MacBook Pro Fails, Where is Apple?
May 3, 2010 by davendeb
Filed under Electronics, PlanetD Blog
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When we got home for a little bit between our Asian Adventure and European Travels. We thought that it would be a good time to visit friends and family, to relax and enjoy doing nothing.
It turned out to be a frantic time of planning, booking flights and hotels, writing articles and catching up on all the networking that we had fallen behind on.
Oh, and Dealing with our MacBook Pro Dying.
A really expensive paperweight now!!
The day after we arrived home, one of our computers died. It is our newest one that is just shy of 3 years old. We didn’t buy the extended Apple Care because I think that it is just robbery to offer an extended warranty for $300 extra dollars. Why not just make a product that will last for 3 years!
Our older Powerbook is going on 6 years old and still standing, our previous iMac lasted for years, (we ended up giving it to my brothers kids) my first iBook outlasted my use for it, and I gave it to my sister. The old Macs seemed to keep on running forever.
Even the Ibook is still going strong!!
They literally don’t make products like they used to. When we went into the store to talk to a salesperson, he even said to us “you are paying for better technology, but the product isn’t as good now.”
We read an article that companies aren’t making computers to last longer than 3 years because the technology is developing too rapidly. And besides, why should they make them last when they can up sell the product to make people buy $300 worth of extra warranty because they are afraid that their computer might not last.
I really think that it is terrible that Apple offers a 3 year warranty only if you buy Apple Care. They give you a hard sell almost guaranteeing that things will go wrong within the first three years. I am starting to think that they are only making electronics last for 3 years so that you will have to buy a new one.
Apple care; Yours for only $300.00!
When we called Apple to see what they could do to us, they mentioned that they see we have been a loyal customer. We thought great, they will reward us for being loyal Apple users for over a decade. They put us on hold to see what they could do.
Here is what happened
We opened up the computer one morning and it wouldn’t boot. We tried everything. We had my parents drive us into to Toronto to the Mac Store to have them check it out thinking that it would be something simple.
Always a big lineup!
We could not believe the lineup when we went to the Apple Store. We made an appointment, but were there a little early. There was a huge crowd waiting to be seen. Does Apple not make quality products anymore? The iPhone line was larger than the computer line. We heard people being quoted hundreds of dollars to fix the problems with their iPhones. It seemed that the common answer was “the fix is too expensive, you will have to buy a new Insert Apple Product Name Here.”
Our Turn Came
We were told that the logic board had to be replaced and it was going to be $1400 to fix. Surprise. They suggested that we buy a new computer.
The $1400.00 fix!
We decided to call Apple. We thought that maybe they would give us a discount on the repair. We have been loyal customers after all and really…should a product completely stop working in less than 3 years?
After putting us on hold and getting our hopes up that maybe they would drop the price of the fix, they came back to offer us $125 off our next purchase. We also have to buy it directly from the online store and have to wait for a few days for delivery. And they strongly suggest that we buy the Apple Care next time. They don’t even believe in their product. Shouldn’t they believe that it would last longer than three years and that the Apple Care was only a precaution?
We had quite the Dilemma.
We needed to get that computer fixed ASAP. Two of us working on one computer wasn’t acceptable. We had so many things that we wanted to get done while we were at home and didn’t have time to waste.
The guy at the Apple Store in Toronto told us that we could take our computer across the border to Buffalo to the American Apple Store. They fix Macs for a flat rate of $300. That is amazing, but we had to get ourselves to Buffalo and leave our computer with them for a couple of months.
We are only home for a short time, we didn’t put our insurance back on our car and we won’t be back in Canada until the end of June.
We need to blog and edit on the road and my 6 year old Powerbook isn’t powerful enough to do everything that we need it to do. Besides, it is on its last legs as well. It could die any day.
Our Solution
We bought a new computer.
When we come back from our travels this summer, we are going to take our dead MacBook Pro to Buffalo for the $300 fix. I will use the fixed MacBook Pro, Dave will use the new MacBook Pro for video and photography and we will have our really old Powerbook as a back up in case anything like this happens again.
The new Machine!!
All of you PC users out there are probably shaking your heads wondering why we just didn’t go for a cheaper laptop. Unfortunately, the people at Mac have conditioned us well. As much as we now hate Apple, we can’t live without our Mac.
