't the battery and they're trying to promote the idea that their product is safe before admitting that there is a defect.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the batteries went through alot of QA before they were shipped, and they were much safer then previous batteries used. But its still the same technology, and there will be rare cases where users will put strain on their devices that weren't tested. And by th
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Now THAT -IS- interesting.
I mean, it appears to me as though Apple found a couple of cases where it wasn't the battery and they're trying to promote the idea that their product is safe before admitting that there is a defect.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the batteries went through alot of QA before they were shipped, and they were much safer then previous batteries used.
Why are you assuming that this has anything to do with the battery being defective? How do we know that this was not caused by either the backlight exploding directly from pressure or from the backlight exploding and causing damage to the lithium battery which then exploded?
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Battery or not - its defective if its not the user applying too much pressure. Point is that Apple is denying that its their fault.
I just wagered it was the battery because those have been the cause for exploding mini devices in the past.
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Re:Lithium Ion Batteries (Score:5, Informative)
>>>they are easily rechargable.
Not true. LiIon batteries are extremely difficult to recharge and are in fact the most-complex battery ever made for home use. But the reason companies put-up with them is because they can hold the same amount of charge as a NiCad or NiMH battery, but in 1/4 or 1/2 the space, respectively. Obviously saving space is important for phones and laptops.
Now contrast that with hybrid cars which almost-universally use the NiMH battery. Since space is no great concern, but safety is, they use the more-stable battery. NiMH also has the advantage of surviving the ~20 years that cars typically last, and also being environmentally neutral.
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Well. Yes. I didn't mean "Easy" as in we've mastered it, I meant it as in, since they're so small, I don't need an Alternator the size of a head to recharge it. My mistake for poor word usage. Should've said because of their size AND the ability to be recharged.
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Alternator? No no. We're not discussing cars here. They use AC-to-DC converters, and the power load on this device would be essentially the same regardless of what battery type you used (1000mAh LiIon, 1000mAh NiMH, or 1000mAh NiCd).
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I'm not sure this is a correct assumption. Surely laptops and netbooks and hundreds of other models of phones all run on the same kind of Li+ battery, but only these ones are the ones that are exploding (or at least the ones that are rep
Re:Lithium Ion Batteries (Score:5, Informative)
I worked at Laptop shop with in-house technical support.
Guess what two pieces AREN'T covered for in the Warranty? Battery and power supply. Even the Manufacturers warranty for the battery is shorter than the manufacturers warranty for the laptop. This is simply because they are succeptable to ALOT of failure. Now the great thing about laptop batteries is that they are usually completely encased in plastic, and if one "explodes" - its pretty difficult to tell. These explosions aren't like the ones you see on TV, they're small, probably no bigger than your thumbnail.
You see how slim the Apple Devices are? That pinhead explosion is enough to break the screen, just because the battery is RIGHT next to the screen.
Re:Lithium Ion Batteries (Score:5, Insightful)
Also the battery in a typical laptop (even a typical phone) is an easily replacable part. Which isn't the case with the Apple devices.
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Also the battery in a typical laptop (even a typical phone) is an easily replacable part.
That's not going to help you when, in the process of destroying itself, the battery damages the device it is installed in.
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What, exactly, do they do, that is easier than sliding a latch, sliding out the old battery, and sliding the new one in? That's how every laptop I've ever had was set up.
Serious question here, I really want to know.
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Apple Support: Battery Service [apple.com]
Apple Support: Replacement Batteries [apple.com]
Ars Technica: New Macbook Pro Battery Replacement Information [arstechnica.com]
Apple KB: How to replace a Macbook battery [apple.com]
Investigation revealed that some of the newer Macbook Pros and the Macbook Air have an inaccessible battery. They have a replacement plan to replace the battery for you, either at the store by appointment (
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So, Anon was trollin' again?
The more I lurk on/b/ and the more I read the comments here, the more similarities I see.
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Slim? iPod Touch maye, but the iPhone G3 is exactly as thick as my HTC Touch HD which has got an interchangeable battery and a detachable back cover and there is another plastic cover and the mainboard between the battery and the screen.
