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Apple Expands Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program for 2009-2011 iMacs
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Oh heck
Never received any email from Apple but checking our two 2010 i7 iMacs both qualify for the replacement.
Thankfully both have to go in for repair, one for a borked SuperDrive, and the other for a display showing distorted grey blobs / discoloured paternnation. Guess i'll have to get the HDD's replaced at same time now too.
Never received any email from Apple but checking our two 2010 i7 iMacs both qualify for the replacement.
Thankfully both have to go in for repair, one for a borked SuperDrive, and the other for a display showing distorted grey blobs / discoloured paternnation. Guess i'll have to get the HDD's replaced at same time now too.
until April 12, 2013
Why so specific? New Macs at that date? Who knows...
Name change to Itoys, and Macs discontinued?
I went through the process with the Seagate HD recall just before it expired back in July. I didn't think anything was wrong with the HD myself as it worked well but it gave me a chance to go to an Apple Authorized repair center and have them put in a SSD since they were already opening the iMac up (I've got apple care and wanted to keep it active).
One thing i did notice was a speed increase from the old HD to the new, with Blackmagic I was getting 60-70 read writes with the old seagate HD and now with the replacement I'm seeing 90-100 read writes (the replacement was a seagate drive).
To the question about your personal data on your drive, I ran the secure erase option from the mac OS boot CD to ensure the data was not easily retrieved. It basically writes 0s and 1s across your HD numerous times to make it difficult to retrieve the data. I do all my taxes electronically and keep a lot of my records in pdf format that I would prefer not giving out or maybe Im just paranoid.
One thing i did notice was a speed increase from the old HD to the new, with Blackmagic I was getting 60-70 read writes with the old seagate HD and now with the replacement I'm seeing 90-100 read writes (the replacement was a seagate drive).
To the question about your personal data on your drive, I ran the secure erase option from the mac OS boot CD to ensure the data was not easily retrieved. It basically writes 0s and 1s across your HD numerous times to make it difficult to retrieve the data. I do all my taxes electronically and keep a lot of my records in pdf format that I would prefer not giving out or maybe Im just paranoid.
Hmm, the hard drive in my iMac from 2009 failed a few months after I bought it. I had it replaced but apparently am still eligible for a replacement.
I'd imagine that they just put a new 1TB Seagate in.
Any one know if this is true? Don't really want to have to lug it across Amsterdam to be told to go home again. I have noticed a performance drop on my iMac in the last half year, although this could of course be from the OS.
I'd imagine that they just put a new 1TB Seagate in.
Any one know if this is true? Don't really want to have to lug it across Amsterdam to be told to go home again. I have noticed a performance drop on my iMac in the last half year, although this could of course be from the OS.
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The Apple website on the issue says that you will need the original disk that came with the mac to install everything again, so it appears they just throw in a blank HDD
From my recollection, it was 2009, I had to install the OS when my iMac was returned to me.
I saw that article last year as well, but it seems that product is still not available.
And of course, using HDD fan control is a heck of a lot easier than installing and wiring in a new piece of electronics inside your iMac.
I knew it, since Seagate have bought Maxtor their quality went deep down. For the past 4 years I've had to replace 7 Seagate drives of different kind-from 3.5" external, internal to 2.5" external and internal.
I will never buy anything Seagate ever !!!
Several years ago I quit buying Seagate drives when I found that they were failing in external drives for no apparent reason. They certainly were not being bumped or even moved.
Ugh...
I'm still not eligible!
I have a 27-inch, Mid 2011 iMac, purchased around June 2011. It's been running fine, but I've been wary of the hard drive. It's loud, noisy and can be very slow. When this program was originally announced I checked my serial number against their system and it said it was not eligible.
So today I did the same thing... again, and got the same message:
The iMac serial number you entered is not eligible for this program. No further action on your part is needed at this time.
Do I have to wait for the damn thing to fail for them to finally realize my hard drive is acting funny and should be replaced? I wouldn't be as worried if replacing the HD with another model myself would cause the fans to go nuts due to the whole temperature sensor thing.
