Hope it's not contagious

Oct 17, 2006 11:01 GMT  ·  By

The new 13-inch MacBook notebooks seem to have a big problem. Users that experienced such problems have called the phenomenon "RSS". On some topics regarding this issue it's called Random Shutdown Syndrome while on others - Repetitive Shutdown Syndrome. The sure thing is that it's in both cases RSS and the MacBooks are shutting down for no reason, while people that are using such MacBooks are getting pretty frustrated.

Shutdown intervals were reported to be anywhere from once a week to several times a day. Sometimes, one random shutdown will occur within minutes of the previous one, making the notebooks completely unusable... and that is not good for businesses at all. Apple has publicly acknowledged the ongoing issue and affected users are asked to contact AppleCare for support. Although this may sound like a problem resolver, it is really another problem as users remained without access to their systems for extremely long periods of time.

Affected users from the U.S. seemed to be more fortunate, as some got their MacBooks back within a week, but those outside the U.S. reported that they have been left waiting weeks or even months.

As I surfed the web, the number of disappointed customers was alarmingly high and I presume that those in other regions have been left waiting because the repair demand is extremely high, not because Apple is not taking care of their promises. As a result to this problem - which is a really serious one if you ask me - faulted customers are now organizing a class action lawsuit against the Mac maker.

This is definitely a real low for Apple and the only answer I can see in this case is a recall. If they don't fix this problem fast they will lose much from what they have accomplished so far. On powerpage.com, the RSS problem is described and it seems they found a fix: "MacBook Overheat Analyzed: Recall Brewing? Since isolating the heatsink as the cause of the MacBook's Rapid Sudden Shutdown (RSS), readers have isolated the specific part of the heatsink that is causing the problem, is actually the CPU thermometer itself. Essentially, the heatsink can expand during use, and comes into contact with the lead from the termometer's sensor cable. A short circuit results, and the SMC pulls the plug. Once the system cools down, the heatsink resides and the contact is broken. This also explains why sometimes you cannot immediately power the MacBook back on. The heatsink is still in contact with the metal lead.

Apple's solution to this is to realign the location of the thermometer and cabling on the heatsink so that it does not short circuit. That is why the new heatsink is necessary. In the view of this writer, it warrants a public recall. Any user can produce easily the scenario that causes the MacBook to crash, even with pre-installed applications such as iLife. This also explains Apple's recent SMC Update for the MacBook. In short, the ramped up fan is a response to Apple knowing the heatsink is going to expand, and attempts to proactively cool it down to prevent the short circuit.

Unfortunately, as countless users have shown, it is still possible with something as simple as a terminal command, to overheat the CPU. The only solution is to reproduce the crash, call Apple, and have them replace the heatsink.

That is what every MacBook owner should do until Apple implements a recall program."

Or that is what they say. I say that Apple should not only fix this problem as quickly as possible and refund the customers, but it should be more careful with future products, because they kind of got a little sloppy with the MacBook 13-inch models.

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