Why I like Apple: My macbook failed 3 repairs

[RampantAndroid]

So...I had a 2012 macbook until last night. I'd bought it in September 2012, and I was good enough to also get Apple Care for it. In the last 2.5 years, I had to have the screen replaced due to the mura issue, and up until the later part of 2014, it was a good laptop (I wished I had gotten 16GB of RAM though).

And then the problems happened: I'd get repeated failures where the video would cut out and come back, and I'd get a dialog asking me to report a video issue. Console would show me that the Intel GPU got stuck in the first ring. What that means, I don't know. The Apple tech said it meant the system failed when switching from the HD4000 to the GT650. Either way, first attempt to fix it was to replace the logic board (CPU, GPU...everything except for the Heatsink, Wifi, SSD and Battery, pretty much.)

Got it back a week later and...oh, look. It crashed again. Back we go. Second attempt: they kept it for a couple days and formatted the OS. Got it back, avoided installing anything on the system (I normally had a NTFS driver to enable writes).

Oh hey, it crashed again...and they're replacing the logic board a second time (so I'm on my third logic board now.) They also replaced the heatsink at the same time. Got it back after a week...at this point I'm expecting it to fail and...well, black screen telling me to press any button to reboot. Look at console and the crash info, the nvidia GPU failed this time with a DMA error. That seems to me to be a hardware problem if I've ever seen one.

Back in to the Apple store...and after sitting there for a bit while they dealt with the people in front of me they finally get to me. They ask what is wrong, and I still have the window open saying the system was forced to reboot with the entire log. The tech looks at the history of the laptop and walks off to find a manager. When he came back he pretty much asked "We want to fix this by giving you a new laptop. Is that OK?" They matched my old 2012 laptop up to a 2014 Iris 15" model...and they let me pay the difference for the top end 15" model (512GB SSD, GT750M)...and I also now have a new 3 year warranty.

It was a really annoying path to this result, but frankly even with the base 15" model, I would have been pretty happy. As it stands I'm likely going to just disable the nvidia GPU and only turn it on when I want it to help battery life. It's nice to deal with a company that doesn't just say "I'm sorry, I have to go by the book" and instead is willing to understand the fact that the customer has now had to visit the store multiple times and gotten zero satisfaction.

 

[SamQuint]

Sure it would have been an entirely different story if you did not get the Apple Care.

I have seen several people at the Apple store being told to pound sand (well no not literally) when they bring in their stuff out of warranty. But every now end then you will see a story like yours where the customer goes away happy.

 

[Essence_of_War]

It's good to hear that your issues were finally resolved, and good to hear that the apple store managers are given enough ability to make judgement calls that they can end the metaphorical madness!

You should be sure to file a customer service report on the tech/manager, I'm sure they and their higher ups would appreciate knowing that they made things right for you.

 

[Eug]

Had the same thing with an iMac, but mine failed early on. They refunded the balance of my Apple Care after replacing my iMac (after several failed repairs).

 

[RampantAndroid]

Oh, it would have been a different story without apple care - given it isn't a known manufacturer defect (I think it is, but that's a different topic.) I think that stuff like laptops, desktops, monitors and such should come with a mandatory 3 year warranty as well....

I think I might just look for a way to send feedback. Positive reinforcement is probably a good idea.

And yes, I am VERY glad I bought Apple care. Anything less than a 3 year warranty on a new PC is...just silly.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Damn, even among high end companies, they definitely took care of ya. Quite rare to see.

 

[Eug]

I never bother with Apple Care for lower cost items. Usually not worth the price premium, esp since I get an extra year of warranty from my credit card.

But also I get the edu rate for Apple Care. The retail rate is much higher.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I never bother with Apple Care for lower cost items. Usually not worth the price premium, esp since I get an extra year of warranty from my credit card.

But also I get the edu rate for Apple Care. The retail rate is much higher.

I get a discount through my company as well. I skipped apple care on my apple TV, but on things like phones (where it's $50 to replace it no questions asked) and Macs (where its worth $2k or more) it's just a good investment.

 

[oobydoobydoo]

Sure it would have been an entirely different story if you did not get the Apple Care.

I have seen several people at the Apple store being told to pound sand (well no not literally) when they bring in their stuff out of warranty. But every now end then you will see a story like yours where the customer goes away happy.

Is that so bad though? Apple care is a tiny extra cost, and it ends up saving you a ton of headaches.


