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Apple Begins Fixing MacBook Pro Issues

Hack Jandy writes "For those of you who bought one of the first generation Macbook Pros, a new replacement may be in your future. Flickering LCDs, overheating and intermittent WiFi connections are all common place for many of these first generation machines, but apparently Apple is fixing the problem. The article claims 'According to Apple, it has begun replacing the mainboard inside its MacBook Pros with a new revision. It calls the updated product "revision D," which is identifiable by product serial number.' If you have a reservation at an Apple Store, they may even replace your MBP with a new one."

9 of 410 comments (clear)

  1. Nice! by Sonic+McTails · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sweet. Apple's warrenty and repair service has never managed to let me down. Most other companies would state that the problem is in the users head, and save themselves $$$ by ignoring the issue.

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  2. Caveat Canem by hugg · · Score: 5, Informative

    Beware first generation hardware, and if you decide to load the chamber and pull the trigger, get Applecare. I went through *three* iBook G3's before Apple replaced it with a shiny new iBook G4. Nice of them, but I would really rather have my 40 hours of lost productivity back.

  3. Re:Reminds me of that sweet Powerbook 5200 by daveschroeder · · Score: 5, Informative

    There were two known cases of *prototype* 5200s with batteries manufactured by Sony "catching fire".

    From then on, the 5200 had the reputation of the PowerBook that "caught fire", but there were no know or reported incidents.

    I guess basically what I'm saying is this: you're lying, or trolling, or both. I kind of think you're trolling because you say it's "pretty embarrassing" to explain that. No it's not. It's not embarrassing at all. If your freaking laptop really did catch fire, it's not because of something you did. But since no consumer issues were logged for the PowerBook 5200 on this issue - and when verified, that is an *extremely serious issue* that requires action - I don't believe you.

    Also, Apple has, over the years, maintained a fairly consistent number one position in initial quality, lack of need for repairs, and product support, according to Consumer Reports. This has been consistently maintained, and remains so to this day. Also, the iPod destroys your mass production argument.

    Good troll, though. This could replace the "ok, so I'm sitting here and it's taking 17 minutes to copy a 4 meg file from my Power Mac G5" one!

  4. Re:The Big Question Is: by mhore · · Score: 4, Informative
    How long will the repair take?

    I've had my stuff replaced by Apple in the past (1st gen 15" Al PowerBook. Doh!). Basically it goes:

    1) Get box from DHL
    2) They receive laptop by the next day, fix it, and drop it off at DHL.
    3) You get nice new laptop back.

    Takes about 3 days total.

    Mike.

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    Mmmm......sacrelicious.

  5. Re:Speaking of replacing your Mac by WMD_88 · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can use Apple itself for that. There are somewhat used machines at Apple's own online store - find the red "SAVE" ribbon in the lower right side of the page. I've ordered a Powerbook and an iPod from there - both times, I save a nice amount of money, and the products don't look used at all.
    If you're looking for something actually older that'll cost far below new, you can always check macofalltrades.com.

  6. Re:Reminds me of that sweet Powerbook 5200 by daveschroeder · · Score: 4, Informative

    Your fanboyness is seriously clouding your judgement.

    Huh? Where's the "fanboyness"?

    Do some research and you will find that they have problems with almost every product they produce. This isn't unique to them. It's common.

    Actually, I don't disagree with this at all. Considering I've been working with Apple products in varying capacities for over 22 years, I've seen *plenty* of problems, and publicly take Apple to task for various issues (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc...and that's just from the last couple days.)

    Apple products have problems, defects, and failures, like any other product.

    The point I'm making is that they are no more perfect than anyone else so get over it. Overall they make good quality stuff but so do many other companies.

    No, no one's "perfect". But Apple actually is better, statistically. By the measure of various consumer reporting organizations like Consumer reports, they are consistently (valid from a statistical standpoint) better than all other computer manufacturers in the categories of support, repairs, and quality in a quantifiable way. Someone's got to be the statistical best in these categories, and Apple is consistently it. Sorry to disappoint.

    What of it? Is this guy not alowed to have a problem with his iBook without some fanboy flaming him?

    Um, "a problem"? Catching on fire is "a problem"? No, it was a myth of epic proportions that never affected any shipped consumer units for which Apple suffered on its portable line for years afterward. See this post for numerous examples of proof of this.

    Oh yeah, I forgot...clearly he must be a troll...

    If the shoe fits...

  7. Re:"Moo"ing scared the crap out of me.. by cyngus · · Score: 3, Informative

    Although, that would really be "moooff", not moo, if it were the ghost of Clarus.

  8. Re:Reminds me of that sweet Powerbook 5200 by daveschroeder · · Score: 4, Informative

    No. It was a myth because no 5300 in consumer hands was ever known to have exhibited any fire problems. It was an occurrence in a laboratory setting with a Sony Lithium Ion battery. And I'm dismissing it as a myth because it was. People talked about the 5300 like it was the PowerBook that routinely caught on fire. Except that it was a problem with only Lithium Ion batteries, and only 100 units actually got into end-user hands, none of which were known to have exhibited the issue (no, really - no one has EVER recorded any fire issue in consumer hands with the 5300 (except one person here, today, coincidentally, claiming that he had one that caught on fire)).

    And I do know that because my job for the past 11 years has been to be intimately familiar with all Apple products, problems, business issues, etc., from all perspectives, supporting one of the top three largest institutional Apple sites in the world. The 5300 issue was a myth, period. It was the thing everyone asked about when they were thinking of buying an Apple laptop. "Oh, is this the one that catches on fire?" And the store staff would explain to them, no, there was an overheating/fire incident with a Sony LiIon battery in a 5300 in Apple's testing lab, and all LiIon 5300's were recalled. Every battery after that was NiMH. So, yeah, it was true that a 5300 "caught on fire". A prototype, in a lab. Tens of thousands were shipped, all but 100 without LiIon batteries, and even those LiIon units were all recalled, with no issues reported to regulators (except for the one person here claiming that it happened to him and that he "never reported it").

    So, that's why it's a "myth". Because it is. Someone else summed it up nicely here.

    Also, I did ask him for proof, which he sidestepped by calling me a "stupid goon". I predict no such "proof" is forthcoming, but if it indeed exists, I told him I'd be more than interested in seeing it since it would be the first known actual 5300 fire incident in consumer hands, that conveniently was never reported to Apple or any regulatory or consumer agency, unearthed about a decade later.

  9. Bullshit alert- 5300 fires A MYTH by SuperBanana · · Score: 4, Informative
    Ahhh, the great "Powerbook 5300's caught on fire!" myth.

    A unit (ONE, 1, Uno) AT APPLE caught fire because the BATTERY MANUFACTURER (Hi Sony!) LIED about the specs of the Lithium Ion battery. ~1000 units had shipped to resellers and ~100 made it to customers, but Apple was able to get them ALL back. None of them caught fire except the lab unit.

    http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/tidbits-295.htm l#lnk2

    In short: 1)Apple's supplier was at fault, not Apple. 2)Apple caught the problem and acted immediately instead of waiting for consumers to discover the problem.

    Seems like they did everything right, chief. Next time, troll harder.