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Apple's Growing Pains
Tyler Too writes "Is Apple having an unusually large number of quality control problems since its switch to Intel? Ars Technica runs down the litany of problems MacBook and MacBook Pro users have experienced since their launch. From the article: 'Is Apple's quality control slipping through the cracks with this Intel transition? Given the volume of available evidence that has appeared in such a short timeframe, it's simply impossible to say that Apple isn't having problems.'"
Isn't Apple notorious for having issues with products that are "1st Generation"?
I thought it was pretty common amongst macheads to always wait until at least the 3rd iteration of a product so it becomes stable
I'd go for this reasoning except I happen to be one of the unlcky stiffs who bought the MacBook. Here's my tale of terror thus far:
I purchased the upper tier MB in white to save some cash (black is a $150 premium). LCD had a stuck pixel, it wasn't dead, just stuck green. I had the MB for a bit under a week before returning it, and I realized why the black has a premium price. The white had already gotten several scuffs and was starting to become off-white. So I upgraded to the black upon returning the first purchase. Apple replaced it with no questions. It was also unbearably slow, but my 2GB of ram hadn't arrived in the mail yet.
In great spirits with my new black MB and 2GB of RAM (which made an insane difference in performance) I did all the things I love to use my notebook for. I dealt with the 100 degree (F) plus heat with a lap guard or by placing it on the table... I noticed the "mooing" but it wasn't all that bad, but then it started randomly shutting down. At first it was inconsistant, but quickly became more frequent. 1 month old now and the thing siezed up on me 4-5 times. I was going to bring it back to Apple after I came back from my vacation, but then the thing shut down for it's last time. I rebooted it and this time I had a brilliant white screen with pretty pink and green virticle lines all over it. After several reboots, and returning to the stock memory, zapping pram, etc. I returned to the Apple store. This time there were questions asked... I had the 3 year warranty and well... they wanted to ship the thing out for repair. I expressed my disgust, and the option I was given next blew my mind. "You can just buy an open box MB and then when this one comes back you'll just return it for 100% the purchace price." So they obviously wanted some colateral... After some much deserved bitching the manager came to my rescue and swapped out my HDD to a new machine and sent me on my way.
3rd MB, also in black, 2GB RAM. Very pleased again, until I received Studio 8 in the mail. I popped the CD in and... *GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND Eject*... WTF... Inserted CD again. *GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND Eject* I tried the CD in several other machines including a slot loading iMac and had no problems. So I tried another CD in the new MB. Same results...
Needless to say I'm ging back to the Apple store again tonight to get a new one, but I no longer have any hope that I will get a MB that works flawlessly. I love Apple products usually, and I really want this to work out, but I'm just not able to believe that this is 1st gen jitters. There is something inherently wrong in either the design or the QC of all of these notebooks.
Just FYI here's a list of the current reported problems. I've had 3 MBs and have experienced 4 of the issues...
MacBook Issues
-Disgruntled
If you're going to run commercials where some loser pretends to be a PC and some hip dude is the Mac, you're held to a slightly higher standard. Dell, HP, etc say "we will sell you a computer for $500", and do this well. Apple says "We will sell you a better computer". If they have the same problems as Dell does, then they aren't coming through.
"Because Science" is one step from "Because old book". Try "Because of my experiment testing my falsifiable assertion".
I don't think that the company is particularly high profile. What I am surprised by is Apple's poor quality, when considering the price of their systems. Supposedly, part of the ridiculously high prices that Apple charges is for "quality" hardware. If I paid that much for a computer, I would certainly not expect the high level of defects that they have. Sure, they can fix it for ya', but that's a moot point when you end up relying on one for your job and it raps out on you (repeatedly).
I bought a MacBook almost two weeks ago (this is the first OS X Mac that I've ever owned; I have an old Mac SE and Performa 6220 that I received 2 years ago from a teacher's friend). I've dreamed of owning a Mac for over two years now, and when the MacBook came out, it was the Mac notebook that I've always wanted. It had OS X, was the right screen size for me, and did everything that I wanted. I was a bit worried about the purchase, due to some of the problems that I've continued to hear about on the Internet (heat so much that it can cook an egg, discoloration within a few days, mooing noises, etc). I was also a bit worried with some technical details (integrated graphics and OS X performance, plus glossy screen).