Apple also does look at your purchase and return history, and they will make a judgement if you are returning stuff over and over... but on the other hand if you've been a good customer for years, they will do stuff like this and really help you out.

That is what so many PC buyers don't understand about apple. They look at it as it's them vs the retailer, and they want to get the best possible deal while the retailer wants to screw them. That may be how lenovo and nvidia and IBM interact with their customers, but it doesn't work that way for Apple. So you have the PC guys who buy an Apple computer, and try to get the cheapest (no apple care) and get angry when they can't repair it themselves, and Apple wants $700 to fix it! You shouldn't have purchased the laptop in bad faith, looking to "get over" on Apple.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Is that so bad though? Apple care is a tiny extra cost, and it ends up saving you a ton of headaches.


Apple also does look at your purchase and return history, and they will make a judgement if you are returning stuff over and over... but on the other hand if you've been a good customer for years, they will do stuff like this and really help you out.

That is what so many PC buyers don't understand about apple. They look at it as it's them vs the retailer, and they want to get the best possible deal while the retailer wants to screw them. That may be how lenovo and nvidia and IBM interact with their customers, but it doesn't work that way for Apple. So you have the PC guys who buy an Apple computer, and try to get the cheapest (no apple care) and get angry when they can't repair it themselves, and Apple wants $700 to fix it! You shouldn't have purchased the laptop in bad faith, looking to "get over" on Apple.


I had a long, long argument with another poster here about Apple care specifically. I don't think OP was in that argument but he might have been. The poster insisted that Apple care was a "ripoff"... just another example of people who are so set on getting a "deal", they end up screwing themselves.

On principle, I think Apple care IS a ripoff: I should not need to pay extra for a 3 year warranty on a laptop. That said, given it's a $2k+ laptop, ~$370 for an extra two years of coverage can really pay off. It did for me, at least.

With regards to Apple - the other story I have is that I had an iPad 2 a few years ago...and like a clutz, I dropped it. On to a hard surface. It hit RIGHT where the switch was to lock the screen/mute. The switch didn't really work after that. I went in to Apple to see if they could do anything, was overly clear what I had done and the response was "huh <looking at my Apple account info to see the other hardware I have> so you've had an iphone or two? You must like Apple. <goes away, talks to manager, comes back> We'll treat this as a switch defect, the dent is less than 1mm and the switch should not have malfunctioned. The replacement will be here in a week or so. We'll call you when it's in."

I was getting pretty annoyed with that Macbook, and probably said at least twice "I won't buy another!" Thinking back, that's pretty unfair to Apple as they've taken really good care of me.

 

[postmortemIA]

yeah warranty is rather expensive, if my Dell laptop can reach 10 yrs without repair, so should the rMBP. 3 yrs isn't that long period, what then?

 

[ponyo]

Is that so bad though? Apple care is a tiny extra cost, and it ends up saving you a ton of headaches.

lol. Applecare on his laptop costs more than the total cost of my laptop. Hell, I think it's equaled to two of my laptops.

Only the dumb buys Applecare. It might have worked out in his case but it's still losing proposition for majority of Apple buyers.

 

[RampantAndroid]

lol. Applecare on his laptop costs more than the total cost of my laptop. Hell, I think it's equaled to two of my laptops.

Only the dumb buys Applecare. It might have worked out in his case but it's still losing proposition for majority of Apple buyers.

Congrats. This works if you assume all laptops, old and new are the same and can do the same things. I have a laptop with a great screen, CPU that can compile code, game and so forth (as well as GPU), a massive SSD that lets me run OS X, Windows and now Arch without space issues...etc.

Apple care costs around $370 full price. It paid for itself more than once. It's not a bad deal, if you're already happy buying a $2k laptop.

 

[RampantAndroid]

yeah warranty is rather expensive, if my Dell laptop can reach 10 yrs without repair, so should the rMBP. 3 yrs isn't that long period, what then?

Given that it's got an SSD, yes. The main point of failure - the HDD - is gone. It's insane that with such a high MTBF they warrant it for such a short time between failures.

 

[ponyo]

Congrats. This works if you assume all laptops, old and new are the same and can do the same things. I have a laptop with a great screen, CPU that can compile code, game and so forth (as well as GPU), a massive SSD that lets me run OS X, Windows and now Arch without space issues...etc.

Apple care costs around $370 full price. It paid for itself more than once. It's not a bad deal, if you're already happy buying a $2k laptop.

