back to article Smoking iMac caught on camera

If you’re reading this story on an iMac - watch out, because you’re about to witness one office worker’s smoking Apple desktop. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com A blogger recently posted a video online that he claims documents his iMac machine in the beginnings of a very dangerous situation, as …

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  1. Stef 4
    Flame

    iPhone

    He managed to record and upload the video moments before his iPhone did the same thing (according to the news, iPhones are going up in flames).

  2. A. Lewis
    Black Helicopters

    Not only filming it.

    I'd bet as soon as he finished recording he twittered or tweeted or whatever the term is.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    This would explain...

    Why the Apple fanbois seem to have such an inflammable temper !!!

    Mine's the one with the pear shaped Dell on the back.

    Pete

  4. Sergie Kaponitovicz
    Coat

    Japanese iMac

    Nearly all Japanese smoke. It was working there that made me re-adopt the habit.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Waiting for the takedown

    If the iPod incident is anything to go by, Apple's legal scum will probably try and issue a takedown notice under some paid-for legislation in order to try and silence their loyal customer and the unfortunate diversion from total brand loyalty that the video represents.

    And I notice that on the previous article, some idiot fanboy headed up the comments with accusations that such coverage of flawed products is something akin to the persecution of Apple. A serving of clue to such people is in order: it doesn't matter which supplier made the battery or some component if, especially in Apple's case, those things are sealed inside the case so that the consumer has to consent to the vendor laying waste to the planet in order to keep up the stream of shiny stuff; when Apple actively try and pervert the consumer's rights and to silence legitimate safety concerns, they deserve all the criticism and scrutiny they get.

  6. PaulK
    Flame

    A very weak effort.

    Personally I find that launching the offensive article from a 7th floor window is far more satisfying. Arson is so lame.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    unbelievable

    It's unbelievable where people would hide to have a fag in the office......

  8. Your alien overlord - fear me

    Good to see there's an app for that

    (videoing your iMac on fire)

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Apple were right

    their apps aren't fit for business purpose. People thought that meant applications but it really means appliances (oh, and their software !!).

    Mines the flame retardant one because I work near someone who has an iPhone and an iMac

  10. Michael C
    FAIL

    FUD

    @Stef 4: Problem, you're listening to the news...

    There have been fewer than 25 reported cases of iPhones and iPods combined cathing fire or exploding. The bulk have been written off as "dropped on concrete," "left in hot sun," "sat on and cracked," and "left in hot car," all of which can easily cause any LiIon based battery to combust, and all of which are listed as things not to do with a device so equipped, and all of which can NOT be blamed on Apple, let alone any other device manufacturer.

    Keep in mind, there are over 100 million iPods in circulation, and another 30+ million iPhones... Out of the 25 reported cases, maybe 6 or 7 can not be explained away as user abuses outside of clear warnings for environmental conditional use that would have caused any LiIon based device to also explode or burn up. That's a 1 in 20million chance your iPhone or iPod will burn up! Most state lotteries have better odds...

    Further, the 3GS and upcoming iPods, and all currently shipping MacBooks use LiPolymer, which is not prone to combustion or explosion... That means if you don;t have one, and buy one, you are not even part of the 1 in 20 million odds...

  11. shaunm
    FAIL

    O how things have changed

    Apple used to be the beacon of what a computing experience should be until they stopped caring about dependability and substance over profit when it comes to hardware and of course there need to control every aspect of there users day to day workings on there sleak software and devices.

    For shame apple you’ve been acting like Stalin’s Russia when your better than this pull your bloody act together.

  12. Deckchair

    A Title Is Required.

    So aren't Apple electronic devices allowed to fail any more?

  13. Nick 10
    FAIL

    Actions in the event of fire

    Sensible person:

    Unplug machine (if you can get to the plug without endangering yourself)

    Empty contents of CO2 extinguisher into ventilation slots

    Call fire brigade (unless you're very confident that it's completely out)

    Fanboi:

    Think "Oh wow! I'll just grab my iPhone and video it so I can be an internet hero"

  14. Greg D
    WTF?

    Priorities

    When an electronic product starts billowing white smoke, you should...

    a) Disconnect the mains to prevent a potential fire related disaster

    b) Film it on your iPhone, then calmly sit back down in the chair and pretend it never happened.

    Ooooh Apple made a faulty product? SIMPLY UNHEARD OF I TELL YOU! I MUST SHARE THIS NEWS.

  15. Stevie

    Bah!

    You have to agree though, it's a much better engineered fire than you'd get out of a PC.

