Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

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?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by helel on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:17PM (1 child)

    by helel (2949) on Sunday July 12 2020, @06:17PM (#1019937)

    Covering the ambient light sensor to the left of the camera causes features to stop working. The two are 1-2 mm apart so it's unlikely you'll cover the one without also covering the other.

    I believe at some point someone managed to turn on the camera without activating the green light on some older models but the technique didn't translate to the machines being sold at the time, much less now. The real issue is that someone can activate the camera for just a second to take a picture, then turn it off again, and you're unlikely to notice during that brief time that the light is on.

    As mentioned elsewhere in the comments, a piece of tape (or corner of a posit note) will do just fine for covering the camera, is thin enough to cause no damage, and is super cheep. You can even use a tiny piece to cover just the camera and not the ambient light sensor.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Interesting=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:10PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 12 2020, @11:10PM (#1020066) Journal

    a piece of tape (or corner of a posit note) ... and is super cheep

    (Letting aside the typos,) Apple would need to sell some expensive iTape/iPostIt-s; because using a Mac is all about being the opposite of cheap.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford