3 ms·

> how about a bloody sensor for such stuff at least to give an early warning? FWIW, the MBP in question did shut itself off abruptly right before this happened

by curun1r 10y ago

> how about a bloody sensor for such stuff at least to give an early warning? FWIW, the MBP in question did shut itself off abruptly right before this happened. The author then immediately turned it on again and it proceeded to meltdown. Perhaps the protection against this sort of thing could have been a bit more reliable, but it appears the laptop did try to protect itself.

nicolas_t 10y ago
The 2011 MBP I had given to mother had a similar issue. It's battery suddenly became swollen and just before that happened the computer shut down too, so yes I think there's some amount of protection. Luckily, there was no smoke or fire, just the battery being swollen and deforming the mbp.
coldtea 10y ago
>FWIW, the MBP in question did shut itself off abruptly right before this happened. The author then immediately turned it on again and it proceeded to meltdown. How is merely turning off a warning? How would the user tell it from a random glitch with power, battery disconnect, etc?
- threeseed 10y ago
  How do you generate an appropriate warning without power ? And you are assuming Apple can detect a battery failure distinct from say a component along the power supply path that has failed. So the safest solution is to switch off immediately.
  - cma 10y ago
    >How do you generate an appropriate warning without power ? Assuming they do detect it is a battery issue, how about warning by refusing to turn back on?
    - anaganisk 10y ago
      but doesn't that mean firing up all sensors again, screen and other hardware required to display or perform the said warning, which will ofcourse create burden for the main battery again? I don't think CMOS/BIOS battery can be used for that task. And I don't understand why only Apple has to do everything, it's not like only Macs are known to burn. User must have minimum knowledge on laptop over-heating.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    >How do you generate an appropriate warning without power ? Obviously by using a separate power source for the monitoring, which can be minimal and last forever? Like, e.g. logic boards had a separate from the mains power "BIOS battery": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonvolatile_BIOS_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonvolatile_BIOS_memory
    - PeterisP 10y ago
      How do you show a warning? The main thing that a warning would need to do is to shut off the power (especially since there's no guarantee that the device is attended at that moment) and the display+circuitry to drive it require nontrivial power.
      - selckin 10y ago
        I believe those greeting cards that sing happy birthday only cost a few cents
- Sir_Substance 10y ago
  >How is merely turning off a warning? It's not, but if it works reliably, it is at least protection against fires while no one is home. Given the choice, is it better to start a fire when someone is home or out? That's a toughie, but on balance I think it's better when someones home, as there's a better chance for them to stop it or at least evacuate pets and gather important documents and treasures.
- curun1r 10y ago
  It's not a warning, it's a fail-safe. It's likely the sensor on the battery failed, so the heat sensor was all that was left. A user can guess at the problem based on the temperature of the laptop. I've had my laptop turn off like this and I always let it cool down before powering it on again. You can argue that Apple needs more protection for issues like these and needs to message users better about how to deal with the behavior exhibited by the laptop, but you can't say that Apple does nothing or doesn't have any sensors.

by curun1r 10y ago

nicolas_t 10y ago

The 2011 MBP I had given to mother had a similar issue. It's battery suddenly became swollen and just before that happened the computer shut down too, so yes I think there's some amount of protection. Luckily, there was no smoke or fire, just the battery being swollen and deforming the mbp.

coldtea 10y ago

>FWIW, the MBP in question did shut itself off abruptly right before this happened. The author then immediately turned it on again and it proceeded to meltdown. How is merely turning off a warning? How would the user tell it from a random glitch with power, battery disconnect, etc?

threeseed 10y ago
How do you generate an appropriate warning without power ? And you are assuming Apple can detect a battery failure distinct from say a component along the power supply path that has failed. So the safest solution is to switch off immediately.
- cma 10y ago
  >How do you generate an appropriate warning without power ? Assuming they do detect it is a battery issue, how about warning by refusing to turn back on?
  - anaganisk 10y ago
    but doesn't that mean firing up all sensors again, screen and other hardware required to display or perform the said warning, which will ofcourse create burden for the main battery again? I don't think CMOS/BIOS battery can be used for that task. And I don't understand why only Apple has to do everything, it's not like only Macs are known to burn. User must have minimum knowledge on laptop over-heating.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >How do you generate an appropriate warning without power ? Obviously by using a separate power source for the monitoring, which can be minimal and last forever? Like, e.g. logic boards had a separate from the mains power "BIOS battery": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonvolatile_BIOS_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonvolatile_BIOS_memory
  - PeterisP 10y ago
    How do you show a warning? The main thing that a warning would need to do is to shut off the power (especially since there's no guarantee that the device is attended at that moment) and the display+circuitry to drive it require nontrivial power.
    - selckin 10y ago
      I believe those greeting cards that sing happy birthday only cost a few cents
Sir_Substance 10y ago
>How is merely turning off a warning? It's not, but if it works reliably, it is at least protection against fires while no one is home. Given the choice, is it better to start a fire when someone is home or out? That's a toughie, but on balance I think it's better when someones home, as there's a better chance for them to stop it or at least evacuate pets and gather important documents and treasures.
curun1r 10y ago
It's not a warning, it's a fail-safe. It's likely the sensor on the battery failed, so the heat sensor was all that was left. A user can guess at the problem based on the temperature of the laptop. I've had my laptop turn off like this and I always let it cool down before powering it on again. You can argue that Apple needs more protection for issues like these and needs to message users better about how to deal with the behavior exhibited by the laptop, but you can't say that Apple does nothing or doesn't have any sensors.