[HN Gopher] Filing the corners off my MacBooks
___________________________________________________________________
Filing the corners off my MacBooks
Author : normanvalentine
Score : 1360 points
Date : 2026-04-10 22:16 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (kentwalters.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (kentwalters.com)
| tomjacobs wrote:
| yay
| Yhippa wrote:
| As I'm typing on mine right now, I wonder why they made these so
| sharp. It hasn't cut me yet, but they are decidedly
| uncomfortable.
| gruez wrote:
| >I wonder why they made these so sharp
|
| So the seam looks neat when the macbook is closed, eg.
| https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/MacBo...
| guelo wrote:
| Form over function
| tonyedgecombe wrote:
| Yes although every time I open the lid with one hand I
| wonder why no other manufacturer seems to get their hinge
| friction so perfect.
| dghlsakjg wrote:
| Many/most of the other laptops I've taken apart have
| their hinges screwed into plastic, or worse, the hinges
| themselves are plastic too. This is a cost cutting
| measure and also limits the amount of tension since the
| plastic can't take higher tension.
| kube-system wrote:
| Probably because it looks nice and crisp
| patsplat wrote:
| Physical objects should be rounded, virtual windows should be
| square. I will die on this hill.
| porphyra wrote:
| > windows should be square
|
| found the Windows 8 enthusiast! haha, I kid. (I myself use a
| tiling window manager , i3, with completely square windows
| without any gaps or rounding)
| doubled112 wrote:
| Haha, Windows had square windows long before 8.
|
| If I could run the Windows 2000 UI on a modern OS I would but
| any recent clone/theme/etc feels too uncanny valley.
| paulddraper wrote:
| Not having i3 is truly the worst part about Macs.
|
| (Yes, please tell me about some buggy half-compatible tiling
| window manager for my Mac.)
| porphyra wrote:
| For real. Doesn't help that the three/four finger swipe
| between full screen windows/workspaces has a mandatory
| animation that you can't disable (you can turn on "reduce
| motion", but it simply changes the scrolling animation into
| an equally time-wasting fading animation).
| bee_rider wrote:
| Surely MacOS has some nice virtual machine that you could
| run Linux in?
| lostlogin wrote:
| UTM.
| porphyra wrote:
| Virtual machines aren't the solution for day-to-day
| computing though. You're missing out on the graphics
| acceleration, being able to plug things in that just
| work, and so on.
| paulddraper wrote:
| If you're running your UI on a Linux VM....why not just
| used Linux?
| pastel8739 wrote:
| You were being sarcastic, but aerospace is100% worth
| setting up
| bee_rider wrote:
| I like rounding the corners on i3. It is a bit wasteful but
| the base WM is so efficient with my pixels that I have some
| to spare.
| dsr_ wrote:
| My custom XFWM theme has square corners on windows without
| focus and large-radius rounded corners on the one window with
| focus.
|
| The square corners are part of a 2 pixel wide border (one
| black, one white) because who needs to waste space on
| handling things we aren't manipulating? But the title bar is
| high-contrast, because you'll go looking for it when you want
| to switch windows.
|
| The round corners go with a fairly thick border in a
| customizable color, usually something very bright in the
| yellow, orange or cyan ranges. When you sit down, you should
| immediately know what is active.
| kibwen wrote:
| Tim Cook here, we've heard you loud and clear, the next Macbook
| will have a perfectly circular screen with square windows.
| christophilus wrote:
| Jony Ive here. I'll come back and help make your new keyboard
| perfectly flat and seamless- touchpad based, and we'll remove
| all ports. Bluetooth devices only.
| dlev_pika wrote:
| Steve Jobs here, this user is wrong and you are both fired
| for not realizing this
| ryandrake wrote:
| Alan Dye here. I'm coming back to Apple, and the next
| versions of the operating systems will not even have
| visible controls or icons. You just have to click on the
| beautiful, clear windows and hope you're interacting with
| the right UI elements.
| schmeichel wrote:
| Steve Ballmer here, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS,
| DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS!
| topato wrote:
| DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS.
| DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS.
| WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!
|
| also, where is the new version of Visual Basic, Ballmer?
| Your sweaty chants can only distract me for so long....
| Wait..... ITS BEEN TWENTY YEARS!?!?
| a_e_k wrote:
| Cave Johnson here. I'll be honest, we're throwing science
| at the wall here to see what sticks. No idea what it'll
| do. Probably nothing. Best-case scenario, you might get
| some superpowers.
| matthewmc3 wrote:
| Scott Forstall here. I'll resign before I apologize for
| the choices we make at Apple. All our research shows
| you're gonna love it, and if you say you don't it's
| because you're wrong, not me.
| GraceParkNYC wrote:
| Mini Cooper redux.
| dnmc wrote:
| In response, I expect the open-source community to make an
| optimal square packing window manager.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_packing
| sublinear wrote:
| Nope. Virtual windows are _rectangular_ because the screen is
| also rectangular while being small enough to see the edges
| within our field of view.
|
| They don't have to be any particular shape or size. The
| property of being virtual overrides everything else when free
| of these self-imposed constraints.
|
| Even if you lose the GUI and go back to text, the ideal
| terminal is a plane of infinite columns of arbitrary cell size
| that dynamically fills your field of view.
|
| I'd further argue that the only reason VR/AR isn't more widely
| adopted is the lack of orthographic vs perspective modality per
| application (and uncomfortable headsets). In VR/AR, you don't
| want a window manager or even windows at all. What you want is
| a field manager (as in FOV "fields" of varying opacity that can
| be composited by the user). Shape and size is just an arbitrary
| region blended in with the environment.
|
| For the sake of ergonomics, you'd more often prefer to project
| an interface onto a surface if you had the choice. When you
| don't, you probably want the projection to be orthographic, but
| for the edges to be fuzzy if not invisible. You'd generally
| want to be able to layer these interfaces as well instead of
| having opaque rectangles always in your way.
| imiric wrote:
| I don't think GP was advocating for actually square windows.
| Rather that the corners should be right angles.
|
| This makes perfect sense considering that most LCD displays,
| and practically all computer displays, don't have rounded
| corners. This trend of rounding displays and GUI elements is
| purely an aesthetic choice. I also find this obnoxious since
| the only thing it does is rob me of a few pixels which are
| often useful.
|
| But considering Apple users have accepted living without a
| large block of pixels dead center at the top of the screen,
| which they've been sold as a "feature", the rounded corners
| are likely even less of an issue.
|
| I'm not sure that an infinite plane of pixels makes sense
| even in XR. I want to see a clear edge of where digital
| content begins and ends, and a rectangle is the simplest and
| most optimal shape for that. So I would rather have physical
| display-like floating rectangles, than floating text in
| arbitrary locations, or rounded off corners for the sake of
| aesthetics. I'm not opposed to a very slight rounding off of
| edges on certain elements, but the trend Apple is pushing is
| supremely ridiculous.
| sublinear wrote:
| Yeah I don't think we disagree. I just think you all's
| preference for windows, tiles, etc. (anything rectangular
| and opaque) is rooted in an idealistic efficiency of pixels
| (or irrational fear of deception?) just as unergonomic and
| frustrating to everyone else.
|
| I'm saying that there is room for your arbitrary preference
| for opaque rectangles if we all abandon the notion of a
| "screen". We are well past the point where we can do this
| economically. It only persists because of consumer
| acceptance. Traditional screens are less efficient in every
| tangible way. They are less power efficient for their
| apparent brightness and require more material to construct.
|
| Even the notion of clear boundaries and pixel size is an
| illusion. Traditional screens only make the pixels so big
| because they require sufficient brightness and power to see
| them at that distance, not because we cannot manufacture
| smaller pixels for cheaper. We could have much better
| results for everyone and the only remaining cost/problem is
| finding a way to comfortably wear the display.
| layer8 wrote:
| Eizo made a square 1920 x 1920 monitor which was quite nice:
| https://www.eizo.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/
| somat wrote:
| I had a blackberry passport and it had a lot going for
| it(best keyboard ever on a phone) but one thing I really
| liked for reasons I don't understand is it had a square
| screen and took square photos.
| randyrand wrote:
| Square sensors ought to be more common because they
| maximize the field of view for a given lens. Well, apart
| from circular sensors.
| ryukoposting wrote:
| Square (or squarish) formats were pretty standard in pro
| photography once upon a time. Bliss, the Windows wallpaper,
| was shot on a camera that shoots in 6x7 natively (that's a
| nominal 6cm x 7cm, really it's more like 55mm x 65mm) A lot
| of other medium format cameras also shot in 6x7 or 6x6. And
| of course, 8x10 is still the standard "medium size print."
| I find square (or squarish) easier to compose with than
| wide ratios. Street photography, portraits, and sports
| photography don't often benefit from wider ratios, to name
| a few examples.
| zdw wrote:
| LG sells a DualUp monitor that is 2560x2880, same size as two
| 2560x1440 displays stacked on top of each other:
| https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-28mq780-b-dualup-monitor
| layer8 wrote:
| Yep, though what I would want is the width and height
| swapped. You can rotate the monitor, but then the subpixel
| layout isn't good for text.
| marssaxman wrote:
| That looks genuinely useful - I could see positioning a
| monitor like that on either side of my main monitor, at an
| angle, and using them for docs, reference material, slack,
| calendars, etc. All the screen space of a dual-monitor setup,
| without the separation right in the center! Ah well, shame
| they're no longer made.
| mgfist wrote:
| Thanks, I hate it
| StilesCrisis wrote:
| This worked great for a home arcade machine. Kind of
| expensive, but worked equally well for both 4:3 games (Super
| Mario) and 3:4 games (Pac Man).
| anArbitraryOne wrote:
| Try exfoliating your wrists with square virtual windows
| dlcarrier wrote:
| Also, real windows and displays should have square corners,
| too. I refuse to buy a new phone until manufacturers stop
| cutting corners.
| mememememememo wrote:
| Hmm. Android uses the curvy bits for status so the main area
| is rectangle. So it is OK. It has the advantage of curved
| corners on casing to reduce chance of cracking screen on a
| drop.
| efreak wrote:
| Or you could forget the borderless screen and add a bezel
| so I can hold my phone without touching the screen. Then
| you've got enough room to curve the corners _and_ have
| square screen corners.
| mememememememo wrote:
| Well you wont die on that hardened steel cube :)
| golem14 wrote:
| Yes, the glass UI is the first step. Well done!
| glitchc wrote:
| Did the same for my Macbook Pro 15 unibody circa 2010. It was a
| great QoL improvement.
| abujazar wrote:
| Yea, that's ugly. I'm sure it could've been done more gracefully
| with 15 minutes more effort. But judging from the general wear
| and tear on this poor Mac I guess they don't even consider the
| resale value.
| windowsrookie wrote:
| Seriously, I have several mac laptops dating back to 2004 and
| they all have less wear than that.
| bee_rider wrote:
| I think he is not worried about the resale value.
|
| > This was on my work computer. I expect to similarly modify
| future work computers, and I would be happy to help you modify
| yours if you need a little encouragement.
|
| I don't understand the actual decision but I appreciate the
| gusto with which it was made.
| hk1337 wrote:
| The main reason to consider resale value is 1-2 years later
| you may want to upgrade and selling it to another person
| typically yields you more money than trading it in with
| Apple. Doing something like this may decrease how much you
| could sell it for later.
|
| If you're not planning on doing that then it's not really a
| factor for you.
| dazilcher wrote:
| > work computer
| kibwen wrote:
| I can't even imagine prioritizing resale value here over one's
| own comfort. The purpose of a tool is to be used, not to serve
| as an asset class.
| abujazar wrote:
| Sure, but comfort != abuse :D Apart from the filing, I can't
| think of ways to make such a recent Mac look like this. Did
| it suffer a plane crash? Acid attack? Thermite fire?
|
| I appreciate the customization, but would probably make an
| effort to make it not look like (another) accident.
| bloody-crow wrote:
| Doing this to a work computer seem a bit questionable from the
| ethical standpoint.
|
| Totally fine to do whatever you want to your personal belongings
| though.
| Loughla wrote:
| My work computer is missing two keys and has been since they
| signed it out to me.
|
| I'm betting they don't notice if I file down the corners. Hell
| they probably wouldn't notice if I just cut the corners off
| with a fret saw. But God forbid I try to install an ad blocker
| or use Firefox.
| chatmasta wrote:
| I promise you they're claiming taxes on the depreciation of
| that machine every year. If anything they'll be upset you
| didn't tell them sooner so they could have claimed more.
| jerlam wrote:
| If you're a US employee being paid market wages, the cost
| of the Macbook is rather trivial compared to how much you
| cost the company, and how much it costs them for you to be
| not working. But some lower-level managers and employees
| don't seem to understand this.
| topato wrote:
| "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE PRICE FOR THE PARTS AND LABOR
| TO REPLACE A SINGLE, GENUINE, APPLE-BRAND, 2021, MACBOOK
| PRO KEYCAP?!?! CALL THE ACCOUNTANTS, WE WONT BE PAYING
| TAXES FOR A FEW YEARS!!!"
| danans wrote:
| > Doing this to a work computer seem a bit questionable from
| the ethical standpoint.
|
| "Ethical standpoint" seems like the wrong choice of words. I
| think you mean "equipment ownership standpoint.". Ethical
| implies a set of values, vs contractual terms of equipment use.
|
| You can't be unethical to your employer, only to people like
| your coworkers and customers, or other living beings that your
| business activity impacts.
| supliminal wrote:
| > Don't be scared. Fuck around a bit.
|
| Preach.
| kvuj wrote:
| Maybe I'm autistic, but I loooove the sharp edges near the
| opening. They've become almost a nervous tick of playing with
| them with my fingers.
|
| I've got no idea why, but the sharp feeling is amazing.
| normanvalentine wrote:
| I actually agree with this too -- playing with the sharp edge
| is kind of satisfying. Like having something in your teeth that
| you're working on.
| neom wrote:
| I _am_ autistic and I also enjoy the sharp edges, I rub my
| wrists up and down them sometimes and generally play with them,
| I find it very satisfying. I also suspect the laptop might not
| be as easy to carry around when open if edges were rounded?
| 0xDEFACED wrote:
| this can't be how i find out...
| al_borland wrote:
| This alone doesn't mean much, but if the signs start to
| compound...
| kokanee wrote:
| I'm conflicted -- the author's rounded Mac looks more
| comfortable to use, but aesthetically it looks worse. He turned
| the track pad notch into an amorphous shape that looks like a
| mistake.
| autoexec wrote:
| There's certainly a % of mac users who prioritize aesthetics
| over function. I feel like there's got to be a way to do this
| in a way that's more attractive though. Maybe something more
| gradual or even.
| StayTrue wrote:
| I wonder what Apple estimates this percentage to be given
| some of their design decisions.
| tonyedgecombe wrote:
| I suspect that with all things Apple 10% really care, 80%
| are indifferent and 10% really hate it. The middle 80%
| are happy to be led by those that really care.
| j45 wrote:
| For many power users, Macs are an invisible laptop that just
| works.
|
| When apple releases a 12" retina Macbook M-series, I'll be
| the first in line, I don't think there's a better laptop for
| size and aesthetic.
| sublinear wrote:
| I don't think there's anything inherently autistic about that.
| We just finally have these technologies sufficiently mature
| that materials and design are no longer strictly dictated by
| their function.
|
| These objects are becoming more like clothing and less like
| unyielding industrial machines. It's to the point that I'd be
| genuinely disgusted to handle any used laptop regardless of how
| "clean" it is.
| LtWorf wrote:
| > materials and design are no longer strictly dictated by
| their function.
|
| Ok... but I don't like to injure my wrists...
| tonyedgecombe wrote:
| >We just finally have these technologies sufficiently mature
| that materials and design are no longer strictly dictated by
| their function.
|
| It's not a new thing, cars started getting fins in 1948.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_tailfin
| animegolem wrote:
| same, i really love it and i hove my hands typing so they've
| never caused pain anyway
| delecti wrote:
| Sounds kinda like pain stimming. I'm not personally a fan, but
| that's a thing some autistic people do. They make purpose-built
| toys for that, though you might already be set with your
| laptop.
| a2tech wrote:
| I chew my fingers because I find the pain calming.
| kube-system wrote:
| Somebody should offer a service to chuck up Macbooks in a CNC
| mill and hit them with a chamfer tool
| mjamesaustin wrote:
| I'm not brave enough to try this on my own, but I applaud the
| effort. I'm pretty sure I'm developing lasting calluses on the
| underside of my wrists from all the constant rubbing against the
| sharp edge of my MBP.
| michael1999 wrote:
| The sharp points by the track-pad are bad design. Ive made some
| terrible decisions when he wanted to show off.
| denimnerd42 wrote:
| I hate those sharp edges. I've contemplated taking a router with
| a carbide roundover to mine many times.
| michaelcampbell wrote:
| I just asked an LLM this exact question; it said "sure, but use
| cutting fluid, ensure the bit is carbide, slow the router speed
| down to 10-16k rpm, go slow, and clean off the flutes if they
| get gummed"
|
| And dont climb-cut
| adastra22 wrote:
| I just put a plastic case on my MacBook...
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| > Don't be scared. Fuck around a bit.
|
| Bet this person never heard about FAFO
| layer8 wrote:
| He hasn't found out yet.
| kimjune01 wrote:
| 'a bit' is load-bearing
| krackers wrote:
| There's a more thorough version of this at
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSaJAAqSAMw and the end-result
| doesn't look as tacky
| convolvatron wrote:
| if you want to do this, there is a better technique than shown
| in this video.
|
| get a single-cut fine file, maybe with a little more weight
| than the one in the video. single cut file has diagonal slots
| and allows firm and continuous contact with the piece. most
| files are double cut, have two sets of slots and look like
| bumpy diamonds. they remove more material but tend to bounce.
|
| use long even strokes with firm pressure, only during the fore
| stroke. watch out for roll-off, where you unconsciously change
| the angle or pressure of the file as you're at the end of the
| stroke.
|
| you can make a pretty even-looking chamfer that way.
| vl wrote:
| Or get a Dremel.
| mvdtnz wrote:
| There's absolutely no way you get a good result with a
| Dremel.
| simonbw wrote:
| I've been thinking of just using sandpaper stuck to a block
| of wood, though I imagine that might be slower.
|
| Heck, a little part of me is tempted to try the smallest
| radius round-over router bit I have in a trim router, but the
| odds of that going horribly wrong are just way too high.
| powvans wrote:
| Nitpicky, but he's rounding the edges, not the corners.
|
| And yes, why are they so sharp?
|
| I seem to recall my wife having the plastic MacBook that came out
| circa 2006 and the edges on that thing were legitimately painful.
|
| I always marvel at how sharp the points are on the notch of the
| lid on my current MacBook. Very very pointy.
| forrestthewoods wrote:
| why? Because Apple hates you and wants you to suffer.
|
| Alternatively, because they care about aesthetics more than
| utility and comfort.
| alanbernstein wrote:
| The most material is removed at the _corners_ of the lid-
| lifting notch. Those are IMO the most offensive pointy part on
| the body.
| varispeed wrote:
| > Very very pointy.
|
| I have intrusive thoughts of trying to cut my finger over it,
| but so far the attempts were unsuccesful.
| LtWorf wrote:
| I don't think apple computers are meant for people who do use
| computers. I used to have marks on my wrists (I no longer have
| an apple computer now).
| nine_k wrote:
| Apple computers are made for those who purchases a computer.
| They are engineered to look great on a demo shelf.
|
| <<During the first Jobsian era at Apple, I used to joke that
| Steve Jobs cared deeply about Apple customers from the moment
| they first considered purchasing an Apple computer right up
| until the time their check cleared the bank.>> (Bruce
| Tognazzini)
| LASR wrote:
| It worked. Most people under 30 don't know Apple existed
| before the iPod / iPhone. ie: Before Jobs.
| selkin wrote:
| s/Before/Between/
| nine_k wrote:
| Of course it worked. Apple turned from a company that
| sells electronic equipment into a company that sells
| media consumption devices which double as fashion
| accessories signaling high social status. Of course the
| addressable market is 2-3 orders of magnitude larger.
|
| They still sell computers, which count below 10% of the
| revenue, and are also partly fashion accessories.
| cesarvarela wrote:
| Tell that to the people responsible for the trackpads of any
| other computer maker.
| LtWorf wrote:
| I wouldn't know, I use a trackpoint :)
| Biganon wrote:
| Oh, it's you!
| jareklupinski wrote:
| > why are they so sharp?
|
| they intentionally ship them sharp so you can file them down to
| your desired fillet
|
| the design is very human
| anArbitraryOne wrote:
| It's great how apple makes everything so customizable
| metrix wrote:
| It's by design.
| Forgeties79 wrote:
| I think it's different.
| svnt wrote:
| The past few generations I found I was not pleased with their
| performance, so now I take them weekly to the macbook
| sharpener at the saturday market.
| donatj wrote:
| There are definitely corners by the trackpad, at the gap for
| opening the lid.
|
| They are quite stabby and I hate them.
|
| https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/aca51a7051edc493b19cfd93da...
| vr46 wrote:
| Yeah, I had thin insulation strips running around these edges
| because my wrists were legit getting sore from these edges. And
| then Apple replaced the bottom case so they're back, as sharp
| as ever.
| jeffhwang wrote:
| Thank you! I zoomed in on the photo looking for sanded corners
| on the MacBook and saw none. Took me a sec to finally see the
| amorphous edge nr the trackpad...
| vl wrote:
| They actually reduced sharpness in M MacBooks Pros.
|
| Unibody Intels before that were really really sharp.
| sillysaurusx wrote:
| I bet the author deliberately called them "corners" instead of
| "edges" to put more people on edge.
| mikey_p wrote:
| This is incorrect usage of the word "corner" to be overly
| pedantic. It's still a corner, but English doesn't have a
| separate word for inside vs. outside corner, so it's common to
| just say "outside corner".
|
| And yes it is a corner (or vertex), where two planes meet. Edge
| can also be correct, but corner is not wrong.
| bilalbayram wrote:
| I hate this But I also understand Still I hate this
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| As a bonus the machine looks like crap so it's far less likely to
| get stolen.
| margalabargala wrote:
| I think it looks nice.
|
| Though you're right that machines whose exteriors are
| customized and unusual are less likely to get stolen.
| sharkjacobs wrote:
| I don't want to do the whole front edge but this has definitely
| inspired me to take a file to these notch corners
| teaearlgraycold wrote:
| This seems like a reasonable choice, but man you really need to
| do this with a CNC mill. The craftsmanship is not there.
| chuckadams wrote:
| That's like telling a punk to use a proper sewing machine for
| their jacket patches.
| normanvalentine wrote:
| (author) If anyone around the Bay wants to let me use their CNC
| mill please reach out! I have lots of things to chamfer.
|
| Here's what it looked like freshly after filing fyi:
| https://kentwalters.com/posts/public/IMG_7438.jpeg
| jwlake wrote:
| Whats it look like closed?
| normanvalentine wrote:
| A bit tough to photograph:
|
| https://kentwalters.com/posts/public/IMG_0828.jpeg
|
| https://kentwalters.com/posts/public/IMG_0829.jpeg
| teaearlgraycold wrote:
| There is a Makera Carvera Air you can use at Noisebridge (272
| Capp St in San Francisco). It even has the 4th axis addon.
| Please donate if you use it!
| andreybaskov wrote:
| Finally, now I know I'm not the only one! These sharp edges
| constantly cut into my wrists to the point I was thinking of
| doing the same, or glueing some kind of kind soft padding to the
| edges. Great someone did it. I wonder how far can you cut them?
| ribosometronome wrote:
| >it is uncomfortable on my wrists
|
| Are your wrists supposed to be coming into contact with that? I
| suspect many of us have bad posture and do rest our wrists like
| that, but if your concern is wrist comfort, you probably want to
| consider that you're going out of your way to enable harmful
| posture.
| _virtu wrote:
| I came here thinking that there would be more comments
| discussing this. This seems like the wrong direction to go for
| fixing the comfort problem. Tilting your wrists down like that
| is not proper typing posture.
| proee wrote:
| The Apple Watch Ultra also has an aggressively sharp screen edge.
| It's kept me from upgrading from my current watch (Model 8). But
| maybe I would get use to it?
| gensym wrote:
| The side that faces your wrist is rounded - only the face is
| sharp. I haven't noticed any issues with the edge wearing the
| thing.
|
| I was worried about scratches because I abuse the shit out of
| anything I wear, and sure enough, there are scratches in the
| titanium bezel, but they look good in a way that scratches on
| my (non-pro) steel Apple Watch did not.
| dwg wrote:
| Wish I had the courage to do this too.
| html5cat wrote:
| Not all heroes wear capes. This is excellent and can't wait to
| get aluminium mac next to try it - don't think Space Black is a
| good way to go.
|
| Author's another post on "The Seasons are Wrong" [0] is excellent
| too and I fully support both approaches.
|
| [0] https://kentwalters.com/posts/seasons/
| mitthrowaway2 wrote:
| There's a significant lag between the longer days and the
| resulting higher temperatures though, which does make the
| seasons make more sense temperature-wise.
| kokanee wrote:
| The seasons idea is interesting -- to me, both proposals feel
| wrong. I think it's because the weather changes that I perceive
| seem to lag behind the changes to daylight length by a few
| weeks.
|
| I would propose boundaries that align partly with how I
| perceive the weather, and partly with how we plan our year (by
| months): Summer starts June 1st, Fall starts September 1st,
| Winter starts December 1st, and Spring starts March 1st.
| Tyr42 wrote:
| I second this proposal. Three weeks shift can feel about
| right.
|
| But we lost a lot of nice symmetries that way, which is
| unfortunate
| Izkata wrote:
| Sunrise and sunset don't shift at the same time, and
| December 1 is right about where sunset approaches it's
| earliest time (where I am it's 4:19, vs the earliest at
| 4:18 on Dec 8)
|
| Summer doesn't work with that association though, with the
| latest sunset being the end of June instead of the start.
| html5cat wrote:
| funny how this is actually the default for me having grown up
| in Ukraine.
|
| probably same for other post-soviet countries too?
| dpc050505 wrote:
| Ocean currents, elevation and distance from the equator also
| have a big impact on what the season is going to feel like.
|
| There's no need to change the dates. They're already
| arbitrary based on the position of the sun and the earth and
| people have the experience to take them with the grain of
| salt necessary to the region they live in. People who live
| near the equator probably don't have much care for the notion
| of the winter at all. Folks who live far up north know that
| spring actually comes in much later than march 21st. People
| who climb glaciated mountains in the canadian rockies know
| they won't get summer conditions until late june.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| > People who live near the equator probably don't have much
| care for the notion of the winter at all.
|
| My understanding is that tropical regions tend to divide
| the year into "wet season" and "dry season".
| Fnoord wrote:
| > I would propose boundaries that align partly with how I
| perceive the weather, and partly with how we plan our year
| (by months): Summer starts June 1st, Fall starts September
| 1st, Winter starts December 1st, and Spring starts March 1st.
|
| You do realize there's also a southern hemisphere on planet
| Earth?
| fy20 wrote:
| In my country the dates you stated are what are considered
| the start of the seasons. This year there was a very clear
| change between winter and spring on March 1st. February was
| cloudy and minus, March was sunny and plus.
| perilunar wrote:
| That's how it works in Australia, though rotated six months:
| Summer starts December 1, Autumn starts March 1, Winter
| starts June 1, and Spring starts September 1. I think it even
| has legal status. In the North of the country though they
| typically just use wet and dry season.
|
| I've also always thought that the equinoxes and solstices
| should be the middle of the seasons, so using the 'cross-
| quarter' days as the beginning of seasons makes more sense.
| throwaway5465 wrote:
| Forcing seasons into chunks of equal duration also feels
| wrong, to me but also anyone I recall having a conversation
| with so seeing every HN comment assuming all seasons are 3
| months long is somewhat perplexing.
| jojobas wrote:
| You can anodize aluminium black relatively easily, similar to
| this
|
| https://youtu.be/y8HEZ-x4-_w?t=402
|
| Getting the shade right could be tricky though.
| eightysixfour wrote:
| The author seems to not realize the season are about
| _temperature_ not about _sunlight_. If you align the season to
| northern hemisphere temperatures, where the first week of
| August is usually the hottest, they make sense.
| LtWorf wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season
| eightysixfour wrote:
| > A season is a division of the year[1] based on changes in
| weather...
| Art9681 wrote:
| I have no dog in this fight but a friendly reminder that
| temperature and weather are not synonymous.
| Humphrey wrote:
| Oh, I have never heard of seasons starting mid-month. My mind
| is blown!
|
| In Australia it's just split up by months, with each season
| being 3 months long:
|
| March 1 - Autumn starts June 1 - Winter starts Sept 1 - Spring
| starts Dec 1 - Summer starts
|
| Of cause, those in far northern Australia, only really have Dry
| and Wet seasons. I have no idea when those are.
| LeoPanthera wrote:
| Part of the reason for this is that climate lags behind
| sunlight a bit, so the end of the authors "summer" would be
| warmer than the beginning.
|
| But most countries other than the USA use meteorological
| definitions of the seasons starting on the 1st of December,
| March, June, and September.
| nopassrecover wrote:
| We were taught the same (Australian) - though it always felt
| slightly off as March often has major heatwaves, and December
| can be quite spring-like, often cool and wet.
|
| Adelaide's climate anecdotally feels to be more humid in
| recent years (historically bone dry Mediterranean climate)
| and the seasons feel like they've shifted a few weeks
| forward.
|
| The Kaurna (Australian Aboriginal people of Adelaide,
| pronounced Gar-nuh) apparently mapped seasons a little
| differently, with a longer summer that resonates with my
| experience:
|
| https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-
| knowledg...
|
| The Noongar people of Western Australia have a 6 season model
| that also maps pretty well to my experience in South
| Australia.
|
| https://australiassouthwest.com/six-seasons-of-the-south-
| wes...
| Macha wrote:
| On the seasons front, traditionally in Ireland winter starts on
| Halloween (at sunset if you want to be really specific), and so
| you get winter is November till January, spring is February to
| April, summer is May to July and autumn is August to October.
|
| That said being an English speaking country and absorbing a lot
| of media from other English speaking countries, there's been a
| slow drift towards the American system making its way in, so
| younger generations are more likely to use American seasons and
| older people more likely to use traditional seasons, though
| you'll find people of all age groups using either. Certainly
| they taught the traditional seasons in school when I was a kid,
| I wonder which they teach now.
|
| (Of course, you could make yet another system based on the
| weather where summer is approximately two weeks in July, winter
| is a thing that happens every few years and the rest is a
| sequence of mild weather with occasional wind and scattered
| showers)
| Sharlin wrote:
| I find the "solstices/equinoxes mark starts of seasons" a bit
| foreign too, but... weather-wise, annual top and bottom
| temperatures are of course offset from the solstices due to
| thermal inertia.
|
| In Finland the traditional division is that winter is Dec-
| Feb, spring is Mar-May, summer is Jun-Aug, and autumn is Sep-
| Nov. Historically it has made perfect sense, weather and
| climate wise - particularly from the point of view of
| agriculture, which is of course the reason people used to
| think about seasons in the first place!
|
| February in particular is 100% winter in Finland with no
| signs of spring besides the days starting to get very
| noticeably longer by then. It's often the coldest month of
| the year and when schools usually have a week-long winter
| break. Similarly, August is very definitely a summer month
| except in the far north where spring comes late and autumn
| early. The academic year in schools and universities
| typically starts at the end of August, so that's a clear and
| important dividing line in many people's lifes. In Southern
| Finland, December is these days rather autumny more often
| than not, and there's often no lasting snow until January (if
| even then). June is a crapshoot, it can be nice and warm or
| surprisingly cold.
|
| I guess Jan-Feb are definitely winter, Apr-May definitely
| spring, Jul-Aug definitely summer, and Oct-Nov definitely
| autumn. The rest are kind of transitional and their weather
| unpredictable. Of course, the climate change isn't helping
| things, either.
| rsaarelm wrote:
| It's also funny how Finland has a concept of "thermic
| spring", which is defined by the temperature no longer
| dipping below 0deg C, and the term doesn't exist in English
| because the definition wouldn't work in the climate of most
| of the English-speaking world.
| amszmidt wrote:
| This a common thing shared with the Nordics. The English
| term would be "meteorological spring".
|
| https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A5r_i_Sverige
|
| The definition would certainly work in English countries,
| seeing it is just 0 to 10 degrees Celsius average over
| the course of a week (and after 15th of February).
| Izkata wrote:
| On holidays, in the US, Thanksgiving is Fall-themed so we
| wouldn't want to start winter until after the 4th Thursday of
| November (which because of how it shifts around, pretty much
| means December).
