Brand new Macbook smells like mildew

I took the new MacBook to the Apple Store. They tried to sell me another cable that smelled just as bad. I had to pay $35 dollars for a different cable. They should have replaced the cable free of charge. What is happening to Apple? They don't stand behind their loyal customers. They have made so many poor decisions with their newer MacBooks and software. Wish I had my old faithful MacBook back.

Just received mine June 22nd. 2022. Smelled immediately as I opened the box! Like mold or mildew. I am extremely sensitive. I had terrible dizziness at night, like vertigo. I did nothing else in the day that would have caused this. I am frustrated since it took all night to migrate all my data over to the new Mac. If your problem was solved please let me know what was done.

I returned my horrible mold smelling brand new MacBook Air the next day and got a new one. Opened it up and yup, same smell, but MUCH MUCH less intense. I couldn’t get anywhere near the first one the smell was so bad. I decided to keep the lesser smelling one and I cleaning the cord (yes the problem IS the cord) with water and dish detergent and hung it to dry and air out. The smell is almost gone.

Update: Definitely the power cable. I put it in a ziplock with some bleach water. Could smell it through the ziplock and bleach, added 2 more layers of ziplock and threw it away. I felt like an environmental terrorist. I feel sorry for the critters at the dump. Bought a 3rd party cable and it works, and smells, fine.

Thank you, NannyGM123 for posting this. I returned mine at the Apple store. I exchanged it for another one that had less smell- and yes - cord is the smelly thing. All reps on phone I’ve spoken to and store people say they never heard of this. Even if they did know, they would not be allowed to admit it. Smell caused breathing problems.

I would like to hear from APPLE with at least an acknowledgment of this problem and maybe an apology for all the trouble people are dealing with!!!!! It’s certainly was a major inconvenience for me having to travel a distance to return a brand new computer !

Contact them again. Be sure to use the Get Support link, and not the results of a web search.

It’s the computer too. I’m now on my third. yes, i have had to send 2 Macbooks back already because they both smelled like mold. I hope this time is the charm. I will keep you posted.

It was not the glue in mine. It was the machine. Anyway, no one should accept mold spores in a new computer. The fact that they are present means moisture was present.

I too ordered directly from Apple.

Hi

My new MacBook Air was delivered yesterday. The box and cable reek like mold/mildew, but the computer itself does not smell. I am glad there are others with the issue, I thought it was just me.

Just bought a new MacBook Air and it STINKS LIKE MILDEW!!!!! I can’t stand it I must return it. This is absolutely a problem and it’s disgusting. I hope I can get one that doesn’t smell.