New 2012 iMac

I have to agree with the OP although I read all of the complaints and went ahead anyway since I figured that there were more people happy with their choice then those not happy. I also do photography and use Lightroom 4 for a hobby and am very happy with my 3TB fusion drive.

Great site by the way....

Usually on a forum site like this, there are more complainers because they come here to...well... complain. For every one complainer there are several hundred that are happy with their iMacs. Makes it difficult to really get a feel for a product sometimes.

We swapped to a 2012 iMac after 20 years on Windows. We have a 21.5" with Fusion Drive and 16MB RAM. Firstly, the build quality is in a different league to our previous Dell. The iMac is almost completely silent, and runs nice and cool - a pleasant change from the noisy and hot Dell.

And after a couple of weeks of finding our way around OSX, I can only say that it's brilliant. It all just works perfectly, without all of the endless and completely tedious Windows conflicts, set up problems and general hassles.

And the way that our iPhones and iPad all work together with the iMac is great too.

I agree too - my new 27" is fine. I have been reading this site for several years now and most complaints are always from the same people over and over again. I am not saying there are not problems there always can be problems with electronics but if you base your decision on what you read within these forums you would never own any Apple product or electronic item.

mr toad said:

we swapped to a 2012 imac after 20 years on windows. We have a 21.5" with fusion drive and 16mb ram. Firstly, the build quality is in a different league to our previous dell. The imac is almost completely silent, and runs nice and cool - a pleasant change from the noisy and hot dell.

And after a couple of weeks of finding our way around osx, i can only say that it's brilliant. It all just works perfectly, without all of the endless and completely tedious windows conflicts, set up problems and general hassles.

And the way that our iphones and ipad all work together with the imac is great too.

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welcome to the good life

Glad you are happy. I'm definitely not one to "complain", but I felt I needed to come here and post to ask some questions regarding the HD failing in my brand new, maxed out 27' iMac 2012. Apple is in the process of getting me a new machine (hopefully I won't have to wait too long).

I suppose there are people that like to complain 24/7, but I'm not one of them. However, I will not hesitate to ask questions and vent if my brand new $2000+ machine fails within 2 weeks. But I wouldn't complain if the iMac had a little dent when it arrived, or something like that; IMO, that's just dumb for someone to complain about those little things. Adding to the frustration is that this is my first iMac, and I was hoping that the move from PC would bring happier and more stable times. So far, not really. Had to repack my iMac, and lug it to and from the Apple Store on Super Bowl Sunday, now I'm just sitting and waiting for a new machine, after waiting nearly 2 months for this broken one.

Again, very happy that it worked out for you though.

pete78 said:

Glad you are happy. I'm definitely not one to "complain", but I felt I needed to come here and post to ask some questions regarding the HD failing in my brand new, maxed out 27' iMac 2012. Apple is in the process of getting me a new machine (hopefully I won't have to wait too long).

I suppose there are people that like to complain 24/7, but I'm not one of them. However, I will not hesitate to ask questions and vent if my brand new $2000+ machine fails within 2 weeks. But I wouldn't complain if the iMac had a little dent when it arrived, or something like that; IMO, that's just dumb for someone to complain about those little things. Adding to the frustration is that this is my first iMac, and I was hoping that the move from PC would bring happier and more stable times. So far, not really. Had to repack my iMac, and lug it to and from the Apple Store on Super Bowl Sunday, now I'm just sitting and waiting for a new machine, after waiting nearly 2 months for this broken one.

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I'm not saying that you're a complainer because I've never noticed any of your posts before but be honest about it, it was just a hard drive failure and all you needed to do like most people is address it with Apple and have them take care of it. Coming to the forum to ask questions about your defective hard drive does what exactly? It outs Apple and unfortunately it spreads FUD.

Again, not trying to jump at you, but to say that you had to pack it up on Superbowl after having to wait after 2 months of waiting is kinda moot at this point. You knew you were buying a machine on short supply from jump street.
Really now, unless Apple just really has done a customer wrong for no reason and is borderline upon breaking the law in terms of how they are handling a warranty, all ranting should be done directly at Apple. They are the ones that have to fix it anyway. It does nothing here but scare other people into not buying an iMac that may service them perfectly.

The little things like cracks in the screens, defective hard drives and noisy fans are probably the same issues consumers have with other tech companies. It's best to address it directly with the company and give them a chance to make good on it rather than outting them over the internet first. Your hard drive issue (which is generally common) may not seem to others worthy enough to rant about over the internet anymore than you think a little dent would be.

For once I'd like to see someone on MR start a new thread and say, "Hey guys, guess what, I had a problem with my new iMac and Apple took care of me". Instead we tend to get the threads with problems only and sometimes the OP never comes back to tell us if their Mac was fixed. Now don't take any of this personally, I'm just trying to make an honest point here.

Well put!

Well said HenryDJP!
Jumping the gun sometimes gives an unfair unfavourable impression on a product.