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I have seen a few exploded batteries at work. Nasty stuff tends to seep out.
Also, LiIon batteries loose their capacity over time, and that loss is accelerated by heat. One of the best ways to preserve your laptop battery is to remove it and store it in a cool, dark place when not in use. If you run your laptop off the mains with the battery in, you are just heating the battery up and reducing it's lifespan.
Unfortunately most phones don't let you do that, but at least you can just get a third-party or even g
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Who in their right mind would send the murder weapon to the murderer, first class?
It's not the best analogy, but the fact is these people can not trust Apple with the evidence, it might get "lost", and no matter what Apple says the problem is they sure as hell aren't sending back the unit.
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They're Lithium Polymer to be more specific, and they don't explode. They can balloon up (which is probably what caused screens to break), then they can rupture and vent flames until all the combustible material is gone. Dangerous and spectacular, but not an explosion. They're not used because they are easy to recharge. In fact, they require more care as they can't be charge or discharged as quickly as other batteries and also risk ballooning up and catching fire if they exceed the limits. They're used beca
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If the battery itself is physically damaged (like say a user squashes the screen, like many of these issues seem to go back to) then no amount of "careful monitoring" is going to stop the battery burning.
Lithium batteries like this are highly energy dense things.
Clearly (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Clearly (Score:4, Funny)
Actually it's my shadow. He sneaks off and steals my iPod and dances like a fool.
I need to talk to Wendy about getting my shadow sewn back on.
iPhone, it's the hottest phone on the market (Score:3, Informative)
my 3GS tends to heat up a lot more than my blackberry. when i use the cell phone app i can feel the back getting warm
Re:iPhone, it's the hottest phone on the market (Score:4, Insightful)
The cell phone app?
You mean, when you use the FUCKING PHONE as a FUCKING PHONE?
On a side note, I think I need a new phone.
Mine is starting to get hot whenever I make calls. Never used to before.
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You might want to cut down on those 900 numbers. I'll bet your phone cools off after that.
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and get's less sticky.
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i use my phone as a phone maybe 45 minutes a month. i'm on a 700 minute family plan with 3 other phones. but last month i used around 2GB of data. my in-laws with their cheapo samsung flip phones use up most of the minutes
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The cell phone app?
You mean, when you use the FUCKING PHONE as a FUCKING PHONE?
Every phone uses an application to be a 'phone'. This has been true for years.
One day, when it's not so fashionable to bitch about the iPhone, you'll slap your forehead and go "oh, damn, I guess the iPhone wasn't the first phone to use software that runs on an operating system."
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He's heard to hear over the other thousand or so phones roaming around. He has no cellular company, either.
Dante's iNferno? (Score:5, Funny)
If your iPhone explodes and kills you, do you go to Apple Hell where everything runs on Windows?
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Nope. You're just stuck with the system you came with and you cannot ever upgrade. How's that for Fanboi hell. No Shiney!
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Isn't that where we are now?
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Wouldn't that be the same thing as Microsoft Hell?
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No, everything runs on Linux. ;)
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Whatever, this is MS fud! (Score:2, Funny)
Obviously this strategic move by Apple to created a 7 in one device (phone, email, text, game platform, camera, photo album, grenade) and MS can't handle it.
Video of lithium battery explosion (Score:3, Interesting)
It is difficult to imagine that an explosion could be caused by any other components in the device. The battery is supposed to be double fused which limits the amount of power to other components, but if there is a failure within the battery itself, the results can be dramatic.
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batteries of this type typically have a fuse inside the pack, between two cells, so that in case the pack is shorted right at the contacts as they come out of the battery, that fuse will still go. Then there's sometimes another fuse inline with the leads or where one of the leads emerges from the pack. Manufacturers sometimes skip that one. But most products also have a microfuse on the board in series with the battery power which is why they can call it double-fused. One in the battery, and one on the
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If they blew like they did in the viseo, there would ahve been alot more damage.
The pictures I saw of them only have some broken glass.
Maybe the screen isn't mounted properly and tension applied just right causes it? Or maybe people are damaging them and trying to get a new unit?
