Sharpness of the edges on a MacBook

On one hand it's nice that the aluminum is cut with such precision, but man are those edges sharp. How do you deal with the sharpness of the edges? especially when typing?

 

That's one of the reason's why I don't like the MacBook Pro's. I would assume either live with the red abrasions that are going to come from the edges, or get something to rest your hands on.

 

The edge doesn't really bother me. Engadget said the Envy 14 has the sharpness as well so it isn't just a MBP issue. Everyone has different tolerances and things they complain about so answers here may not apply to you. Go try one out at a store and if you are overly sensitive to the edge, don't buy one.

 

Prop up the back a bit so that you are typing on a slight inclined angle. Seems to work for some.

 

I know several people who have simply sanded the edge down. short and sweet.

 

I just bought one yesterday so I am trying to get used to the edges.

 

Perhaps couple layers of clear tape over the edge will help.

 

Making physical alteration to the casing actually voids your warranty should they ever need to seek hardware services from Apple, as an alternative have anyone here ever considered adding a Moshi Palmguard to their MB/MBP's? It'll do the job just fine and ease abrasion for those who type with their palms on the machine.

 

whats sharp about it? i can press my finger super hard and rub back and forth on it and it wont even leave a mark... I don't get this complaint at all... maybe some are just sharper than others? mines already rather dull.

 

I wouldnt call it sharp, but if you are the type that rests your palm on the edge of the palmrest while using the laptop indeed you can quickly become aware of the edge digging into your palm/wrist.

 

Compare it to most other laptop computer edges and u will quickly understand what people are talking about.

 

If I put the MBP on the edge of my desk and purposely rest my wrists on the edge while typing I can feel the edge. Most PCs don't have that kind of edge, since they are plastic. I'm surprised, nobody has joked that Jobs would say "you're doing it wrong" if the edge bothers you.

 

I had a mind to do it, but it was late when I thought to.

 

I think some people are just bigger wusses than others! lol

 

The edges are sharp, it'd be stupid to deny it. People have different tolerances when it comes to preference, just because some fingers/palms are more resistance to pressure doesn't mean they are wusses. Chances are they can do some physical activity or another that you can't.

That being said, the edge doesn't bother me, but I can understand a complaint about it.

 

i guess i just have little hands... mine never rest on the edge in use.

 

you don't get it? really? you don't see the crease marks on your wrists from resting at the edge? it's very damn uncomfortable. the sharpness was clearly a decision of style over functionality, as just a little more rounded and this wouldn't be an issue of any kind.

if you rest your wrists on your laptop when typing or using the trackpad, it can get uncomfortable.

the fact that anyone in this conversation would bring up someone's "toughness" is enough to prove there to be a problem all by itself. you should never have to question someone's "toughness" when using a damn computer.

 

Yup!

Some of the MBP owners here just defend the machine blindly. It's an obvious design flaw.

But it's a design flaw I'm willing to put up with because of the other things the MBP brings to the table.

 

Take a sander to my laptop? I paid $2,000 CAD for my 15" MBP! If my 4 year old daughter LOOKS at it the wrong way, she's in the first suitcase heading for an orphanage!

 

sanding the edge is BAD as well, the AL is anodized and only the extreme outer skin is hardened, sand that off and it can fracture alot easier

 

no.. I don't get it... no I don't get crease marks.. no I don't find it sharp. Apple, and Macs have many problems. You can try to discount what I say by trying to believe I'm some type of Apple worshipper, but you really need to stop assuming a problem one person has affects everyone. I've never heard anything but a couple random complains about this in several years, then all of a sudden a thread that takes it like its some type of fact that just is... well it isn't. Maybe if someone tries to find out why some people are affected by it while others aren't, or maybe there is just a difference in some machines coming out that really are sharper than others... who knows.

If I had ever seen one that was actually sharp, then I might actually get it, its just strange when I've seen quite a few and have never seen one that was sharp enough to cause any type of issue.

Its probably something related to hand sizes, typing styles, and variations in actual machines.

 

No, I don't get it either. Really!!! I have absolutely no crease marks on my wrists at all!!