I guess in that case, all of the "benefits" of an iMac over PCs are non-existent because the PC deficiencies/issues are not real problems, just things that the PC consumer should address with the PC manufacturer or Microsoft so that the PC manufacturer can fix the problem or Microsoft can fix it in the next version of Windows. There are no winners or losers, I guess; just room for improvement.

We should then assume and tolerate the same quality control from Apple than what Dell and Microsoft offers. Actually, I've never had an HD in a Dell PC fail within 2 weeks.

I took delivery of my 27" on Dec 13.

What a beautiful work of industrial design, eloquent execution, and it runs like a hungry Cheetah.

I work on PC's for a living and find myself constantly shaking my head at the obtuse nature of the Microsoft ecology, the utter nonsense that Windows computer users suffer with, seemingly, every day. Utterly stupid b^llsh!+.

I spent just over $3k on the last production PC I built for my home office. I spent almost that much on this iMac as a treat for myself and my photography. I am so pleased with this computer, it punctuates the end of a three-year period of planning and looking forward to leaving the dark side and getting an Apple.

FreemanW said:

I am so pleased with this computer, it punctuates the end of a three-year period of planning and looking forward to leaving the dark side and getting an Apple.

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Funny you should say that, as it wasn't too many years ago where switching to Mac was considered giving in to the Dark Side!

HenryDJP said:

The little things like cracks in the screens, defective hard drives and noisy fans ...

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At first I was sure - that is sarcasm.
But now it looks like you were serious. I wish everyone would be that tolerant!
I am curious - what would be a BIG thing for you? Missing processor?

vladfein said:

At first I was sure - that is sarcasm.
But now it looks like you were serious. I wish everyone would be that tolerant!
I am curious - what would be a BIG thing for you? Missing processor?

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I was equally confused and shocked by that statement. Incredible.

vladfein said:

At first I was sure - that is sarcasm.
But now it looks like you were serious. I wish everyone would be that tolerant!
I am curious - what would be a BIG thing for you? Missing processor?

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No sarcasm, I was very serious. I just don't feel the need to out a company over the internet for every little nuance. Okay, so the screen was shipped to the customer with a chip in it, that could've happened during shipping or manufacturing, who knows? Is it really necessary to go as far as to out the company over the internet as if they committed a crime? Is something wrong with just dealing with the company first hand and letting them resolve your issue? What if you sold someone something, "As Is" (private transaction) and they weren't happy with it and rather than trying to deal with you privately about it, they out you on Facebook or Youtube?

Answer to your question though, DOA is big to me, and I still wouldn't out the company unless they would refuse me a replacement when I am perfectly entitled to one.

HenryDJP said:

[...] I just don't feel the need to out a company over the internet for every little nuance.
[...] I still wouldn't out the company unless they would refuse me a replacement when I am perfectly entitled to one.

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A question. What do you mean when you use the words "out a company"?
Describing experiences on a dedicated forum becomes "outing a company"?

I think that the business environment we live in is far more complicated than this.
I agree when you say that Apple offers quality after sales assistance.
Nevertheless, Apple is a willing and adult player in this game.
They use the internet, above and below the line and even virally, to widespread their image, to define their brand awareness, to influence people about what they are and how they want to be seen.

I find that they do so in a perfectly honest way.
For this reason, I can's see why users shouldn't express their disappointment when incidents happen. It's a legitimate part of the process above, otherwise Apple wouldn't use the internet as a distribution channel, heavily. They even encourage discussions on their own discussion platform.

It is normal, for someone buying a quality item, to express a public complaint if his expectations are not met. As soon as he doesn't become rude or aggressive, I'll always back him up.
If you think about it, the fact that Apple's policies are so helpful towards people who have faulty units delivered itself demostrates that Apple is not afraid to be judged, commented, put under scrutiny. Not at all.
So, I can't see no "outing a company" here.

I always tend to feel empathy for those who see their customer experience disrupted. And believe me, from a corporate's point of view those customers are right, and perfectly entitled to post some rants here.
Maybe perfection can't be reached, but I'm sure Apple considers these forums as a resource. They come out stronger 95% of the times.
It's the companies that use the "denial method" those facing big trouble, nowadays.

My 2 cents.

HenryDJP said:

No sarcasm, I was very serious. I just don't feel the need to out a company over the internet for every little nuance. Okay, so the screen was shipped to the customer with a chip in it, that could've happened during shipping or manufacturing, who knows? Is it really necessary to go as far as to out the company over the internet as if they committed a crime? Is something wrong with just dealing with the company first hand and letting them resolve your issue? What if you sold someone something, "As Is" (private transaction) and they weren't happy with it and rather than trying to deal with you privately about it, they out you on Facebook or Youtube?

Answer to your question though, DOA is big to me, and I still wouldn't out the company unless they would refuse me a replacement when I am perfectly entitled to one.

Click to expand...

I'm totally confused about the need to protect and not "out" a Fortune 20 company when it ships a DOA product, especially after a protracted update cycle and severely long ship times. And your scenario about refusing to replace a DOA product is pretty much contrary to current consumer laws and Apple's own policy (return for any reason within 14 days), so it would never happen; so, in other words, you would never complain about a DOA consumer product. Good for you, but most other people expect more, especially from a company like Apple.

