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Tummy

macrumors regular
Feb 1, 2008
166
92
Overheating... one of the two cores would shut down when the computer got too hot. Made everything appear to hang. After installing a piece of shareware called Coolbook Controler, that problem went away for me. Apple then came out with an OS update which caused it to return.

My hinges broke on Thursday and looks exactly like this. The Apple store quoted a 5-10 day repair time, but might try to charge me for it. I bought a 2.4ghz Macbook today to run my business until the Air gets back.

My other problems are that the Air is really slow, but I knew that going in. In usage the HD was really slow and on the small side for what I use it for. The integrated graphics didn't even have hardware acceleration for h.264 video, so the Air would heat up when watching movies, causing the core shutdown issue.

Otherwise I love the air design and think that the revision should fix the overheat problem and storage size/speed issue. I wish the Gen 2 was the first gen, but I got a lot of use out of the air over the last 7-8 months.
 

Mhaddy

macrumors 6502
Oct 26, 2005
445
1
Canada
I used to have the core shutdown/overheating problems but 10.5.5 and Apple's firmware update for the Air seems to have fixed that. I've been running yes > /dev/null, four Youtube videos and writing this post and things aren't shutting down or overheating to the point of unusable lag. Going to run some more tests, but so far -- I'm happy!
 

prefabsprouter

macrumors newbie
Feb 7, 2008
24
2
Neither 10.5.5 nor Apple's firmware update fixed anything for me. I am still plagued by overheating problems. When viewing video, my Air slows to a crawl to the point of becoming unusable. I often have to put it to sleep and wait a few minutes before continuing usage. I barely view any video for fear of a slowdown.

My calls to tech support regarding the issue have been a total waste of time. I love Macs but I feel many of us got a lemon with the Air.

Based on all the posts I read regarding the issue, my guess is there are enough of us to start a class action suit. Apple: I feel robbed.
 

glitch44

macrumors 65816
Feb 28, 2006
1,121
157
Neither 10.5.5 nor Apple's firmware update fixed anything for me. I am still plagued by overheating problems. When viewing video, my Air slows to a crawl to the point of becoming unusable. I often have to put it to sleep and wait a few minutes before continuing usage. I barely view any video for fear of a slowdown.

My calls to tech support regarding the issue have been a total waste of time. I love Macs but I feel many of us got a lemon with the Air.

Based on all the posts I read regarding the issue, my guess is there are enough of us to start a class action suit. Apple: I feel robbed.

have you tried checking and reapplying the thermal paste?
 

gotzero

macrumors 68040
Jan 6, 2007
3,225
2
Mid-Atlantic, US
No problems, but what I would have liked more than anything else is increased battery life.

This may change in the future, but right now it is fast enough for what I want to reasonably do it, and the graphics are fine.

I have had zero overheating/core slowdown issues. I use the air in Leopard and Vista under boot camp (3.5 experience index, good enough!) for browsing, office applications, some light audio work, and statistical applications.
 

ducatidoc

macrumors regular
Apr 20, 2008
136
0
Neither 10.5.5 nor Apple's firmware update fixed anything for me. I am still plagued by overheating problems. When viewing video, my Air slows to a crawl to the point of becoming unusable. I often have to put it to sleep and wait a few minutes before continuing usage. I barely view any video for fear of a slowdown.

My calls to tech support regarding the issue have been a total waste of time. I love Macs but I feel many of us got a lemon with the Air.

Based on all the posts I read regarding the issue, my guess is there are enough of us to start a class action suit. Apple: I feel robbed.

+1
 

bidwalj

macrumors 65816
Feb 16, 2007
1,056
136

that was my mine gripe that led me to get rid of it for the new macbook. The hinge got loose as well, but i could live with that. If you can do without the superdrive and need a laptop that actually doesnt sit on a desk; the air is the best device out there.

If rev. 2 fixes these issues, might consider getting it again.
 

dudup

macrumors regular
May 28, 2008
173
0
Lisbon, Portugal
I had tons of core shutdowns and kernel_task CPU usage rampant, even after the fix.

However, 10.5.5 did the trick, and I have no problems at all -- though I've been having some kernel panics with Word 2008 and an external display, but it only happens with Word, and being it an MS product, I know who I should blame... ;)

I've seen a early 2008 MacBook get a core shutdown once. Same thing that happens on air, but I've only seen it once. Guess its all X3100 fault, and the reason of Apple's move to NVidia -- I never had issues with a previous MacBook (Mid 2007) that had a GMA 950 onboard graphics.

I'm strongly inclined to upgrade my MBA for the new ones, but a new 17" MacBook Pro is a priority right now, when it comes on January.
 

riz78612

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 29, 2007
119
0
Thanks for the replies guys.

So i wont be getting the 1st Generation MBA then, might be getting 2nd generation MBA.

But have to wait for reviews and see if they are no real issues/problems.

You pay good money for a quality product. Last thing you want is problems or issues which are so basic/simple to fix. It makes Apple publicity look bad and costly in the tech/fixing department.

Those people in the assembly line need to sort it out and take care of the product.
 

riz78612

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 29, 2007
119
0
Can everyone please state when you purchased your Macbook Air.

Their might be a pattern of those peoples Macbook Air that had problems and those that didnt.

Iv heard that the earlier ones had problem.

It would be nice if people can confirm when they bought the Macbook air so it gives confirmation.

Thanks
 

pilotError

macrumors 68020
Apr 12, 2006
2,237
4
Long Island
I have one of the earlier ones, not a single issue with it other than I dented it.

Still works perfectly. The fans do rev up when watching video or playing flash based web games, but it isn't that distracting. I can't hear it above the general office hum of overhead lights and the forced air heating / cooling.
 

AreanFSL

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2007
257
56
Had fan noise in the beginning but, I got that taken care of. (Very uncommon)
I'm in So Cal and it gets pretty hot here during the day.. the heat with a combination of having a bunch of stuff open + watching videos, I've had a few core-shutdowns

Other than that I <3 it. Rock solid.
 

coupdetat

macrumors 6502
Jul 11, 2008
451
0
Had fan noise in the beginning but, I got that taken care of. (Very uncommon)
I'm in So Cal and it gets pretty hot here during the day.. the heat with a combination of having a bunch of stuff open + watching videos, I've had a few core-shutdowns

Other than that I <3 it. Rock solid.

How did you get it "taken care of"? I'm interested, since my fan is also very loud sometimes. Even when it's normal room temp, my fan is on all the time when plugged in.
 

munnstermac

macrumors newbie
Jan 30, 2008
24
0
UK
I have had two in two weeks and just couldn't deal with the core shutdowns. Gave Apple a call on both occasions and they were great, no restocking fee just took them back and gave me a refund.
 

aufmobi

macrumors newbie
May 9, 2008
25
6
My unit was one of the first batch shipped out. At first the charge times were absurd, 6-8 hours to top up. Now its more like 4-5, but I still think thats ridiculous.

I also now have two stuck, bright white pixels, it only came with one.

It also runs hot, but not as bad as my old powerbook g4 that it replaced. All said its still the nicest laptop out there by a country mile.
 

prefabsprouter

macrumors newbie
Feb 7, 2008
24
2
I got mine on the first week it came out. As I said above, the machine pretty much becomes unusable when I'm viewing video and have a few programs open.

I'm very curious as to whether the second generation Airs are going to display the same heat-related issues.
 
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