| tecoholic wrote:
| Does Europe and America really call the summer solstice the
| "start" of summer. Wow.
|
| In India our summer holidays start at the end of March and
| finish in the start of June. That's usually our hottest months
| too. And a lot of our regional "New Year" calendar's and
| related festivals are on April 14th and can probably be
| considered the start of summer.
| hadlock wrote:
| Hottest day of the year in the US varies by 3 months from
| California to Texas, which is only about half the width of
| the country. I would imagine the region you're in has a
| different hottest day of the year from say Kashmir or your
| neighbor Sri Lanka.
| tecoholic wrote:
| 3 months? Wow. It should be impossible to put seasons on a
| shared calendar for the whole country.
| dfc wrote:
| The three months difference must be based on a wild corner
| case. What cities are you basing that statement on?
|
| I played around with weatherspark and all the places I
| tried looked like this :
|
| https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/1705~8813/Comparison-
| of-t...
| dmitrig01 wrote:
| I don't know whether to call it a corner case or not, but
| I was pretty easily able to find this one (based on my
| own experience - the peak temperature in the East Bay has
| always felt very late in the year):
| https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/541~3268/Comparison-
| of-th...
| seb1204 wrote:
| Europe does not. Summer is June, July and August with a bit
| of give here and there.
| jan_g wrote:
| Probably depends on where you are, etc., but as an
| European, I was taught in school two ways of splitting the
| year up into seasons: calendar/astrological and
| meteorological. Calendar split is based on solstices and
| equinoxes (21st March, 21st June, ...), whereas
| meteorological is based on month start (1st March, 1st
| June, ...). They use this also in weather reports, for
| example, where on 1st March they would add "Today starts
| meteorological spring" and on 21st March "Today starts
| calendar spring".
| hadlock wrote:
| You can get some black "machinist's layout bluing" which will
| stain it better than a sharpie would. It's not going to be a
| perfect color match but better than 50%
| ryukoposting wrote:
| It's funny, because back home by the Great Lakes, the solstice
| system aligns better with the seasons than his system. Peak
| "cold" is usually in January or early February, and you'll
| generally get one straggler snowfall sometime in March. Peak
| "hot" is sometime in July or August, with June being when the
| temperature noticeably goes from "springy" to "summery."
| dexterdog wrote:
| Yes, the black will wind up 2-tone when you get through the top
| layer. Mine get silvery to the sides of my trackpad from hand
| friction over time. I like the laptop in black, but silver ages
| far better.
| toxik wrote:
| Great post. Also, we celebrate "midsummer" on the summer
| solstice in Sweden and other countries. I see the author noted
| that.
| sitzkrieg wrote:
| anything but admitting the design is bad and frivolous
| nickvec wrote:
| > This was on my work computer.
|
| Bold move to do this on your work Macbook. I'd be too worried of
| getting chased down with a bill when returning the laptop
| eventually.
| lostlogin wrote:
| 'I've done a lot of work and it wore down'
| levocardia wrote:
| Honestly that was the cherry on top for me -- the employee
| confident enough to just decide "this is my work computer, I
| need it to do work, I can't do work with my hands being
| irritated, so I will sand down the edge." Pure gold.
| nickpinkston wrote:
| It was oddly satisfying taking a file to my MacBook when a drop
| lifted a nasty burr on the edge.
|
| Very minor "you can just do things" collides with the "infallible
| object" presence that Apple wants for its products - almost feels
| "wrong", but it's a nice norm to break.
|
| (and I'm not a "Cult of Mac" guy)
| jcgrillo wrote:
| you can just do things: https://ebay.us/m/vWMAUU
| rmccue wrote:
| On one of my old MacBook Pros, I managed to do this naturally
| through friction from my wrist moving back and forth on the
| keyboard for years; good idea to get ahead of it.
| Retr0id wrote:
| I'm very tempted to try this although I worry that the rubber
| "seal" around the edges of the screen will no longer have
| anything to butt up against, meaning there's glass-on-metal
| contact when it's closed?
| Retr0id wrote:
| Ok I did it, but to a lesser extent to OP, so it definitely
| doesn't affect the seal. Even a small radius makes a big
| difference to comfort!
| phamilton wrote:
| I dropped my MBA on concrete and the edges got dinged up and
| sharp.
|
| A bit of 220 grit sandpaper and all the sharp edges are smooth
| and it actually looks pretty cool. I was grimacing at first but
| now I like the feel.
| zephen wrote:
| Too many MBAs, not enough concrete.
| whalesalad wrote:
| I would remove material from the outside edges of the front, not
| the center near the trackpad. The blue edges of my M2 air have
| already become silver and the palm rests have become more silver
| and glossy like glass from wear. I'm probably going to do
| something like this.
| tmd83 wrote:
| At one point due to the way I was using my just above my wrist my
| skin basically calloused from the edge of the macbook. Now at
| least the lid is not that sharp but it used to be I recall and I
| always worried about kids getting hit by it in case of an
| accident.
| starkeeper wrote:
| A hero post. I'm pretty sure we'll be able to shave using the
| edge of iPhone Air 20 or whatever they are coming up with. iPhone
| Stiletto.
| rvz wrote:
| One of the many first world problems of this century. /s
|
| Meanwhile a very important object called "Orion CM-003 Integrity"
| of the Artemis II mission is about to splash-down on Earth in 35
| mins.
| orliesaurus wrote:
| You don't dock your MacBook for long sesh?
| smlacy wrote:
| Is it me or is that aluminum already developing some stress
| cracking?
| bredren wrote:
| It's not just the edge but the corners where the finger
| accommodation is for opening the lid.
|
| There's a sharp corner there is unnecessary.
| jbverschoor wrote:
| The sharp and high edges leave a mark in my skin. The older
| MacBook Air design was lower, so resting your palms wouldn't give
| me this
| ghshephard wrote:
| Another thing that multiple generation of MacBook Airs used to do
| is constantly be running (sometimes quite painful) amounts of
| electricity through your wrists if they accidentally touched the
| metal.
|
| Not sure if the Apple Silicon devices have the same issue - but
| it was consistent through at least 3 different generations.
| LtWorf wrote:
| I remember, at university we had rows of metal chairs and one
| single person with a macbook could occasionally electrocute
| multiple people.
| Topfi wrote:
| I thought this was going to be on a softwarefix for the appalling
| inconsistency that are macOS Tahoe window corners. What I found
| deeply disturbed me, though I must agree, the edges are a bit
| more sharp then I'd like and a slight curvature could probably
| prevent them showing wear and tear [0]. Good on op for doing
| something they like, even if it's really out there and I could
| see more "pillowy" hardware becoming a thing now, after a few
| years of sharp edged devices.
|
| Since I mentioned Tahoe, it bears repeating, my spotlight is
| still broken.
|
| [0] https://ljpuk.net/2025/05/23/how-does-the-space-black-
| macboo...
| vvpan wrote:
| I just came into Mac world for work and struggle to understand
| the choices Apple makes:
|
| - Sharp edges eat into my forearms.
|
| - Glossy screen makes it hard to see when it's light out.
|
| - The keys have a real hard stop when you press on them which
| tires out my hands.
|
| - An arrogant desire to obsolete ports.
|
| I don't understand the appeal of the machine, it feels like style
| over function everywhere.
| chihuahua wrote:
| I, too, only use Macs when my employer forces me to do so.
| Here's how I made it bearable: MacBook lid stays closed at all
| times; plug it into a Thunderbolt hub (requires just 1
| Thunderbolt port for everything); connect a proper matte
| monitor, external keyboard, Logitech mouse.
|
| Now the only annoying things are the MacOS window manager (uBar
| attempts to fix this, but is flaky) and the weird keyboard
| mappings for things like "start of line", "end of line",
| "previous word", etc. Karabiner fixes those if you're willing
| to invest 3 hours in setting it up.
| pxc wrote:
| > weird keyboard mappings for things like "start of line",
| "end of line", "previous word"
|
| Those are Emacs keybindings, and they're also present by
| default in Bash since they were copied by GNU Readline.
| They're one of the few things I really like about macOS. (But
| I'm an Emacs user and I'm also used to using them in my
| terminal.)
|
| The window manager never stops sucking. Rectangle and
| Contexts or Witch help. Ice helps with the stupid menu bar
| design and problems with overflowing icons or oversized
| menus.
| randomeel wrote:
| For window manager try rectangle or aerospace
| stephbook wrote:
| Do you still have to install third-party software to keep it
| running when you close the lid?
|
| Does it still not support "Windows Hello" style face unlock
| when closed? I remember I couldn't touch the fingerprint
| sensor when closed and the MacBook was unable to use my
| Windows Hello camera.
| mortsnort wrote:
| Design aside, the quality is undeniable, the price is
| reasonable and the M chips have been in their own league of
| efficiency. (Tho the new Intel and Qualcomm chips look to be
| catching up)
| culi wrote:
| I too find the sharp corners incredibly uncomfortable for my weak
| sensitive baby wrists but I chose to overcome this by wearing a
| wrist band. Two very different approaches
| eaurouge wrote:
| Yeah, I wear a wrist band as well. I've used these
| (https://www.vivehealth.com/products/wrist-support) for some
| years now but they've since changed the material to something
| with less give.
|
| Do you have a brand you'd recommend?
| culi wrote:
| Not really. My almost favorite solution was to get gloves
| with touchscreen finger tips but I couldn't find a good one
| that has the touchscreen material go all around the tips
| which makes certain touchpad gestures annoying to do.
|
| Any wrist band has been "good enough" for me so far though
| GraceParkNYC wrote:
| Sharp edges and an axehead-like profile wear down the bottom of
| the laptop sleeve in my office-commuter hand luggage. Solved by
| putting my old MacBook Air in a neoprene pocket case before
| putting the whole thing, now with the double-thickness :-( p into
| my sachel.
| anArbitraryOne wrote:
| If only they'd round the edges/corners of the body instead of the
| screen and the UI
| tonypapousek wrote:
| Maybe it's because I type like one would play the piano (with
| hands curved, fingers well below the palms), but I've never ran
| into an issue like this with a laptop before, wrists always clear
| the edges by a couple inches.
|
| All the same, hell yeah.
| jcgrillo wrote:
| If instead you sharpen the corners it's a security mechanism.
| BenFranklin100 wrote:
| I dealt with sharp edges issue by investing in an Andar leather
| case. Works just as well.
|
| https://www.andar.com/products/the-helm
| ProAm wrote:
| Apple users always convincing themselves they are still using the
| best premium most thought after designs of all time.
| baud9600 wrote:
| Brilliant. Love the tech-disrespect and the "right to repair"!
| jasonjmcghee wrote:
| Depending on how I'm using the computer, I may definitely have
| deep marks after working laying down, but if I sit in a wood
| chair for a while it's the same thing- and my forearm is much
| tougher than behind my knee.
|
| I suppose I would prefer it nice and rounded and soft on my wrist
| - but I don't feel like it's quite as extreme as this thread
| would have you believe lol
| mememememememo wrote:
| External keyboard and mouse too easy?
|
| Unless you fly/train travel alot I guess.
| cwicklein wrote:
| Sitting in a reclined position on the train, I've had a MacBook
| fly into my face when the car lurched and slice my nose open.
| Bled all over.
| yreg wrote:
| The takeaway from this article should be to consider modifying
| your tools to your needs even in unconventional and controversial
| ways. I love it.
|
| The flame war on whether the original chassis design sucks or
| rocks is not that interesting.
| Steltek wrote:
| This is why I like cheaper tools. Yes, that means cheaper
| quality but it's far easier to approach taking a dremel to it.
| And the DIY look usually matches the stock materials better
| anyway.
| tcdent wrote:
| Nah, taking the risk is even more fun when the thing you're
| modifying holds more value.
|
| Chopping the fenders on a Porsche 911 to install a widebody
| kit does not have the same weight as rolling the seams on an
| Jeep Cherokee.
| seizethecheese wrote:
| All things being equal, sure, but I personally am way more
| likely to mod the Cherokee than the Porsche
| dotancohen wrote:
| I'd say it's an even split. Half the Jeeps on the road
| and on the trails are modified. On the road maybe 1/10 of
| Porches are modified, but on the track 90% are.
|
| Big difference between bolt-ons vs deeper mods too.
| rpcope1 wrote:
| Go to any mechanic thats been doing cars, especially if it's
| a focused subset of cars, for more than a few year and I
| guarantee they'll either have some modified HF sockets or
| wrenches or some home made tools. Probably don't want to cut
| up your SnapOff debt peonage tools, but a lot of the time
| they alone don't cut it.
| snowwrestler wrote:
| I really like the design and the sharp edges don't hurt my
| wrists.
|
| I also really like this article and am 100% supportive of
| people messing around and modifying their stuff.
| jonhohle wrote:
| 25 years ago one of early engineering courses included a case
| study about Ingersol Rand (IIRC). They went out to work floors
| and saw how all the workers had modified their air wrenches in
| the same way, adding padding with tape in various areas. They
| realized they could probably make a better wrench if it had
| some of those ergonomics built in.
|
| Maybe the next phase of Apple could return to flowing shapes
| and save our wrists.
| noisy_boy wrote:
| Interchangeable wrist area as an accessory for only 79.99$
| bigiain wrote:
| Per side.
|
| Note: Left hand wrist areas are currently out of stock.
| noisy_boy wrote:
| The right hand wrist area is the best we have ever made
| though.
| xp84 wrote:
| Interchangeable? No, $250 upgrade, fused with the case at
| the factory and somehow electronically serialized
| temp0826 wrote:
| One time cost? This should be a subscription that raises
| spikes when you don't pay
| codys wrote:
| The Apple way for hardware is more to design the thing so
| it breaks under normal use very quickly, and then refuse
| to replace it under warranty.
| SJC_Hacker wrote:
| My experience with Apple hardware has been it generally
| holds up. I've only on my third iPad since I bought the
| original in 2011. My iPhones have all lasted at least
| four years.
|
| The screen on my Macbook Air has been the exception. I
| wonder why they can't just use the same display on those
| that they do iPad. Seems better quality, as well
| Ar-Curunir wrote:
| I know we're trolling here, but my Apple hardware has
| lasted way longer than my non-Apple hardware, from watch
| to phone to laptop.
| jacobolus wrote:
| > _save our wrists_
|
| If your wrist is in contact with the edge of the laptop while
| you are actively typing, then your typing style has a good
| chance of giving you RSI. You'd be better off trying to fix
| that than trying to make the fast path to RSI more
| convenient.
| kpil wrote:
| How the f are you supposed to type? Ideally I'd like full
| support for my arms from the elbow to the wrist.
|
| In my first job - i think it was in 1997, I had my own
| small room with an L-shaped desk with a rounded corner.
| That gave a few inches of space for resting my arms - both
| when typing on a quite reasonable Pentium laptop, and
| especially when using the mouse.
|
| Since then, the desks and the chairs has become shittier
| and shittier. Except perhaps when a was a consultant for an
| HR-department.
|
| The U-shaped desk was probably the best ergonomically
| designed workplace I've had. Maybe a wheat-filled pad along
| the desk would have made it better.
| brianpan wrote:
| Like a person playing the piano.
|
| If your arms are resting, then your fingers and wrists
| are doing the maximum amount of reaching as you type. If
| you use a wrist rest you are encouraging your
| fingers/wrist to reach up (bend in your wrist) instead of
| neutral or reaching down (more natural position).
| kbutler wrote:
| Straight wrists is good, but hovering like a pianist is
| not good for extended computer use.
| senordevnyc wrote:
| I don't think I've ever seen someone type like this.
| cududa wrote:
| Huh, seriously? Have you ever worked in an office?
| Perhaps your mental picture of what op is describing
| might be misaligned? I just always assumed it was a
| rarer/ more disciplined style some people had
| elfly wrote:
| Like the people who generally get rsi from playing their
| instrument?
| seemaze wrote:
| Exactly this. When I was young I was told to practice the
| piano with golf balls under my palms to maintain proper
| wrist position.
| doug_durham wrote:
| A more concrete way of putting it is if you are putting
| so much weight on your wrists that the edge of the
| MacBook is making you uncomfortable, you're probably
| doing it wrong.
| jeffrallen wrote:
| If your comments on HN end with "you are probably doing
| it wrong", you are probably doing empathy wrong.
| SpaceNoodled wrote:
| Steve Jobs back from the dead?
