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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."
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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they may even replace your MBP with a new one. ;)
That's nice, what do I have to do to get them to replace my 3 year old iBook with a new Mac Book Pro? That's infinitely more interesting to me
Why do people even buy first generation products anymore? Why not just wait until the 2nd or 3rd generation when these problems are weeded out? This is commonplace among products nowadays (Apple not excluded)...
Hopefully this means that we'll get some sweet, sweet refurbished lovin from the Apple Store. I can't imagine that Apple will simply scrap the defective machines - or am I just not imagining hard enough?
How long will the repair take?
/bots are barely willing to part with their precious laptops while they sleep, much less for a week to get the mobo replaced.
I know some of the
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
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.
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!
Flicking LCDs, overheating and intermitting WiFi connections are all common place
If you people would stop flicking your LCD panels around they probably wouldn't break so often. They're quite delicate you know.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Not every company will (without hesitation) own up to its mistakes and be generous enough to offer repairs. Even good products can have problems early on. I have owned many laptops over the years and have found IBM Thinkpads and Apple iBooks/Powerbooks to be some of the best. I currently own a G4 iBook as well as an older Wallstreet Powerbook 233 MHz G3 (great for running Darwin). These only problems I have had with either machine have been the CD tray failing to eject once on the iBook (I am running Debian PPC Sarge) and a dead PRAM battery in the old Powerbook (to be expected due to its age). Both of these computers are running 24/7 except when I put the iBook to sleep to keep the disk parked when I transport it each day. Some of my other laptops I own, like my Dell Latitude and Armada have suffered from hinge problems, display problems, etc. I have taken apart the Latitude so many times to repair it that the screws are loose. I plan to buy a Macbook in the near future if I don't see any Intel-based iBooks soon. Even though iBooks require significant disassembly to replace things such as the HDD or logic board, I haven't had to do this. And if I ever do, it will be fun. I think we can expect the next generation of Macbooks to be very reliable. Even this generation should be suitable with the logic board revision applied.
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A stock copy of Windows XP won't install on my MacBook.
I have contacted Apple numerous times without any response.. what the hell kind of support is that?
I really hope they fix my issue or I am going to be a pissed off Apple customer.
..I was in the libraries basement working on a project, and the macbook pro kept making the intermittent "moo" sound. It was about 11 at night, and no one else was around, so it scared the crap out of me, it sounded like a distant ghost. I felt like an idiot after searching the whole library trying to find out what the noise was when it was right in front of me! I guess I need to make an appointment with the closest apple store to get a replacement.
Sig: I stole this sig.
The fact you don't remember the model number somewhat undercuts the authenticity of your story. I think I'd remember the model number of a computer that caught fire in class...
AFAIK there were only two incidents nationwide of the problem with the PB5300, and the same problem occurred with other makes of bleeding edge laptop at the time.
I guess you prefer a company that produces consistently sucky, unoriginal machines consistently over one that produces awesome machines with occasional exceptions. Heck a few bad products in twenty years is actually very good going. Indeed, it's a rare product that Apple produces that is critically acclaimed OR commercially successful (the new $99 leather iPod case being such a product).
I had a Powerbook 5300 and it sucked in many ways (mainly the hinge that held the screen up was wonky, as was the case with numerous other laptops I've owned or used), but it never caught fire.
If anyone's interested, I just picked up a new 2GHz Macbook Pro yesterday, serial number starting with W8612.
I have the CPU whine, which is fixed by running MagicNoiseKiller. Not a problem at all, since I just set it as a startup item.
My screen is perfect, no flickering or dead pixels, really bright and vivid. Once MagicNoiseKiller has done its thing, this laptop is really pretty incredibly quiet - a lot better than the Toshiba P4 mode it's replacing.
I think the recent cries to the effect that Apple's build quality is slipping are pretty overrated - this laptop feels incredibly solid and well built. I'm a very happy Apple customer - to the point of chuckling madly.
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.
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...
To be fair, the laptops only caught fire because they got too close to the light that shines out of Steve Jobs' asshole.
Their products are beautiful and wonderful, but they never can get over that hump that other big companies surmount to being able to mass-produce a product while maintaining its greatness.
I was wondering why the iPod never really took off . . . That was a neat little music player. Such a shame.
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.
Bought and set-up a 2.1GHz MacBookPro for a client. Managed to arrange things so I had the machine at home for three days as my little perk. Machine was great - best laptop I've ever used - but then on day3..... Dead Pixel!!
Couldn't believe it - it was right in the centre of the screen aswell. Had to give it back to the client and knew he was going to blame me for it as I knew he had no understanding of the dp concept. Got to his place and said there's some bad news, there's a dead pixel and proceeded, after his obvious shock and dissapointment had settled down a little, to fire it up to show him. A miracle occoured and the pixel was 100% working again. I just couldn't believe it.
I mean what happened there? Was I touched by the hand of Jobs?
2 weeks later the pixel is still fine . . .
Anyone ever had this on a screen before I really would like to know.....
spoonerize "magic trackpad"
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.
Please help metamoderate.
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Apple consistently ranks at or near the top for laptop quality, according to Consumer Reports.
Any little problem with their laptops is magnified because 1) Apple gets an inordinate amount of press, both good and bad 2) iBooks and Powerbooks outsell pretty much any other model of notebook out there.
It's true that Apple has a small percentage of the overall market, but they're pretty much as big as Dell or Gateway. I think they were 3rd last I checked. And they have fewer models than the other guys, so they sell more of the few models they do have.
Dell has like, fifty different laptops. If there's a problem with the Dell Latitude 43094.23B, you don't really hear much about it because it's only one of their many models. Apple only has one 15" MacBookPro. Thus the small problems are magnified.
Also remember that Apple uses the same manufacturers as the other guys. ASUS, Quanta, etc. I think a lot of people don't realize that. What, you think ASUS does a crappy job on their Mac contract but a vastly better job for Dell or Sony or whoever else they build for? That just doesn't make any sense.
I've used a variety of laptops over the years from Dell, Compaq, IBM and ASUS and they've all had little quirks at least as annoying as the ones that that the MacBook Pros apparently have.
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