Mid 2013 Macbrick Air wi-fi issue-class action lawsuit time!

grh2013 said:

I have been through the mill with my 3 mid-2013 macbrick air 13" haswells over the wi-fi dropping issue. Apple has known about this for months and continues to sell them as if nothing is wrong. I have worked through all levels of support, got 3 replacements, did all the approved patches,upgrades,reconfigs, to no avail. At the official Apple support forum there are over 140,000 page views on the thread for this issue. No one is getting any satisfaction. Its time to get their attention. I am ready to start a class action suit I might even go further and try a criminal fraud action because hey know of this issue, can`t fix it and are continuing to sell it. Its fraud, because you cannot use it for its intended purpose, and their support is not effective. Anyone similarly affected who is getting the runaround should post here. We need to get the word out. I am tired of fighting with this and want Apples ass on a platter.

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I don't have any issues.. I had problems with my sony pro 13

Mine works fine.

Same here, no issues reported to me (Mac admin) from any of the 13 or so mid 2013 MacBook Air users at my office.

I have no doubt theres a widespread bug but my gut says it's software related since all of ours seem stable and are built from the same base image & software.

And really, "MacBrick Air"... How can issues get taken seriously when we start making up cutesy insults for products?

The problem with relying on internet forums and searches as "evidence of a problem" is that if you throw out a set of symptoms you'll attract anyone with even remotely similar symptoms. If you gathered everyone who responds into a room and triaged each of their Macs you would almost certainly find that a large number of them have either different issues (with similar symptoms) or other factors involved that complicate the issue at hand. And sheesh, with wireless related issues, it just gets so much worse since you're relying on people having rock solid wifi networks to test with, when in reality a great number of them problems will come back to failing routers and the like. My point is "Take it all with a grain of salt".

grh2013 said:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/22774186#22774186

like I`ve said...I know its complicated, but this post has over 140,000 views...I guess we are all on the same trip...

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So are you saying 140,000 people have this problem because that thread has that many views? Could it be that the topic peaks people curiosity and they click on it?

For the record, one of those 140,000 is mine, so you only have a potential 139,999 victims of this problem.

I should also add I bought the 2012 MBA and returned it because it was having issues running Windows in Parallels. They later fixed the problem, but I didn't want to deal with it so I returned it.

Apple has an outstanding support record, and a record of responding to customer issues and complaints. It is all a matter of patience and your tolerance for the problem. I could not tolerate the problem so I returned it. The thought of grabbing Apple's behind never crossed my mind, much less a lawsuit. That is what is perplexing to me about your post.

grh2013 said:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/22774186#22774186

like I`ve said...I know its complicated, but this post has over 140,000 views...I guess we are all on the same trip...

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I'm just wondering what percentage of those views were motivated by nothing more than idle curiosity.... something I do all the time (for example, my decision to open this thread wasn't because I've had any kind of wifi problems, or any other kind of problems for that matter, with my MBA ... I was simply curious to see what this thread was about....)

Just a thought!

grh2013 said:

but they are offering me nothing.

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Your tone screams "Apple is ignoring this problem, refusing to admit there is a problem and will not attempt to fix it" but from what you've said it sounds like they are actively working on a solution and have replaced your MacBook Air multiple times in attempt to make things right. I see that as Apple attempting to help you, along with the other affected users, quite actively. Not as a fanboy or Apple shill, but as someone who reads through the provided information and see's a company attempting to help. In my opinion throwing a lawsuit at a company that is attempting to help (they've replaced your Macs, you're actively talking to someone within engineering, etc) is just bad form. A piece of advice as well, from someone who formerly worked for Apple, the majority of Apple's service chain is advised to stop what they're doing as soon as legal action is mentioned. That doesn't mean Apple will go on the defensive and attempt to screw you, but it will slow things down significantly for you.

