3 out of 5 Macs I've owned have been plagued with well-known issues

[Think77]

I just realized that 3 out of the 5 Macs I've owned have been plagued with well-known issues:

MacBook Pro 15" mid 2010: Graphics artifacts on the screen ("red dots all over the screen"). I lived with it for a couple of years, as I somehow didn't have time for a two week down time period. But when I did bring it in for repair (Apple had acknowledged this was a wide spread issue and warranted a free repair), they wouldn't make the repair, since apparently I should have brought it in a month before. Ok, my bad, but still not the best experience.

iMac 27" 2011: The dreaded graphics card issue. The 6970M died. But again, when it did so, it was seemingly too late for Apple to do the repair (even though they had acknowledged the issue as wide spread).

That gives me 2 dead Macs - one is tucked away in the attic, and one collects dust on a shelve somewhere.

Mac Mini M1 2020: Bluetooth and screen not waking up issues. Well known current issues. Apple has yet to recognize the issues officially, as far as I know. It's extremely annoying, and I've fallen out of love with the machine, even though I really want our relationship to work out.

Mac Pro 2009: No problems!! (Still using it)

MacBook Pro 2015: No problems!! (Still using it)

I guess my take on this is: Do I have unrealistic expectations as to what Apple (hardware) can and should be?

 

[Arctic Moose]

I have had probably 40 Macs in the household over the years, and have not had any significant issues.

A 2016 MacBook Pro went back to Apple for keyboard replacement, a PowerBook G4 12" had the DVD drive replaced and a PowerBook 5300 died prematurely. Other than these, I cannot think of any problems.

 

[Boyd01]

My first Mac was the 512k "Fat Mac" in 1985, before that I was one of the first people to get an Apple ][ in 1978. I can only recall two issues that required service from Apple. The first was a 21" Studio Display for my Blue and White Power Mac G3, it died within 6 months and was repaired under warranty. The other was my aluminum Powebook G4 that stopped recognizing one of the memory modules. That went back for a motherboard replacement twice under AppleCare. Problem happened again and was still covered, but I already had an Intel Mac and didn't bother to get it fixed.

My recent Macs have all been trouble-free: 2012 quad Mini, 2013 11" MacBook Air, two 2014 Mini's and a 2018 Mini. My 2008 MacBook Pro still works but I don't use it anymore. Maybe I'm just fortunate enough to have chosen some of the more robust hardware?

 

[Arctic Moose]

The first was a 21" Studio Display for my Blue and White Power Mac G3, it died within 6 months and was repaired under warranty.

This does bring back two more for me. The first was a Trinitron display, I think it was an AppleVision 750, that had some sort of sync issue. It was replaced under warranty.

The other was my aluminum Powebook G4 that stopped recognizing one of the memory modules. That went back for a motherboard replacement twice under AppleCare.

The second was a Titanium PowerBook that probably had a faulty logic board, it would kernel panic randomly several times a day. CompUSA took it back.

So, all in all, about five issues total after purchasing on average one or two Macs per year for the last three decades.

Also, of the 30ish iPods, iPhones and iPads I have purchased the only issue I can recall is a faulty hard drive in a 3rd gen iPod.

 

[Fishrrman]

My suggestions for the Mini:

DON'T USE bluetooth.
Instead, plug in a WIRED USB keyboard.
Use a Logitech wireless mouse that has its own radio band and "unifying receiver".

I haven't used Apple keyboards or mice in 20 years.

For the "sleeping issue", DON'T put the Mini "to sleep". Instead, let it be "awake, but idling". The difference in power consumed on these when sleeping vis-a-vis idling is so small as to be nearly unmeasurable. Put the DISPLAY to sleep instead, or just use a screensaver.

 

[saynotosync]

I'm hitting 2 out of 2 with this so far (butterfly keyboard on 2017 MBP + M1 mini screen flicker).

With that said, I think that this effect is due to Apple's relatively limited range of hardware products.
Having documented issues feels a little better (there's a chance they'll be addressed) than having obscure weird issues on custom-built PCs (which I still love, don't get me wrong, but I need macOS for some of my favorite software) with an unpredictable combination of hardware components.
After getting a degree in electrical engineering it sometimes feels like a miracle that computers work at all, hahah.

