We picked up a half-dozen 20" iMacs in 2006 at a university store clearance sale. Two of them are in my home, two went to extended family members and two went to friends. All are still running. No problems with any of them. Not even a failed hard drive. Remarkable.
I'd put Apple reliability up against any other computer maker any day of the week. Consumer Reports backs it up with numbers.
It's not all about luck. Apple are known for buying the crap no-one else would take. They will take the cheapest parts possible. A computer should not be on overtime if it lasts past its AppleCare period. Machines of this cost should last for years without failing in the numbers they do.
Disk drives which have been used extensively often fail after being turned off for an extended period of time. The old spindle lubricants bind the shaft and the tiny motor can't get it started. They actually last longer if left running.
Now that's funny. Clearly these Samsung, Toshiba, Hitachi, etc hard drives are just junk nobody else would take. These are simply issues that are part of owning a mechanical hard drive. They'll all fail eventually, and a good bit of them will fail within 3-5 years.
If Apple provides a very high quality Samsung SSD in a small thin form factor then they're peddling overpriced parts. If they provide an off-the-shelf mechanical hard drive that might fail (as they all can..) then they're sourcing junk parts that nobody else will take.
It's not all about luck. Apple are known for buying the crap no-one else would take. They will take the cheapest parts possible. A computer should not be on overtime if it lasts past its AppleCare period. Machines of this cost should last for years without failing in the numbers they do.
Would I buy another Mac? Yes I would, but never another iMac.....
KNOWN for buying crap that no one else wants. What are you talking about?? Can you back this up with some facts.... Preferably multiple, since you make such a bold statement. Apple is known for quality not crap, for all I learned and experienced over the years.
The GeForce 8600 and 8800 were known to have defect during the manufacturing process. Yet Apple still happily shipped them. There are many comments on here from people whose 8800 went up in a puff of smoke within months. In fact you were lucky if it lasted a full year. Mine lasted 13 months and died at exactly the same time as 2600 number 5.
They have had many issues with HDD's over the years, and some have been because they bought the cheap crap. They have had numerous issues with GPU's because they products that have known manufacturing faults and continue to replace those wit the same faulty parts.
Please cite your evvidence about hard drives dying on you because Apple bought "the cheap crap".
You don't like their choices of GPU's either and you cited both AMD and Nvidia parts. Who would you have had them buy GPU's from, Intel?
You keep trying to win the argument by changing it. When iMac design decisions were made, nobody would have suspected any of those GPU's to be problematic. With hard drives, all manufacturers have had problems from time to time, but unfortunately millions tend to ship before enough evidence is available to spot issues.
Man U guys. Apple doesn't even produce the hdd's themselves. It's made at the same factories as pc hdd's. and it's all about luck or un-luck; it can last for the entire time you have the machine or die in 6 months.
why do people feel they have to announce their departure.....and then never leave? Just go. The longer you stay the more of an ass you look. Just go.
That's a pretty high failure rate. I've had problems with my own machines too. What I really hate is hard drives that are not easily accessible or classified as user serviceable. That single point annoys me more than most things.