Many may have heard by now about a very vocal group of white MacBook owners who had begun to complain about the palm rest areas of the white plastic on the MacBooks were beginning to stain. Apple's original response to this was that the MacBooks were subjected to "improper handling" by owners that ultimately caused the odd discoloration on the otherwise pristine-looking casing of the computer. Truth be told, even Infinite Loop's Clint Ecker says that he was convinced that his MacBook palm rest stains were, he thought, a result of merely using the computer with "dirty hands."
Well, Clint, you can pick up the pr0n again, as Apple appears to have changed their stance on MacBook stains. While cosmetic issues on Mac laptops and desktops have never been covered under AppleCare, Apple seems to have decided that the issues with discoloration on the casing of white MacBooks is, in fact, not necessarily due to improper handling by users but due to a manufacturing defect.
What kind of manufacturing "defect," you ask? Well, nobody knows. However, Apple is offering to replace the top case of your stained MacBook if you are being affected with the discoloration affliction.
From SoftPedia:
Those with discolored MacBooks should contact AppleCare and inform them of the stain problem. The replacement top case should no longer have this issues, nor will the newest Macbooks as Apple seems to have changed the plastic, the newest MacBooks having a much smoother feel to them in those areas, while the ones with the problem feel rough.
Of course, the mere existence of such a cosmetic issue on machines that are often considered to be amongst the sleekest and sexiest laptops can't look good for Apple, however it seems that they're hoping that public acknowledgement and fixing of the problem will save their (somewhat struggling, these days) PR image.
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