 

[Ledgem]

MacBook Pro 15" mid 2010: Graphics artifacts on the screen ("red dots all over the screen"). I lived with it for a couple of years, as I somehow didn't have time for a two week down time period. But when I did bring it in for repair (Apple had acknowledged this was a wide spread issue and warranted a free repair), they wouldn't make the repair, since apparently I should have brought it in a month before. Ok, my bad, but still not the best experience.

iMac 27" 2011: The dreaded graphics card issue. The 6970M died. But again, when it did so, it was seemingly too late for Apple to do the repair (even though they had acknowledged the issue as wide spread).

That gives me 2 dead Macs - one is tucked away in the attic, and one collects dust on a shelve somewhere.

The question in my mind is, when did you bring these in for repair? I've had two issues recognized by Apple (swollen battery problem, and a graphics chip failure on a MacBook Pro) and in both cases the repairs were done for free, and quickly, even though I believe the system in each case was out of AppleCare coverage.

If you brought those systems in for repair shortly after the problems started and it was just a few years after buying them, then it's an issue and your disappointment is justified. If you brought the systems in and it's been close to a decade since buying them (when Apple has already moved to call those legacy systems, or what ever term they use to mean relics that are no longer supported) then I don't think you should be disappointed. Apple may not have the parts to repair those systems anymore. Some people end up getting a free new system under such circumstances, but if it was already many years after the system was purchased and used, then I'd say that would be an unfair expectation to make of Apple.

 

[Arctic Moose]

Oh, right, how could I forget that terribly bent 11” iPad Pro? I was actually pretty upset about that. I got two replacements before simply selling the last one without opening the box.

I guess that makes it seven out of about 70 devices, but Apple has taken care of every single one, one way or another.

 

[uller6]

I've had plenty of issues with Macs in the past, but Apple customer service has been great every time I've had to get something repaired. My powerbook G4 went back for repair 4 times for various reasons (bad RAM slot, broken video port, 2X keyboard issues). My 2011 and 2013 MacBook Pros had to have the video card replaced. My 2011 MBP battery swelled up like a balloon and had to be replaced. I went through 3X iPad Pro 11" until I had one without screen blotches. I had to send an iPhone 6s back because of a bad battery out of the box. Every time Apple fixed the issue without hassle, which is one of the major reasons I keep coming back. I know that when something breaks under warranty (it's a matter of when, not if) at least Apple will be reasonable and make it right.

In my experience Apple devices that don't exhibit any issues in the first 2-3 years tend to last forever. They're the Mercedes diesels of the computer world.

 

[fricotin]

2012 Mac mini used several hours every day, not one single issue yet.

 

[Kaida]

I had Mac mini 2011 Radeon and Macbook Pro 2011 Radeon problem. After that I had staingate on the macbook pro 2015 which Apple replaced foc and the motherboard failed a few weeks later which Apple also replaced foc.

Use a Logitech wireless mouse that has its own radio band and "unifying receiver".

I'm using the Logitech MX Anywhere 2S with the unifying receiver and sometimes when I plug in a USB thumbdrive or hard disk, it will still cause interference. I countered that with an USB extension that brings the unifying receiver closer to the mouse and further from the USB ports behind the mini.

 

[tranceking26]

I've not had any major issues on anything except my first iPod, the Nano. Think the drive failed.

 

[Think77]

DON'T USE bluetooth.
Instead, plug in a WIRED USB keyboard.
Use a Logitech wireless mouse that has its own radio band and "unifying receiver".

Yeah, but that just goes to show that we must lower our expectations as to the quality of Apple’s products quite a bit, right?

 

[Think77]

If you brought those systems in for repair shortly after the problems started and it was just a few years after buying them, then it's an issue and your disappointment is justified.

I think, with the MBP 2010 I brought it in about 3 years after purchase (I somehow managed to live with it for that long), and with the iMac 2011 it was about 5-6 years after purchase (the graphics card didn’t die until then). Especially the iMac is (was) an otherwise perfectly working machine with a great display that now just collects dust.

 

[sneeks]

I'm using the Logitech MX Anywhere 2S with the unifying receiver and sometimes when I plug in a USB thumbdrive or hard disk, it will still cause interference. I countered that with an USB extension that brings the unifying receiver closer to the mouse and further from the USB ports behind the mini.

This sounds like the same issue I’m having with my M1 Mini, the unifying receiver works perfectly until I connect a external SSD or USB drive to the other USB A port. I may have to try a USB extension cable and see if that helps or not for me.

