A user on X reported feeling pins and needles in their hands whenever they used their Dell XPS 9370 laptop. After investigation, it turns out, "I’ve worn through the palm rests, and now I’m just being stabbed by carbon fibers." Ouch.
That's according to user X user Parker Drouillard (via International Cyber Digest), who compares the feeling to being constantly hurt by a cactus. They tag Dell and say: "In hindsight, it is perhaps a bad design. How is this not a health hazard?"
Notably, the XSP 13 (from around 2018) black and white model appears to have a carbon fiber composite palm rest, which is the part that has been worn down from use. They have since put their finger under a microscope, showing off the flecks of what is reportedly carbon fiber embedded in their skin. The user also reports "severe issues" with their contact lenses and says it is "most probably irritation" from the carbon fiber. Again, ouch.
There is one peculiarity here, in that the video of the microscope has a 2019 time stamp on the bottom. Reverse image searching Drouillard's photos suggests they are original, so this might simply be a problem with the camera or microscope.
Carbon fiber is a dangerous material to work with when it splinters like this. It can further shatter or break when embedded in your skin, making it hard to remove; some types of carbon fiber have toxic coatings, and getting anything embedded in your skin makes you more susceptible to infections and rashes. And that's before mentioning the problems with ingesting carbon fiber, which you very easily could do if it sticks to your fingers.
For now, Drouillard has simply taped over the palm rests, though their comment section suggests using epoxy, urethane, or simply a "bunch of different stickers".
Carbon fiber is a fairly common building material for PC hardware. We've seen a Corsair mouse, a Keychron keyboard concept, an Asus mouse, and even an HP laptop made out of the stuff. This choice of material makes sense, so long as it is adequately treated; carbon fiber is very tough but also very light, which means an uber-lightweight mouse doesn't have to feel flimsy because of the material choice. There are measures that companies can, and likely do, take against traditional wear and tear when using a material like carbon fiber.
Dell has yet to respond to this complaint, and we don't know exactly how the laptop has been treated in the last decade, but it's definitely made me more cautious about the long-term effects of carbon fiber gear—especially if you like to hang onto your hardware for a long time.