We do a lot of video editing and Dave does a lot of photo editing. The MacBook Pro can handle all the work that we put it to. We were tempted to buy a cheap NetBook, but we decided that it would just be throwing our money away. I know that we would be unhappy with the quality and would end up buying a Mac once we returned from Europe anyway.
We know the Mac computer. You should see me when I go to an Internet Cafe and have to use a PC, I am so confused and frustrated. (Hey, I never claimed to be a technical wizard.) It took Dave years to teach me everything I needed to know on the Mac, I don’t think that he could take having to reteach me on a PC.
What is our Status Now?
So, here we are almost 2000 grand poorer and have much less faith in the Mac Product.
But wow! The new MacBook Pro is impressive. It is fast, it is powerful and it’s pretty.
Will we always be Mac users? Not if they don’t start caring about their customers and making a product that lasts. If someone comes out with a product that will rival their computers, we will leave them in a heartbeat.
For now though, we are stuck using them.
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MacBook Pro Fails, Where is Apple?
awesome.. apple is definately the way to go.. they have really come out with a great variety of things..
jake´s last blog ..On the Spot B&B – St Francis Bay – Eastern Cape
I love my Apple products too but I’m also cranky about the price of their repairs. I dropped my iPhone only 2 months after buying it & was told Apple Care didn’t cover a new glass screen, it would be cheaper to buy a new phone than to have it fixed. A year later I’m still using that cracked phone, still works after all, just isn’t pretty. Last month my 3 yr old MacBook Air’s hinge broke. They said Apple Care was expired or didn’t cover, I forget. Either way, it would cost almost $500 to replace the hinge. I decided to just keep the MBA on the the desk always open (the exact opposite of it’s purpose), I’ll replace it at some point. So don’t be so sure that Apple in the States will charge a flat rate of $300 to fix your MacBook. I was told my broken hinge was a tier two problem. Not sure what a tier one would consist of.
Anyway, excuse the super long comment, I guess your post hit a nerve!
Jaclyn´s last blog ..Taggy Thingy
Hi Jaclyn. So true, it is awful to have faith in a product when their only response is that you should buy a new one it will be cheaper. What ever happened to getting things repaired in this world. Everything is becomming so disposable at extremely high costs. No wonder everyone is in debt.
Ugh. Hopefully you at least backed up any data that was on the MacBook that died. I so hate when things like that happen, especially with a product that is supposed to be “high-end”.
Bryan @ Tourfolio.com´s last blog ..Our Favorite Travel Tweets of the Month – Apr 2010
Hi Bryan, thanks and yes we had everything backed up luckily.
Wow sorry to hear of all your troubles coming home. We are PC users (as this is our main bread and butter business) but we just bought and IPad and use Iphones.
You made the right choice about the netbook – it just isn’t powerful enough if you want to do photos and videos and even just website type work. I bought one for travelling with and was so frustrated we returned it after a short period of time. Glad Costco has the 90 day return policy.
Enjoy your Europe travels! we will be in Holland, and France in July!
Melanie´s last blog ..May 3, Great Family Vacation Ideas if you can take a Vacation in June
Thank God for Costco! I love their return policy. How are you enjoying the IPad? Thanks for the reassurance on the netbook. I saw some today in the coffee shop and wondered if we made the right choice. You have put our fears to rest:)
We just went through the same thing. I had an old Sony Vaio for over 5 1/2 years and it worked great. We only upgraded because it wasn’t able to handle the graphics on websites, etc. We bought a new Sony Vaio less than 3 years ago and it died on me this last week. The whole thing started overheating like crazy and shut down by itself. We didn’t have the 3 year warranty either, so we had to go ahead and buy a new one. I just got the new Sony Vaio which I love — but it was an annoying unexpected cost.
BTW, I looked at the Apples and read that the Apple Macbook Pro with the i7 processor tends to overheat (and actually was designed that way) which is one of the main reasons I didn’t buy the Macbook Pro. You might want to check out some articles on it.
Hi Akila. It is so true, older products work great and the new ones are just made not to last. THanks for the heads up on the overheating. Unbelievable that they designed them that way. What would be the reason for that I wonder?
