Nothing like getting a recall before the product even arrives. Apple has lost some tarnish with me over this. I called support an hour ago and the guy who answered had not heard of the e-mail so he transferred me to sales (news to them as well.) I had to go on hold a third time listening to music a few notches below disco before someone in Apple Care could authenticate the message and speak with knowledge on the e-mail. He told me to bring my external drive that TM backs up to when I bring the machine down to be fixed, or I could fix it and they'd talk me through it (Yeah! Right!)
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Apple Recalls Some iMac Seagate 1TB Hard Drives
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Open system profiler and look in the SATA pane.
Seagate was once the maker of some of the most reliable HD's around but since about 2008 when the .11 series came out they have been nothing short of 2nd rate.
WD on the other hand is the exact opposite. A one time not so great company but now they are one of my favs. The Black series in particular.
Seagate has taken a downfall the last few years. The Barracuda drives had a firmware issue where it would tell the heads to move to a area of the disk that didn't exist halting it on boot. Nothing more frustrating that loosing 750GB of data because of a firmware mistake.
In the last 20 so years I've been using computers, Western Digital is the shining star as far as my experience with brands go.
In the last 20 so years I've been using computers, Western Digital is the shining star as far as my experience with brands go.
I checked recently with my store before purchasing the new iMac if they could add a second SSD for me since I would have preferred to get one with either a bigger (512) or two (256) SSD drives - I was told that the Apple Store does not handle SSD drives and that they can't put them in (or are not allowed)
I am in system profiler at this minute, and my HD reports as
Model: ST31000528AS
edit: Google confirms it as a Segate and is littered with people with issues... ah fudgesticks. Should I contact Apple on Monday then to get this sorted?
edit2 : Run my serial through the Apple website, and mines clear.
*me gusta*
Model: ST31000528AS
edit: Google confirms it as a Segate and is littered with people with issues... ah fudgesticks. Should I contact Apple on Monday then to get this sorted?
edit2 : Run my serial through the Apple website, and mines clear.
*me gusta*
I'm considering buying another iMac : like SixeL, how can I know what kind of hard drive is (will be) installed?
I just know I'll get my iMac back with dust behind the screen.
Not real happy about this. Would almost rather a refund. Such is the risk with the all-in-one design
Not real happy about this. Would almost rather a refund. Such is the risk with the all-in-one design
I'm getting my updated iMac next month and i'm going to get the 2TB drive. Who primarily makes that? I know it used to be WD but is it now back to Seagate?
just entered my SN and it looks like I've got a bad one,.. I really like my iMac and not saying the Apple tech wont do a good job.. but what are the chances of dust getting between the glass and monitor,.. scratches,.. "other issues"?? plus,. i really dont want to carry a 27in imac through the mall, not to mention the parking lot....
I've got AppleCare and I let time machine run at default settings (so i should have a good backup), maybe they would let me keep the bad drive until just before i sell it in 2 years, basically get it replaced then sell it...
I've got AppleCare and I let time machine run at default settings (so i should have a good backup), maybe they would let me keep the bad drive until just before i sell it in 2 years, basically get it replaced then sell it...
...still a chance that the iMacs (demos) in store are different from the ones in stock (in sealed boxes)...
Ideally, that should be specified on the outer box.
I qualify too..
My new 27" iMac actually does have HD discovered before this email came to me. So, lucky me!
My new 27" iMac actually does have HD discovered before this email came to me. So, lucky me!
Hard drive advice, please! Fan noise?
I have the affected drive and was hoping to use this opportunity to upgrade my disk capacity. I spoke with a local authorized reseller who told me that the drives in these iMacs have a special temperature reader that controls the fan on the disk, and if you install a third-party drive your fan will spin non-stop. He says a solution is to get fan control software. The other option would be to pay nearly $500 for a 2 GB drive from Apple! (Drives that size on Amazon are $80.)
Does anyone have any experience with fan control software? I use my Mac to record music, so fan noise could be a serious problem for me. I have less than 10 GB left on this drive as it is. Should I upgrade, or just swap my 1 TB for another 1 TB?
Also, I remember reading that it's possible to upgrade the video card in these iMacs. Does anyone know anything about this? What graphics cards can be used, and where can they be purchased? If the screen is coming off my iMac, it'd be nice to make any upgrades now.
I have the affected drive and was hoping to use this opportunity to upgrade my disk capacity. I spoke with a local authorized reseller who told me that the drives in these iMacs have a special temperature reader that controls the fan on the disk, and if you install a third-party drive your fan will spin non-stop. He says a solution is to get fan control software. The other option would be to pay nearly $500 for a 2 GB drive from Apple! (Drives that size on Amazon are $80.)
Does anyone have any experience with fan control software? I use my Mac to record music, so fan noise could be a serious problem for me. I have less than 10 GB left on this drive as it is. Should I upgrade, or just swap my 1 TB for another 1 TB?