I'm still not eligible!
I have a 27-inch, Mid 2011 iMac, purchased around June 2011. It's been running fine, but I've been wary of the hard drive. It's loud, noisy and can be very slow. When this program was originally announced I checked my serial number against their system and it said it was not eligible.
So today I did the same thing... again, and got the same message:
The iMac serial number you entered is not eligible for this program. No further action on your part is needed at this time.
Do I have to wait for the damn thing to fail for them to finally realize my hard drive is acting funny and should be replaced?
I wouldn't be as worried if replacing the HD with another model myself would cause the fans to go nuts due to the whole temperature sensor thing.
I'm still not eligible!
I have a 27-inch, Mid 2011 iMac, purchased around June 2011. It's been running fine, but I've been wary of the hard drive. It's loud, noisy and can be very slow. When this program was originally announced I checked my serial number against their system and it said it was not eligible.
So today I did the same thing... again, and got the same message:
The iMac serial number you entered is not eligible for this program. No further action on your part is needed at this time.
Do I have to wait for the damn thing to fail for them to finally realize my hard drive is acting funny and should be replaced?
Do you have a Seagate HDD in your iMac?
Whew! I saw this story last night before going to sleep. My 2010 iMac falls into this category for time period and HDD size. I wondered if mine was a Seagate or not.
I just checked and it's not. I have one with a Western Digital HDD so I shouldn't have to worry. I really didn't want to go through the inconvenience of taking it in and all that hassle. It's an hours drive to my nearest store and the traffic getting there is horrible; so I only go to the Apple Store if I have to.
I just checked and it's not. I have one with a Western Digital HDD so I shouldn't have to worry. I really didn't want to go through the inconvenience of taking it in and all that hassle. It's an hours drive to my nearest store and the traffic getting there is horrible; so I only go to the Apple Store if I have to.
At least this explains the sudden drop in performance from my late 09 imac. It's getting quite slow. I just don't fancy having to go to an apple store with it. I had to go recently with my 4s and it's so awkward, theres no set procedure for going to the genius bar, I was just stood there like a dork until someone came over. Can't imagine what it will be like with the imac.
Plus I have over 700GB of stuff on it thank I'm keen to keep safe. It does have file vault enabled so I suppose a secure erase coupled with file vault will be ok?
Plus I have over 700GB of stuff on it thank I'm keen to keep safe. It does have file vault enabled so I suppose a secure erase coupled with file vault will be ok?
I just got my iMac back from Applestore to repair the audio in but I have had problems with the hard drive as well. My first replacement was the HDD failing within a week of purchase so I was given a brand new iMac (Jan-2010) with 1TB Segate and then in February 2011 the HDD failed again but it was also replaced with a 1TB Segate HDD. Somewhat glad to hear they are finally doing something about these bad Seagate HDD.. I'm going to give my iMac to a family member so I do not mind taking it in again but let's hope this will solve whatever issue it is causing and that they wont damage my housing like they did the first time of repair!
Yep, either the hard drive or the Power Supply.
Tho I have computers that are almost 20 years old, with the hard drives that will work well.
Hard drives typically should have a decent lifespan as long as they are kept cool, heat is by far the biggest killer.
Well, THIS would've made my experience of (Mom + I) driving to Michigan, having to get a manager on the floor, and (Mom + I) going back to Michigan two more times, because my Mid-2011 (with a Seagate drive), died on me 4 months into service.
The Genius said my iMac wasn't in the recall, which was [partially] true. The recall was for 2010 iMacs. I had to get a manager on the floor to call Apple, and get them to physically check the drive's serial number against their records. It was in the database of drives needing recall.