I ahve no idea which, or either it is.
here is a picture of one of them, and that doesn't look like the results of an exploding battery:
http://iphoneoverdose.com/2009/another-story-of-an-overheating-iphone/ [iphoneoverdose.com]
Don't Panic (Score:5, Funny)
What?!? (Score:2)
Boom? (Score:2)
if its start to make noises, raise smoke or shake un normally, itâ(TM)s a sign something is about to happen.
Are we talking iPhone, or Mt. St. Helens?
Seriously, I would like to think that there would be some way to overload protect things to prevent this. I know lithium batteries are special, but why can't there be some element that opens up to prevent the phaser on overload scenario?
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I liked that bit too, because it suggests that there are kids out there who DON'T realize that if their phone is smoking, that's a bad sign.
suspicious (Score:3, Interesting)
these latest reports sound just a bit funny to me. I know the iPod is built well but I just don't see the screen breaking before the back deforms. Remember these batteries don't explode they expand and then off gas flames. The description of the events just don't match what you would expect from a battery of this type failing in this device.
the first one in britain - yes
1 device is damaged by a drop
2 device begins to overheat
3 device shoots short burst of flames
this is how you would expect this device to fail.
But the last couple -- It just went pop and the screen shattered -- strange indeed, especially since the second seemed like he was reading the account of the first one line by line rather then telling something that happened to him.
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The few photo's I've seen of the iPhone battery problem suggest the battery's getting close to if not well over 70 degrees celcius. Thats only a guess based on a limited knowledge of how hot you have to get something before plastic starts de-clolouring. I doubt the LCD panel was designed to take anything close
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No one has mentioned the LCDs melting, Just the screens breaking. And it seems to me that we would see deformation of the case well before the glass would shatter.
You can't be too rich or too thin (Score:4, Interesting)
Modern fashion with gadgets is ultra thin and light, which is dangerous when it comes to lithium batteries. They are *delicate* and dangerous. This marketing decision leads to being not as good from an engineering standpoint (on being safe I mean) in designing the batteries, they are too subject to being smashed/bent, or have design and manufacturing screwups, and that leads to simple failure or catastrophic failure.
This utter fixation on having the smallest most powerful batteries combined with their basic chemistry of heating and catching fire and having runaway reactions will inevitably lead to a lot of failures when you are making millions of units.
And look at all this constant kvetching about battery life on laptops and so on. Geez, what a freekin non problem theoretically. If people could be content to carry the same weight they did just a few years ago, as if their girly man muscles could even handle the strain, oh the horrors, they could have *bigger and longer lasting and safer batteries*, probably cheaper as well, but every generation of new gadgets they insist on shaving some ounces and inches off. Well, you can do that to excess it appears. Battery tech has not quite kept up with other electronics miniaturization tech here, so you get problems. They can make the batteries smaller plus more powerful at the same time, but obviously it raises the risk factor. They are pushing it too close to the exploding edge.
Small, powerful, safe, pick two
Form is not necessarily your friend always over function. Perhaps if they take a few tens of million$ in cost in recalls and lawsuits this lesson of marketing versus engineering quality standards will sink in better. And any company that did that could turn it around in the market, use their new designed safer and more powerful batteries, albeit larger and heavier, as a marketing edge over just smaller and lighter. There could be some rather humorous ads along these lines showing the victim of the teeniest gadget walking around on fire and all charred all the time, just so he can stupidly brag how cool his new .5 ounce and 1/64th inch thick iXploder is...
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Thick and heavy gadgets won't cut it in today's market. My 1st gen iPhone is at the "barely tolerable" size, weight and thickness -- any bigger and I would be loath to carry it in my pocket when I don't have a shoulder bag with me.
Nobody wants to go back to the 90s when people were carrying around brick phones.
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it gets hot, and might asplode or catch fire. It just hasn't kept up adequately. We've had plenty of battery problems and recall stories from the last few years as proof of that.
Got any evidence that the failures have actually increased? Perhaps companies are just more cautious about recalls now, after having been burned by some really catastrophic failures in the late 90s and early 2000s?
