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Black Mac is back!

After just under a month on the road (Portland to Austin to Memphis to Austin to Portland), my black MacBook is now back in my possession! The good news: so far, the power adapter isn't overheating. The bad news: it still makes more noise than I would consider "normal," though it's not audible from as great a distance as before.

What's truly strange is what they replaced:

  • APP-646-302 DSPL 13.3 GLOSSY AUO: I'm assuming that's the 13.3" glossy screen...
  • APP-603-9181 ASSY, BEZEL, BEST: I think this is the bezel that goes around the screen.
  • APP-616-0268 BATTLITH LITH, 55WHR, ATL, BLK: A new battery.

I guess I understand the battery replacement...but why the screen and bezel? Perhaps the connection between the screen and the machine itself was somehow causing an issue? Or maybe a tech's screwdriver slipped and gouged the original screen :).

In any event, it's back, and based on the first hour or so of usage (downloading 2.52GB (well, it feels like that much!) of system updates), the overheating problem seems to be resolved. Hooray!

Update: After letting the machine run for a good two hours, I felt the power brick, and it seemed notably cooler than before the fixes. To confirm, I hooked up the USB temperature probe, and found that the temperature now maxes out around 94F. That's a good 30+ degrees cooler than before. So while it's still warm to the touch, I no longer fear a meltdown if I leave it too close to something made of plastic.

4 thoughts on “Black Mac is back!”

  1. Are you on the three year AppleCare plan with your MacBook? Or were you on the standard plan when you called for service?

  2. That was the standard plan. I'll buy AppleCare for it, but not until closer to the end of its first year...

    -rob.

  3. Just curious, did you notice any difference in the heat of the actual MacBook itself?

    I know that the Intel chips are powerful, and are supposed to hot; I just wish it wasnt so bad.

  4. Thanks for the informative posts, Rob.

    I called AppleCare this morning and they're sending out a new power supply. Hopefully the new unit will be enough, but at least I know that there appears to be a troubleshooting sequence to getting this problem addressed.

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