Hello, I am about to send back my second 2010 MBA in 3 weeks (both were 2.13 GHZ, 4 GB RAM, 256 GB), after having owned a Gen 1 MBA. I am was hoping to be able to keep this replacement one I just bought, so I want to see if anyone here has solved this. Both MBA's had problems synching Office 2011 Outlook with my contacts on 2007 exchange server. MS is working on this issue now. There is a bug, if you have one corrupt contact Outlook 2011 just stops and thinks it's done and synching is complete and thinks everything is fine, causing many missing contacts. MS will give me a workaround by identifying the corrupt ones supposedly (work in progress, MS working on this for 4 days). The bigger problem I am having is my old MBA (Gen 1 MBA) charges my Blackberry through USB fine, however the new 2010 MBA doesn't charge my bberry. The Blackberry shows it's charging but after a while the "lightning bolt" (that indicates the bberry is charging) just goes away because the 2010 MBA stops charging the bberry. The Gen 1 charges it fine, with both (Gen 1 MBA and this new 2010 MBA) I am using the same USB cable and both have Blackberry Desktop Manger installed (which Mac needs in order to charge Blackberry). Anyone have any idea. I am wondering if they did something to conserve power and messed this up? I am going on trip and need to figure this out as it's the only way I charge my bberry. Besides having no backlit keyboard this new 2010 MBA has been a total hassle (this one and the one I just sent back)
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Second MBA 2010 Being Sent Back
- Thread starter msq58
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That's a software problem and cannot be fixed with a "new" MBA.
The USB ports on the MBA are powered. However, they are limited to the amount of power they can provide. If the system thinks that a USB port is draining power, it will shut the port off. Most devices are fine drawing power directly from the notebook, but it's only once in a while that a device uses a little more power than the port can handle and will trigger a port shutoff to prevent damages to the hardware.
On the flip side, the MBA is capable of putting out ~1.5mA (the last time I checked, at least the 1st gen MBA did). Other notebooks are only going to be putting out 500mA. It could be that the BB is receiving too much power too fast and shuts off its charging port.
Both of these issues (one is software, the other hardware) will both be evident in the MBA until: 1) Microsoft updates it's software, and/or 2) Apple addresses the issue via a firmware update.
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"That's a software problem and cannot be fixed with a "new" MBA. "
Yes, understood, that is why I have MS (Microsoft) working on it, they know what the problem is.
The USB problem is now the thing that will cause me to send this back.
I didn't have this problem on my Gen 1 MBA. It works fine charging bberry.
Yes, understood, that is why I have MS (Microsoft) working on it, they know what the problem is.
The USB problem is now the thing that will cause me to send this back.
I didn't have this problem on my Gen 1 MBA. It works fine charging bberry.
See if this helps explain how the USB ports work with certain power requirements:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4049
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4049
Might be something with the BB software and the MBA's USB port I suspect given charging up an iPhone isn't any trouble and there's no problem powering up a SuperDrive. Weird they force you to have their software - they must be trying to have the software control the charging somehow.
yup,
either port can supply 1.5Ah = 1500Mah
you can charge a ipad and power a super drive at the same time, running one of either will drastically decrease battery life though.
I left it charging all night and extended the "sleep time" on the MBA to see if that had anything to do with it. The bberry was charging when I left it and this morning it has less(!) charge than last night even though it stayed plugged into to the MBA USB all night. To be clear the same blackberry with the same cable with the same Blackberry Desktop Manager charge fine on my Gen 1 MBA. Apple must have done something with power mgt and USB on this new 2010 MBA's. Out of the 4 things involved Blackberry, Cable, Blacberry Desktop Manager, MBA, the only variable that has changed is the new 2010 MBA. Everything works fine on Gen 1 and not on 2010 MBA. Can't believe I have to send a second 2010 MBA back. WHat a disappointment:
- USB charging not properly working
- No backlit keyboard
- MS Outlook 2011 not working properly (this is MS problem and they know that)
Why did you even state the M$ problem when you knew it was not related to the MBA hardware?