As someone who uses a lot of Lithium Ion/Polymer batteries for hobbies, my experience is that they've gotten a lot more reliable in the last 5 years.
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And look at all this constant kvetching about battery life on laptops and so on. Geez, what a freekin non problem theoretically. If people could be content to carry the same weight they did just a few years ago,
Wait, what? A few years ago, your laptop was still using a Lithium Ion battery. They've been used in laptops for, what, over 15 years now? To go back to non-lithium technology, you'd need to go back a lot further than "a few years."
oh the horrors, they could have *bigger and longer lasting and safer batteries*,
This makes no sense. A larger battery (of the same technology) is more hazardous, as there is more fuel for the fire.
Besides, smaller device like the iPhone tend to use Lithium Polymer batteries, which are widely considered a safer derivative of the technology than regular Lithiu
Common practice (Score:2)
It's fairly common practice that companies don't lay claims to their products breaking. But I find Apple are some of the worst about it.
Can I be the only one? (Score:2, Insightful)
* There are millions of Apple products out there at the customers...
* According to the last ones which already explode and went on fire...
* How to avoid iPhone from exploding
* Lots more...
And this? [makeipodsafe.com]
C'mon people; that's comedy gold.
Old story, Apple has commented on the issue (Score:2)
According to the BBC [bbc.co.uk], Apple has analysed the reports and the returned iPhones and concluded that in all cases, "external force" caused the breakage, and that there is no indication of batteries overheating or internal explosions.
-dZ.
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Yes. My guess is that there are at most a very few number of strange incidents which warranted genuine investigation by Apple (perhaps just a couple), but since the anomalies were touted all over the web as "OMGBBQWTF!!! exploding iPodz!!1one! FAIL!", some people have tried to take advantage of the bad press to extort a refund from Apple.
In any case, if Apple is to be given the benefit of the doubt, the incidents have been much over-stated.
-dZ.
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Because Apple would never lie or misrepresent the truth to protect its reputation.
Even if the failure was caused by "external force" the device could still not be within legal safety standards. If a phone has a risk of exploding after being dropped it is still not considered safe. A device with an Li battery must be able to withstand a certain level of impact without becoming dan
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I'm not assuming they would never lie; God knows I don't have much trust of corporations. However, I'm also sceptical of users complaining loudly about Apple just because it is the fashionable thing to do; especially in Slashdot, where Apple has turned into the new evil empire, and Google is the messiah incarnate, as if the world was just so black and white. Besides, other than some very few allegations, there is really no indication that the phones actually exploded, and Apple is denying such allegations
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No charges have yet been laid, this is a bog standard consumer affairs investigation, it happens all the time in Australia and the EU. If the EU finds nothing wrong and Apple is complying with safety standards then the EU will publish this and nothing more will happen.
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Exactly. I believe that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is also investigating the allegations in the U.S.A.
-dZ.
France.. (Score:4, Funny)
The REAL cause (Score:2)
No one wants to talk about it, but I will.
The real cause is that these devices are running on *BSD. The icon for BSD is no accident. It is representative of the devil that is inside of every computer device running BSD. They all explode!
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Re:Manufacturing? (Score:4, Interesting)
>>>I wonder if the price saved is worth the lawsuits?
Well Ford performed this analysis in the 70s when they had a rash of exploding Pintos, and their accountants determined "yes" it's cheaper to pay-off the families of dead drivers than to spend the million-or-so on reengineering and fixing the problem. Besides the Pinto would eventually be phased-out anyway and replaced with a new 80s model, so the problem would solve itself, therefore just keep paying-off the victims to be silent (sound familiar?).
I suspect today's accountants are saying the same thing - "The money saved by shipping cheap goods from China or India is cheaper than the money paid-out to people with burned hands." Of course this is why we have a government - to protect our individual rights from those persons who would do us harm.
Re:Manufacturing? (Score:5, Insightful)
The money saved by shipping cheap goods from China or India is cheaper than the money paid-out to people with burned hands.
I think you meant it's cheaper to pay out people with burned hands than to correct a design flaw. Presumably the product would still be assembled in China, regardless.
