Slashdot Mirror
Apple Issues Power Supply Exchange
mpath_lamp writes "Today Apple issued an exchange program for all owners of the Mirrored Drive Doors Power Mac G4. It's meant to resolve the incredibly loud fan noise in the current power supplies of Power Mac models that began to ship in August 2002. The program requires a $20 shipping charge and the return of the old power supply. Apple will begin shipping the kits on March 10 in limited quantities and the kit consists of a 360-watt power supply, system fan, allen key, and installation instructions. A big thank you can be directed to the guys over at G4noise.com for the continuous support in trying to get an official response from Apple."
here is a link to the news.com.com.com.com coverage
is the average mac user savvy enough to replce their fan and powersupply? I don't mean to belittle mac users (I am one), it's just that Apple caters to the sort of folks who don't want to have to deal with or think about things like this.
I'd been using my x2g4@1ghz exclusively in OSX for at least two months before I had the need to boot OS9. It was a particularly hot day on the Austalian coast, and I got a real shock when I finally heard the fan kick in...
I was in another room, but it sounded like something taking off in my lounge. Wondering out, i discover that my g4 is an industrial exhaust fan wrapped in pretty plastic!!! It's really loud. Strangely enough I ONLY hear it when in OS9, which is just about not at all.
Still the fan replacement thing is a nice suprise.
Offtopic rant...
Now if they would just repair the cheap-ass plastic lid latch release button and headphone jack in my iBook.
Apple's engineering quality has declined. It seems they are trying to see what they can get away with now. The noisy power supplies are one example. Anyone else have the lid latch retainer thing break for no good reason?
And why in the latest iBook revision have they changed the metal holding a headphone plug in place to cheap plastic, and just to make *sure* it breaks, leave empty space between the plug and the more solid case. The iBook is the only device I have ever seen that saw it fit to use plastic there, and now I see why. Even a 5 dollar walkman uses metal there.
I can see why they could think that a plastic headphone jack would be sufficient without much testing, but what genious had the idea of a thin, relatively sharp lid latch fastening into rather flimsy plastic?
This recall is good, but on the whole, service is not that great nowadays. What is the price premium for if they try to weasel their way out of what they view as expensive repairs? I already drained my account to buy the damn system in the first place, don't demand 700+ dollars to fix two pieces of plastic just so I can use headphones again... I know the quote probably includes the motherboard, but still.
The battery life. temperature, and display are all top notch, but the cheap manufacturing on the outside can severely impact important functionality..
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
or is anyone else sick of having to describe a Mac like this:
"It's a G3. Not a beige G3, but the Blue one. The first of the cool looking ones."
Or, "It's a G4. No, not the grey one, the silver one. Yeah, well silver and the one with the mirrored drive doors."
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
I've always wondered what my hard drive sounds like.
I think it's a testament to Apple that their fan base follows their product line with such vigor that I can describe my laptop at the TiBook 800 as "the first Ti with the higher-def screen" and a whole lot of people will know exactly which model I mean.
Can you think of another computer maker who could say the same?
Thats the first I've heard it called that.... ^_^
What? The dollar's up high in Spain? Huh? Hold on, let me turn this damn thing off for a second.
Apple seems to have their example machines mixed up on their Exchange Program website:
I have a 'Quicksilver' at home, and a 'Windtunnel' at work, so I'm pretty sure they've got it wrong here.
But I agree, they should just make the codenames offical, and maybe add the year onto the name. Updates could get a letter or an additional digit... Apple usually has cool codenames anyway- but now that I think about it, even that would become a marketing decision...
Update: while previewing my submission, they fixed it! Honest!
Seems like Apple has the pictures
of the quicksilver and the MDD on the announcement mislabeled.
The news story has the pictures correct.
Put the crack pipe down... the pictures are correct. :)
(and I first saw it hours before you posted this, so... )
I have one of these machines, and the only thing I can say is: man, is that fan loud. Something really had to be done, and while I could quibble about the price, I have to say that I'll be very happy to have a nice, new-ish shiny mirrored door Mac that is quieter than a 1200 watt hairdryer. :-)
Seriously, the fan noise is the only complaint I have about my dual processor G4 system, which is otherwise a complete joy to use. I do still wonder how in the world they signed off on this design in the first place...
Babar
G4noise.com demonstrates where you can get if you put a company's feet to the fire publicly and humorously. Thumbs up for them. Thumbs down for Apple for shipping those noise boxes in the first place and then stonewalling owners.