 

[joecomo]

My suggestions for the Mini:

DON'T USE bluetooth.
Instead, plug in a WIRED USB keyboard.
Use a Logitech wireless mouse that has its own radio band and "unifying receiver".

I haven't used Apple keyboards or mice in 20 years.

For the "sleeping issue", DON'T put the Mini "to sleep". Instead, let it be "awake, but idling". The difference in power consumed on these when sleeping vis-a-vis idling is so small as to be nearly unmeasurable. Put the DISPLAY to sleep instead, or just use a screensaver.

Unfortunately even that doesn’t always work - had a mixed track record with physical keyboards (an old one from Apple finally worked). Mac Mini is headless - so that doesn’t matter much. But for basic users these are big issues.

 

[saynotosync]

Unfortunately even that doesn’t always work - had a mixed track record with physical keyboards (an old one from Apple finally worked). Mac Mini is headless - so that doesn’t matter much. But for basic users these are big issues.

Makes me wonder what's up with the keyboards that don't work with the Mac - shouldn't they pretty much be basic HID devices adhering to the standard? I haven't had an issue with my mechanical keyboard and I can't say that it comes from a big, well-known brand. Maybe Macs don't implement some parts of the USB standard correctly, or maybe that's what the keyboards do sometimes (and Windows USB implementation is more robust to account for that).

 

[Boyd01]

Never had a problem using wired keyboards with any of my Macs, including the 2012, 2014 and 2018 Mini. Using a cheap Windows keyboard on the 2014 Mini right now. Have also seen very few threads here about problems with wired keyboards.

 

[usagora]

I've owned:
2005 Mac Mini G4
2007 21.5" iMac
2008 MacBook
2012 27" iMac
2012 13" MacBook Air
2019 27" iMac 5k
2020 MacBook Air M1

The 2008 MacBook's display backlight inverter started going bad after 6-7 years (I'd have to keep moving the lid up and down to get the backlight to come on) and none of the TB ports on my 2012 27" iMac worked (not sure if DOA or went bad - never really tried to use them until years down the road as I had no TB devices). Other than that, no issues that I can think of.

 

[TheRealAlex]

I just realized that 3 out of the 5 Macs I've owned have been plagued with well-known issues:

MacBook Pro 15" mid 2010: Graphics artifacts on the screen ("red dots all over the screen"). I lived with it for a couple of years, as I somehow didn't have time for a two week down time period. But when I did bring it in for repair (Apple had acknowledged this was a wide spread issue and warranted a free repair), they wouldn't make the repair, since apparently I should have brought it in a month before. Ok, my bad, but still not the best experience.

iMac 27" 2011: The dreaded graphics card issue. The 6970M died. But again, when it did so, it was seemingly too late for Apple to do the repair (even though they had acknowledged the issue as wide spread).

That gives me 2 dead Macs - one is tucked away in the attic, and one collects dust on a shelve somewhere.

Mac Mini M1 2020: Bluetooth and screen not waking up issues. Well known current issues. Apple has yet to recognize the issues officially, as far as I know. It's extremely annoying, and I've fallen out of love with the machine, even though I really want our relationship to work out.

Mac Pro 2009: No problems!! (Still using it)

MacBook Pro 2015: No problems!! (Still using it)

I guess my take on this is: Do I have unrealistic expectations as to what Apple (hardware) can and should be?

I returned my M1 MacMini but after reading your post, I just realized how long my MacMini would take to wake up the display after I moved the mouse or touched the keyboard. 30 seconds easy. Where as my PC takes 2 seconds to turn on the display. I returned it for other reasons. But this was getting to be a headache.

Also Apple has the next Gen M2 Chip in production 5 month in after launching the M2.

 

[joecomo]

Makes me wonder what's up with the keyboards that don't work with the Mac - shouldn't they pretty much be basic HID devices adhering to the standard? I haven't had an issue with my mechanical keyboard and I can't say that it comes from a big, well-known brand. Maybe Macs don't implement some parts of the USB standard correctly, or maybe that's what the keyboards do sometimes (and Windows USB implementation is more robust to account for that).

This is an issue I only had with the new M1 Mac mini - was one of the first ones produced. I had good performance using the usb-c port with an adapter though. I think it is a hardware issue of these first units. The bluetooth problem and the monitor waking are specific mac mini issues that they all have.