Exactly. You should buy based on need. My $220 laptop does everything I need and has already paid for itself. It has built-in 3G HSPA+ modem with free 200 mb/month for life internet so I can use the internet and Google Docs anywhere there's T-mobile signal. It boots and wakes from sleep instantly and has big enough SSD that lets me run ChromeOS and ElementaryOS. The battery lasts ~9 hours so I can pretty much work all day without worry. If something happens to this laptop, I can buy another without blinking, power on, and resume right where I left off in less than 2 minutes.

 

[JAG87]

Exactly. You should buy based on need. My $220 laptop does everything I need and has already paid for itself. It has built-in 3G HSPA+ modem with free 200 mb/month for life internet so I can use the internet and Google Docs anywhere there's T-mobile signal. It boots and wakes from sleep instantly and has big enough SSD that lets me run ChromeOS and ElementaryOS. The battery lasts ~9 hours so I can pretty much work all day without worry. If something happens to this laptop, I can buy another without blinking, power on, and resume right where I left off in less than 2 minutes.

Here we go with the stupid comparisons. Where do you get off comparing a consumption toy to an actual machine that runs an infinitely powerful operating system? You spent $220 and you got what you paid for. You can email, surf the web, listen to music, and watch some porn. When you can run real production software, give me a call eh? We'd all love to spend less.

Having said that, Applecare worked out for the OP this round, but statistically it's a waste of money, like all paid-for warranties. By the way OP, you're a very patient soul. It wouldn't have taken me three visits to the Apple store to talk to a manager and demand a working machine, whether new or refurb. One repair attempt is all I would have put up with.

 

[ponyo]

Here we go with the stupid comparisons. Where do you get off comparing a consumption toy to an actual machine that runs an infinitely powerful operating system? You spent $220 and you got what you paid for. You can email, surf the web, listen to music, and watch some porn. When you can run real production software, give me a call eh? We'd all love to spend less.

Having said that, Applecare worked out for the OP this round, but statistically it's a waste of money, like all paid-for warranties. By the way OP, you're a very patient soul. It wouldn't have taken me three visits to the Apple store to talk to a manager and demand a working machine, whether new or refurb. One repair attempt is all I would have put up with.

I already said you buy on need. My consumption toy makes me money and allows me to run multi-million dollar small business all with email, internet, Google Docs, and Google Voice. Imagine that. I spent $220 but got far more than I paid for. When your laptop has built-in cell modem so you can access the internet on the go without WiFi or Mifi, give me a call. Oh wait, your laptop can't call without Wifi. Better pick up your phone.

 

[JAG87]

I already said you buy on need. My consumption toy makes me money and allows me to run multi-million dollar small business all with email, internet, Google Docs, and Google Voice. Imagine that. I spent $220 but got far more than I paid for. When your laptop has built-in cell modem so you can access the internet on the go without WiFi or Mifi, give me a call. Oh wait, your laptop can't call without Wifi. Better pick up your phone.

Yea.. that's why Chromebooks have such a strong foothold in the corporate world? I guess your business email is hosted by Google? Lol... imagine that. And yea, that's what phones were made for bro, to answer calls. You know, like when the phone rings and your laptop is asleep in your bag or on the back seat of your car, and you can't pick up? That's not good for business.

Now stop derailing the thread, it's a thread about Applecare and Apple customer service, not about how you feel your Chromebook is the best thing ever.

 

[oobydoobydoo]

Exactly. You should buy based on need. My $220 laptop does everything I need and has already paid for itself. It has built-in 3G HSPA+ modem with free 200 mb/month for life internet so I can use the internet and Google Docs anywhere there's T-mobile signal. It boots and wakes from sleep instantly and has big enough SSD that lets me run ChromeOS and ElementaryOS. The battery lasts ~9 hours so I can pretty much work all day without worry. If something happens to this laptop, I can buy another without blinking, power on, and resume right where I left off in less than 2 minutes.

We just have different ways of looking at technology. Personally, I have found Macs to be more than adequate for any work I needed to do. They cost a lot, but on the other hand you can resell a 4 year old macbook pro and still get $500 for it. Your $220 "laptop" is essentially worthless the moment it leaves the store, to anyone else anyway.

I would rather Pay $2300 for a quality Macbook with apple care and have an awesome computer for 2 years that I then sell for $1000-1500, than have a crappy laptop I hate that just barely does the job... but saves me a few hundred dollars. But to each their own.