Also, I remember reading that it's possible to upgrade the video card in these iMacs. Does anyone know anything about this? What graphics cards can be used, and where can they be purchased? If the screen is coming off my iMac, it'd be nice to make any upgrades now.
Just cancelled my 27" imac ordered yesterday after reading this.
I wouldn't mind if it was a laptop I had to take in but I dont have a car and the nearest repair place is miles away. Not prepared to lug around a huge imac on the bus at any rate.
Might get a laptop instead now. Just seems like a lot less headache for when problems do arise for those without transport...
I wouldn't mind if it was a laptop I had to take in but I dont have a car and the nearest repair place is miles away. Not prepared to lug around a huge imac on the bus at any rate.
Might get a laptop instead now. Just seems like a lot less headache for when problems do arise for those without transport...
Sounds familiar, often AppleCare advisors (I've been one myself) get this kind of information to late, they get absolutely zero information about anything before everyone else gets it and usually it's delivered in an anonymous news article that no one has time to read because they're expected to be logged in and ready to take calls the second their shift starts.
I've never understood the "Apple cares about their customers" argument, they only care about you for more than 90 days if you pay them an additional small fortune. HP gives several years (no formal limitation) of free technical support vs. Apples 90 days, Asus gives 2 years of warranty for their computers vs. Apples 1 year. Macs are computers that are touted as lasting for much longer than PC's, 5 years, even more, yet Apple can't guarantee they last for more than one year.
In my country, iTunes Store support is only available on english by e-mail. This is a service where people give out their credit card info, and when something goes wrong they can't even talk to a person in their native language (people call AppleCare ofcourse, but we simply couldn't do anything for the customers other than referr them to the english speaking iTunes Store support).
Back on topic; why do Apple even use Seagate drives, the crappiest drives on the market from my own experience? Isn't Macs supposed to contain quality parts that are better than what you can find in the PC market?
I ordered my imac May 2nd. Do I have the option of sending it back for a replacement?
I have until July 2012 to replace it at no charge. The e-mail from Apple said "a very small number of 1TB Seagate hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail under certain conditions." Maybe I can tough it out and it won't fail?
If I waited until after July of 2012 when the program ends and it fails, what could I expect to pay to purchase a drive and have it installed? I'm thinking maybe I should just wait and hope (pray?)
I have until July 2012 to replace it at no charge. The e-mail from Apple said "a very small number of 1TB Seagate hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail under certain conditions." Maybe I can tough it out and it won't fail?
If I waited until after July of 2012 when the program ends and it fails, what could I expect to pay to purchase a drive and have it installed? I'm thinking maybe I should just wait and hope (pray?)
This is really strange given that I have received no email from Apple yet - I ran my computer's serial through the website and says I am within their time window. I wonder whether they've narrowed it down to specific models or specific factories that received particular batches of hard disks - the most frustrating thing is that I have to go 30km into town to get it sorted out :/
Risk if you have Time Machine
If you use Time Machine, everything is backed up. Time Machine let's you also go back to older versions of files...ie you can go back to what existed at some past point in time. But relative to this issue, or any hard drive issue in general, Time Machine serves as a second copy.
I feel for those that have no backup at all. Things happen....
If you use Time Machine, everything is backed up. Time Machine let's you also go back to older versions of files...ie you can go back to what existed at some past point in time. But relative to this issue, or any hard drive issue in general, Time Machine serves as a second copy.
I feel for those that have no backup at all. Things happen....
To those throwing their favor towards Western Digital as opposed to Seagate:
They all suck!
Western Digital
Seagate
Toshiba
Maxtor
Hitachi
The more drives you have to deal with on a daily/weekly/yearly basis the sooner you realize that they are all crap.
Do yourself a favor and pop on a site like New Egg and try to find a drive with a 5 star rating - good luck.
It's shocking to think that in my little basement museum I have an old SPARC workstation, IBM PS/2 (286), an old AT&T 386 and a Packard Bell 486 DX/2 all with functioning ancient hard drives. All the new/newer equipment I own or my company owns are ticking time-bombs for HD's in my mind. It is always a crapshoot no matter what brand of drive we pick. When we buy drives we always buy two because we plan for the first one failing within the first three months or being DOA.
They all suck!
Western Digital
Seagate
Toshiba
Maxtor
Hitachi
The more drives you have to deal with on a daily/weekly/yearly basis the sooner you realize that they are all crap.
Do yourself a favor and pop on a site like New Egg and try to find a drive with a 5 star rating - good luck.
It's shocking to think that in my little basement museum I have an old SPARC workstation, IBM PS/2 (286), an old AT&T 386 and a Packard Bell 486 DX/2 all with functioning ancient hard drives. All the new/newer equipment I own or my company owns are ticking time-bombs for HD's in my mind. It is always a crapshoot no matter what brand of drive we pick. When we buy drives we always buy two because we plan for the first one failing within the first three months or being DOA.