    Maybe this will inspire the ad agency that came up with the "I'm a Mac" ads to set fire to the Fat Git and the Smug Bastard on camera.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    @Stevie

    Not sure about better engineered but certainly prettier. A PC would have had plumes of black smoke billowing out, not a neat pillar of Apple(TM) white coloured smoke.

  17. Richard 20
    FAIL

    Clearly faked…

    Probably a joss-stick rammed up an air-inlet.

  18. Frank Bough
    WTF?

    Hang on a minute

    what about righteous criticism of the unbelieveable amount (and type) of junk in this person's desk area? What kind of fucknut decorates their desk thus?

  19. CD 1
    FAIL

    not news

    A computer went down. In other news, dog bites man.

    Not news, not a sign of all Apple products being dodgy, capacitors blow, on Macs, on HPs, on Sonys....

    yet... let the overflow of comments from people who think they can make a funny about Apple and build quality begin.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Genuine?

    How come there's no smoke coming out of the small circular vent at the bottom?

  21. spants
    Happy

    smoke, then lasers ........

    .... its for the personalised OSX Launch, on a Mac near you.

    Just a couple of days too early.

  22. damonlab
    Flame

    put that back

    They need replace all that lost smoke... they better buy one of these: http://www.securitystoreusa.com/GE+ESL+SM-200+Smoke!-In-A-Can%2C+Canned+Smoke+For+Fu-p/485502.htm

  23. Alan W. Rateliff, II
    Paris Hilton

    Did I see Shin Chan on his desk?

    Paris, that is all.

  24. Coyote
    Flame

    Any computer will do that...

    If the power supply pops.

    I've seen more than a few do it on the workbench, after being brought in for "randomly powering off"

    It reeks.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    ac@ 14:18- do you understand how chimneys work?

    cold air in the bottom, warm air & smoke out the top...

  26. Jay Castle
    Joke

    Sounds like...

    a lack of ventilation was the problem.

    I have a fanboy friend who once had a similar problem and I reckon he could've helped. He wasn't an Apple fan though, farm machinery was more his thing.

    He went off them in the end - he's an extractor fan..........

  27. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    I'm not surprised

    I'm not surprised -- honestly, I've never seen one smoke, but we get large numbers of Imacs (not the Intel, but G4 and G5) with dead or missing (died and was pulled by the department) power supplies. I haven't seen 'em look particularly burnt, but with that many failures it just wouldn't surprise me at all if a few smoked.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Don't be so quick to judge

    It looks fishy to me, even set up. Before you judge, take into account that you don't know the circumstances that led up to the event. Was a foreign object, powder or fluid introduced into the vent at the top? Has our cameraman being doing something he should not have? Most peoples reaction when they smoke coming out of a piece of electrical equipment is to turn it off pronto, not reach for your phone and video it? Is the monitor on the left plugged into it? It seems to be still operating?

  29. Wrenchy
    Linux

    FAKE

    Apple computers don't catch fire.

    It's a fake.

    All Apple products are perfect. No one can make products better than Apple. All those who claim their Apple device(s) catch fire or explode are lying.

    If it did, it was not Apple's fault. The user is at fault and must have been using illegal software, dropped the device, used an unauthorized charging device or battery.... They are lying to try to make Apple look bad.

    I love Apple. The people at Apple are Gods. All hail the Apple people. All hail the Apple people.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    @Don't be so quick to judge

    No - just cheap manufacturing using slave labour.

  31. Glen 9
    Troll

    well now.

    Windows' Blue Screen Of Death = Flaming Screen of deahth

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    @AC "Don't be so quick to judge"

    Thanks I was waiting for the "IT'S A FAKE!!!" comments to start. Gotta love applites!

  33. RichyS
    Stop

    @Michael C

    How dare you bring reason and logic into an anti-Apple rant argument.

    Please desist in future.

  34. Frank Bitterlich
    Pint

    Glad to see...

    .. that at least the smoke is clean white; not like dirty-grey cloud of deadly PVC smoke coming out of the Dell PC or two I have seen combusting.

    Cheers to the Apple hardware design team!!!!!

  35. Dale Richards
    Stop

    @Michael C

    I'm afraid Li-poly batteries are also likely to explode/combust if pierced, overheated, overcharged or shorted.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Groan...

    Very poor...

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    That was @Jay Castle

    By the way...

  38. ZenCoder
    Flame

    normal reaction

    I've seen power supplies smoke before .. sometime they even keep working while smoking. I just unplug them and then sit there with a fire extinguisher handy just in case. They always ... simply stopped smoking after a minute or two after the power was cut.

    I'm not going to make a mess with a fire extinguisher over a little smoke. I'd unplug it watch it smoke.

