Comments on: MacBook Pros Accused of Creating Toxic Fumes

By: spaceflows

spaceflows — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:51:10 +0000

I have had to return two different mac titanium keyboards in the past year due to this chemical smell, one that came with my iMac (full-sized keyboard), and a wireless one I purchased this week. I too experienced headaches and dizziness when working over them for even short periods of time. Basically, if you can smell it you’re inhaling it, and if my body is reacting this strongly to it I’m taking no chances. An older full-sized mac titanium keyboard I have (4 yrs. old) seems fine and I use that. This is very troubling since the source is clearly something chemical and irritant.

By: Cloud109

Cloud109 — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:30:27 +0000

I recently got a Dell Latitude E6410 from my work, a replacement for my older Dell Latitude D620 which I have had for almost 4 years. I noticed from day 1 using the new computer I got a burning sensation in my eyes, my throat started hurting and I could smell this intense burning smell as many others of you have reported. It seems to be even worse when the fan starts running faster. The older Dell does not seem to be emitting any fumes, at least nothing I can smell right now. I’m wondering if any of you know of a guide to least toxic computers out there. I’m thinking of getting my own computer so I don’t have to use my awful smelling work computer but I also don’t want to purchase something new that is toxic as well.

Thanks!

By: Joseph

Joseph — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:26:23 +0000

I bought MacBook Pro in April 2011 and there is definitely a bad smell emanating from it. I left it alone for nearly two weeks and the moment it boots the smell comes. It is a burning smell that affects my throat. Needless to say i am greatly disappointed.

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:44:05 +0000

I have a HP ze9205us laptop. For three years I have been having dizzy spells, Nausea. I finally noticed when I spend a lot of time around my laptop, I get a metallic taste in my mouth and get a slight subtle burnin smell. My throat gets scratchy. It has gotten worse since the left edge of the case surrounding the screen cracked. And I am getting more dizzy spells. Something is not right.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:29:40 +0000

I bought a new aluminum keyboard recently and it had an extremely strong chemical odor, so much that my lips became irritated, my tongue also, and I felt a bit “high.” Not good. It was made in China. I could not bear to be around it, so I returned it to the Apple people, who said they were unaware of any problems.

By: mory

mory — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:38:07 +0000

I suspect my Acer laptop is emitting irritant fumes. I get headache and scratchy throat after a few hours in front of it. Probably many similar materials are going into these machines so I would guess that not only Mac is a problem but many other brands as well.

By: JMM

JMM — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:59:18 +0000

I bought a Macbook Pro in Phoenix, Az this past August 08. The store manager ultimately opened 4 different computer boxes (from varying build facilities) and each one of them had a horrifying chemical odor. The store manager said he’d never seen this before, and had to leave the area, the smell gave him an immediate headache. Rumblings between folks in the store made it kinda obvious that they knew about the ‘new mac smell”. The store graciously ‘aired out’ the laptop for over a month (ran it ‘hot’ with a stress test), which honestly seemed to alleviate the problem. I’ve now had the computer for about 3 months, and am happy with it. In my opinion, it smelled like an epoxy issue. The tech folks even opened up the laptop and cleaned any residual unnecessary epoxy drips inside the computer (a really good idea…). My opinion is that the smell seemed to ‘burn off’, which makes sense given, if you go into an apple store, it would knock you down with chemical smell if it didn’t eventually go away. Good luck!

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:14:22 +0000

I don’t have a Mac notebook, but I’ve gotten so suspicious about the air that comes out of my Dell Inspiron that I’m finally looking into it. I swear the air that comes out of the vents is not good to breathe in. It’s got a distinct smell to it, so I know that I AM breathing it in. After the laptop’s been on for a while, the more it emits, and the more I feel that I’m getting a certain kind of headache from it. It’s not a constant ache, but more like “shallow” sensations that come and go–not something I usually get. And it’s not just from staring at the screen either. I’ve also noticed that the smell can give me a slightly scratchy throat. I try to use it in a ventilated place, but it’s hard to open the windows when it’s cold out.
Anybody had a similar experience? I’ll probably contact the company to complain. I’m sure they’ll say it’s nothing harmful, but how the heck do they know?!

By: das

das — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:32:09 +0000

I have the new mac book pro as of late Oct and even if I am in front of it for 10 minutes, I start to get a metallic taste in my mouth. I would say that I have environmental sensitivities but that just means that I am a canary in a coal mine for other users. I am hoping that having the lap top open every day will help but I am not sure.
Apple says no complaints from users.
Would love to hear from others.

By: D Dupont

D Dupont — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:04:44 +0000

I would like to know if anyone else out there has purchased a new Mac Notebook pro emitting toxic fumes? I just bought a new one for my son yesterday and within minutes of him registering and and transferring from his old one to the new, it started to smell up the entire upstairs of the house. The smell was like a septic system was backing up. We ran around the house checking everything related to our septic system until we realized that the smell was from the new MacPro!!!! The tech people say that there has only been one case of these fume reported and that all the online talk stems back to this one report, so Apple has not issued any official statement on the problem. If there are any others with this similar experience please post it, so they take a closer look at the problem.
danielle