Does this affect the new "FW800" MDD models? My new 2x1.25Ghz really isn't that loud...
I've seen them named on the colours of the power button. It is so frustrating trying to find OS 9 startup CDs that work with a particular model.
;)
The G4 series covers a great number of models now.
Imagine if they were all beige
Yes, I do agree that the fans are quite loud, especially when they spool up. I think my Dual G4 is about to take off down my hallway and into the wild blue yonder. Kudos to Apple for addressing a unfortunate design flaw in the new G4's. On the other side, I do leave my G4 on 24/7 (going on 30 some days now without a re-boot) but I did shut it off one night, and tried to go to bed. The silence was eerie. Its almost comforting to have the fans going in the background now that I have had it for 6 months or so.
I've heard the offending noise, and boy have we come a long way. As computer noises go, it really is a testament to how quiet Macs are, that people bitch about the G4 noise.
I have a SGI indigo^2 that literally sounds like a jet engine winding up and a Sun Sparcstation 5 that is nearly as bad (the SGI is the worst "desktop" I've heard).
Good for g4noise.com and good for Apple.
It's still a shame. Back in the seventies, when I wore earplugs because of the insidious levels of fan noise in the room where I worked (with three minicomputers, terminals, CRT's, printers, etc. ALL with noisy fans) the totally silent Apple ][ was a revelation.
"Wow!" I said when I saw one for the first time. "No fan? They must be geniuses at thermal engineering!" Little did I know that it was just the opposite--they knew so little about thermal engineering they didn't KNOW they needed to do it.
Still, it was amazingly luxurious and soothing to work on a totally silent machine.
Ditto for the original Mac (and Mac Plus). Blessedly silent... but cursedly prone to heat-induced failures.
The difference between a very quiet machine and a silent machine is very significant.
Apple's Power Macs have been, in general, no better or worse than competitors in terms of noise... but they should really be ashamed of themselves for coming out with a conspicuously noisy machine.
Since Steve Jobs is known to care about noise, I wonder whether he had any personal role in Apple's decision to do the right thing?
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
At the same time Apple's sales were falling, PC sales rose, though just slightly, according to figures from IDC released last month.
The last time Apple was in this state, it brought back co-founder Steve Jobs to fix its issues. He fostered the development of the iMac and secured a US$150-million investment from Microsoft. But there aren't any new iMacs in Apple's future and Microsoft, bolstered by its victory over the U.S. Department of Justice, is clearly not going to help the beleaguered computer maker this time.
So what have you got left? Apple is a company that controls around 3% of the computer market, has recently undergone a restructuring and is slowly fading into nothingness. Software makers don't even have Mac users on their radar and it's not like Apple can bring Mr. Jobs back to right the ship this time -- he's already there.
Stick a fork in 'em -- this Apple is cooked.
Too bad this announcement came about a week and a half after I ordered some replacement fans for my Power Mac G4's power supply.
Well, I'll order the new thing and see which is quieter, the modified noisy PSU or the brand new one. I'll be damned if I'm going to send back the old one. Having options is a good thing.
I found the meaning of life the other day, but I had write-only access.
they have great designers - can't fault them there.
:)
:)
but I feel that they must have drunk engineers - esp. in the power supply department.
they had to recall tons of laptop power supplies because they would get too hot and cause fires. they would exchange them for free with (still warm) improved ones.
then they put out their current laptops that get hot enough to burn - but that isn't all power supply and is largely also in part of the processor and graphics card being warm little things - and then the aluminum covers conducting heat well... as aluminum does
and then this - and I would imagine that noise is a HUGE problem with many Mac types since they use it for video and sound editing.
I personally just go for cheap and fast systems that I can cluster - and I spend a little more when I build them to get the quiet stuff - one computer that is loud is bad enough, but a few of them that are loud... ugh!
imagine being in a design house that has many of these loud G4s... at least they are shiny. you can sit back and be glad about hot pretty it is while rubbing your temples to try to alleviate the headaches
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
Even the single-CPU Quicksilver's were too loud (though I understand the MDD G4's were exceptionally noisy). There was a small group of us who agitated for Apple to address this issue over a year ago. It's unfortunate that they let the situation degrade further. At least some folks will get relief.
Kudos to G4Noise for doing it right.
Anyone know where I can get an aftermarket power supply for a Quicksilver that is quieter? My warranty is almost up, and I'm about to tear all the fans out and replace 'em with fancy-pants reduced-voltage, ball-brearing fans. I just don't want to have to muck around with the fan inside the PSU.
-- clvrmnky