A recently released report by the Danish National Consumer Agency cites what it considers to be an unacknowledged error with the iBook G4 laptop. According to a story on forbrug.dk, a specific design defect has been discovered on the iBook G4. The report claims that despite multiple user claims of the problem, Apple refused to acknowledge the fault and take back the laptops given that the complimentary year’s warranty had expired at that point.
The defect cited states that in just over one year’s use, users will find themselves in a position where the power turns off and the screen goes blank. Denmark’s Consumer Complaints Board, having decided that Danish consumers should be able to return laptops with this unit, were able to discover the following facts, as cited in the report:
-Certain users experiencing the problem sometimes resolved it by attaching a clamp to the left front side of their iBook G4 while others nudged cardboard shims in place to allow the laptop to reboot.
-In independent testing, a solder joint between components proved to be broken. This joint gradually loosens every time the computer is turned on and off.
-During testing, when the iBook G4 had been turned on and off a sufficient number of times, the solder joint had broken completely loose and resulted in a blank screen. Jury-rigged solutions such as pressing the components together with a clamp or inserting cardboard shims reconnected the contacts and allowed the computer to boot again.
Photos of the process can be found here, albeit commentary remains in Danish.
Delta, the independent electronics laboratory that performed the testing, cited visual analysis, stereo microscopy, scanning acoustic microscopy and x-ray microscopy as the means used during testing procedures. Individual suspect components were cut out of the logic board and further examined in order to look over the components via microscopy.
If you’ve seen this problem on your end or found a new workaround for the issue, let us know.
A recently released report by the Danish National Consumer Agency cites what it considers to be an unacknowledged error with the iBook G4 laptop. According to a story on forbrug.dk, a specific design defect has been discovered on the iBook G4. The report claims that despite multiple user claims of the problem, Apple refused to acknowledge the fault and take back the laptops given that the complimentary year’s warranty had expired at that point.
The defect cited states that in just over one year’s use, users will find themselves in a position where the power turns off and the screen goes blank. Denmark’s Consumer Complaints Board, having decided that Danish consumers should be able to return laptops with this unit, were able to discover the following facts, as cited in the report:
-Certain users experiencing the problem sometimes resolved it by attaching a clamp to the left front side of their iBook G4 while others nudged cardboard shims in place to allow the laptop to reboot.
-In independent testing, a solder joint between components proved to be broken. This joint gradually loosens every time the computer is turned on and off.
-During testing, when the iBook G4 had been turned on and off a sufficient number of times, the solder joint had broken completely loose and resulted in a blank screen. Jury-rigged solutions such as pressing the components together with a clamp or inserting cardboard shims reconnected the contacts and allowed the computer to boot again.
Photos of the process can be found here, albeit commentary remains in Danish.
Delta, the independent electronics laboratory that performed the testing, cited visual analysis, stereo microscopy, scanning acoustic microscopy and x-ray microscopy as the means used during testing procedures. Individual suspect components were cut out of the logic board and further examined in order to look over the components via microscopy.
If you’ve seen this problem on your end or found a new workaround for the issue, let us know.