However, once I bought the machine, I couldn't be happier. I have no problems with my Mac. I've never heard the fan (it is silent), I see no discoloration occurring at all (although I should clean it often in order for it to continue looking new), and the heat is warm enough for me to feel confortable on a cold day (it's even confortable on a lap), but not hot enough to burn myself. The glossy screen is never an annoyance for me (I forget that it is glossy whenever I am working in a non-floursecent environment), and the integrated graphics do a great job handling OS X's graphics and video playback; quite better than the Voodoo 3 in my old PC. Since buying my Mac, I haven't turned on my desktop PC (an old 950MHz Duron with 384MB RAM, running Windows XP and FreeBSD; a generally trouble free computer) once.
Now, it is less than 2 weeks old, so it is probably too early to tell. However, I advise people looking into getting a MacBook or MacBook Pro to just buy one (unless they want to hold out for a Core 2 Duo Mac). Everybody that I know who has one has a wonderful experience with them. They are wicked fast, quite elegant, and comes with all of that OS X goodness. Plus, since these are of a later generation of the first generation, all of the problems should be generally fixed.
And, no, I do not work at Apple, nor do I get paid by Apple to make this. This is my personal experience. I'm just a computer science student, that's all.
I work for a major, major, Australia Apple authorised Reseller with a service center that services many, many Macs.
Is Apple having problems? Nope. They did with the first batch of MacBook Pros, but since then, it's been smooth sailing.
Apple's biggest problems are the iBooks.
You also have to remember Apple are selling, a lot more Laptops then they have ever done in the past. Sales in Australia have skyrocketed so high that almost no-one can keep up with demand.
I guess that's the advantage of competition. If Dell or HP makes a crappy machine, they know that their customers can easily switch to another vendor.
With Macs, Apple knows that the customer is "stuck". Quality isn't as important, as the customer has already invested in software and training that is Mac-specific.
The parent post is now stuck with buying Macs--and even worse really doesn't have a second-source for repairs as almost all the non-Apple Mac dealers have been put out of business by Apple stores.
Apple has a de-facto monopoly among existing Mac users. Take it or leave it.
Like every other company, Apple sometimes gets a bad batch of parts. I was working at an Apple dealer and doing repairs when the Summer 2000 iMacs started popping analog/power boards like Orville Redenbacher's popcorn.
I changed so many damned boards that eventually I could disassemble one, replace the board and reassemble it in under 15 minutes.
These were not Gen 1 machines. It's just that sometimes bad parts make it through quality control. It happens to other big companies too. Big car companies sometimes have to have recalls because some of their parts turned out to not be as good as they had originally hoped. I had to have the anti-lock brakes in my truck serviced due to just such a recall.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
It's pretty obvious why you shouldn't get the first-gen machine out of the gate. When Apple announces a new machine they are flooded with orders and they care far more about filling them than quality control. Hell, you should expect to take it back at least once or even swap it out and consider yourself lucky if your computer is problem free.
Wait a few months and get a refurb. I've found their refurbished products to be rock-soild, and from what I've heard from a few, ahem, "genius" friends they go through an extensive check up (including repairing any known defect.)
Internals, yes, but externals no. I've noticed that practically every MacBook Pro I've seen has fit and finish issues, most noticably a "bent" lid that curves up at the corners in sort of a "U" shape, the bottom of the U at the latches. This means the lid rocks and compresses when it's closed and you pick up the MBP. Is it so hard to make a flat lid?
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
We've purchased 18 Intel-based Macs at work over the past couple of months and haven't had any hardware issues. Most software works fine, too. At first we had a few issues with PowerPC software (MS Office, naturally) but recent system updates seem to have fixed 'em. We do have one custom OS X app that flat-out refuses to run through Rosetta.
We bought 16 Mac Minis, a MacBook and a 15" MacBook Pro (2 GHz). All are great machines, 'specially the MacBook Pro. The Minis are perfectly happy with Dell Ultrasharp monitors (15", 19" or 20" widescreen) and Microsoft mice (5-pack is $60!).
Performance is outstanding. I ran XBench and the MacBook Pro is slightly faster than a full-size dual 2.0 GHz G5 desktop in most categories (aside from hard disk speed, of course).
"I for one do not fly direct Singapore to LA using one of those new super jumbo Airbus jetliners because they are generation 1 jets."
Ever see the number of suggested and required repair notices sent out by the FAA on a new jet?
"I do not buy a newly released car because it is a generation 1 vehicle."
You mean like the first generation Toyota hybrids that are being recalled for brake and other issues?
"I do not buy a new technology flat screen TV because it is.. guess what? Generation 1!"
Like the generation 1 screens that had limited life spans and suffered from burn-in problems?