That really sucks. I hope you had everything backed up.
I bought a netbook for my RTW trip, it lasted for eight months and then refused to turn on one day. I then bought a cheap Acer laptop from Bangkok, four months later when we were in L.A. I couldn’t wait to get to the Apple store and get myself an Apple as I was so frustrated with Windows.
Hopefully mine lasts longer than yours, but even if it doesn’t I would still replace it with another Apple because I can’t live without an Apple now either.
Fran´s last blog ..Hi World – I’m Back!
Hi Fran, yes luckily everything was backed up. Dave is thankfully always on top of that stuff so we didn’t loose a thing. I am glad to hear that yyou didn’t love the Acer or netbook. We were really considering it to save money. But in the end we knew that we would be happier with the Apple even if we are not happy with them at the moment. The great thing was that they have sent us two emails since to see if we were satisfied with our customer service call. We answered them stating that we were NOT satisfied at all. We have never heard from them again.
I had to send mine in 5 times for the logic board that kept breaking… to the point where they gave me a replacement. :X
Erica´s last blog ..A Traveler’s Commitment
Wow Erica, it sounds like the logic boards are becomming a problem. I am glad that they gave you a replacement. You must have still had warranty eh?
Apple shmapple. Welcome to Canadian soil, even for only a moment. Bran and I hope to see you guys when you have time. We will wait until whenever that is. Probably from the sounds of your busy-ness it may not be til summer. Come up to the trailer! Stay there if you need a place for a while.
Yay! We will definitely be up for a visit. It will be in July! Can’t wait to see the place, mind if we blog about it:-) Orillia is a beautiful area of Canada that deserves a mention!
Yikes! Wow, I keep here of so many people who suddenly have computers dying on them. So frustrating.
We have the same laptops that we started with in 2006 and they are all going strong and the 2 Macs get the most use by far. Knock on wood! We did not buy the extra warranty either.
Our Macpro is fine despite it’s age and all the pictures and video it has had to deal with on our world tour ( & sand etc in places like the Sahara).My Macbook is great too, but I did wear out the pad in front, so now just use a mouse instead. That kind of freaked us in London, but it was a free and quick fix ( they were great at the Apple store in London) and now works fine, so we probably won’t bother to fix that pad.
I’ve adapted ( just like I had to with my paralyzed arm from the bike wreck on the Danube). It’s all part of the crazy world of traveling!
Glad that you are back in business now. New one looks cool & at least you do not have to worry about virus invading you.
soultravelers3´s last blog ..Travel Book Review: Every Day in Tuscany by Mayes
Nice to hear your computer is working great. The older computers seem to stand the test of time. It seems to be the new ones that don’t last. I hope yours keep plugging along so that you don’t have to invest in a new one that might not work. We didn’t buy the extended warranty again, but we have a year to decide. We just may pay the $300 next year to be safe. It is terrible that you can’t trust a product anymore. I hope your arm is O.K. I knew that you hurt it, but I didn’t realize that it was paralyzed. That is scary.
How frustrating! Those of us who live on our laptops come to rely on them so much that losing it is like losing an arm….
BUT I never trust the “technicians” at the Apple store – they are not always right. There are many things that can make a laptop not boot up, some as simple as a damaged power adapter that drains power instead of charging it – you may want to do a bit of research to find out various causes before you spend any money on fixing it. Some of the more simple repairs can be done yourself if it’s the pre-unibody model (the older ones you can open up, the new unibody ones you can’t).
I do think that $300 is not bad for a repair, but when you think about it, that’s what you’d have spent on the Apple Care. I own 4 Macs and have always paid for the Apple Care and to be honest it’s paid for itself a few times (on my desktop MacPro I’ve had to replace the video card – twice!).
Before all you Apple-haters out there start crowing, it’s not just Macs but all computers that are built to last only a few short years – because the components (like logic boards) are all built where they can be made cheaper, and people want cheaper these days. Especially in this economy, computer companies feel the pressure to pinch pennies.
Since technology changes so rapidly these days – and a lot of people ARE willing to buy new computers as technology changes, they have to keep the cost down in order to stay competitive and sell new computers.
Same thing with cars – newer cars are just not built to last like the older cards were……. it’s life. We just have to get used to it.