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[Citation needed, badly]
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Shit on a shingle! Don't you know how to use google??? LINK - http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=THE+FORD+PINTO+CASE%3A+ [lmgtfy.com]
Re:Manufacturing? (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know where they were manufacturing before, but I have noticed a huge drop in the quality of Apple's hardware. I've bee a Mac aficionado since the early 1990s but my latest computer from them, a Macbook, is the first Mac I have actually hated. First there are the sharp edges that hurt my wrists. Then there are the edges that soon broke off. Then there's the fact that it freezes and applications seem incapable of quitting without crashing. Then there's the power adapter that heats up so much I have to use an oven glove to unplug it. Then there's the battery that heats up so much I can't even set the damn thing in my lap. I never thought I'd say this, but I hate my Mac!
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If true, you need to take that in. It sounds like an issue with that unit. Actually a bad power supply would explain everything you talked about.
As would a bad power connector.
If you are just trolling, why? please find somehow constructive to do. Make the world a better place.
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Excuse me, but why would you think I'm a troll?
Re:Manufacturing? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't believe the parent is a troll. I have one of the Macbook Pros with the coreduo processor. These are the ones that Apple said "we never intended for them to be used on your lap." When people complained that the bottom became to hot to put it on your lap. I'm not talking about bare legs here, I'm talking about resting the laptop on your lap when wearing jeans.
One can install 3rd party plugins/apps like smcFanControl, but why won't apple fix this? Because they removed the term "laptop" from the manual :)
Now if Apple could just invent a docking station... so corporate users wouldn't have to plug in half a dozen cables every day. Of course you could go out an buy the Apple Monitor, which would eliminate 1 cable...
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That was a better design the the current 3rd party attempts at a docking station [bookendzdocks.com] which is an automated way (via a handle) to plug in the cables all at once.
What is Apple's resistance to a docking station? One with built in physical security/power/networking/extra USB ports/monitor etc..
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What is Apple's resistance to a docking station? One with built in physical security/power/networking/extra USB ports/monitor
Maybe because it tried that before [wikipedia.org] and didn't do very well?
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I generally haven't had problems with my Macs except the 13" MacBook Core Duo (1st generation, mid 2006) that I got for my sister, which exhibits the problems that you describe. It really is one of the worst models they came up with. Is yours a 1st gen MB as well? We had to get it repaired under warranty during 2006 due to the random shutdown problems.
My MBP Cure 2 Duo on the other hand, which I bought about 4 months later (October 2006), has been flawless.
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Damned external forces.
Gravity.
Atmospheric pressure.
Radiation pressure from the light of your mackbook pro's lcd.
I thought the reality distortion field was supposed to block such harmful forces.
a few things to add to that list (Score:3, Funny)
(*) Do not place ipod back in your pocket if it's on fire
(*) Do not huff fumes if your ipod is smoking
(*) Do not overheat your ipod to start your campfire
(*) Do not eat your ipod
(*) Not certified for use as a shark repellent
anything else you need to tell us?
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anything else you need to tell us?
Yes.
Do not taunt happy iPod
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Because it's true?
Lipo batteries pop and swell and get really hot before they explode.
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The EU smells money.
Will Apple escape? Or will the EU leech off of them endlessly like they do with MS?
Should the EU not intervene on behalf of its citizens? I think this is exactly the kind of thing a governmental body should do, step in to protect people when corporations decide to do something stupid.
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Well, EU did achieve the desired result with Microsoft, didn't they? I would imagine that in this case they will also just keep raising fines for repeated non-compliance.
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Would you prefer the EU to storm into Apple's European offices and start throwing the managers off balconies. I should imagine that would be more effective then fines.
Fines are the best disincentive against abusive behaviour (a la Microsoft), in Apple's case if the EU's investigation finds the iphone could be dangerous something the EU could ban EU retailers from carrying the device until it is fixed and levera
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Now pass on some of that kool-aid you are drinking. I am running out of them.
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You have bigger problems, or you are not describing this one accurately. I read this, and on my G4 iBook copied a 27Mb file from one folder to another, and it didn't even have time to open the process dialog.