* Posts by allansimonsen

2 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Sep 2017

Stop using that MacBook Pro RIGHT NOW, says Uncle Sam: Loyalists suffer burns, smoke inhalation and worse – those crappy keyboards

allansimonsen

Humidity and heat

I've had two MBPs inflate the batteries on me, so this goes back a lot further (and is more endemic) than the recall suggests.

The first time, I noticed that the keyboard was failing and the entire MBP was bulging at the bottom. When I took it to a local repair-agent (not an apple certified place), he cheerfully started unscrewing one of those damn star-screws Apple uses. The screw was about 1/2 unscrewed when it just popped from the pressure inside, bouncing a meter off the bench with a ping.

From that point on, the repair man treated it much like you would unexploded ordnance; he was very carefully removing the remaining screws, with his face away from any potential blast . The battery was about 2x the width it normally should be, and was bulging at the seams as whatever toxic-hellstew they use to drive it was struggling to get out.

This happened with a 2011 MBP and with a 2016 MBP (I sadly make apps for iOS, so... no choice). I live in a hot and humid country, so that's likely a contributing factor. If there's no bulging, or pressure on the keyboard, you're likely safe for now. If you start seeing any curvature on the bottom, run don't walk, to the nearest Apple facility.

Mediocre Britain: UK broadband ranked 31st in world for speed

allansimonsen

Re: It would be interesting to see the methodologiy

I'm on a 1GB fiber in SG. For real speeds you're only really talking about CDNs hosted in Singapore (or the rare SG-hosted website); otherwise the international connection will kill your transmission. But for those the linkup rocks. It works largely because the govt used both carrot and stick in driving the telcos afore it. Which I'm kinda okay with; a badly run public-private partnership is the worst of both worlds for the consumer.