Also, why state that the lack of backlit keyboard is a part of your hassle? It's not like there is a backlit keyboard to begin with. If it was included and it kept going out, I would understand, but you knew there was no backlighting before you bought it- so that "hassle" makes no sense.
Lastly, your true problem- the charging of the BB using your MBA is so insignificant I can't believe you made a post about it and have already sent one MBA back because of it. It's most likely a firmware update that's needed from either Apple or RIM. Apple may have changed USB vendors, controllers, etc. or RIM doesn't support it etc.
To say that you're so disappointed in the new MBA because you can't charge a lousy peripheral is quite lame. Clearly the USB port works just fine. Just charge your BB with a wall charger until a fix comes. Geeze.
Best post here.
Two of his three problems are completely unrelated to the MBA. The lack of backlit keyboard is no surprise, and the software problem is an issue with Microsoft's software, not the MBA's hardware.
And the BB is probably turning off by itself, the MBA is still giving it juice. The BB is likely receiving too much power from the USB port and turns itself off.
First 2010 MBA was sent back due to MS office problem and keyboard backlit. Did not know the problem existed. Apple had me send it back and suggested trying another and then after trying another they (and MS) discovered it's an MS problem. MS is still working on that problem.
This second 2010 MBA is going back due to Blackberry charging problem, which I did not know on the first 2010 MBA, since I had not tried it on that one. Yes, sure I could get a wall charger for my blackberry, but part of the purpose of getting such a light notebook is to travel "light", having to carry yet another wall charger does not make sense since being able to charge my bberry from my USB worked on my Gen 1 MBA. It does not work properly on the 2010 MBA. It's a reasonable expectation to assume USB charging on bberry would work on 2010 MBA since it worked on Gen 1 MBA, just as it was a reasonable expectation to expect keyboard would be backlit on 2010 MBA (and have option to shut backlighting off) when that's what Gen 1 MBA had. I was hoping someone here had seen and or solved the bberry charging problem before I sent it back.
That could be it - did you try turning off sleep completely while on AC power?
Btw - iPhones charge up just great on the MBA. You could just ditch the BB too.
First, thanks for the constructive suggestion. It's something that I did in fact try today (earlier....I had thought of same thing), and still the same problem. It shows it charging for a while and then just stops.
While I would like to ditch the bberry
, the integration with corp exchange server and the fact that I do "one handed typing" a lot, and the fact I travel internationally a lot (T-Mobile is better in general in Europe) makes the bberry very useful. I'm going to call Apple tomorrow to see of they know about the USB/Bberry thing and have any ideas. I suspect not since it's too new.
Might be your best bet - you might want to try seeing if RIM has any answers too. Most devices just draw the power they need without needing the software, so there might be some added complication from it.
iPhone charging is really nice - the ability to draw 2x the power from one USB port enables it to be charged pretty quickly. Can't do the same when I hook it up to my work laptop (PC).
Well the 2010 MBA don't have backlight keyboard in its specifications so I don't understand how it is a reasonable expectation that it has it.
Yes, that is what Apple told me when I called them after I rec'd my first MBA 2010. I explained to the Apple person that if my previous car had a spare tire and I bought the new model year of the same car I wouldn't have to expect to look through the car specs to see if the new model was missing a spare tire, and then call the dealer when I discovered it and have him tell me it wasn't in the spec. Turns out me (and apparently many others before it became well know "missing feature") expected this and were not aware resulting in people returning just for this reason. Anyway, I was prepared to bring a "USB powered light" on my flights but having to carry a usb light and now a bberry wall charger, kind of reduces the "portable" part for me since I didn't have to do either on Gen 1 MBA
Would you buy a new car without a test drive at the dealer[store]?
Would you buy a new model car without seeing what was DIFFERENT about it from the prior models?
If so, foolish. The fact there wasnt a backlit keyboard was part of almost every single initial news story and every reviewer makes note of this missing feature, every reviewer.
This☝☝☝☝☝☝. It's the consumer's responsibility to check out what's important to them before buying. It's a bad idea to assume. You can't fault a company if you didn't do your homework. Excellent reply on his car analogy.