Trisha Miller´s last blog ..The Write Time
Hi Trisha, well put. $300 is not bad at all except that Canada doesn’t offer that service. We are going to give it a try this summer when we can get ourselves across the border. We will keep everyone posted as to how it turns out. If they do offer a $300 flat rate it would be awesome. And you are absolutely right, people are willing to pay for new technology and both Apple and other companies know it. Look at the line ups every time a new computer or phone is introduced. The consumer is feeding the problem by constantly buying new items whether they can afford it or not.
It is still a bummer that we were quoted a $1400 fix when apparently we can get it fixed by the same company across the border for only $300. That is what it is like in Canada I am afraid.
Well I could never go back to PC after using OSX for several years. I bought a new white Macbook last December in Sofia, basically I paid the same amount if I would of had one shipped from the US. The last Macbook I bought in Jordan and gave it to Boris who owns the house where I have been staying for the last year for free.
I did upgrade the Memory to 4 Gig, that helps a lot to take the strain off of the hard drive, but the battery on this new white macbook is very bad, worse that my old Macbook with the external battery.
Since they went to Intel processors their product quality has dropped.
I mean the graphics and speed is amazing comparing to my old macbook I bought in Jordan, but the battery is a big disturbance.
I think through their software updates they throw in bogus-ware to slow the older computers down so people will buy new one, just my personal theory through.
Shawn´s last blog ..The One Year Mark Nesting in Bulgaria.
By the way here in Bulgaria at the iStyle Apple reseller store they give the customer an extra year on the warranty on all new computers. One year the Apple worldwide warranty and an extra year for Bulgaria. And in Sofia they do have an authorized Apple service center.
Think that is very good service here in Bulgaria.
Shawn´s last blog ..The One Year Mark Nesting in Bulgaria.
I’ll be replacing my 4+ year old PowerBook G4 this summer with a new MacBook Pro. I love my old laptop and it’s working great, but it can’t keep up with all the software and such for photos and videos. I’m excited to get some speed and power with a new MacBook, but have to admit that I agree that the new ones just don’t have the same quality as the old. It’s really a shame. But, I could never go back to PC…so you’re right in that they have us on a hook. Hope this new one holds up better than the other!
Audrey´s last blog ..Torres del Paine Trek: 6 Days, 6 Lessons, Many Photos
Ugh. BOO to Mac for such terrible aftercare! Being a journalism grad I had to use Macs all through university. They annoyed me then, especially when trying to switch back and forth between PC and Mac. Lately though I’ve been starting to be seduced by the iphone and ipad *I like shiny pretty things* but after hearing of your service troubles I will definitely think twice about supporting Apple.
Alison´s last blog ..Kasteeltuinen Arcen Gardens
Sorry to hear about your Macbook! At least you didn’t lose data. Mine is almost 3 years old, and although it works well, I have the white plastic case and it’s disintegrating. Since I also depend on it for business, I have to replace it right away.
I have mixed feelings about Apple due to their expensive upgrade paths, poor treatment of developers, and their relationship with AT&T whom I loathe. However, I agree the alternatives are harder to use! My laptop before this one was an Acer and that started having issues at 10 months and died at 14 months.
I don’t like this whole culture of disposable products where it’s too expensive to fix anything.
As someone who just made the switch to a Mac and is actually in love with my new computer, I’m a bit perturbed at this post. But, on a positive note, I don’t live too far from Buffalo.
Hope you have better luck with the new machine. It does look very sexy!
Kirsty´s last blog ..How Not to Freeze to Death on Safari
my mac book is now 2 years old…coming up to 3 years in December. Let’s see if I will share your fate. like you, i didn’t care for the Apple Care package. Let’s see how it all goes…cross your fingers (and hope to last)!
jen laceda´s last blog ..The Slow Road to Home
LOVE the pic of the line up! RT @theplanetd MacBook Pro Fails, Where is Apple? http://su.pr/2pFGW5 #Apple #digg
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Igualito… Same thing happened to me! RT @traveldudes: RT @theplanetd: MacBook Pro Fails, Where is Apple? http://su.pr/2pFGW5 #Apple #digg
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@banjomanjeff You may want to read this first – http://theplanetd.com/macbook-pro-fails-where-is-apple
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