2012 MBA 13" died

[KPOM]

My friends have been trying to convince me to get a Macbook for years. Nice way to start

It happens, particularly with products early in the cycle. The thing to remember is that all manufacturers ultimately use the same parts, and the same factories in China. Thus, Apple failure rates are about average. The totality of the OS X and Mac experience should be positive, however.

Hopefully all will be well with your replacement. For me, the value of OS X shows when it comes time to replace your Mac. Migration Assistant makes moving data and applications over to a new hard drive a breeze. No registry to deal with. No need to find old CDs or installation files. Just connect the two together (or connect them to the same network), and run Migration Assistant.

 

[Cicatrix]

i wouldn't let a freak accident change my order. That is like people who don't own iPhones b.c a few people had them blow up

umm, just joking.

 

[sacricide]

There I fixed it for you.

You realize the i7 comments are being sarcastic, right?

i havent heard anything about the new ones, does the 11 inch do better with heat this release?

 

[jameswdmb]

What is Apple customer service like? I am seriously very disappointed with my experience so far. Do they ever give you anything to make up for the extra delay or anything? (gift card, small accessories, next day shipping)

I had a great experience. I called a couple of times due to my BTO machine, and probably because I didnt act like a angry jerk, I received wonderful customer service and a noticable credit on my order. I received this from more than one CSR. I would advise anyone else to do the same. Just be reasonable and explain the problem and why you are frustrated or dissapointed, and chances are good they will be understanding and do what they can to make your experience a good one.

 

[Nychot]

What is Apple customer service like? I am seriously very disappointed with my experience so far. Do they ever give you anything to make up for the extra delay or anything? (gift card, small accessories, next day shipping)

When i had a problem/complaint they gave me ms office 2011. Cant beat that.

 

[njp]

i wouldn't let a freak accident change my order. That is like people who don't own iPhones b.c a few people had them blow up

The last one I heard about that blew up was a botched repair job by an unauthorized dealer... that was the one in .au iirc.

People just don't realize just how dangerous those batteries can be if handled improperly.

 

[Bigmacduck]

There are hundreds of BTO 2012 MacBooks failing!


Out of the hundred of thousands shipped. That's nothing extraordinary because electronic devices fail. usually during the first few weeks in their lifetime or after several years. .... And BTW there are also hundreds of 2012 MBAs sold in Apple stores failing.

 

[Bigmacduck]

Windows notebook PC manufacturers calculate with an annual failure rate AFR of 5-10 percent. hat means that on average out of 100 units, 5 to 10 are expected to experience a failure in a year.

Assuming that Apple is ten times better than the Windows PC (AFR 0.5 - 1.0%) then out of one million shipped units: 5'000 - 10'000 MBAs will fail in the first year, and again 5'000-10'000 in the year after, and ....

So it could hit anybody and that is no reason to whine about. These things happen.

AFR is calculated from the failure rates of each individual componen, which each electronic component manufacturer publishes.

This reminds me of a famous sentence from the movie space cowboys, were the astronauts sitting in the space shuttle flight department right after liftoff. donald Sutherland says something like "gentlemen, let me remind you that we are sitting on a million of moving parts that were procured from the lowest bidder".

Apple definitely procures from the lowest bidder as long as it is within their specs. The Space shuttle failed several times, one resulting in a 100% loss of equipment and lifes and national pride. If NASA equipment fails, MacBooks can fail as well.

 

[Orange Furball]

There are hundreds of BTO 2012 MacBooks failing!


Out of the hundred of thousands shipped. That's nothing extraordinary because electronic devices fail. usually during the first few weeks in their lifetime or after several years. .... And BTW there are also hundreds of 2012 MBAs sold in Apple stores failing.

Where are you getting your numbers from? I'm actually intrigued. I'm new to Macs and haven't followed releases in the past very closely. Has it been like this before?

 

[kodeman53]

Where are you getting your numbers from? I'm actually intrigued.

He is getting his numbers out of his nether region.

 

[Bigmacduck]

Where are you getting your numbers from? I'm actually intrigued. I'm new to Macs and haven't followed releases in the past very closely. Has it been like this before?

I used to work in the technical support department of a global PC manufacturer.

 

[Bigmacduck]

He is getting his numbers out of his nether region.

I do not know the Apple AFR, I am just assuming that it is much lower (better) than the ones of the Windows PCs because Apple sells at premium price point.

The AFR is not really something that just happens out of the blue. It is carefully planned by manufacturers and is a delicate balance between product cost, warranty cost, and product image.

To go very low on the price, a manufacturer needs to buy very cheap components, often 2nd grade (very typical in memory or hard drives or screens). Often these components also have a higher AFR (worse). So while you have the lowest product price to attract price sensitive buyers, you will have high warranty costs and a lousy product quality image. Does not matter as long as people buy.

Apple is at the other end of the spectrum: high product image, high quality components, high product price, low warranty costs. Because of the low warranty costs, Apple invests into support staff and offers generous replacement policies. Not an easy business model to copy for one of the established PC manufacturers.


Also from a statistically totally irrelevant personal experience: always had problems with PCs that I owned and never has problems so far with the 7 Macs that I owned or still own.