Filing the corners off my MacBooks

On one of my old MacBook Pros, I managed to do this naturally through friction from my wrist moving back and forth on the keyboard for years; good idea to get ahead of it.

Factory distressed Fender Stratocasters coming up...

The Apple Watch Ultra also has an aggressively sharp screen edge. It's kept me from upgrading from my current watch (Model 8). But maybe I would get use to it?

Just a few drops of mercury on aluminium kills it.

It was oddly satisfying taking a file to my MacBook when a drop lifted a nasty burr on the edge.

Very minor "you can just do things" collides with the "infallible object" presence that Apple wants for its products - almost feels "wrong", but it's a nice norm to break.

(and I'm not a "Cult of Mac" guy)

Another thing that multiple generation of MacBook Airs used to do is constantly be running (sometimes quite painful) amounts of electricity through your wrists if they accidentally touched the metal.

Not sure if the Apple Silicon devices have the same issue - but it was consistent through at least 3 different generations.

The clearest demonstration that the knife edge is dumb is that there isn't a similar sharp edge around the exterior.

This is the spicy content I come here to read. I wouldn’t do it myself but god speed to anyone who does.

Maybe it’s the lighting, but that doesn’t look even on both sides to me - that’d bother me more than the sharpness.

This is very interesting Maybe I'll do this when my mac is a couple years old haha

Fans of My Mechanics on YouTube will chuckle at this.

The channel’s Swiss host is famous for removing sharp edges from metal things.

One concern with doing this would be when you pack it in a bag and the screen would now flex more than usual, leading to excessive wear of the anti-reflective coating on these screens.

Since the edge has been filed away, the rubber seal on the screen would no longer presses against the edge of the body protecting the screen.

It’s not just the edge but the corners where the finger accommodation is for opening the lid.

There’s a sharp corner there is unnecessary.

I also hate these sharp edges. After a long working session I have deep grooves in my wrists, and my skin is red with irritation. It's uncomfortable enough that it distracts me from work. It's the very antithesis of good design.

My first reaction to this was something akin to "what a terrible day to be literate" but the more I think about it, I admire how you're not afraid to change something about YOUR machine, that YOU paid for. Still wouldn't do this myself tho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't want to do the whole front edge but this has definitely inspired me to take a file to these notch corners

So, is rasping a subset of hacking now? Goodness.

The sharp points by the track-pad are bad design. Ive made some terrible decisions when he wanted to show off.

This is so triggering.

You mac people are masochistic freaks. Buying overpriced hardware that you hate the design of just to file off the corners.

If only they'd round the edges/corners of the body instead of the screen and the UI

I would do this but cant stand the MacBook keyboards anyway. Even a cheap $50 amazon mechanical is a much more ergonomic experience

I smoothed the sharp corners of the notch by the keyboard, and smoothed a corner where it got dinged from a drop, but nothing this extensive.

Respect.

I definitely empathize with "concerned I would file through the machine."

External keyboard and mouse too easy?

Unless you fly/train travel alot I guess.

Is it me or is that aluminum already developing some stress cracking?

One way to equalize the form > function equation!

Brilliant. Love the tech-disrespect and the “right to repair”!

Did this too. Absolutely ridiculous I had to :(

You don't dock your MacBook for long sesh?

I first encountered this in-person on a Mac Mini many years ago, which to be fair is not meant to be touched all the time, but it was still slightly repulsive. It has a surprising weight and uncomfortable sensation like picking up a freshly-cut block of metal. Then I realised Apple did the same with their laptops which are meant to be touched. They do have rounded corners, but not on the axes where the roundedness is useful. In contrast, Thinkpads look sharp-edged with square corners but are actually confortable to hold.

This is… unusual.

I just put a plastic case on my MacBook…

Early Saturday morning and what a simple, to-the-point read about irreverence :D Gave me my new maxim - "Fuck about a bit" Created a poster out of it :D https://nextfive.xyz/bits/2026/04/11/fuck-around-a-bit.html

Wish I had the courage to do this too.

Takes a real bastard to do this.

If this was a service in San Francisco I’d pay for it. I don’t want the particles in my space if I were to do it in my home

It's a symptom of improper prioritization of values: form over function and usability.

Form only matters to a tool if function and usability are present, otherwise that object becomes more like art than a tool.

on the tool analogy :

only the biggest POS tools have bad ergonomics on the industrial side. The real quality tools, the ones meant to be used on the factory floor or in a production line, think of human ergonomics first .

I would probably be considering that as I took a file to my laptop in order to keep it from cutting into my skin as I used it.

I applaud the ingenuity, but I detest the concept of aesthetic-first engineering without a thought for the human user of the thing. Vote with your dollar.

In the case of parent : I admire your ability to cope and the chutzpah it took to take a file to company property.

on a side note : I think it's absolutely fascinating in every Apple thread watching users trade tips on how to avoid electric shock, electrolytic/chemical pitting, and skin cuts like it's just normal computing worries. You folks have some thick skin to keep at it. I would be rubberizing the whole damn thing after the first zap.

I don't have any trouble with the corner on my MacBooks. But now I'm disappointed that Apple added an extra few grams to my MacBook Air that they could have avoided without damaging functionality.

I have calluses on my wrists from years of using MacBooks, so the sharp corners are no longer a problem ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Goodbye resale value

anything but admitting the design is bad and frivolous

I hate those sharp edges. I've contemplated taking a router with a carbide roundover to mine many times.

It is kind of funny how all the comments are like “yes, finally, file away!” Instead of taking a step back and asking why half the users don’t get these issues at all with the way they lay their hands on the keyboard. I’ve been using metal macbooks for as long as they’ve been around and this is the first I’m hearing of it. Maybe I’m holding it right.

Finally, now I know I'm not the only one! These sharp edges constantly cut into my wrists to the point I was thinking of doing the same, or glueing some kind of kind soft padding to the edges. Great someone did it. I wonder how far can you cut them?

I did this when my old 2011 Air dropped the fiftieth time and the sides showed some pitting. The aluminium body is a godsend.

I did something similar with drawer handles. I was living in a place with cheap furniture and the handles were aluminum billet cut to length and tapped so it could be screwed to the drawer face. The edge on either side were crazy sharp. If you bumped it with your knee you'd easily cut the skin.

So I took some 1000 grit sand paper for metal and gently wet sanded the edge. If you rotate it a little you can get a very small radius evenly around the edge and it will keep a nice finish that matches brushed aluminum.

I'd actually feel comfortable doing this to a Macbook having done it to the drawer handles. Just use little pressure, back the paper with something flat, and check your progress often. It takes very little to remove the sharpness to the edge, to the point it's hard to see with the naked eye.

It’s interesting to me that this makes it look old. Even slightly retro. Makes me think of early 2010s ultrabooks.

If my work computer were my own I would do this in a second. The MacBook pro is ridiculously uncomfortable, both in terms of geometry and heat. I don't mind when it gets warm but on a cold morning it's just downright unpleasant to get working on it.