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| Too bad even the ergo desktop keyboards don't handle this
| properly
| dismalaf wrote:
| I've heard this but I've personally been typing this way
| for 25+ years (wrists on the rest, including on laptops
| exclusively for the last 15) and my wrists are fine.
| Meanwhile people I know with ergonomic keyboards and
| everything that's supposed to save your wrists are the ones
| with bad wrists.
| dvdkon wrote:
| The reasonable takeaway from that correlation is that
| people with preexisting issues turn to ergonomic
| keyboards to avoid worsening those issues, not the other
| way round.
| ScoobleDoodle wrote:
| I feel seen :)
| dismalaf wrote:
| While this is true, if standard keyboards were bad then
| everyone who uses them would have issues, yet many
| (most?) don't.
|
| Sometimes I think it comes down to actual typing
| technique. For example. I've heard of "Emacs pinky" which
| is easily avoided by simply using the Ctrl key opposite
| the key being pressed (use right Ctrl for C-c for
| example). I religiously never use Ctrl, Shift or Alt +
| another key with the same hand and I feel that's been
| huge. Also my elbow, wrist and hand always form a
| straight line to the keyboard with a standard laptop
| keyboard and the right body position/desk and chair
| adjustment.
| jonhohle wrote:
| Same. I'm middle age and type in a lot of non-ergonomic
| positions and always have. It works for me.
| engineer_22 wrote:
| Design as a practice should study interaction with the
| object and fix harmful patterns. Keyboards aren't new, this
| should be a solved problem.
| hammock wrote:
| The funny thing is Apple products are considered "finished
| products" No one would feel the same way if it was a home built
| computer.
|
| The modding community is a shadow of its old self these days
| jnovek wrote:
| That doesn't seem strange to me, Apple is my "buy it for
| what's on the box" brand, stuff that I _don't_ want to mod.
| If I want to mess with something I usually use hardware that
| runs Linux.
| pjmlp wrote:
| The modding community lives on where it always were, hacking
| gaming and demoscene, and that never wasn't on Apple
| platforms for the most part, rather Amiga, PC, Atari,...
| justinclift wrote:
| > The takeaway from this article should be to consider
| modifying your tools to your needs even in unconventional and
| controversial ways. I love it.
|
| I get the feeling that might not be the greatest idea in some
| fields.
|
| For example, anything that could kill you (or others) if it
| goes wrong. ;)
| duxup wrote:
| When I got into photography, I used to baby my camera equipment
| a lot. After all, I spent a lot of money I wanted to take care
| of it.
|
| Later on the topic came up online and someone noted something
| to the effective of:
|
| "If I saw a group of photographers taking pictures, I bet I
| could pick out the best photographer just based on how beat up
| their equipment is."
|
| I realized based on my own experience, that was probably true.
|
| The idea being use your tools and worry about the output, not
| how they look.
| LiquidPolymer wrote:
| I've made my living as a pro photographer for over 30 years.
| These days I consider most cameras to be disposable. I also
| keep any older bodies as hazardous duty remote cameras. Once
| you get into the mindset it opens a certain amount of
| creativity.
| flkiwi wrote:
| The number of times I find myself saying to beginning
| photographers that babying their camera is the surest way
| to hate photography, whether as a hobby or a profession...
| I get particularly testy about handwringing about weather
| sealing or protecting the finish on their kit. Just take
| the camera places and use it. It's probably going to be
| fine. It's going to get scars. That's just stories.
| makeitdouble wrote:
| There's a curve. Beginners with pristine gears are babying
| it, but veterans just don't bump their camera everywhere nor
| drop them, they have the bags that fit what they do, use
| straps (or not) that fit them and there's little to hurt
| their camera.
|
| Event photographers are another kind, camera throwing is part
| of the job.
|
| I wonder if you feel the same about cars, expecting expert
| chauffeurs to have bumps all over their car ?
| duxup wrote:
| I don't think there's a connection at all with chauffeurs.
| makeitdouble wrote:
| I made a car analogy because I didn't get the sense that
| you were in groups of photographers yourself, looking at
| other people's gear. I spent a decent amount of time with
| birders, being out in the field for day in day out,
| climbing, crawling, hiding, and their gear was far from
| beaten up.
|
| I mean, it takes some effort to dent our current
| magnesium alloy bodies, you won't get scratches by laying
| it a bit fast on a counter table or hitting your bag's
| zipper.
| jblitzar wrote:
| Yeah, I think it's pretty funny. And it is good to modify your
| own tools. In a way that's the whole sentiment of FOSS
| software.
| KolibriFly wrote:
| The interesting part isn't whether Apple got the design right
| or wrong, it's that most of us never even consider altering the
| tools we use every day. We just adapt ourselves instead.
| AnthonBerg wrote:
| And commonly get judgy and weird if somone thinks and does.
| bityard wrote:
| This is exactly why I run Linux instead of an OS that I'm not
| allowed to modify for my needs.
| Zetaphor wrote:
| Software should adapt to the user, not the other way around
| Uptrenda wrote:
| I used to turn the back of my laptop into a whiteboard. Then
| you could write todos on it or custom messages. Was kind of
| neat. You know I've always thought the back of the case was
| wasted potential. Can you imagine if it had an eink display?
| You could flash whatever you wanted to it as a clean customized
| print and it would stay there without power. would be cool but
| prob expensive.
| lwhi wrote:
| I love this with all my heart!
| 420official wrote:
| 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
| al_borland wrote:
| This comment is concerning.
|
| > acidic sweat. once you got through the anodization the raw
| aluminum wears faster....
|
| If one files off the sharp edges, won't the sweat eat through
| everything faster, as that protective layer was filed off.
| compass_copium wrote:
| Aluminum should oxidize essentially instantly.
| lukevp wrote:
| Anodizing and oxidation are 2 totally different things.
| Brian_K_White wrote:
| anodizing is literally oxidizing
| nikisweeting wrote:
| Yes but anodization implies thickness around ~5-25
| micrometers (um) for aluminum. The natural oxide coating
| is ~2-5 _nano_ meters (1,000-5,000x less thick).
| themafia wrote:
| True; however, this is an aluminium alloy. These typically
| have lower corrosion resistance and are most commonly
| anodized because of it. The applied layer is typically 3 to
| 5x thicker than that formed by pure aluminium oxidization.
| nikisweeting wrote:
| You're off by at least 3 orders of magnitude, anodization
| is like 1,000x~5,000x thicker (5~25um) than the natural
| oxide coating (~5nm).
| crdrost wrote:
| Probably. But, the time when the laptop is taped off would be
| uniquely a good time to hit it with some polyurethane or
| something clear to protect it from that sort of damage? Just
| make sure you hit it with compressed air first so you aren't
| gluing the aluminum dust to the chassis?
| greazy wrote:
| Oh wow I think I have a mild version of this.
|
| Can it cause the plastic on the mouse to break down?
| bluGill wrote:
| Yes, it is fairly common with some plastics. better plastics
| won't but there are a lot of different plastics with differt
| formulas (and many can be mixed)
| BoredPositron wrote:
| You need to moisturize more.
| greazy wrote:
| Im an anxious person. I sweat from my hands due to anxiety
| and not dry hands.
| CGamesPlay wrote:
| 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.
| ajam1507 wrote:
| Using a 3 prong extension cable on the charger will prevent
| this.
| imglorp wrote:
| How? The (US) charger's only got 2 pins so ground stays
| unconnected.
| Tsiklon wrote:
| 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
| 15155 wrote:
| 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.
| jahnu wrote:
| 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.
| namibj wrote:
| No they isolate L and N not PE.
| bombcar wrote:
| I don't know if this link will work -
| https://www.chargerlab.com/wp-
| content/uploads/2022/06/202206... but that metal round
| pin thing is a ground; and the three-prong cable connects
| to it.
| pxx wrote:
| 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/product/mw2n3ll/a/power-
| adapter-e...)
| jahnu wrote:
| Got a bunch of cheap ones from Ali Express and they
| worked fine.
| BobAliceInATree wrote:
| Apple sells a 3-pin extension cable
|
| US Version:
| https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mw2n3ll/a/power-
| adapter-e...
| CGamesPlay wrote:
| That cuts it by about 90%. But as others have said, the
| default US plug doesn't ship with a ground pin (though the
| extended cord does IIRC).
| Barbing wrote:
| No way, that's why it's "fixed" sometimes, thanks
| normie3000 wrote:
| > 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?
| msephton wrote:
| It's also an issue on the new Neo. It was the first thing I
| noticed when I tried one in the Apple Store. I unplugged
| the power cable and it went away, replugged and it came
| back. I'm in the UK so I expected grounded electricity
| supply.
| normie3000 wrote:
| Disappointing. I understood Neo doesn't come with a power
| plug in UK; was yours the official one?
| SeasonalEnnui wrote:
| If you buy the UK 1.8-metre Power Adapter Extension
| Cable, this has a metal ground pin that grounds through
| the metal clip on the power brick. I switched all my
| MacBook & iPad chargers to this, no more earth leakage
| sensation from metal casing.
| sitharus wrote:
| 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 grounded power supply, but
| because there are large countries that have ungrounded
| outlets in common use the most designs are ungrounded.
| robotbikes wrote:
| I once had an HP with an aluminum case and it had a
| grounded power supply but if you plugged it in without
| grounding his an adapter (sometimes you gotta do what you
| gotta do). You could feel it straight up vibrate while
| conducting current if you rubbed your hand over it. Not
| enough to shock me but it felt like kind of a shoddy
| design and leaked a lot more current than I've felt on a
| MacBook.
| ebbi wrote:
| Is that what it is! On my pre-unibody MBP I used to run
| my finger across the body sometimes and it had this weird
| wavy feeling (honestly can't describe it well). I thought
| it was just a quirk of the aluminium itself!
| ranger207 wrote:
| Why do only Macbooks suffer from this problem? When I had
| a work-issued Macbook I charged it and my personal
| Framework off the same USB-C charger and I only every
| felt the leaking current from the Macbook
| numpad0 wrote:
| Only Apple is insane enough to make actual laptop chassis
| with unpainted anodized aluminum. Others either do it in
| plastics and/or painted metal. And paints are kind of
| liquid plastics.
| normie3000 wrote:
| Additional question: why do only some people notice?
| sitharus wrote:
| It'll depend on how well grounded you are compared to how
| well grounded the laptop is, where it's touching your
| body, and your sensitivity to electricity which varies.
| RealityVoid wrote:
| It's not only mac's suffering from this problem. My old
| dell latitude with magnesium case had the same thing. I
| didn't fully understand why and some people thought I was
| mad for feeling it but it was there.
| wazoox wrote:
| My aluminium body Lenovo IdeaPad has exactly the same
| problem.
| black_puppydog wrote:
| 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
| Jolter wrote:
| Definitely been a long standing issue on many laptops
| with exposed metal parts. Late 90's, if I used my
| brother's Compaq while putting my feet up on the
| radiator, the metal speaker grills would give me mild
| shocks.
| throwaway290 wrote:
| You wouldn't have this if your plug was properly grounded.
| Most developed countries have plugs that have grounding. EU
| via side pins UK via third prong
| p_l wrote:
| Apple avoids shipping grounded plugs as if it was
| personal affront to Ive. Also caused many many times for
| me to be shocked with electrostatic build-up.
| throwaway290 wrote:
| all my EU/UK macbook plugs I got from apple are always
| grounded, metal prong and metal side pins
|
| so what I mean is maybe house electricity grid is not
| grounded.
| swiftcoder wrote:
| > all my EU/UK macbook plugs I got from apple are always
| grounded, metal prong and metal side pins
|
| The short version, where you remove the extension with
| the 3-prong plug and attach the plug directly to the
| charger brick, is only available in 2-prong in the EU/US
| (the UK thankfully still gets all 3 prongs in this
| configuration)
| throwaway290 wrote:
| yes true the short one has no grounding.
|
| Anyway as I replied to the other guy (and got downvoted
| for it) if the plug was grounded there would be no issue.
| Apple chargers have ground pins.
|
| But sure it's bad if they stopped including grounded
| versions by default in EU...
| swiftcoder wrote:
| I really wish some 3rd party would build a 3-prong plug
| adapter for the EU
| p_l wrote:
| UK plugs are always grounded because there is no
| ungrounded version.
|
| But elsewhere you only get grounded plug if you buy extra
| extension cord for the apple power brick, otherwise it's
| only ungrounded.
| normie3000 wrote:
| My experiences are all from third-prong countries.
| vinay427 wrote:
| To add to this, I notice this more frequently in the UK
| and EU countries than in some other parts of the world
| (although it varies within each country quite a bit).
| erincandescent wrote:
| You can fix it by switching to one of the grounded charger
| heads. Unfortunately in most locales those are only
| available with an integrated extension cable (or as
| everyone seems to call them, the "gooseneck" cables)
|
| It happens with other 2-pin chargers on both MacBooks and
| other laptops, but it depends upon various factors how
| strong the leakage is
| leptons wrote:
| Maybe you're holding it wrong? j/k
|
| Seriously though, that does not sound safe at all.
| userbinator wrote:
| _Really feels unsafe, but neither me nor the computer have
| suffered any serious injuries yet._
|
| That's due to interference suppression capacitor in the PSU.
| The safety standard puts the "touch current" limit at
| something like 300uA (0.3mA), which is definitely in "painful
| but not dangerous" territory. You do need to exercise caution
| when plugging in other devices that are also connected to the
| mains, since that amount of current and voltage can certainly
| damage sensitive electronics.
|
| Old but good page on such measurements:
| http://www.aplomb.nl/SMPS_leakage/Doc_ie.html
| rlonstein wrote:
| 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.
| Brian_K_White wrote:
| I have super dry skin and I also feel that weird ac effect
| when lightly touching and moving along the surface of pretty
| much any aluminum mac device since they started making them
| aluminum.
|
| And almost no other device I've ever used. My aluminum
| Framework does not do it. My wifes magnesium LG Gram does not
| do it.
|
| I have felt it on other things but only extremely rarely.
| It's bizarre that whatever it is they're doing different,
| it's probably wrong, and they've kept doing it in every
| device for decades.
|
| To describe the effect in more detail for anyone who doesn't
| already know: It's like the case is alternately grabbing and
| releasing your skin at 60hz.
|
| It's a bit like chatter, ie the periodic friction you use to
| ring a wine glass by wetting the rim and then running your
| finger along it. It rings because the combination of the
| friction, the lack of friction from hydroplaning, and the
| rubbery give of your skin, makes your skin alternately grab
| and release 30,000 times a second. Only in this case you are
| only barely touching the case not pressing enough to make any
| friction or make a squeal noise. It's like static electric
| charge attraction. Just touching the case you feel nothing,
| but move your finger along the surface and you feel it
| vibrate your finger without any friction to explain it.
|
| It's unsettling and displeasing, which are strange words to
| expect from an apple device at least when you are only
| talking about the design and not the tech stack or corporate
| behavior. It makes me think of cheap electronics from a
| country with no consumer safety regulations that will
| probably burn down every 3rd house they wind up in.
|
| It's probably harmless, but then again a lot of things that
| are harmless in short infrequent doses turn out to have been
| harmful after you did it for 10 hours a day for 20 years.
| dataviz1000 wrote:
| I've been traveling around the world. It is 50 / 50 of the
| socket is properly grounded ---anywhere in the world. I get a
| tingling zap on the wrist when not properly grounded. The
| charger also gets hot and sparks.
| ddlsmurf wrote:
| but it's never going to be grounded, there isn't even a
| ground pin on the charger
| russelg wrote:
| If you swap in the extension cable head, that does indeed
| have a ground pin, at least in Australia anyway. The
| grounding comes from that metal ring that the connector
| uses as a guide.
| https://www.apple.com/au/shop/product/mw2n3x/a/power-
| adapter...
| ddlsmurf wrote:
| only two prongs of which make it through. Usually the
| regulation as I understand is that it's fine if you can
| prove the case can never get in contact with anything
| electric, for most laptops that's just being made of
| plastic.
| bragr wrote:
| As has been established in other threads here, the metal
| button thing the prongs slide onto is an earth
| connection.
| masklinn wrote:
| > only two prongs of which make it through
|
| The big recess above the pins is what encases the button
| of the charger and provides grounding if it includes
| metal strips. Assuming the charger itself has a metal
| button.
|
| In the EU a grounded cable has been the default forever
| (I have a grounded cable from my 2010 MBP which I use as
| travel cable for my 2021 MBP)
| BobAliceInATree wrote:
| Apple sells a 3-pin extension cable
|
| US Version:
| https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mw2n3ll/a/power-
| adapter-e...