To each their own. Perhaps you should be working for Apple as clearly they're not doing things correctly with the Unibody design. How many have they sold again because of that design??

That's like saying "When I move my arm this way it hurts!" Uhm.....well don't move your arm that way!?

Nothing has been proven here other than some people are using their MacBook in such a way that the edge causes them some discomfort, and some people can't take a joke!

 

Spoiler

Look what my Macbook pro did to me!!!! You think this is funny?!?!

 

I present: A scientific analysis into this issue...

Exhibit A:

Situation in which position in above illustration is most likely: sitting on a chair, lap usage. Arms reach downwards onto palmrest, elbows point outwards. Most comfortable for MBP users.

Exhibit B:

Situation in which position in above illustration is most likely: sitting at a table, laptop is on table. Upper and forearm make a "V" or check mark- elbows point downwards as forearm is angled upwards towards palmrest. Wrist tends to rest on the edge of the palmrest, and if palmrest is sharp, results in discomfort.

They aren't saying that EVERYONE experiences wrist discomfort. But it certainly exists for people out there.

NOTE: Apologies for the image size of exhibit B. Photobucket resize is not playing right.

 

Dude... Ain't you in the great ole US of A? I heard most folks there normally sue the companies whom are out of order, create dangerous goods etc. I've read other users on other forums have been going on and on about the sharpness of the newer MacBookPros. I'm wondering why someone there ain't sued the company for damages?? Or maybe, the MacBook didn't really cut you???

 

Pffft. You don't need proof to sue in the US. Just a good lawyer who works on 33.333% contingency fee, dude.

 

Ok.. well.. I wouldn't know.

Anyway, there are plenty people out here whom are unhappy about the edges of their uni-bodied Mac. Personally, I would of thought those issues would of been ironed out over time, seems they've only gotten worst!! Guess next we'll be getting band-aids with our new Mac's soon.

 

you wimp... you need to toughen up!

 

*grabs <s>purse</s> manbag and runs down the street...

 

Try using a Dell M6400/M6500. Still the most brutal corners yet on a notebook I've used. Painfully sharp if your forearms start to descend.

Oh, and yeah, I noticed the sharp edge of the Macbook Uni last year using it for a few months (2.93ghz 17"), but after using the M6400 "I'm going to end it all," special edition, it wasn't that bad at all.

 

I figured out why some people have it and some people don't. If you sit above your macbook pro, you can't feel the edge.

If you sit below the computer (or close to looking straight at it) you can feel the edge.

Try typing on the computer while being below it.

 

Don't forget to flail and shriek hysterically! lol

 

I bought one of these for my 13 inch MBP.. not to fix the sharp edges.. but to protect the palm rests from my horrible sweaty palms. It doesnt help at all with the sharp edges.

I love my MBP, but those who dont think it is an issue at all... or can't understand the complaints are just blind apple loyalists.

 

This comment is such BS! This is a non-issue for me as I have never, that's right NEVER, even remotely considered the edges on my MacBook to be "too sharp".

While to some it may be an issue, to most it is not an issue at all, and it certainly does not make those people "blind apple loyalist" as you so ignorantly believe.

 

Must... restrain...

2.0 might have gotten a new broom by now.

 

I don't think that not being bothered by it is being a blind apple loyalist.. it will bother some, and not others. My point is that if you can't even see why some people consider it an issue makes you a blind apple loyalist.

Also, you can't substantiate claims that it doesn't bother most people. Just because it doesn't bother you doesn't mean that it doesn't bother a majority of people. That is just bad logic.

 

From my point of view there is no issue at all. I have tried to understand how anyone could possibly think the edges are "sharp", yet I'm always at a loss to see how people are thinking this because it just doesn't make sense at all to me. That doesn't make me a "blind apple loyalist", it simply makes me someone with a different perspective on the situation.

The whole fanboy argument is so worn out already and 9/10 is used as an escape when logical reasoning fails. If you don't agree with someone, or see their point, they MUST be a fanboy.....or in this case a blind apple loyalist.