 

[McWatt]

This is the policy at the Microsoft Store, too. If you bring in a laptop with the MS equivalent to AppleCare and there's any need for out of store repair, they skip straight to giving you a new equivalent laptop or giving you whatever you originally paid as a credit toward something else.

And as a PSA, most credit cards have a warranty extending feature that, when invoked, results in the same deal with very little hassle.

 

[ponyo]

This is the policy at the Microsoft Store, too. If you bring in a laptop with the MS equivalent to AppleCare and there's any need for out of store repair, they skip straight to giving you a new equivalent laptop or giving you whatever you originally paid as a credit toward something else.

And as a PSA, most credit cards have a warranty extending feature that, when invoked, results in the same deal with very little hassle.

Which gives you two years of free warranty. One year from Apple. Additional one year from the credit card. That makes paying almost $400 for that one extra third year of AppleCare seem rather silly. It might have worked out for the OP but for most people, it's money down the drain.

We just have different ways of looking at technology. Personally, I have found Macs to be more than adequate for any work I needed to do. They cost a lot, but on the other hand you can resell a 4 year old macbook pro and still get $500 for it. Your $220 "laptop" is essentially worthless the moment it leaves the store, to anyone else anyway.

I would rather Pay $2300 for a quality Macbook with apple care and have an awesome computer for 2 years that I then sell for $1000-1500, than have a crappy laptop I hate that just barely does the job... but saves me a few hundred dollars. But to each their own.

But I love this "laptop". It's my favorite laptop. It doesn't barely do the job. It does it better than any laptop I've tried. Which is why I use it. That it's cheaper than most laptop is just icing on the cake. I don't have anything against MacBook. My partner uses MacBook Air as his everyday laptop. He loves it. I just like my Chromebook more and love not having to carry around MiFi like him.

 

[jpeyton]

Interestingly enough, as a PC/Android user, the comments from Apple users in this thread are exactly why I DON'T like Apple.

A $2k lemon laptop with chronic issues that requires another $400 warranty for Apple to replace it? That's your idea of a victory?

 

[RampantAndroid]

Interestingly enough, as a PC/Android user, the comments from Apple users in this thread are exactly why I DON'T like Apple.

A $2k lemon laptop with chronic issues that requires another $400 warranty for Apple to replace it? That's your idea of a victory?

Had I not been in warranty, it was useable (and actually, Yosemite is what surfaced the problem. It'd didn't exist in Mavericks. So I suspect that there was a hardware problem that something in Yosemite just made worse/changed.)


At the end of the day, that $250 warranty (which is what it cost me with my discount) got me a new laptop. I went from an i7-3615QM (Ivy Bridge) to an i7-4870HQ; 8GB to 16GB; 256GB to 512GB, 650m/1GB to 750m/2GB. That....is an absolute win.

Edit: My battery life has grown by 2 hours or so it seems. My battery wasn't really degraded before, either.

 

[RampantAndroid]

But I love this "laptop". It's my favorite laptop. It doesn't barely do the job. It does it better than any laptop I've tried. Which is why I use it. That it's cheaper than most laptop is just icing on the cake. I don't have anything against MacBook. My partner uses MacBook Air as his everyday laptop. He loves it. I just like my Chromebook more and love not having to carry around MiFi like him.

Wait, you're comparing a Chromebook to a full blown laptop? I don't care if the OS it's running is Windows, Linux or OS X: a Chromebook is good for web apps and web browsing. A full blown laptop is good for compiling code, encoding video, game (and I don't mean flash games)...

It's great you love your chromebook. In no way does a Chromebook do what I want. Nor would any netbook. Hell, a Macbook air will blow pretty much any Chromebook out of the water no less.

 

[smackababy]

Interestingly enough, as a PC/Android user, the comments from Apple users in this thread are exactly why I DON'T like Apple.

A $2k lemon laptop with chronic issues that requires another $400 warranty for Apple to replace it? That's your idea of a victory?

Are you suggesting that another company would have handled the situation better? This wasn't so much a thread about Apple products as much as it was about Apple's service for under warranty products.


As far as the Apple's rMBP laptops are concerned, they are pretty much exceptional and at fairly reasonable price. It is extremely hard to find laptops with similar specs and build quality, let alone, for a cheaper price. I use mine almost exclusively for coding, and no Windows laptop I've look at would even come close.

The only problem I have is their mouse support is sub optimal, but that is more OSX centric and not just for their laptop.