| intelkishan wrote:
| Yeah they sell the 3-pong extension for various
| countries. I am currently using the Indian version of it.
| OJFord wrote:
| Which makes it non-compliant in the UK, and no doubt
| elsewhere too. I don't understand how Apple (hardly a small
| fly-by-night!) continues to get away with it.
| shawn_w wrote:
| >The charger also gets hot and sparks.
|
| Some heat is normal, but the sparking seems concerning.
| leptons wrote:
| That should not happen with a well designed power supply. It
| sounds like Apple cut some corners "for design reasons", or
| some shortcut to make it cheaper to manufacture.
| Esophagus4 wrote:
| So glad to know it wasn't just me with sweaty hands and pitted
| aluminum that is razor sharp!
| esskay wrote:
| Huh, I've had that pitting with every magic mouse I've owned,
| the sides of it end up looking like a cheese
| grater...apparently my fingers are acidic!
| roysting wrote:
| Have you ever had that looked into it maybe just ask AI? That
| does not seem healthy.
| Jolter wrote:
| It's extremely common and nothing to worry about. As a
| brass instrument player, I sometimes come across someone
| whose instruments always deteriorate at 300% of the rate of
| others. Laquer peels, silver plating blackens, etc.
| roysting wrote:
| Thanks. That's astonishing to me. As far s as I know I've
| never come in contact with people with acidic
| skin/excretions like that.
| chubs wrote:
| Holy moly, that guy in the reddit post needs to see a
| dermatologist asap and figure out why their skin is emitting
| acid.
| CarVac wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_mantle
| psd1 wrote:
| It is within the range of physiology. Nobody has pH-neutral
| skin, and aluminium is reactive.
| sanj wrote:
| I've noticed that this only occurs when I use a two-prong
| adapter for the power brick.
|
| If I use the 3-prong, which is usually tied to a long cable, I
| don't feel the buzz.
|
| I assumed that the additional grounding helped.
| aculver wrote:
| Love this! I did this in 2020 and until today I hadn't seen
| anyone else who had done it. If anyone is tempted, I recommend
| finishing the job with Micro-Mesh. IIRC, I went up to 12,000 grit
| and it results in a nicely polished look that catches the light
| beautifully.[1] I bet it would look even more striking on the
| actual black MacBooks we have today.
|
| [1]
| https://x.com/andrewculver/status/1297575768520716288/photo/...
| TSiege wrote:
| Black macbooks are anodized aluminum which are thin coatings
| that would be removed when filing. It might look cool but it'd
| be the silvery color of raw aluminum
| stevenpetryk wrote:
| worth noting that silver macbooks are also anodized aluminum,
| so you'll also be filing off anodization
| aculver wrote:
| Yes, exactly. The point I was trying to make is that with a
| black finish, exposing the original color of the aluminum
| would be even more striking.
| saagarjha wrote:
| I feel like this is only a problem if you're keeping your wrists
| at an unergonomic angle. I'm not saying that everyone is perfect
| all the time but like this is barely an issue if you're sitting
| at your desk?
| maest wrote:
| Laptops are used in so many more situations than just sitting
| at a desk.
|
| Literally "you're holding it wrong".
| saagarjha wrote:
| Most of those are wrong, yes
| lapcat wrote:
| > I'm not saying that everyone is perfect all the time but like
| this is barely an issue if you're sitting at your desk?
|
| It's a laptop computer.
| davidbjaffe wrote:
| Yes. I keep mine on my lap. My regimen is that I wake up at
| 3am and lie on the couch for several hours with coffee and
| write code (or these days, ask "someone else" to). It is
| highly productive and enjoyable and breaks all the rules and
| no I do not have RSI. Long ago I started sandpapering the
| edges because yeah otherwise it hurts my wrists.
| pxc wrote:
| It's a good move. I have a case on my MBP that helps with
| this because it means the edges are plastic for me, and not
| quite so sharp.
|
| If you want to break more rules, you might consider
| chickenwing-ing your arms a bit. Deviate from the homerow
| and learn to feel your way around at other angles. Then you
| can hold the laptop closer to you without putting your
| wrists at a weird angle (though you may have to use a non-
| thumb finger for spacebar, as I do).
|
| As I type this, my laptop is partly on my belly and partly
| on my chest, and my wrists are so far out to the sides that
| they completely miss the front edge of the laptop
| altogether. The angle is pretty favorable, too: my palms
| rest on the laptop on either side of the trackpad, and my
| wrists rest over the left and right sides of the bottom
| case but have little to no pressure on them.
|
| No RSI here, either. Just make sure you're loose and
| comfortable and not forcing anything! That seems to help a
| lot.
| saagarjha wrote:
| I do not in fact keep my desktop computer on my desk
| mvdtnz wrote:
| You're holding it wrong.
| maest wrote:
| I'm now painfully aware of how uncomfortable the edge of my mac
| is.
| nateburke wrote:
| I did this at my last job, it's nice.
| jasonidol wrote:
| One concern with doing this would be when you pack it in a bag
| and the screen would now flex more than usual, leading to
| excessive wear of the anti-reflective coating on these screens.
|
| Since the edge has been filed away, the rubber seal on the screen
| would no longer presses against the edge of the body protecting
| the screen.
| ed_mercer wrote:
| Goodbye resale value
| sbaildon wrote:
| The author has the same problem as myself; there's a permanent
| imprint on the screen that sits right where the screen makes
| contact with the topside of the touchpad.
|
| It's quite an annoying flaw, and i've only had this problem with
| the machines since the M1 redesign
| inatreecrown2 wrote:
| Lovely writing! And I think the understanding that one can and
| should modify their tools to their needs is rather rare and
| should be appreciated.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| When I had a MacBook, I was quickly compelled to do something
| about the fact that its sharp edges scraped things, most
| notably scraping off the surface of my fingernails.
|
| But the obvious way to handle that problem is to put it in a
| case. For example: https://www.itslaut.com/products/crystal-x-
| case-for-macbook-...
|
| I wasn't thrilled with a product design that required a case to
| protect the rest of the world from the product, but it
| obviously makes more sense than trying to file the MacBook
| yourself.
| simonbw wrote:
| I have thought about filing/sanding my MacBook forever and
| getting a case to solve the problem never even occurred to
| me. I feel a little silly now because it does seem obvious,
| but also to me just filing it down sounds like less work than
| picking out a case.
| kzrdude wrote:
| Presumably the understanding on the forum is greater when it
| comes to software tools. And I would usually say: don't be your
| computer's tool! :)
| tonyedgecombe wrote:
| When it comes to software I've moved in the opposite
| direction. I want to customise my system as little as
| possible.
| a456463 wrote:
| stay ready to have my toolbox change under my feet at the
| whims of clown PM and bean counters somewhere. wcgw
| j45 wrote:
| Love it, this is the ultimate laptop sticker.
| thegdsks wrote:
| Not seriously... I too love the sharp edges but this is scary..
| Lol
| pugworthy wrote:
| Fans of My Mechanics on YouTube will chuckle at this.
|
| The channel's Swiss host is famous for removing sharp edges from
| metal things.
| noman-land wrote:
| Everyone should be personalizing their belongings to suit their
| needs and desires. Living with belongings that make you feel
| anything less than happy and satisfied is NOT necessary.
|
| This is a particularly hilarious customization both for its
| combined utility and shock value and also for doing it on a work
| computer.
| fragmede wrote:
| OMFG I am so glad to hear I am not the only one! The stupid thing
| hurt my wrists on the white Macbook generation so I shaved it off
| so it wasn't so sharp.
| octagons wrote:
| > Don't be scared. Fuck around a bit.
|
| Damn good advice.
| culopatin wrote:
| A very even 45 degree cut, like the cut to lift the screen but
| much shallower would look pretty cool. Maybe 2mm wide
| dvt wrote:
| Maybe it's just me, but I think it looks kind of cool. I like how
| it tapers from the ultra-smooth front to the jagged back edges.
| Only suggestion would be to use better tools to do the filing,
| since it looks a bit uneven/rough.
| philsnow wrote:
| The clearest demonstration that the knife edge is dumb is that
| there isn't a similar sharp edge around the exterior.
| tiborsaas wrote:
| Savage.
| tclancy wrote:
| Takes a real bastard to do this.
| pointpth wrote:
| ...file.
| canbus wrote:
| Maybe it's the lighting, but that doesn't look even on both sides
| to me - that'd bother me more than the sharpness.
| owenthejumper wrote:
| Did this too. Absolutely ridiculous I had to :(
| jasoneckert wrote:
| Thanks for this interesting post - I've been showing it to co-
| workers to get their reactions, which was incredibly entertaining
| for me!
|
| Co-worker 1: Interesting. I wonder if that voids the warranty.
| It's Apple you know.
|
| Co-worker 2: May Jobs have mercy on their soul...
|
| Co-worker 3: Not a bad idea. But not sure if that would cause
| problems with structural integrity of the laptop, like if you
| drop it or something.
|
| Co-worker 4: The only downside I see is that you can no longer
| say "Hey, that's a sharp-looking laptop!"
| overtone1000 wrote:
| Co-worker 4 is the one I want to have a beer with.
| block_dagger wrote:
| I have just the opposite reaction.
| skavi wrote:
| i'll take 3. we can be boring together
| rbanffy wrote:
| I strongly suspect 3 is correct - removing material from
| the corners might weaken the structure.
|
| I would use a CNC machine to round them more precisely and
| uniformly though.
| cdmckay wrote:
| Haha I was thinking the same when I read he hand filed it
| rbanffy wrote:
| As it is with any box, there is only so much material you
| can remove from the corners before it disintegrates into
| disconnected surfaces.
| mikey_p wrote:
| Filing vs. CNC doesn't make one bit of difference.
| rbanffy wrote:
| With a CNC you can make sure you'll get a uniform
| curvature.
| mikey_p wrote:
| You probably don't know much about filing, but there is
| no reason it would be any less accurate than CNC if done
| properly.
|
| Also doubt this would affect strength, given the apparent
| thickness behind it, really depends on the interior,
| which is almost certainly also rounded for strength, and
| to prevent a week point for cracks to start.
| harha wrote:
| Steer clear from co-worker 1..
| internet2000 wrote:
| I'd be looking for another job altogether.
| ekjhgkejhgk wrote:
| Really? Co-worker 4 is just repeating a pun. Using "sharpe"
| to mix the meanings of "good looking" and "literally sharpe"
| is a well known joke. Almost a dad-joke, a joke that's been
| done so many times that everyone recognizes when it's there
| to be done, but the person who actually does it out loud will
| annoy people with their predictability.
|
| 1 and 3 are way more creative.
| compounding_it wrote:
| I'd suggest if you are going to do this to your MacBooks to get
| the silver one. The silver one is actually aluminum and no one
| would notice.
| jagged-chisel wrote:
| 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.
| Tempest1981 wrote:
| What tools are needed to redo the anodized color? Is it
| doable at home?
| buildsjets wrote:
| How comfortable are you working with chromic acid and
| boric-sulfuric acid in your home?
| mmsc wrote:
| As long as it's not hydrofluoric acid...
| wereHamster wrote:
| I bought a light HF acid (rust remover) so I can properly
| clean titanium parts before anodizing. Worked like a
| charm...
| cultofmetatron wrote:
| just don't let any of it get on your skin. only takes a
| splash to land you in intensive care.
| jaggederest wrote:
| To echo the sibling comment: approximately not, it's a
| strong acid bath which precludes operating electronics in
| it, and it's electrochemistry.
|
| People do home anodizing all the time, but _colored_ home
| anodizing _on electronics_ is very rare.
|
| The way to do it would be wrapping it in, say, a wet
| paper towel with your strong acid solution (but not
| sulfuric, because that would turn the paper into pure
| carbon foam) and running outside current from the laptop
| through the paper to a cathode, or vice versa.
| VorpalWay wrote:
| Wouldn't you want to completely disassemble the laptop
| first anyway, at which point the electronics would be
| disconnected from the metal parts anyway?
| jaggederest wrote:
| You really can't fully disassemble current macbooks and
| put them back together without major tooling - the
| chassis is not just a wrapper, it's structural to the way
| they're interconnected, lots of glue and things like
| that.
| falcor84 wrote:
| Sounds almost like a turtle's exoskeleton
| numpad0 wrote:
| You have to grind off the existing Al2O3 protective layer
| using sandpapers/sandblasters and/or power tools, then
| ultrasound + acetone wash the parts, then dump it into an
| acid bath while running electrical current through the
| pieces. Special dyes can be added for color. Then the
| pieces are boiled in regular water to further improve
| durability. The combination of the acid and electricity
| then boiling cause Al to form beehive shaped surface
| micropores, and dyes - actually inorganic, so pigments -
| gets electrically jammed into the pores. The whole outer
| surface become thick insulating layer of highly
| chemically resistant and mechanically rigid
| white/transparent Al2O3 once the process is complete.
| Voltage, current, waveform, temperature, solution
| acidity, etc etc affect colors and oxide thickness and
| shapes and sizes therefore aesthetics as well as
| durability. "Anodization" refers to this process of
| electro-acidic-heat formation of the oxide layer, not the
| coloring. The coloring powder is an extra.
|
| Technically it can be done in a garage, but spot and/or
| intact application might be difficult. Strict color
| matching against Apple made things would be impossible.
| Tzk wrote:
| Yes it's doable at home, even with fairly primitive
| tools. You need several chemicals and (if you wish)
| colored dye.
|
| Anodizing works as follows:
|
| 1. Take the MacBook apart
|
| 2. Clean it
|
| 3. Chemical bath to remove old anodized layer
|
| 4. Clean it again
|
| 5. Chemical bath with power supply attached. applied
| voltage+current and duration will determine hardness and
| thickness of the anodized layer.
|
| 6. Clean it
|
| 7. Dye it.
|
| 8. Seal the dye in a hot water bath.
|
| It's fairly straight forward to do.
| darkwater wrote:
| This made me smile because in my book this is at every
| effect impossible, especially if the goal is getting a
| functioning laptop at the end of the process. To be
| clear, it's impossible for me because I lack the
| knowledge, expertise and tooling to even think about
| doing it.
| madaxe_again wrote:
| Nonsense, it just makes it _more effort_ for you -
| nothing is impossible.
|
| Also, the way you acquire the knowledge, expertise and
| tooling is by screwing around with stuff where you have
| no idea what you're doing.
| larusso wrote:
| Depending on the field you want to gain knowledge it can
| mean: "famous last words" or "missing body parts".
| Nothing against the spirit of learning and challenge
| one's skills. But especially people on YouTube show of
| quite dangerous things and sell them as everybody can do
| it. My list here: Metal / Wood work on a lathe with off
| center or unbalanced pieces in a 3 jaw chuck.
|
| Playing around with lithium batteries to build bigger
| battery packs (DYI Perks did this and even though he
| mentions the dangers of doing that (fire or electric
| shock) it's still inspires people to do the same in their
| living rooms.
|
| Then is playing with chemicals.
|
| Again I'm not saying don't do it. But one should ease
| into things not just grab a random set of chemicals and
| disassemble a laptop and hook up a power supply etc by
| just following a list from the internet.
| darkwater wrote:
| Well, it's impossible to me given my natural born level
| of habilites with this kind of work, and the time I would
| need to invest to learn how to do it properly. Because
| it's not just a matter of buying some device and do it,
| you need to learn by trial and error, add more and more
| physical tools to your toolbox, have the dedicated space
| where to store and try all of it safely etc etc
| justinclift wrote:
| > 1. Take the MacBook apart
|
| Otherwise known as "remove _everything_ from the chassis,
| leaving _only_ the chassis. "
|
| But do so in a way that lets you fully re-assemble it
| later on, after you've finished the re-anodising.
|
| > 7. Dye it.
|
| Why the dye? I thought anodising's colour comes only from
| the voltage used, with no dye needed.
|
| ie you can pick the colour you want, but you need to get
| the voltage correct for that colour
| numpad0 wrote:
| > Why the dye? I thought anodising's colour comes only
| from the voltage used, with no dye needed.
|
| That's true for anodization processes for some other
| metals like titanium and stainless steel, but aluminum is
| dyed. Also the process is material specific. Anodization
| for Al is only possible because Al does that unique self
| organizing micropore thing.
| justinclift wrote:
| Yep, you're right. I was thinking of titanium. :)
|
| If anyone's interested in details of Aluminium anodising,
| this seems like a decently thorough introduction:
| https://nzic.org.nz/unsecure_files/book/8E.pdf
| throw_a_grenade wrote:
| No, that's steel, and not with voltage, but with
| temperature:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_coloring_of_metals.
| For aluminium, you add dye to third bath.
| mjlee wrote:
| 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.
| notpushkin wrote:
| 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!
| mjlee wrote:
| 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.
| rbanffy wrote:
| Reversing step 1 will be the real tricky part.
| grvbck wrote:
| Not strictly DIY because a professional anodizing
| workshop did the actual anodizing, but cool results
| nevertheless:
|
| https://lowendmac.com/2024/ryan-andersons-colorized-
| anodized...
| grandinj wrote:
| Just get some clear nailpolish and apply it with the
| included brush. Not as good but dead easy.
| twalla wrote:
| 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.
| wongarsu wrote:
| 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
| Tuna-Fish wrote:
| That difference will fade with time.
| wongarsu wrote:
| The pictures were taken months later, so some fading
| already happened
| ant6n wrote:
| Well actually, your not well actually to the well
| actually was actually a well actually of the well
| actually. Just sayin'.
| Lio wrote:
| I'd actually be interested to see it on a black one. It might
| look like "brassing" on an old, well used camera.
|
| Whilst I like that it increases the "tooliness" of the Mac
| it's not of me I think.
|
| I like mine pristine. _"There are many like it but this one
| is mine"_ , yada, yada.
| varjag wrote:
| Worn anodizing on aluminium doesn't look anywhere as good
| as brass under lacquer.
| tzs wrote:
| " _Many like it there are. Mine this one is_ ", Yoda, Yoda.
| FloatArtifact wrote:
| It's nice your co-workers are being blunt with you.
| dotancohen wrote:
| It seems he has a well-rounded selection of coworkers.
| xandrius wrote:
| C1: Homo-economicus
|
| C2: Homo-religious
|
| C3: Homo-enginerus
|
| C4: Homo-bros
| thenthenthen wrote:
| There is some material loas but wouldn't rounded corners be
| way stronger on impact than sharp corners?
| gravlax wrote:
| C4 homo fraternicus?
| grishka wrote:
| > The only downside I see is that you can no longer say "Hey,
| that's a sharp-looking laptop!"
|
| When this line of MacBooks first came out in 2021 and I bought
| one (I desperately needed an upgrade), I was joking that it's
| top-notch hardware.
| baddash wrote:
| Now I gotta hear these four coworkers' opinions on other things
| raverbashing wrote:
| I think the main problem is that you lose the surface
| anodization and might end up with a more frail surface there
| (surface, the structural integrity is going to suffer but not
| much I guess)
| larodi wrote:
| Here's one: scratches are officially not an argument anymore
| for a price discount on a second hand Mac.
|
| Drop them like it's hot!
| zerr wrote:
| All of the reactions are valid, including the 2nd one if that's
| a sarcasm.
| noufalibrahim wrote:
| The slight groove that was there on the middle of the base
| which allowed you to stick your finger to open the top had
| sharp corners that poked my wrists and i filed them both off on
| the first, and only, macbook I used in 2014 or so m
| NikolaNovak wrote:
| It's a work laptop - I'm surprised none of the coworkers said
| "you'll get in trouble when you return it".
|
| I don't know WHY... But corporate bureaucracies have logic of
| their own.
| fooqux wrote:
| Well, it's property of his workplace, and they're usually
| resold when the employee gets a new one. And it's not exactly
| _mint_ any more, is it.
| maccard wrote:
| > they're usually resold when the employee gets a new one
|
| Are they? Everywhere I've worked they get shoved into a
| storage closet and ignored for another 5-7 years
| engineer_22 wrote:
| Every laptop I've ever purchased was corporate surplus
| bb88 wrote:
| Apple has a buyback program for corporations.
| stusmall wrote:
| It's pretty common if you have IT and finance teams that
| are paying attention. Sure a lot of shops let them waste
| away on a shelf, but that's what it is, waste. If you
| have fungible inventory that isn't likely to get used
| soon it is just a mistake it let it sit around
| unutilized. If it is cash, it is easier to utilize on
| other projects.
| michaelcampbell wrote:
| Ours are on lease, but the leasing company will release
| some from time to time for auctions at $DAYJOB. I've won
| 2. Using one, son flipped the other one for a couple
| hundred dollar profit.
| carstenhag wrote:
| My old mac was supposed to be donated to some place, but
| they had forgotten me to tell the iCloud lock is still on
| there. They wrote me on LinkedIn and as they were a good
| employer, I did unlock it
| astura wrote:
| Idk if it's common anymore, but some companies rent
| equipment rather than purchase it. So they'd have to return
| everything back to the rental company, who is expecting
| normal wear and tear, not intentional "customization."
| Neikius wrote:
| I am actually encouraged to try this now. Gotta check if they
| allow it. Sharp edges are really annoying on this machine.
|
| Luckily I use it like a desktop 95percent of the time.
| oofbey wrote:
| I love the line "People like to freak out about this, so I
| wanted to post it here to make sure that everyone who wants to
| freak out about it gets the opportunity to do so."
| bombcar wrote:
| One of the ATPers was going on and on a bit ago about how the Neo
| is very "rounded" and "not sharp" compared to the Pro. I wonder
| if it would need this.
| throwanem wrote:
| Not so great for the black ones, but that's okay. It shows honest
| wear, including from my watch strap's steel buckle, and the sharp
| pressure is a good reminder to improve my typing posture and
| protect my aging wrists.
| ebrewste wrote:
| Love that he took it so far. I filed mine a while back - it's so
| much more comfortable to use. When I drop it and a corner get
| mashed, I file that back flat. It reminds me of kintsugi where it
| shines from the fine filing.
|
| I filed my work dell laptop too. Very different feel, but it is
| nice not living in feel of your own stuff.
| bmitc wrote:
| I have never understood how Jony Ive is highly regarded as a
| designer when he put not only sharp, aluminum edges but sharp
| aluminum corners _exactly_ where your body spends almost all the
| time for continuous contact with the device.
|
| He honestly seems like a terrible designer, which seems
| corroborated by him doing nothing of remote interest outside of
| Apple and barely inside it. The items that are regarded as design
| epochs, like the iPod, we're not his.
| barrkel wrote:
| I've done this to my MacBook around the sharp and unpleasant
| corners near the touchpad. I had the laptop a few weeks before I
| couldn't take how unpleasant it was to touch any more.
| asciimov wrote:
| Would be cool if somebody would make a round over or chamfer
| plane that would allow you to remove the corner with a higher
| finished look.
| tlb wrote:
| Cool, but why is the most rounded-off part in the center? My
| wrists cover the edge at 5-25% and 75-95% when typing. When
| mousing, my right hand fleshy pad covers the edge at 65-80%.
| sillysaurusx wrote:
| I think because they had to. The rounded-off center part is
| actually the part you usually stick your finger into to lift up
| the lid. So it wasn't done for wrist ergonomics, but rather
| because it would've otherwise been sharp. The result is a big
| hole in the center.
|
| It looks a bit strange, but to each their own, I suppose.
|
| EDIT: this thing, below the trackpad
| https://imgur.com/a/DVzlDOj (What's that even called? And is
| there a better image hosting service than Imgur?)
| eviks wrote:
| One way to equalize the form > function equation!
| woeirua wrote:
| This is the spicy content I come here to read. I wouldn't do it
| myself but god speed to anyone who does.
| ayaros wrote:
| Truly the most horrifying post on HN I've seen in quite a while
| mvdtnz wrote:
| If my work computer were my own I would do this in a second. The
| MacBook pro is ridiculously uncomfortable, both in terms of
| geometry and heat. I don't mind when it gets warm but on a cold
| morning it's just downright unpleasant to get working on it.
| Nursie wrote:
| It's interesting to me that this makes it look old. Even slightly
| retro. Makes me think of early 2010s ultrabooks.
| simonbw wrote:
| I've been meaning to do this forever and think this game me the
| push I've needed to do it tonight when I get home. Probably not
| as rounded as OP, but it's reassuring to know I could go that
| rounded and it wouldn't fall apart.
| voidhorse wrote:
| > I file the sharp corners off my MacBooks. People like to freak
| out about this
|
| The fact that any conscious human being has the time or energy to
| be "freaked out" about someone futzing around with their own
| devices is astounding to me.
| jodrellblank wrote:
| It's a certain kind of tasteless to take a thing which most
| people consider a very expensive luxury, and show off how
| little it means to you and how casually you damage it.
|
| People in a museum gasping at a child almost knocking an
| expensive vase off a pedestal, for comparison. Then walking in
| and damaging the vase deliberately while pretending that you
| don't understand what people are gasping about, to show off
| that $2000 is nothing to you.
| userbinator wrote:
| I first encountered this in-person on a Mac Mini many years ago,
| which to be fair is not meant to be touched all the time, but it
| was still slightly repulsive. It has a surprising weight and
| uncomfortable sensation like picking up a freshly-cut block of
| metal. Then I realised Apple did the same with their laptops
| which _are_ meant to be touched. They do have rounded corners,
| but not on the axes where the roundedness is useful. In contrast,
| Thinkpads look sharp-edged with square corners but are actually
| confortable to hold.
| hommelix wrote:
| Older Thinkpad were made without the sharp edge. I love the
| edge on the X230 and I've been wondering why no designer has
| taken a look at these to make new laptop.
|
| https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F...
| sandreas wrote:
| I wonder if it would be possible to sand down a MacBook surface
| to the grade where it was all shiny mirror like the Apple logo,
| e.g. with car polish :-) The "untouchable" MacBook mirror :-)
| refurb wrote:
| I did something similar with drawer handles. I was living in a
| place with cheap furniture and the handles were aluminum billet
| cut to length and tapped so it could be screwed to the drawer
| face. The edge on either side were crazy sharp. If you bumped it
| with your knee you'd easily cut the skin.
|
| So I took some 1000 grit sand paper for metal and gently wet
| sanded the edge. If you rotate it a little you can get a very
| small radius evenly around the edge and it will keep a nice
| finish that matches brushed aluminum.
|
| I'd actually feel comfortable doing this to a Macbook having done
| it to the drawer handles. Just use little pressure, back the
| paper with something flat, and check your progress often. It
| takes very little to remove the sharpness to the edge, to the
| point it's hard to see with the naked eye.
| lofaszvanitt wrote:
| I did this when my old 2011 Air dropped the fiftieth time and the
| sides showed some pitting. The aluminium body is a godsend.
| serf wrote:
| on the tool analogy :
|
| only the biggest POS tools have bad ergonomics on the industrial
| side. The real quality tools, the ones meant to be used on the
| factory floor or in a production line, think of human ergonomics
| _first_ .
|
| I would probably be considering that as I took a file to my
| laptop in order to keep it from cutting into my skin as I used
| it.
|
| I applaud the ingenuity, but I detest the concept of aesthetic-
| first engineering without a thought for the human user of the
| thing. Vote with your dollar.
|
| In the case of parent : I admire your ability to cope and the
| chutzpah it took to take a file to company property.
|
| on a side note : I think it's absolutely fascinating in every
| Apple thread watching users trade tips on how to avoid electric
| shock, electrolytic/chemical pitting, and skin cuts like it's
| just normal computing worries. You folks have some thick skin to
| keep at it. I would be rubberizing the whole damn thing after the
| first zap.
| anant_who wrote:
| This is very interesting Maybe I'll do this when my mac is a
| couple years old haha
| wraptile wrote:
| 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're almost
| unusable.
| wolvoleo wrote:
| Oh yeah I hate those sharp edges on MacBooks. The old pre-
| unibody macbooks were great but I can't stand anything that
| came after it. Always had red lines on my wrists. These days
| I'm completely off Mac luckily.
|
| And yes the keyboards are terrible too. Up to 2015 it was OK
| but I can't work with the butterfly ones and the "new and
| improved" scissor ones that came after that. They still have a
| lot less travel than the ones from up to 2015.
|
| I never sanded my metal macbooks though I did do so with a
| plastic one I had. I just didn't really use them much as laptop
| anymore.
| Tepix wrote:
| I had one of those pre-unibody white plastic Macbooks. I
| hated the sharp edge on the front. With the later models it
| was less of an issue somehow.
| PufPufPuf wrote:
| Laptops are unergonomic by default, no matter how you position
| them, either the screen is too low or the keyboard is too high.
| I think most developers just use them docked with an external
| monitor and keyboard most of the time (I certainly do).
| ta8903 wrote:
| On the other hand, placing your laptop on your belly when
| lying down on a couch is peak computing ergonomics.
| silon42 wrote:
| Only if you disable touchpad and use the nipple (Thinkpad).
| wraptile wrote:
| it's not a binary equation. My thinkpad is plenty ergonomic
| for a full work day on the road. Sure the monitor position is
| suboptimal but keyboard is brilliant, no sharp edges, no
| screen glare and there's a trackpoint. It's no home setup
| obviously but at least I don't actively suffer when I do need
| to use a portable computer for it's primary purpose.
| suzzer99 wrote:
| I have a plastic case which helps with the bottom, and when I'm
| at an angle where my wrist rests against the edge, I have a
| wrist brace thing that takes the edge off (literally).
| koonsolo wrote:
| 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 differ.
| onli wrote:
| 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.
| ahartmetz wrote:
| 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.
| albumen wrote:
| But the above criteria are mostly subjective, so
| objectivity largely doesn't apply.
| koonsolo wrote:
| "comes close" in itself is a very relative concept. So how
| can you claim my statements are "objectively wrong"?.
| Depends on how close "close" is, right.
|
| If you can provide me an example of a laptop that beats one
| of those categories, it's objectively wrong. In all other
| cases, nope.
| rbanffy wrote:
| 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.
| zith wrote:
| 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 too, with some comments on
| how it was generated).
| rbanffy wrote:
| 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.
| dismalaf wrote:
| > Trackpad: I don't use a mouse anymore, no other laptop
| comes close
|
| I always hear this but don't get it. Every time I use a Mac
| laptop, I hate the touchpad. Maybe it's the defaults but I
| don't feel it's more accurate or anything... Why do people
| think it's good? A certain acceleration profile?
|
| I much prefer the commodity Synaptics trackpads I've had on
| my last 2 laptops, running Linux with Gnome and now Hyprland.
| I just crank the sensitivity, have all the gestures enabled,
| tap to click and 2 finger reverse scrolling and am happy.
| koonsolo wrote:
| I hate the tap to click, so that's probably our difference.
| I really want to physically click, and a tap should do
| nothing. I always get fake clicks in the other case.
|
| Dragging also becomes more natural when you have a real
| click.
|
| The trackpad is also big enough to easily cover the whole
| screen.
| dismalaf wrote:
| > Dragging also becomes more natural when you have a real
| click
|
| Agree to disagree. I find tap to click + hold turns into
| a double tap but hold on the second tap which I find
| quite intuitive. And two finger tap is "right click".
|
| > The trackpad is also big enough to easily cover the
| whole screen.
|
| So is mine with the sensitivity up. But I don't have to
| move my hand at all, only my fingers.
|
| > I hate the tap to click, so that's probably our
| difference
|
| Ok fair enough. I have noticed most Macs I use for
| whatever reason don't have tap to click enabled. So
| larger size + probably a nicer click could be reasons.
| Slow_Hand wrote:
| I hear people complain about laptop ergonomics all of the time
| and I don't understand it. I have zero issues with either of my
| Macbooks. I can go for hours and not be fatigued.
|
| If I have it in my lap, the outer ball of each wrist is resting
| on the body to the left and right of the trackpad and that
| means my forearms are angled upwards, away from the edges. They
| never rest on the edge of the laptop until I use the trackpad,
| and then the puffy outer pad of my palm is resting on the
| laptop edge. Still very comfortable.
|
| If I'm using it at a desk it's the same story. My seat is high
| enough (relative to the desk) that my forearms lift up and away
| from the laptop. Never resting on the edge.
|
| Are people seated so low so that the desk height is at breast
| level and they're making T-Rex arms to reach the keyboard? It
| seems so intuitively obvious to avoid such positions.
| wraptile wrote:
| Ergonomics is one of those things where you don't understand
| it until it effects you. Everyone can tolerate discomfort at
| some level and at different levels but obviously there best
| practices that manufacturers can partake in to make hardware
| more ergonomic.
|
| For example, the monitor should be at eye level vertically
| but with laptop that's very hard to accomplish unless you
| position yourself in a reclined fashion to bring down your
| eye level closer to your lap - on a macbook you get wrist
| cuts like this.