These MacBook Airs are the first Apple product to ship with the newly redesigned 802.11ac Airport cards, a new wireless standard that isn't yet widely adopted and in more real world terms, "tried and true" just yet. Perhaps the firmware flashed to either the cards or the Mac's logic boards aren't perfect yet, their engineering team could be running into lots of hurdles trying to find the right combination, leading to an abnormal delay in rolling out a solid fix.

No one is accusing you of hallucinating and no one is saying those with legitimate issues is making it up. Apple has no stake in this forum and likely doesn't scour it all day for feedback. We're end users, just like you, who are here to offer advice or feedback free of charge, on our own time. If we can help you fix something, great! If not, we shouldn't be belittled for attempting to help.

grh2013 said:

of course I am not saying that there are 140,000 affected machines, but who really knows. I am about 1 month into trying to fix this issue, and have devoted way too much time dealing with Apple at many levels. Higher level support and engineers have admitted (without crossing the line) that this issue is large and there is no working fix yet. No one ever even tried to insinuate that I was out of line asking for help. The many diagnostics run have confirmed it....and I have 3 in a row. Not everyone affected posts on or checks forums...lots of people are dealing with this in silence...I love the machine otherwise and really do not want to give up, but they are offering me nothing.

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Is this a specific router problem, maybe? I'm wanting to purchase a MacBook Air. Many people have no problems, and some do. Is this WiFi problem related to specific WiFi stations?

Re: Firmware update

grh2013 said:

I have been through the mill with my 3 mid-2013 macbrick air 13" haswells over the wi-fi dropping issue. Apple has known about this for months and continues to sell them as if nothing is wrong. I have worked through all levels of support, got 3 replacements, did all the approved patches,upgrades,reconfigs, to no avail. At the official Apple support forum there are over 140,000 page views on the thread for this issue. No one is getting any satisfaction. Its time to get their attention. I am ready to start a class action suit I might even go further and try a criminal fraud action because hey know of this issue, can`t fix it and are continuing to sell it. Its fraud, because you cannot use it for its intended purpose, and their support is not effective. Anyone similarly affected who is getting the runaround should post here. We need to get the word out. I am tired of fighting with this and want Apples ass on a platter.

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Did you not do the firmware update? I do not have one but read few weeks ago that there was a firmware update that fixes the issue as well as the next update in OS X ML also addresses the issue. The issue is not being ignored i assure you. Also the Airport Extreme, Express and TC had firmware updates that fixed compatibility issues with the new wireless tech.

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grh2013 said:

I bought one, on my 3rd replacement, and still no fix from Apple. Its mine, and I can name it whatever I want. Is this an Apple shill forum?

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Yes there routers would have issues but that issue was fixed yesterday with a firmware update with the Airport Extreme, Express and TC

Broadcom makes the 802.11ac chip, they rarely get it right first rev. I bet this is a silicon issue and can't be fixed short of a recall.

ZBoater said:

So are you saying 140,000 people have this problem because that thread has that many views? Could it be that the topic peaks people curiosity and they click on it?

For the record, one of those 140,000 is mine, so you only have a potential 139,999 victims of this problem.

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Actually down to 139,997 (I viewed it twice)


Take it back and get a refund then buy something else. Like I did

I have no problems with my MBA, 2013. Bought it first week in August.

Good luck with the issue.

ZBoater said:

So are you saying 140,000 people have this problem because that thread has that many views? Could it be that the topic peaks people curiosity and they click on it?

For the record, one of those 140,000 is mine, so you only have a potential 139,999 victims of this problem.

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Okay, let's not all gang up on this poor guy that got 2 defective MBA in a row.

Hey, he's new, trying to have his story heard and probably get some feedback on whether he should go forward or not.

But please i hate to see one person getting picked on, it's just the internet.

imjoee said:

I have no problems with my MBA, 2013. Bought it first week in August.

Good luck with the issue.

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Mine is also 1st week of August (August 2nd to be exact). A flawless machine.
Oh, and I also viewed that thread...