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posted by martyb on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the dremel dept.

Apple Warns Customers Not To Close Its Laptops With A Camera Cover Attached:

Though it might strike some people as obvious advice, Apple has published a support page that warns MacBook owners not to close their laptop with a camera cover in place. Damage like a cracked display could result, according to the company, because "the clearance between the display and keyboard is designed to very tight tolerances." MacRumors spotted the advisory, which Apple posted on July 2nd.

Those little plastic camera covers with a sliding mechanism are super common nowadays. Heck, I remember getting one as a holiday gift from The Verge's parent company, Vox Media. But they could spell disaster for your laptop screen if you shut the laptop with the cover still on, and Apple's laptop repairs are extremely costly. Even with AppleCare+ accidental coverage, the deductible isn't cheap.

Instead of using a cover, Apple says that customers can trust the green LED beside the camera on a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air that illuminates whenever the camera is active.

Apple does acknowledge that some people have no choice in the matter and might be required to use a camera cover by their employer. In those cases, the company says the cover should always be removed before closing the laptop.

Not just apple laptops but all of them. Have any of my fellow Soylentils besides myself suffered damage to your laptop due to this?


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Valkor on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:43PM (16 children)

    by Valkor (4253) on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:43PM (#1019867)

    who would ... spend money ... on a 'cover' ... that could damage ur gear ... when a bit of your favorite opaque tape will do just as well

    anyway it's the audio that concerns me more. i say all kinds of shit.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by leon_the_cat on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:45PM

    by leon_the_cat (10052) on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:45PM (#1019870) Journal

    "i say all kinds of shit." yes we know!

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:49PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @03:49PM (#1019871)

    Sticky note works amazing as well.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @08:09PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @08:09PM (#1020639)

      Until my new laptap came with one of these slide covers integrated into the camera, I used a post-it. It worked great, you could see it was in place (yellow on black is pretty easy to see), and if your camera was on, all they could see is that you did indeed use a yellow post-it.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:35PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @04:35PM (#1019886)

    OCD. Can't put sticky adhesive on a $3,000 laptop.

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:00PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @05:00PM (#1019898)

      Put it over your mouth then

    • (Score: 5, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:12PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:12PM (#1019932) Journal

      Just get some spray paint then. It's only sticky until it dries.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:09PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:09PM (#1019931)

    Sometimes you need the camera, but not constantly.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:14PM (5 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:14PM (#1019933) Journal

      This is why Apple, and all the rest, should put a hardware on/off switch on the damned thing. If the electrical circuit is open, you KNOW the camera is not in use by some systemd malware, or by Microsoft telemetrics.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by hendrikboom on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:36PM

        by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:36PM (#1019950) Homepage Journal

        Like the physical on/off switch on my Librem 15.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:04PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @07:04PM (#1019970)

        Except this is Apple, they absolutely refuse to have buttons for things where buttons make sense.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:48PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:48PM (#1020056)

          Yet Samsung has a button for "bixby". Go figure.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:59PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:59PM (#1020062)

          Besides, the button will only be seen by software, and is easily overridden. It's real functionality is similar to the steering wheel on a child's car seat.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @05:31PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @05:31PM (#1020505)

        You trust them to wire in the switch right? How do you know its not just "advisory" or only disables the LED?

        Since you'll need to open the thing to verify, just wire in your own while you're in there.

    • (Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:44PM

      by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Sunday July 12 2020, @10:44PM (#1020054)

      Sometimes you need the camera, but not constantly.

      Take Runaway's advice [soylentnews.org] - then keep cotton wool sticks and paint stripper for when you need the camera.

      CAUTION: test on somebody else's computer first; results may vary; some experts believe damage may occur; testing on somebody else's computer first may result in violence.

      --
      It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @02:46AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @02:46AM (#1020129)

    i say all kinds of shit.

    Are you by any chance a hockey puk named Zippy?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @11:38AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @11:38AM (#1020228)

    ja just cover it with something flat. i do that in addition to disabling it in the bios

    guaranteed 100% if there were some doodad i had to remove before closing my computer i would forget and damage the device and if i didn't do that i would forget to reattach it