The only bad logic here is yours. If this really were an issued that affected "a majority" of people, there would be many more complaints, perhaps even to the point which required a case redesign. This is a non-issue which only affects some people based upon their usage habits.

 

It's still on order. It's a custom job. Titanium broom handle. Tapered carbon fibre bristles. Silicon grips. Oh, and the engraving on the side reads, "cleanliness is close to godliness."

 

Friends. Fellow blind Apple loyalists. Fanboys. Owners.

Scientifically speaking, (burp) the edges aren't sharp. They're perfectly perpendicular.

In order to have a sharp edge, tapering to a point is what must occur along an intersecting longitudinal plane.

Henceforth, to wit, and therefore, I submit, that those who complain of the edges being sharp are by extension and reason of the facts to the contrary, indubitably baring false witness in as much as they have improperly defined the matter at hand by correlating their resultant discomfort with an attribute that simply cannot exist given the geometry of the product in question.

Moreover, and with seeming prejudice, have commingled such accusation with conjecture as to the number of others who may have also suffered as a result of a false correlation between the product's design and their incorrect description of the causation.

In conclusion, (hiccup), the offense committed against a one, the honorable Steven Jobs and his engineering constituents, on the matter of the notebook series in question, must result in the offender's surrendering of their notebooks to me, the honorable second version, so that I may lay them before the feet of the mighty and right most honorable Steven Jobs. That he may render unto these, the ungrateful, a good and proper punishment.

Disrespectfully submitted,

Two, "let's not get out of hand shall we", point zero.

In the words of Nelson from the Simpons, "ha. Ha."

 

You're being a little ridiculous.

I don't see how you cannot admit that maybe, some people out there find the perfectly perpendicular edges uncomfortable as a palm/wrist rest. They don't bother me either, but I do realize what people are talking about when they say it's uncomfortable.

No, not really.

There aren't complaints because it's not really a deal breaker, it's just something people notice. The laptop is perfectly usable even with the sharp edges. But to say it doesn't have sharp edges is just being silly in my opinion.

 

From my point of view, I think you're the one who's being ridiculous.

I have tried countless different positions to type in the hopes of understanding how people can think the edges are sharp, yet I have NEVER even remotely come close to thinking that, regardless of how I sit/type. The whole notion is absolutely absurd.

The way some people talk it sure is a deal breaker. You'd think they were lashed at the wrists with a meat cleaver!

"Sharp" can certainly be subjective. In my opinion there is nothing even remotely sharp at all on my MacBook, and there's nothing "silly" about that opinion.

 

Seems the only thing sharp around here is the comments.

Do we really need to get so worked up about opinions on "sharpness" of the edge of a notebook?

 

Well, I tried to take a different approach and opted for comedy to defuse.

Epic fail.

Can't wait for my new broom to arrive.

 

I appreciated the humor approach. Is the broom on backorder or is it just that you went cheap on the shipping method?

 

Had to skimp somewhere. Times is tight, yo.

 

Well, though I don't consider the front edge 'painfully' sharp, it is very fine. However, it causes me no real discomfort. The corners on the thumbscoop DO however cause me pain, as my thumb rests there when I'm using the trackpad (unless I'm just "using it wrongly"). So I sanded those corners down - just the thumbscoop points - and have had no discoloration or oxidising as a result. Just smooth, rounded thumbscoop corners that are comfortable to rest on.

 

What grade sandpaper did you use or what did you use to do it?

 

My mom has a white macbook, and I got tired of using it because it seemed so sharp. I don't notice it on my unibody, but that may have something to do with it being propped up on a cooler.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure why this thread is still going. Depending on how people situate their hands, some people will believe it's sharp or whatever. As for me, it isn't an issue, I have never had any sharpness issues with my MBP or my Envy 14. I can feel the edges, but not pain.

It could also be attributed to people having more sensitive wrists than others. So yea whatever.

Oh and 2.0, I think Harry Potter is selling his Nimbus 2000 on Ebay. One of a kind, and several other NBR mods have already placed their bids.

 

because people want to discuss it.