    It was probably the most exciting thing to happen in the office all week I am not surprised they filmed it.

  39. Stevie

    Bah!

    [4 Mike C] Er...perhaps if this Lion technology is so prone to setting fire to your car or blowing your left buttock off there might be some sort of acknowledgement in the marketing, like maybe a big warning sticker along the lines of "Possible Car iIncineration Threat" or "Potential Bottom-Maiming Situation".

    Here's a thought: If Lion batteries are that unsuitable for use in exactly the sort of places casual entertainment electronics find themselves (in a car, in a pocket) perhaps the manufaturer had their collective primary sensory cluster up their posterior dorsal orifice when selecting them as the (permanently mounted) power source of choice. With a slight sacrifice of the perplexing design drive toward ever thinner devices (why do you need thin stuff if you take your life in your hands by putting such stuff in your pocket?) they could have powered it using Triple As that have no significant history of singeing off your left nipple just because you get whacked by a cricket ball in a lunchtime game.

    But of course we are talking Apple here who just "get it right" and can do no wrong (whatever that is).

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Now, let me see

    how many Sony Lion batteries recalled?

  41. Pandy06269
    Grenade

    @FAKE

    "... all those who claim their Apple device(s) catch fire or explode are lying. If it did, it was not Apple's fault. The user is at fault and must have been using illegal software ..."

    Yes because everyone knows that illegal software can cause your PC (or Mac) to set on fire... obviously. I used to have a cracked copy of XP - it must have been a ticking timebomb!

  42. chrysegle

    Unplugged

    The voices in the recording are saying, 'Switch it off', 'Unplug it' and I think someone confirms that they've already unplugged it.

  43. Dustin 1
    FAIL

    New commercial

    Hi...Im a Mac..................*FWOOSH* AIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! (running around, still screeming)

    LOLZ

  44. 3G

    Apple smoke is better than Dell smoke

    Glad to see... #By Frank Bitterlich Posted Tuesday 25th August 2009 15:46 GMT

    .. that at least the smoke is clean white; not like dirty-grey cloud of deadly PVC smoke coming out of the Dell PC or two I have seen combusting.

    Cheers to the Apple hardware design team!!!!!

    Oh I see so Apple smoke is better than Dell smoke now lol

  45. Trev 2

    Macs can't even smoke properly

    Thats a sissy attempt at smoke - try plugging a PC data cable into the wrong bit of a soundcard and turn on the computer, then you get real decent black smoke...! :-)

    As for the video, what confuses me is why it was only smoking a little bit until he'd got his phone out and then started to puff out a bit more. Very very suspicious, unless the iPhone happens to have an instant video record button which going by the "sequence shortened" notes on the ads I kindof suspect isn't the case.

    Btw, does anyone know what chemicals a smoking LCD screen gives off?

  46. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No surprise

    Well no surprise he videoed it on his iPhone, video is such a new thing to the iFans they are using it to record anything!

    The rest of the world got bored of this novelty over 5 years ago.

  47. Cliff

    Desktop machine?

    WTF have Li Ion batteries being dropped on concrete got to do with a desktop catching fire?

  48. Giles Jones Gold badge

    PCs

    I've had the power supplies die on three PCs now, perhaps it is because people know that PC hardware is so rubbish that nobody complain about them? And no, they weren't cheap, one was a Shuttle PC and the other power supply was a very expensive fan-less PSU.

    An Apple failure is only newsworthy due to the brand and price.

    Computers can fail for numerous reasons, mains spikes, extreme conditions (dusty smokey rooms, too hot, too cold). People expect 100% reliability but won't pay for it.

  49. ares
    Happy

    Smoke Colour

    I wonder if you can buy them with any smoke colour, or just black or white like the iPhone ? 3G Smoke? S Smoke ?

  50. Andreas T
    Coat

    Screams for a software update

    Wonder when Apple will bring out a new software update for the iPhone that prevents it from recording anything that looks like an Apple product that smokes/burns?

    OK, I'm leaving now...

  51. Gordon 8
    Flame

    Smoke in a Can

    Damonlab,

    I thought you had found a source of the smoke that comes from all electronics when it fails.

    We all know that electronics leak smoke when something is wrong, I thought that there was a source of 'replacement' smoke ;-)

    Oh Well.......

  52. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    This just in

    Cheech, Chong design new Apple desktop machines.

  53. Kevin Dwyer
    Joke

    White Smoke

    Seems obvious to me, he has illegaly downloaded iSmoke from the Vatican, you know, the App that the Cardinals use to choose the next Pope.

  54. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Let it burn!

    Best thing for it

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