|
| One of the most important thing that makes a good ergonomic
| laptop is the ways it accomodates as many positions and setup
| as posible so your can rotate your working position to avoid
| excessive strain on one particular area. So when your back is
| tired you slouch down, when your wrists are tired you
| straighten up, when your eyes are tired you adjust the
| display brightness/theme etc.
|
| When taken seriously it's totally possible to work safely
| even in poor conditions like outside or on a train but
| devices that completely ignore ergonomics just don't even
| give you the chance.
| Barbing wrote:
| Interesting, thanks for sharing.
|
| In trying to picture this, I suppose there are certainly
| some stock photo models who'd feel the sharp edges:
|
| google.com/images?q=person+using+laptop
|
| I totally know what you mean about shifting positions. All
| the positions I've been in where I've felt the edges have
| been quite unergonomic, but perhaps not for everyone.
| jacobolus wrote:
| > _the monitor should be at eye level vertically_
|
| This is slightly misleading advice. The ideal place for the
| display has the _top_ of the display at roughly eye level,
| or for a very large display maybe slightly above, which
| puts most of the display below eye level. Humans actually
| have great ability to look slightly downward for long
| periods of time while doing stuff with their hands, even
| while keeping their head held up straight, and indeed our
| eyes can more comfortably focus on close objects in the
| lower part of our field of view than straight ahead. What
| you don 't want to do is slouch or bend your neck too much.
|
| A laptop display attached to the keyboard usually isn't an
| ideal placement, but it's generally not too bad.
| kbutler wrote:
| Don't allow your head/chin to drift forward.
|
| Welcome to "tech neck" - upper crossed syndrome, from
| looking slightly down.
|
| You're inviting some surprising symptoms, not just neck
| and back pain, but things like numbness, tingling, or
| pain shooting down your arms. Really not fun.
|
| Key posture correction seems to be pulling head back.
| Some physical therapy exercises can help as well.
|
| https://deukspine.com/blog/tech-neck-forward-head-
| posture-tr...
| Sardtok wrote:
| That sounds like you have your desk too low. You're going to
| get some major repetitive strain injuries in 10-20 years.
|
| If you have your arms at your sides, elbows should bend 90
| degrees. Then just move your arms slightly forward and you'll
| end up somewhere around 95 degrees. Now you can rest your
| forearms on the desk. This won't save you from all kinds of
| RSI, but it might help your wrists, elbows and shoulder
| joints last a bit longer.
| jnovek wrote:
| You don't even need 20 years, I spent the better part of a
| year in my mid 20s in pain because I was typing with my
| wrists at an upward angle like GP is describing.
| jacobolus wrote:
| Having the desk low, the chair high, or putting a laptop on
| your lap is okay. Having the desk or table "high" (i.e. at
| normal height for writing with a pen or eating a meal) is
| generally worse but not an insurmountable problem.
|
| In either case, the most important thing is to keep your
| wrists in as straight and neutral position as possible,
| with your palms and wrists "floating" rather than resting
| on anything while actively typing. Having the wrists either
| flexed downward or extended upward is a really bad idea.
| Having the wrists turned out to the side isn't great
| either, but not as bad.
|
| The keyboard should be positioned close enough to your body
| so that your shoulders can be relaxed with your upper arms
| hanging loosely. The laptop surface should be roughly
| parallel to your forearms, so if you have a high desk or
| table relative to your torso you will need to prop up the
| far side to tilt it up a bit.
| HumblyTossed wrote:
| > I hear people complain about laptop ergonomics all of the
| time and I don't understand it. I have zero issues with
| either of my Macbooks.
|
| It's almost like y'all are different people...
| threecheese wrote:
| You may have smaller hands (no offense meant); imagining my
| hands in the position you explained, my fingers would be well
| outside of where they need to be. I have the same issue as
| OP, the corners dig into my heel/wrist area. I do have big
| banana hands though.
| Lio wrote:
| This is just me but I like short travel keyboards. Long travel
| "mechanical" switches set off the RSI in one of my wrists.
|
| I don't care about the sharp edges because 1) they're not
| actually that sharp. 2) I don't rest my wrists on them.
|
| I mostly work from a desk with an external monitor and the
| laptop cantered below it. I avoid mice and try to use keyboard
| shortcuts.
|
| I've used Dells, HPs and Thinkpads and the current MacBook Pros
| are still my favourite design.
|
| Horses for courses, I guess.
| jasomill wrote:
| This is why I prefer tactile (not clicky) mechanical
| keyboards to linear mechanical or "mushy" non-mechanical
| desktop keyboards: they're easy to reliably trigger without
| full travel.
|
| I also like the short-travel Apple keyboards, though, and if
| Apple made a tenkeyless Magic Keyboard with the standard
| layout for cursor movement keys, I'd probably be using it.
| dwb wrote:
| I don't like the sharp corners either and I fully support the
| modifications in the article, but to be completely fair to the
| design, if your wrists are digging into the corners you're at
| the wrong angle. If you're habitually typing with bent wrists
| you're going to have problems. The "butterfly" keyboard was
| also (famously) terrible, but the newer ones, especially with
| the proper inverted-T cursor keys, are fine (for a laptop)
| imho. My ideal laptop keyboard would be split and orthogonal,
| but that's far too weird to make it anywhere close to mass
| production.
| roryirvine wrote:
| 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.
| Tade0 wrote:
| > The chargers contained a grounding pin internally, but it
| wasn't actually connected to anything. Utter madness
|
| That is standard procedure in consumer electronics actually.
|
| My work MBP is charged via external display and sure enough,
| I get zapped every now and then. The bundled charger also has
| just two pins.
| marc_g wrote:
| Every single time I get up and then sit back down, I have
| to brace myself for electrical impact. Maybe it's the
| universe telling me to stop working (or stop taking
| breaks... hmm).
| koverda wrote:
| a positively angled keyboard is actually less ergonomic (at
| least for most people), and a holdover from typewriters.
| nicman23 wrote:
| macbooks are mostly social media consumption machines anyways
| Neikius wrote:
| I am with you. But we are somehow a minority. Cannot decide
| weather we are oddballs or people just love to drink the Kool
| aid that much.
| hansvm wrote:
| 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.
| spockz wrote:
| I'm really flummoxed at why the MacBooks continue to be
| spicy. When using then laptop with a charger using the
| grounded cable on the socket side there used to be no spice.
| Now that adapters are mostly only used with two prong
| connectors the spicyness is ubiquitous.
|
| I recall audio equipment also not being grounded because the
| industry prefers not being grounded over being accidentally
| grounded to two different grounds causing voltage transients.
| Maybe the same reason now also applies to MacBooks? Or does
| someone know another reason why the outer shell of a MacBook
| is still spicy.
| swiftcoder wrote:
| > Now that adapters are mostly only used with two prong
| connectors the spicyness is ubiquitous
|
| One can still obtain the 3-prong pigtail instead of the
| little 2-prong inline plug, and that one grounds correctly.
|
| Unfortunately they only seem to make a 3-prong inline
| version in about 3 countries.
| a456463 wrote:
| same. i thought it was me, but every mbp has been spicy and
| leaks current like crazy.
| RobMurray wrote:
| Why is floating ground still a thing? I've found it can
| actually sting quite a bit if you are grounded or touch
| something that is.
| thePhytochemist wrote:
| Yes, the electrical shocks are very annoying! I don't know if
| it's related to an older/failing battery but I've certainly
| noticed this on an old Macbook Pro. Thanks for mentioning
| this - I guess at 24VDC it isn't a regulatory issue but it
| really does feel like a small insect sting or something and
| it's irritating.
|
| My newer Air doesn't seem to have this problem. Also the
| screen is brighter, together with a mat finish it is better
| for using outside.
| hansvm wrote:
| It happens new too, and it's not the DC side of things. The
| AC -> DC component has some AC leakage, and the default of
| bad two-prong charging blocks basically guarantees you'll
| have issues.
|
| I normally "fix" it by using a USB-C charging brick and
| cord from a better company (somehow they're all fine even
| ungrounded), but the factory default is bad.
| technotarek wrote:
| Like Mr Jobs said, "You're holding it wrong."
| Rekindle8090 wrote:
| Do you also have glass bones and paper skin?
| bigyabai wrote:
| No? The Mac current chassis has objective problems, you can
| feel the laptop grounding to your body when you touch it with
| any bare skin.
| Greed wrote:
| As others have mentioned: battery, build quality, Linux-ish
| ecosystem. If I could get all three in another laptop I would
| go for it, but nothing comes close at the moment. There was a
| _very_ brief moment in time where the XPS came close, and then
| the M series rolled out and eradicated the competition on
| performance + battery life.
| encom wrote:
| >Linux-ish ecosystem
|
| You cannot be serious. It's the most proprietary locked down
| system of them all.
| a456463 wrote:
| oh fr. macs are garbage dev machines. display gives me
| headaches. keyboard is terrible, it hurts. speakers are the
| best part.
|
| the lock screen doesnt show battery charge level. dead battery?
| mac wont start for 15 min on connecting power... still need
| half ass homebrew
| swiftcoder wrote:
| > dead battery? mac wont start for 15 min on connecting power
|
| Having just received an M4 in the mail with a completely flat
| battery, I can confirm this is nearer 10 seconds on Apple
| silicon (you are correct it used to be this way on Intel
| Macs)
| starkparker wrote:
| Having an M1 and an M2, no it isn't. Takes at least 5
| minutes on the 65W charger to get bootable from a full
| drain. Maybe something changed with the newer models but it
| isn't a benefit across all Apple Silicon.
| swiftcoder wrote:
| Have never tried the 65W charger, but have had no issues
| booting from fully discharged with the 96W brick
| foobarian wrote:
| The build quality and least-nonsense OS is why I like it. Huge
| caveat though, I keep it plugged into a KVM setup so I don't
| actually use it directly, but I do keep it open on the side of
| my desk for meetings.
| michaelcampbell wrote:
| Jony Ive.
|
| He wanted a razor blade made out of pure aluminum that had no
| function at all but stood as a testament to his design
| aesthetic.
| doug_durham wrote:
| There's no way you can cut your wrists on the edge of a
| MacBook. To do that, you would have to be leaning straight-
| armed with all of your weight on the edge of the keyboard,
| which is a typing style that I've never seen. Mac keyboards are
| some of the best that I've ever used. There's nothing special
| about the Mac screen one way or the other.
| threecheese wrote:
| You sound very confident. My M1 mbp's edges are uncomfortable
| enough against my wrist/heel (?) area that I use an external
| keyboard even when on the couch.
|
| Could it slice me open? Probably not without effort. Is it
| sharp, and sharp enough to cause discomfort? Definitely.
| elAhmo wrote:
| I have also been using Macbooks for around 10 years, Airs and
| Pros, and usually my wrists are on the flat part, when docked I
| used a keyboard.
|
| Keyboard on Macs is pretty much good, other than the early
| butterfly version, rest is definitely above average and it just
| feels good. Glare is a problem, but darkest basement is an
| overstatement.
|
| It might not fit your workflow or you might be expecting super
| niche, but it is the worlds most popular laptop for both
| regular users and developers for a reason. Input devices and
| screen are significant part of the Macbook appeal, so
| definitely not almost unusable.
| icedchai wrote:
| I agee, the keyboards are terrible. The last time I felt the
| MacBook Pro had a "good" keyboard was in 2007. It's been the
| flat chiclet-style "island" keys for a while now. I'd pay for
| more for a thicker MacBook with a real keyboard.
| KolibriFly wrote:
| This is probably a combination of ergonomics and expectations
| evanjrowley wrote:
| I use a case on my MacBooks to protect them from damage. These
| cases are made of softer materials that are easier to chamfer. I
| make a similar modification when necessary. Sometimes it's worse
| with the plastic cases because the injection mold seam is that
| sharp edge.
| dec0dedab0de wrote:
| I did this on the macs at an old job, but not as drastic. It
| really doesn't need much to ..ahem... take the edge off.
| PufPufPuf wrote:
| Too bad my Mac is company owned, maybe I'd use it in a "laptop
| mode" more if it didn't slit wrists.
| estetlinus wrote:
| Mac users since 2010. Never noticed the sharp edges. I am just
| keen on not having that little red ball in the middle of the
| keyboard a la Elitebook.
| RadiozRadioz wrote:
| Give the TrackPoint a go. If you configure the sensitivity and
| acceleration properly, it can be an extremely productive way to
| move the mouse.
| beloch wrote:
| There are plenty of laptops out there that have square edges on
| the user-facing edge. However, most are tapered and/or have hinge
| designs that tilt the laptop surface towards the user, dropping
| that square edge away from the user's wrists.
|
| Most Apple laptops, such as the latest Pro's, are level, rather
| than tapered, and sit flat so that the user-facing edge cuts into
| your wrists. It's bad ergonomics, plain and simple. If you value
| function over form enough to modify your tools in this way,
| choose better tools.
| pmontra wrote:
| Choosing tools is not easy. Last time I bought a laptop was
| 2014. My goal was running Linux. My other requirements were, in
| order of importance, without explanation:
|
| 3 physical buttons below the touchpad. That removed really many
| laptops. They would be nearly zero today, or really zero.
|
| 15 inches screen. Common.
|
| Matte finish. Common.
|
| User serviceable hardware. That removed many other laptops.
|
| No number pad. I had to give up on that or I would have no
| laptop to buy.
|
| I ended up with the first generation HP ZBook 15.
| mkagenius wrote:
| Not just sides, the vents are much sharper.
|
| Few years back, I tried to look on reddit for complaints
| regarding this - barely anything.
| 4mitkumar wrote:
| Early Saturday morning and what a simple, to-the-point read about
| irreverence :D Gave me my new maxim - "Fuck about a bit" Created
| a poster out of it :D https://nextfive.xyz/bits/2026/04/11/fuck-
| around-a-bit.html
| DannyBee wrote:
| Probably don't do this if you have a magnesium-aluminum alloy
| laptop.
|
| Depending on exactly how much magnesium is in the alloy, metal
| shavings can be highly flammable and otherwise hazardous.
|
| I think it's fine to mess with stuff like this, just make sure
| you know what you can do safely to the materials.
| ardline wrote:
| This reminds me of a problem we hit at work. Ended up going a
| different direction but same root issue.
| mr-pink wrote:
| i think its fine but why do such a shitty job
| swiftcoder wrote:
| Definitely didn't expect this to be about literally filing the
| corners off. Bravo! I think it looks pretty great, not sure I'd
| do it to one of mine
| nottorp wrote:
| Well, this can be read as a nice hack or ...
|
| ... it means the OPs job does not provide external monitors and
| proper keyboards :)
| egeozcan wrote:
| Some people visit customers, work on the go, work in a cafe,
| etc. That's the point of getting a laptop, no?
| Flavius wrote:
| I can't downvote you enough for this comment, but hopefully
| others will. You're arguing that a device designed for
| portability is perfect as it is because you're supposed to use
| external monitors and proper keyboards. This is peak
| HN/Reddit/"current society", whatever you want to call it.
| nottorp wrote:
| I'm arguing that using a laptop without dedicated input and
| display peripherals if you can avoid it is a bit of masochism
| and filing off the corners won't fix it.
| taneq wrote:
| I'm now wondering how difficult it would be to polish one to a
| mirror finish.
| camillomiller wrote:
| Looks terrible, I love it
| maximg68 wrote:
| When I was actively using my Macbook 2014, I did the same, though
| to lesser extent and in a uniform way. The edge was way too
| sharp.
| willtemperley wrote:
| Yes the front edge is too sharp for me too, more on the middle
| right where I rest my hand. It hurts.
|
| I think there must be a better solution than a file, like an
| attachment to effectively round the edges, or even something like
| fingerless gloves.
|
| On the other hand Apple always replace the top case when the
| keyboard needs changing so the filing approach may not be
| entirely insane. It might send a message to Apple.
| franga2000 wrote:
| I feel like glueing on an attachment or putting on gloves (!!)
| to use your laptop is in fact a much worse solution to the
| issue of "edge is too sharp" than...making the edge less
| sharp...
|
| Especially the gloves, come one, that's peak Apple "you're just
| using it wrong" mentality. Apple made a bad usability decision
| for the sake of sexier design. It's not your fault, it's
| theirs. Fix the defect, not yourself.
| jxramos wrote:
| It's not only more comfortable to file off those sharp edges but
| also makes the laptop less dangerous to carry around. Those sharp
| edges not only cause discomfort but can chip paint, damage
| furniture, and inflict damage in general. If you had to you could
| use it as a weapon I suppose.
