Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Apple Issues Power Supply Exchange

Posted by pudge on from the back-in-my-day-computers-made-us-go-deaf dept.

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."

25 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. news.com.com.com.com article on this... by lwbecker2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    here is a link to the news.com.com.com.com coverage

  2. Great but... by esome · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:Great but... by lwbecker2 · · Score: 5, Informative

      There is a DIY "kit" or you can send it back to apple. from the actual article: Install the kit yourself or have it installed for you ...Or have a service provider install the kit for you

      additionally, it says "After you have ordered and received the kit, take your computer and kit to a retail Apple Store (U.S. only) or Authorized Apple Service Provider if you do not feel comfortable performing the exchange yourself or are concerned that you may damage the computer while doing so. Please note, however, that you may be charged an installation fee to cover the cost of labor. Prices may vary.

    2. Re:Great but... by batobin · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That really doesn't sound like Apple. I worked in an Apple-Authorized Service Center for two years, and whenever the company messed up, they were better to their customers than this. Maybe it's the harder economic times, but it seems to me that Apple is getting cheap.

      For example, Apple's 15 inch MultiSync monitor often was effected by something which everyone referred to as "the tint issue". If a customer brought one in, and we verified tint was indeed wrong, we'd simply call up Apple. They'd say, 'What's up?" We'd say, "Tint issue." They'd say, "Give us two days."

      The two days referred to how long we had to wait for an empty box. Usually we got it the next day. We packaged the monitor up, and Apple paid for the shipping back to their shop. They'd fix it free of charge, send it back to us, and we'd give it back to the customer. Good as new. $0 paid by the customer.

      When Apple didn't perform the fix themselves, they'd always pay our shop to do it. Even if the machine was out of warranty. An example of this is the 7200/90 which had ethernet-port problems on the motherboard. Apple paid for new motherboards, and for the Apple shop to install them for any customer. There also wasn't a time limit set for people to get it fixed. I noticed there is one for the new power supply fix.

      So all in all, it seems like Apple is getting cheap. Darn shame, too.

    3. Re:Great but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well, this does only apply to the PowerMacs, which I would assume are mostly either tech-savvy Mac users that wouldn't mind replacing a PSU themselves, or rich Mac n00bs that wouldn't mind paying someone to do it for them. (for once Apple's price premium works to their advantage :) ).

    4. Re:Great but... by jericho4.0 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Well, if you havn't noticed, as above, many of Apple's 'deals' are 'U.S. only', also.

      I understand that the U.S is Apples biggest market, but the rest of us take notice, ya know? I want to love Apple, I really do.

      --
      "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
    5. Re:Great but... by redwood2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apple is getting cheap?

      Looks like, for $20, they're going to send me a new power supply to fix a problem that really didn't affect the performance of the box in the first place and that 20 includes the shipping of the new one to oyu and the old one back to them?

      I got no complaints.

    6. Re:Great but... by usr122122121 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      is the average mac user savvy enough to replce their fan and powersupply
      It comes with instructions. Anyone who owns a mac has enough intelligence to follow instructions, thus "tech savvy" has nothing to do with it.

      Heck, even a moron can launch a nuke given the proper manuals...

      --

      -braxton
    7. Re:Great but... by mbbac · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you bought a PowerMac, you bought it for a reason: expandability. Anyone with a PowerMac either can handle this themselves or has someone staffed that can.

      --

      mbbac

  3. shocking by rat_herder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:shocking by pi+radians · · Score: 4, Informative

      Your problem is solved via a firmware update.

      If you only get the really bad noise in Mac OS 9 it is firmware, but if you get it no matter what OS it is hardware.

      (I think I just saved you $20).

      --

      sin(6cos(r)+5A)
  4. Great... by Junta · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.
    1. Re:Great... by Johnny+Mnemonic · · Score: 2, Informative


      Now if they would just repair the cheap-ass plastic lid latch release button

      They will fix exactly this, for free. Or they should, if they are current with Apple Policy.

      Well, they'll replace it with one exactly like it--so it still may have the same propensity to get chewed up. But iBook latches are a covered repair, if the unit is still under warranty. If you asked before, ask again. If you asked recently (in the last week or so), ask someone else who's more current.

      (email me privately if you fail to get satisfaction, I may be able to help.)

      --

      --
      $tar -xvf .sig.tar
    2. Re:Great... by Johnny+Mnemonic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Speaking as someone who has had to make that call, it is tough knowing where to draw the line. I agree--being consistent is almost as important as simply giving you the answer that you want to hear. Sometimes, it's better just to know that if you're denied on the first attempt, you'll be denied forevermore--so there's no need for kabuki on your part with subsequent techs.

      Although, I've never tried to return another consumer good worth a few thousand dollars to know how big brands treat it--but I guess I would expect less resistance from Best Buy than from the Apple Store; when your margins are in the billions of dollars a year, a little more can be spent on Customer Satisfaction. Then again, ever try to have a car still in warranty replaced instead of repaired, even for a serious defect?

      --

      --
      $tar -xvf .sig.tar
  5. is it just me... by Drunken_Jackass · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.
    1. Re:is it just me... by FunkyMarcus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Except for the original iBook, which is universally identified as the Toilet Seat, I refer to them by year. I wish Apple would officially do the same. It seems to work for the automotive industry.

      (It seems to work for Microsoft, too - never mind.)

      Mark
      1999 PowerBook G3 - or Bronze or Lombard

    2. Re:is it just me... by Nick+of+NSTime · · Score: 5, Funny
      A lot long-time Mac users refer to the computers by their codenames, e.g., Sawtooth, Yikes, Wall Street, Pismo, and so on.

      Other Mac users devise clever nicknames, such as TiBook and "speed hole Mac." The blue and white G3 is called a smurf tower.

  6. A testament to their fan base by elliotj · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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?

    1. Re:A testament to their fan base by pmz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Can you think of another computer maker who could say the same?

      Perhaps some of the UNIX workstation vendors. For example, none of them really release products with lots of fanfare...the people who need to know will know. For example, only the really big-deal stuff, such as some of flag-ship Sun Fire servers or StarOffice get tons of press out of Sun. Other product releases, such as the Blade 150 seemed to simply happen with just a blurb at their web site. Yet it didn't seem to take long for lots of people to know all about the Blade 150 and its strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps I'm incorrect; this is just my take on it.

      --
      Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
  7. What did you say? by TPIRman · · Score: 4, Funny

    What? The dollar's up high in Spain? Huh? Hold on, let me turn this damn thing off for a second.

  8. Nice victory for wronged consumers by Zhe+Mappel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

  9. Re:FW800 as well? by ElGanzoLoco · · Score: 2, Informative

    No... The noise issue has been fixed in the new models. Only the august 2002 models are concerned. And not even all of them, apparently...

    El Ganzo Loco

    --
    Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
  10. Ready for take off by cpeak66 · · Score: 2

    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.

  11. Re:FW800 as well? by Tego · · Score: 2, Informative
    As far as I know this kit will make our older G4 MDDs resemble the new FW800 MDDs a little more. The power supply we will get in this kit will probably be the one from the new G4s, and for the CPU fan we really have no idea.

    Also nice to note: Verax is still working on a kit, for which one of our main contributors lend them his G4. He says it is whisper-silent now. Hopefully Verax's solution will still be developed and maybe it will indeed make the mac even more silent than Apple's fix-kit.

    -- Thomas De Groote, G4noise.com webmaster

  12. You think this is bad? by CottonEyedJoe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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).