Paint chipping off?

They are made from a solid block of aluminium. The tiny black dots are little pits, or holes, in the metal, probably a result of corrosion due to the acidity of the sweat from your hands. Not everyone's sweat is equally acidic, some people's is more so than others, so not everyone experiences this problem. I really suggest that you disregard ds store's advice to sand it smooth. You'll do more harm than good!

Thomas A Reed wrote:

How exactly do you sand pits out of a piece of aluminum?

Don't sand the pits out, just the rough edges so when one's hand or finger brushes over it so it's smooth to the touch. 😁

There's nothing you can to do remove scratches or pits without affecting the finish of the surrounding area

The pits can be filled and any rough edges can be buffed without affecting the surrounding area with the proper tool and attachments.

Color matching with fill material will be the hardest part.

Just because you tend to think it can't doesn't make it so. Put a buffing head on one of these.

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Why, after all this trouble, you didn't buy 2+ year AppleCare during the 1 year warranty period?

There is nothing we can do for you except suggest you sand the rough part smooth, we are just other users here helping with mostly software issues.

Mac buying and maintenance advice

Zyriab wrote:

I really suggest that you disregard ds store's advice to sand it smooth. You'll do more harm than good!

Actually if he uses a Dremel tool on low speed he can buff just the rough parts without scratching anything esle.

Another option would be to send the machine out to a third party online service that will replace the affected part.

Actually if he uses a Dremel tool on low speed he can buff just the rough parts without scratching anything esle.

How exactly do you sand pits out of a piece of aluminum? And how do you do that without completely trashing the finish on the area around the pits? That's nonsense, pure and simple.

The MBP's body has a special finish, created (I believe) by sand-blasting the aluminum. There's nothing you can to do remove scratches or pits without affecting the finish of the surrounding area, and there's no practical way to match that finish. If the defects bother you, you'll have to replace the part, but the out-of-warranty cost will not be cheap.

I guess the obvious thing to do if it's caused by the acidity in your skin is to put a cloth over the area that you make contact with. Alternatively lift your wrists like your piano teacher taught you! 😁

It's not necessarily caused by sweat. I have an old PowerBook G4 that developed some pitting in a specific area. That area was far from the only area that I touched frequently, and none of my other aluminum machines ever developed signs of pitting. I suspect that something acidic got on the machine there... perhaps a trace of some acidic food that got on my hand and transferred to that spot. Or perhaps something one of my kids did... having little kids around computers is dangerous... they're constantly doing things like sneezing juice spray at your computer and whatnot. 😁

Try to keep your hands clean, and if something gets on the aluminum, wipe it off with a damp cloth as quickly as possible.

A easier option would be to forgo using the trackpad in favor of a wireless mouse.

Logitech makes a new two button scroll wheel mouse that has a tiny USB plug that almost sites flush to the computers side so you can leave it in all the time.

The laser mouse comes with it's own battery and lasts 18 months at a time.

Now all you need is a 6 ft or wireless USB keyboard that doesn't eat batteries.