Again, repeat after me: ALL first generation products will have issues. Some more than others. Now, whether or not you us that as an excuse for not buying a first gen product is up to you, and generally depends on where you fall on the early-adopter / I-just-want-it-to-work curve.
So we're not giving Appe a pass... nor Boeing, nor Toyota, nor Sony.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
But if what the know is what you know, then no one really knows.
The problem is plain and simply coil buzz.
Laptops use switching power supplies, because linear ones aren't efficient enough. Switching power supplies use wire wound inductors to store energy while converted it from one voltage to another. These switching power supplies are constantly filled and emptied of energy. This often causes the coils to vibrate slightly. It's the same thing you hear from a power substation, only in a power substation it is at a fixed 60Hz as the coils in the transformers constantly empty and fill as the AC voltage dips above and below 0V.
In a laptop, the frequency depends on the switching power supply design. There are fixed-frequency switching power supplies, but these are not efficient across a wide range of power draws. So they have to use a variable frequency switching power supply. The problem is that the frequency ranges the power supply uses include the range 300Hz-3KHz, where the ear is very sensitive to the buzz.
When the power draw is high, the frequency is high, when it goes down, the frequency drops. If the frequency sweeps through the audible range, you hear chirps, like the G5 towers exhibited or moos (although the moos are often a 2nd order effect). If the frequency stops in the audible range, you hear a whine, like the laptops can show.
If you modify the power settings to keep the power supply outside the audible range, then you either limit your CPU speed (by going single core) or significantly increased your power draw (by turning off CPU napping). There is another whine which comes from the backlight power supply, it will also change frequency (to often be inaudible) if you change the backlight to be higher or lower.
Apple didn't pick the wrong mode, they need to go to that mode to save power and reduce heat.
Apple should do everything the can to reduce the whines. But it's not practical to remove it completely.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
...that keep putting 'FUD' tags on EVERY Apple story that isn't overly positive about Apple?
/. is becoming synonymous with 'FUD'.
It's starting to get annoying; 'Apple' on
Every survey I've read from Consumer Reports and PCWorld puts apple close to the top in support, reliability, and customer satisfaction over Dell, HP, gateway, etc. IBM was the only manufacturer that ever seemed to beat them at anything, and they've now sold off their PC business.
People aren't just deluding themselves over this. Sure there's some bias, but there's bias specifically because they're nice machines.
Not that I would complain if their support record improved a bit... but I've done enough support on busted Dells and HP's to know that they have the problems, they just don't get publicized anywhere close to as much as apple's issues seem to.
Funny, I'd say just the opposite. Mac users are constantly in denial over issues and pretend quality problems don't exist. It isn't an Intel mac thing, it's an iPod thing and a software thing as well. Mac users tend to BELIEVE they are picky but they are, in fact, oblivious. Yes, they hype their systems as being somehow "flawless" and they buy into their own hype.
How many models of Dell/Sony laptops have had some sort of problem where I could scrape off some paint? None that I've owned (and I've owned many), which makes this just another Apple apology.
"So what's the difference? When Apple user's computers have the smallest problems, they get together on their little forums and compare notes about every little flake of paint. When Dell users computers have small problems, they either ignore them, or they call some guy in India and try to get it replaced."
Hardly. Apple users grumble quietly about their issues hoping they'll be resolved without anyone noticing outside their club. Meanwhile they pretend Apple's shit don't stink when the evangelize they're beloved platform.
"I don't see any Apple people, however, complaining about the quality of their hardware/software and wishing they'd bought a Dell running Windows."
No, because those that have are no longer "Apple people".
It's statements like these that tell you what really goes on in the minds of Apple apologists. Apple tells you that owning a mac meams you are smarter, cooler, hipper, better than everyone else. People buy into that and actually believe they are members of an elite group, a team, the "Apple people", and that they have an obligation to keep the faith or get banished. They strut around with their noses in the air while privately grunbling about problems that often times are a joke in the PC world. Their platform is the greatest because they have been told so and they tell one another so, despite shortcomings obvious to everyone else.
- They say that Apple quality is unmatched yet they have excessive failure rates. iPods are unmatched in that regard.
- They say support is the industry's best yet getting a time slot in the Genius Bar can be virtually impossible.
- They say they are the experts in usability yet they cling to decades-old design errors with tired apologies.
- They think whatever mac offerings exist at a given time is all that anyone would ever want. Case in point currently is the mini. A computer that no one wanted til it existed became the solution to the world's home computing problems.
Apple is high computing fashion, computing couture, and the saying in fashion is "beauty is pain". "Apple people" never admit that their mac shoes hurt.