Covenanter said:

A question. What do you mean when you use the words "out a company"?
Describing experiences on a dedicated forum becomes "outing a company"?

I think that the business environment we live in is far more complicated than this.
I agree when you say that Apple offers quality after sales assistance.
Nevertheless, Apple is a willing and adult player in this game.
They use the internet, above and below the line and even virally, to widespread their image, to define their brand awareness, to influence people about what they are and how they want to be seen.

I find that they do so in a perfectly honest way.
For this reason, I can's see why users shouldn't express their disappointment when incidents happen. It's a legitimate part of the process above, otherwise Apple wouldn't use the internet as a distribution channel, heavily. They even encourage discussions on their own discussion platform.

It is normal, for someone buying a quality item, to express a public complaint if his expectations are not met. As soon as he doesn't become rude or aggressive, I'll always back him up.
If you think about it, the fact that Apple's policies are so helpful towards people who have faulty units delivered itself demostrates that Apple is not afraid to be judged, commented, put under scrutiny. Not at all.
So, I can't see no "outing a company" here.

I always tend to feel empathy for those who see their customer experience disrupted. And believe me, from a corporate's point of view those customers are right, and perfectly entitled to post some rants here.
Maybe perfection can't be reached, but I'm sure Apple considers these forums as a resource. They come out stronger 95% of the times.
It's the companies that use the "denial method" those facing big trouble, nowadays.

My 2 cents.

Click to expand...

In terms of "outting a company", you answered your own question throughout your post.
Here's the thing, I don't know how old you are or others here but I'm willing to bet that most of you didn't come from a time when "outting a company" could only be done when you called your local news and the news wouldn't even do the story unless it was quite serious. At that time there was no such thing as online forums, heck there was no internet when I was growing up that allowed me to hide behind a computer and chastise people, the president and companies when I feel displeasure.

Forums today cause people to have feelings of self-entitlement and every little small thing comes up here. It's just unbelievable. Seriously. Have you even noticed the amount of people that start threads saying....

"I was planning on switching from Windows to Mac but after reading all of these posts of people complaining...."
People contemplating on buying a new Apple product get scared here after seeing so many negative posts. The reality is it's not that many people really complaining but since most of the posts here are complaints it gives people the impression that all Apple offers is junk.

Here's an example for you. There's a thread right now about how quiet your iMac is. The OP states that some people say they can hear it, some people say they can't and it makes the OP wonder if people are getting defective machines. In reality everybody has a different sense of hearing and there's no way to measure that but a newcomer will think the iMac has defective fans and that mostly isn't correct. Couple that with the rest of the small complaints, things to start to snowball.

The OP in this very thread's first line begins about all the complaints here. He states that he/she wouldn't have bought a Mac had he read all the complaints.

I just don't see a problem with going directly to the company and getting the problem resolved. Do you have a problem with that? Does everybody have to be an internet drama queen because they got an iMac with dust behind the screen or a scratch on the casing?
Let's take Apple out of the equation, think about if it was your own business that you are running. I'm sure you'd want your customers to address their issues with you first hand before going on the internet. Once on the internet it becomes viral.

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pete78 said:

I'm totally confused about the need to protect and not "out" a Fortune 20 company when it ships a DOA product, especially after a protracted update cycle and severely long ship times. And your scenario about refusing to replace a DOA product is pretty much contrary to current consumer laws and Apple's own policy (return for any reason within 14 days), so it would never happen; so, in other words, you would never complain about a DOA consumer product. Good for you, but most other people expect more, especially from a company like Apple.

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I'm sorry that you're confused. Can't help you there. I'm not even referring to Apple in general. I was making a general point about people using the internet to put a company on front street before even getting their issue resolved with the company first hand. The DOA comment I made was not about Apple. There are many small time companies that will try and screw customers. In terms of the long ship times, well that's on you or whomever is buying a new product that they KNOW is in short supply.

I'll chime in with my .2 cents on complaining. I switched way back in 2005, and have been nothing but pleased with Apple not only with their software, hardware, but also with their customer service. I've had several problems with my macbooks over the years, but never had too much of a headache gettting them up and running again. My first macbook died on me after 3 months of ownership. I took it to the closest Apple store in Tampa, and being a former Windows user I expected a 2 week turnover while they sent it for insepction and warranty repair. Definitely not the case. The genius inspected it, and asked how long I planned on hanging around the mall. He said it shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to put in a new hard drive and clone the existing one into it. Shocked I said I'll fool around while waiting. 30 minutes later he called me to tell me it was ready for pickup. While that might not be the norm I was definitely sold on Apple, and haven't looked back yet.

I'm not delusional by saying they're without problems, but they absolutely take care of you and set you right when you do run into hiccups.

Totally agree. I know that there are issues, but my iMac 27'' is flawless, and I couldn't be happier. Apple products (and especially the new iMac) are in a class of their own. Great design and functionality, great hardware and plenty of power. This is one happy user.