| lokimedes wrote:
| To my great dismay, I discovered the physical incompatibility of
| two Apple products recently: The sharp edge of my MBP and my
| Apple Watch's magnetic strap. It seems that the magnets are an
| effective abrasive, resulting in a ruined strap and a rounded
| edge.
|
| Thank you Apple, you have taken designed obsolescence to a new
| level.
| cassianoleal wrote:
| A few weeks ago I accidentally dropped my space grey MBP. It had
| the lip open and fell on its right corner, inner/keyboard side.
|
| The machine is fine and I didn't even have to adjust the screen
| as it was still correctly in place but on that corner the
| aluminium lifted up forming a mountain shape, about 2 mm tall and
| very sharp.
|
| Not only this was uncomfortable, but it also meant I couldn't
| close the lid properly and might eventually crack the screen from
| it, so I filed it away. Like OP, I started with a pretty gritty
| file to get most of the tip off, then finished with a multi-tool
| with the sanding attachment. I went through a few grits but I got
| bored long before it was smooth.
|
| In the end, I actually liked the look, and have been considering
| going all around like OP. I may have to do it now.
| lozenge wrote:
| Can we get some pictures with the hinge closed?
| padjo wrote:
| I 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.
| eru wrote:
| I don't have any trouble with the corner on my MacBooks. But now
| I'm disappointed that Apple added an extra few grams to my
| MacBook Air that they could have avoided without damaging
| functionality.
| khalic wrote:
| That's some really poor filing job :D but yeah custom tools is
| the way to go
| datahack wrote:
| So, is rasping a subset of hacking now? Goodness.
| voy707 wrote:
| If most laptop sales were still made in person, in a physical
| store, maybe laptops would still have rounded edges and maybe
| even flowing shapes
| dryadin wrote:
| Nice initiative but I would personally prefer adding some kind of
| padding, which is an easier solution to the problem, not as
| drastic, reversible, and less controversial. Unless doing
| something controversial is one of the goals here, which is also
| fair.
| thenthenthen wrote:
| How are you gonna close the lid when there is padding in the
| way?
| dryadin wrote:
| Thin padding? Removable padding? Squishable padding? (Is that
| a word?) I assume that filing the edge leaves an ugly gap
| when closing the lid, so that is not ideal either.
| rcarmo wrote:
| This is... unusual.
| rbanffy wrote:
| I would love to see a Unibody polished to a mirror finish. Would
| be a perfect match for Queen Amidala's shuttle.
| fsiefken wrote:
| dear apple, please bring back the wedge shaped design of the
| macbook air m1
| https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/03/04/after-14-years-ap...
| xbar wrote:
| Love mine. Filed that edge too.
| Hard_Space wrote:
| A spinal injury three years ago made me above-averagely aware of
| ergonomics, as I created a dedicated office (chairs, floating
| supports for monitors, keyboards, etc.) that would support the
| injury.
|
| I have to say that I now access the 8 or so machines across my
| LAN and VPS via a Macbook Air rested on my lap, either through
| RDP or SSH. I probably use this 80% of the time. Because the
| machine is on my lap, held up at about 30 degrees on my lap, I
| can't say I ever noticed the sharp edges, until this post!
| baud147258 wrote:
| > This was on my work computer
|
| is this an employer-issued computer? Like if I did something
| similar on my DELL laptop (us lowly devs at %DAY_JOB% don't have
| Macs), management would be up my ass the minute they saw this, if
| only because the maintenance agreement the company has with our
| supplier will likely be voided for my machine.
| jmkni wrote:
| That was my first thought, I don't think my employer would be
| cool with this somehow
| xbar wrote:
| I have done this to every work Macbook I have received since
| 2015. No one has ever said anything.
| artur_makly wrote:
| Can anyone explain why i get sharp electrical shocks when i touch
| the bottom edges with my wrists? Or its just me?
| b-star wrote:
| Not just you. If you use the Apple extension cord with the 3
| prong outlet plug, this doesn't happen.
|
| MacBooks (and many laptops) have a tiny amount of alternating
| current that leaks through the metal chassis to ground. When
| you use the compact 2-prong power adapter (the "duck head"
| without a ground pin), there's no path for this leakage current
| to safely flow to earth ground -- so it flows through you
| instead, creating that tingling sensation.
|
| Interestingly I haven't felt this when using my 2 prong NAND
| Anker adapter.
| thenthenthen wrote:
| It is for cutting cake did everyone forget???
| https://techcrunch.com/2008/06/01/the-macbook-air-thin-enoug...
| 4rtem wrote:
| It's actually reveal the major issue in Apple products where
| aesthetics prevail over tactile. Sharp edges and aluminium is the
| worst way to make things that people use by fingers. I have some
| older version of Apple TV remote control and every day I wonder
| how it was approved to production, it's barely usable.
|
| I'm strongly convinced that modern iPhones designed to use in
| case as basic idea, while using iPhone without case is like using
| that Nokia phone unit when you take the housing off. In that case
| I think that iPad with magnetic keyboard (which is soft-touch
| plastic) is the future of Apple mobile computers.
| sanj wrote:
| There's something lovely about this.
|
| To my eye, it is like the patina that your favorite tools get.
|
| I'm looking at you, 40 year old tape measure.
| zeafoamrun wrote:
| You mac people are masochistic freaks. Buying overpriced hardware
| that you hate the design of just to file off the corners.
| caymanjim wrote:
| I do this too, although only the corners. It's one of the only
| design failures of the MacBook.
| mrlonglong wrote:
| Just a few drops of mercury on aluminium kills it.
| ape4 wrote:
| I'd like to see some side-by-side before and after photos
| scarybeard wrote:
| 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.
| Rekindle8090 wrote:
| I dont believe this at all
| 1e1a wrote:
| The edges of the air intake slits are much sharper.
| spockz wrote:
| Also the two corner points next to the air slits underneath
| the screen when folded open. When I wipe away dust there it
| can feel slightly uncomfortable.
|
| The pci extension slot edges in most PC cases or the IO are
| way sharper. I've cut myself regularly on those when I was
| a little kid tweaking cases.
| michaelcampbell wrote:
| I was pulling mine to the bed from it being vertical
| against my bedside table along the intake slit. I didn't
| have a good enough old and it slipped through my
| finger/thumb and the slit edge raised a well and proper
| blood blister in my thumb.
| a456463 wrote:
| i dont believe you
| burnt-resistor wrote:
| 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.
| stogot wrote:
| 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
| nl wrote:
| Factory distressed Fender Stratocasters coming up...
| bilekas wrote:
| > This was on my work computer.
|
| I would love to see the guys reactions when you have to give this
| back.
| xtiansimon wrote:
| Nice. Maybe a touch of 600 and 1200 wet/dry sandpaper (with some
| dish soap lubricant)?
| rvanmil wrote:
| I have calluses on my wrists from years of using MacBooks, so the
| sharp corners are no longer a problem -\\_(tsu)_/-
| wildpeaks wrote:
| I can imagine the resulting texture feeling better on the skin,
| but I can't unsee the lack of symmetry.
| xbar wrote:
| I go through at least one dimestore nail file on every Macbook.
| The edge near the front touchpad always gets treated.
| samrus wrote:
| Thank you for giving me the opportunity to freak out about it. I
| did so, but only a little bit. Then i thought about how i have
| sometimes felt the bottom corner to be a bit uncomfortable. But
| then i thought that it wasnt a big enough issue to be worth the
| effort of filing off the edge
|
| Also a little bit pedantry, you seem to have mostly filed the
| edge off, which seemed to be the real issue, the corners on that
| center divet are filed off, but its mostly edges
| juleiie wrote:
| Honestly I love these things because they are so sturdy that you
| can do it. It's like a slab of metal
|
| I know people hate apple and I get it but like if you sign the
| pact with the devil you get many benefits from that ecosystem
|
| Besides I can't imagine going back to windows, I would have to
| use Linux. It wouldn't be a tragedy alright but I am at the point
| where I like less customization and more the readiness and it
| just works aspect
|
| I never found comfort in the endangered Linux ricing communities
| either that usually enriches the experience above just OS
| jensC wrote:
| I have a similar problem. My handicap makes it impossible to use
| the huge trackpad of all newer MacBooks. I am working still with
| a 2012 MacBook Pro that had a considerable smaller trackpad. Any
| idea from you guys how to circumvent these trackpad monsters?
| Thanks for any suggestion.
| rayiner wrote:
| This is so triggering.
| BobBagwill wrote:
| This reminds me of the shim scene in "Zen and the Art of
| Motorcycle Maintenance".
| mooktakim wrote:
| Ah man, I hate how sharp the edges are. Good solution
| alecco wrote:
| What was wrong with a $20 palm rest/cover? It would also protect
| it for resale value.
| a-dub wrote:
| maybe a better approach to start with computers that already have
| ergonomic chassis (they exist) and then spend energy for
| modifying tools on what happens inside of them?
| kjkjadksj wrote:
| It is kind of funny how all the comments are like "yes, finally,
| file away!" Instead of taking a step back and asking why half the
| users don't get these issues at all with the way they lay their
| hands on the keyboard. I've been using metal macbooks for as long
| as they've been around and this is the first I'm hearing of it.
| Maybe I'm holding it right.
| jwlake wrote:
| my m1 max macbook pro 14 has small little divots out of the edge
| on the right side (not on the left) presuambly because of where
| my wrist sits when using the track pad. It would be nice it there
| was some radius on it to not cause that.
| Groxx wrote:
| Yeah, they are quite uncomfortable. A clear "form before
| function" decision, and one of many "the wrong people are
| deciding things" signs :/
|
| I like the idea of fully blending the notch, rather than just
| rounding slightly. Looks comfy and distinct!
| rlt wrote:
| > People like to freak out about this, so I wanted to post it
| here to make sure that everyone who wants to freak out about it
| gets the opportunity to do so.
|
| I've grown to appreciate unapologetic trolling of people who care
| way too much about what other people do to themselves or their
| own private property.
| xeromal wrote:
| One of my favorite pastimes. There's a facebook group I'm in
| that has a member that ran over some old plastic part of his
| car that people pay good money for and the amount of chaos it
| caused in the group was indescribable. I watch the video
| anytime I need a good laugh
| adolph wrote:
| Was it the protective packaging of Dodge sports cars that
| people thought looked cool and thus retained?
|
| https://www.hellcat.org/threads/this-is-what-happens-when-
| th...
| rlt wrote:
| Hah, I didn't know until just now they weren't part of the
| design.
| KolibriFly wrote:
| But there's also a thin line between trolling and just being
| comfortable ignoring other people's expectations
| duxup wrote:
| I'm a bad speller. At some point I improved, but on the early
| days of the internet I would intentionally misspell things as
| it just got some folks really going like a light switch ;)
| Zancarius wrote:
| It still does.
|
| I'm not sure what benefit it is for people to point out such
| mistakes, but my biggest problem comes from glide typing.
| Often, my device decides it knows better what word I intended
| than what I actually intended. I've gotten to the point where
| I don't especially care about those mistakes either if it's
| an otherwise unimportant conversation.
|
| I think there are just some people who care _entirely_ too
| much about trivialities. It may be maturity, though. Where do
| you invest your energy? When you 're younger, minutia can
| seem far more important than it does when you're older. It's
| still worth showing them some grace--they'll learn.
| Eventually. Maybe.
| dpark wrote:
| I don't know if I've gotten lazier or the swipe typing has
| gotten worse but sometimes I compose entire paragraphs and
| then look down and see it's mangled half the words.
|
| I have to spend more time fixing the mistakes than I used
| to because when it goes off the rails it becomes
| unreadable. vs just messing up little stuff.
| rlt wrote:
| > I'm not sure what benefit it is for people to point out
| such mistakes
|
| A feeling of superiority, of course
| underdeserver wrote:
| "The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to
| ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer. This is known as
| Godwin's law."
| mythas wrote:
| I always like to cite Benford's law for this one.
| vondur wrote:
| I wonder if by work he means work issued or he just uses it for
| work?
| stephbook wrote:
| Explicitly mentioning it implies the more extreme version:
| Work issued.
| tristanlukens wrote:
| My first reaction to this was something akin to "what a terrible
| day to be literate" but the more I think about it, I admire how
| you're not afraid to change something about YOUR machine, that
| YOU paid for. Still wouldn't do this myself tho -\\_(tsu)_/-
| kbutler wrote:
| I smoothed the sharp corners of the notch by the keyboard, and
| smoothed a corner where it got dinged from a drop, but nothing
| this extensive.
|
| Respect.
|
| I definitely empathize with "concerned I would file through the
| machine."
| danielvaughn wrote:
| I also hate these sharp edges. After a long working session I
| have deep grooves in my wrists, and my skin is red with
| irritation. It's uncomfortable enough that it distracts me from
| work. It's the very antithesis of good design.
| repple wrote:
| Yeah, a very admirable project indeed.
| smrtinsert wrote:
| I would do this but cant stand the MacBook keyboards anyway. Even
| a cheap $50 amazon mechanical is a much more ergonomic experience
| Cort3z wrote:
| I can see Apple doing something similar in the future. Just like
| how they are pivoting away from flat design in their ui, perhaps
| the time is ready for a more "organic" design. Wonder what
| marketing term they would use
| calmbonsai wrote:
| Hey man, you keep doing you and let the haters wash off your
| shoulders. I'm left-handed and remove the pocket clip from all of
| my knives.
|
| The power to personalize should not be underestimated--even at
| the cost of durability and overall functionality.
| 627467 wrote:
| I never owned the MacBook I used and the current one I do own I
| still consider selling one day. That's the only reason I'm not
| ready to replicate this on my own.
|
| The edges are indeed extremely uncomfortable, not to mention how
| cold it is in winter.
|
| Luckily its just sitting on a stand 99.9% of the time
| pvtmert wrote:
| I think he filed edges too much that the font on the website is
| getting thinner. /s
|
| I agree the edges _can_ be sharp, I have chosen to use a thin-
| plastic cover which also doubles as a sticker-holder. Also helps
| with the "bumps" and scratches...
| KolibriFly wrote:
| If a device is uncomfortable in daily use, modifying it to fit
| your body actually makes a lot of sense
| rpmisms wrote:
| I already use a matte screen protector on mine, I think I will do
| this as well...
| muzika wrote:
| I have also done it. My MacBook Pro felt like a torture to use
| until I filed the edges. Much better now.
| mzelling wrote:
| To anybody who wants to try this at home: consider wearing a face
| mask while you do the filing. The author mentions taping off
| speakers etc. to protect the machine's internals from aluminum
| dust, but don't forget to protect your own body, too. Aluminum
| exposure has been linked to Alzheimer's, and inhalation likely
| poses particularly high risk, compared to ingestion.
| FredrikSE wrote:
| I had the same problem with my Macbook Air, solved it by design
| and 3D print a curved edge mounted with 3M.
| https://makerworld.com/models/1356464
| namelosw wrote:
| I know it's too sharp for many people, but I've also heard a lot
| of people say they really enjoy touching the sharp corners of
| MacBooks repeatedly during boring meetings...
| steveharrison wrote:
| > This was on my work computer.
|
| Haha love it. Would love to see the IT guy's face handing that
| back in.
| fuzzy2 wrote:
| Is this a design detail that has changed over time?
|
| I have a MacBook Pro Late 2013 and the top edges on the body are
| not sharp at all. They are already rounded down, with maybe 0.5
| mm radius. It's very subtle. I find that the edges are rather
| pleasant to the touch.
| rldjbpin wrote:
| misread two 'l's instead of one and imagined it would be about
| the rounded corners in the latest macos.
|
| personally, having recently switched to one, the edges were a
| bother at first. but over the months grew to tolerate them just
| like callouses. opening the lid from the sides make me appreciate
| the need for a lip. however, i really hope they refine their
| approach for the rumored new model with better tooling and more
| comfortable.
| mark124mj wrote:
| I have a MacBook and honestly barely use it anymore partly
| because of this. The front edge digs into my wrists after any
| extended session. It surprises me from Apple -- a company known
| for obsessing over every detail of the user experience. Do they
| not test these things for hours of actual use? It's the kind of
| thing that seems like it would get caught immediately in any
| real-world usability testing.
| dominick-cc wrote:
| Reminds me of the magic mouse having the charging port on the
| bottom
| pdroid12 wrote:
| Would this void apple care?
| Andi wrote:
| I don't like it. I would just attach a part of a silicone baking
| form to the front of the body. This can be undone at any time.
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