I buy a lot of Mac hardware. A lot. I do make a lot of use out of my machines. They’re in operation probably 18 hours a day. They’re not left in conditions that would cause overheating (hard to imagine something overheating in Ireland anyway).
Okay, maybe not a lot compared to a Mac-based university department, but a lot of Macs nonetheless. (Something to do with owning a Mac-based company or two) I’ve had a mixed bag of hardware recently. A top of the range 1 GHz Titanium PowerBook with a bad superdrive and logic board. A top of the range 1.25 GHz Aluminium PowerBook that had three replacement logic boards, one hard drive and an optical drive. A top of the range 1.67 GHz Aluminium PowerBook which has had a logic board and optical drive and keyboard assembly replaced so far and the logic board has just failed again. A top of the range Macbook Pro which had to be replaced almost immediately due a problem where it would die upon “waking” from sleep and the new Macbook Pro has had a logic board replacement already.
Back in December, I wrote a letter to Apple to highlight the continued problems with my Powerbooks. A very nice man called back and reassured me about the efficacy of Apple hardware. I declined the offer of some free software and said I’d call him directly WHEN the unit failed again. This was a bit of a change – thinking about hardware failure as “when” and not “if”. I ended up calling him when Apple were a bit slow off the mark with my brand new top of the range MacBook Pro had serious difficulties. It’s relevant to note at this point that this MacBook Pro is not being used by me. It runs too hot and so I was using the PowerBook full time.
And then two days ago, it refused to wake from sleep. And upon being shut off, then wouldn’t boot. Diagnosis shows that the logic board has failed. Power is getting through fine. It’s just undead. And yes, it’s STILL within it’s first year warranty.
Apple says they will replace it. With a bottom of the range MacBook Pro. Lower end processor. Lower end graphics card. Lower end hard drive. Lower end RAM. With no trimmings. Nevermind that I’ll have to replace my PCMCIA hardware, and that the extra battery I have is now useless. Same goes for my extra gig of RAM and seeing as the MacBook Pro doesn’t have a FireWire 800 port, my FW800 stuff as well. I’d have to wait for an ExpressCard FW800 adapter.
As I mentioned I already have a previous top of the range MacBook Pro. And I’m not particularly happy with it either. The better wireless range is barely satisfactory when your hands suffer from heat fatigue just from typing on it. And the whining from the processors? I’m inspired to point you at Daniel Jalkut’s MacBook Pro Complaints page which is always good for a laugh. Mine has never been THIS bad, but it’s close.
So the PowerBook goes back in for repair. Again. And can you guess on whether I’m going to buy AppleCare for it?
You betcha.
Addendum: I reckon I’d have accepted a low end MacBook Pro if they’d offered one with a glossy screen and a modem