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Same issue I had! I loaded (slowly) QuickTime X, and started an audio recording. The iSight Camera's microphone is right next to the hard drive. I got a nice 50 second clip of the hard drive clicking and grinding. Played that for the Genius/Store Manager (read above), and they replaced it immediately. The store I was at (Briarwood, Ann Arbor, MI) didn't have the replacement drive in stock. So, he called one of the other stores in the Detroit Metro area (that had the part), and at the end of that day, he literally drove to the other store, got the part, and took it back. iMac was repaired the next morning. And I got a free iPhone case.
The Genius said my iMac wasn't in the recall, which was [partially] true. The recall was for 2010 iMacs. I had to get a manager on the floor to call Apple, and get them to physically check the drive's serial number against their records. It was in the database of drives needing recall.
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I'm still not eligible!
I have a 27-inch, Mid 2011 iMac, purchased around June 2011. It's been running fine, but I've been wary of the hard drive. It's loud, noisy and can be very slow. When this program was originally announced I checked my serial number against their system and it said it was not eligible.
So today I did the same thing... again, and got the same message:
The iMac serial number you entered is not eligible for this program. No further action on your part is needed at this time.
Do I have to wait for the damn thing to fail for them to finally realize my hard drive is acting funny and should be replaced?
Same issue I had! I loaded (slowly) QuickTime X, and started an audio recording. The iSight Camera's microphone is right next to the hard drive. I got a nice 50 second clip of the hard drive clicking and grinding. Played that for the Genius/Store Manager (read above), and they replaced it immediately. The store I was at (Briarwood, Ann Arbor, MI) didn't have the replacement drive in stock. So, he called one of the other stores in the Detroit Metro area (that had the part), and at the end of that day, he literally drove to the other store, got the part, and took it back. iMac was repaired the next morning. And I got a free iPhone case.
So if I take my 2010 iMac to the local Apple Store, will they notice my self-installed [and very likely warranty-voiding] Intel SSD? I used the proper mounting bracket, cables, and such from applecomponents.com, so it doesn't look like a hack job. The Seagate is still in its original location, but serves as a data drive.
I have no intention of doing this, as my 1TB Seagate has been problem free. It would hardly be worth the major inconvenience of dragging my iMac across town and through parking garage/mall. I'm just curious in the event the drive does start having problems between now and April 2013.
I have no intention of doing this, as my 1TB Seagate has been problem free. It would hardly be worth the major inconvenience of dragging my iMac across town and through parking garage/mall. I'm just curious in the event the drive does start having problems between now and April 2013.
For all of you that want real iMac news: http://9to5mac.com/2012/10/14/redes...d-screen-13-inch-retina-mbp-spotted-in-china/
Refunds!!!
Interesting, so I wonder...i had this conversation with the apple genius before they replaced my seagate 1TB hard drive...I had all the symptoms that the 2011 iMac had and i have a seagate hard drive in my 2010 iMac, and I tried to talk them into replacing it for free, but no hard feelings I paid them to replace (would of did it myself but i was lazy lol)....anyways so what about all the people who paid $270 to get there hard drive replace which is now covered for a free replacement??? I know I'm not the only one!
UPDATE: I called Apple and the 1st Level guy immediately passed me off to a Sr. Level support. We filled out a form, he asked for personal info and the next step is review by another dept. I should hear from apple within 3 days. Once approved, I should get a bank wire refund within 4-6 weeks. 40 minute call. Pretty cool. I'm happy now.
Interesting, so I wonder...i had this conversation with the apple genius before they replaced my seagate 1TB hard drive...I had all the symptoms that the 2011 iMac had and i have a seagate hard drive in my 2010 iMac, and I tried to talk them into replacing it for free, but no hard feelings I paid them to replace (would of did it myself but i was lazy lol)....anyways so what about all the people who paid $270 to get there hard drive replace which is now covered for a free replacement??? I know I'm not the only one!
UPDATE: I called Apple and the 1st Level guy immediately passed me off to a Sr. Level support. We filled out a form, he asked for personal info and the next step is review by another dept. I should hear from apple within 3 days. Once approved, I should get a bank wire refund within 4-6 weeks. 40 minute call. Pretty cool. I'm happy now.
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