Although Apple had earlier acknowledged the shutdown problem -- dubbed
"RSS" for "Random Sudden Shutdown" by wags -- prior to Thursday its
advice was for customers to return their MacBooks to Apple for repair.
The wait, however, stretched into weeks, and stretched Mac users' patience; last week some began organizing a class-action lawsuit against the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker.
Some users who have already applied the update reported success on
Friday. "tonight installed the patch. no shutdowns yet! and i'm running
at full capacity and have been opening and shutting the lid like mad,"
wrote a user identified as "david" on the MacBook Random Shutdown Web site.
Others, however, remained skeptical. The firmware update, they argued,
wouldn't go any good if, as many have speculated, the problem was due
to faulty heat sinks and a resulting melting of internal wiring. "As an
Apple Tech, I can confirm that this is simply ignoring a bigger issue,"
wrote " RainRacer" on the Digg.com site.
"I have seen first hand dozens and dozens of MacBooks with the thermal
sensor wires melted to the side of the heatsink. Though this may be a
nice temporary fix to get people up and running, I really hope that
Apple is not encouraging this as true fix."
The firmware update can be downloaded from the Apple support site; users running Mac OS X 10.4.6 or earlier must update to 10.4.8 before applying the update.
"If you continue to experience trouble with your MacBook after
applying both updates or if your MacBook is in a state that will not
allow you to install the updates please contact AppleCare for further
assistance," Apple said in the firmware alert.
Content Categories 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comment form
