Results of the SMC Firmware Update 1.1 Random Shutdown Poll

I've not (yet) experienced RSS/RSD on my Week 29 MacBook and though I've installed the firmware patch, I'm not convinced that this will resolve the issue for good.

Releasing a patch that simply seems to turn off or adjust upwards the sensitivity of a sensor that may report singeing wires and or internal heat damage to your MacBook sounds like good news to Applecare and a whole lot of bad news to users.
Perhaps Apple is hoping this will simply get the MacBook through its warranty period before permanently kacking.

Meanwhile, what with Apple not being proactive and offering repairs to MacBooks sent in before RSS'ing, its hard to imagine what sort of resale value the affected (and un-repaired) range of MBs will eventually have come trade-in time.

For may part (and well before the firmware update) I've have - when at home - the back corners of my MB propped up on a couple of erasers, giving the MB some additional ventilation at a fraction of the cost of a coolmat - and probably saving Apple the aggravation of a visit from me at the local Apple Store Genius bar and the cost of a heatsink/logic board.

I expect their eternal thanks for that....

The Firmware update fixed the RSS shut down I experienced and I had no problem with the battery.
So I'm a happy girl now..

My mom called me a couple days ago complaining that her macbook was shutting down randomly. The machine is a week 22 machine purchased in June. The problem just started happending a couple of weeks ago and began increasing in frequency. By the time I got to it yesterday to install the update it shut down three or four times trying to get it to even install.

1) Boot computer and use it for a few minutes to confirm problem. Random shutdown.

1) Boot computer, set up wireless SSID and WPA. Random shutdown.

2) Boot computer, (it auto joins the wireless), load safari, download update. Random shutdown.

3) Install update. Random shutdown.

4) Boot computer, run update which reboots it and installs..

5) Reboot computer. Work for 30+ minutes. No random shutdown.

The SMC update in this case appears to have completely fixed the issue. I still wish I knew what was the root cause of the problem or why a firmware update fixes it. It's kind of unsettling to think that something is horribly wrong inside there and some software workaround is the only thing keeping the machine from eating everything...

I should have come back and admitted my mistake earlier, but I suppose now will do.

My "random shutdown" problem started to occur at the same time TUAW started to heavily report on it. I assumed I had the same unknown problem as everyone else. But for me it only happened when running on battery power, which always left a question in my mind.

Well it turns out the problem was with the battery. It became VERY clear after a few weeks and the battery really started to swell (it wasn't noticeable at first). New battery, no more shutdowns.

Fixed the links:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3099980
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3177288

In my case, I was receiving the random shutdown maybe 2-3 times a day. After applying the fimware update, it resolved the issue completely!!

I'm pretty stoked about this, I thought I was to be computerless for a week if I had to take in my Macbook into the Apple Store!!

Thanks Apple! 5 Years being a mac user (3 laptops + 1 desktop) and not one issue at all (besides the moo then now the random shutdowns which both were solved with firmware updates)

I have a macbook with no issues for 2 months running near 24 hours 6 days a week.I will NOT be installing b/c I don't need this screwing up what i have running properly now.

I want to point out another problem raised by installing the SMC 1.1 firmware update: killing the battery.

After I installed the firmware, I noticed that the battery indicator kept fluctuating between "Calculating..." and "Charged". Naturally, I thought it was an issue to do with a non-calibrated battery; therefore I recalibrated my battery in the hopes of eliminating this problem.

To my surprise, after I drained the battery completely, it WOULD NOT CHARGE anymore!

Evidence that this is happening to many people:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3099980&#3099980
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3177288&#3177288

You wrote:

"at least 3420 of you love them to."

Guys, I love tuaw, but it's "too." And you're missing a comma. "At least 3420 of you love them, too." :-)

I've seen this particular error several times on your blog. If you're going to publish something, you've got to pay attention to spelling and grammar. :-)

"Of those who actually have a MacBook (64% of you who took the poll)"...

You're seemingly having some problems with statistics...
So 10% of participants owning a MacBook or 10% of all participants? If latter is the the case - as your graph suggests - it's plain wrong. The percentage of RSS problem cases should be calculated from the total number of MacBook owners. Right now you also count the iBook owners.

Total votes 3420 - iBook owners 1466 = 1 954 MacBook owners

So about 70% of MacBook owners (1355/1954*100) never experiencend RSS

About 18% of MacBook owners (355/1954*100) accomplished to cure their RSS with the update while about 30% of MacBook owners have experienced RSS at least once, so Eric's right.