Being forced to move on.

[0989383]

I've now sold the screen, fan, internal brackets, SuperDrive, speakers, etc.

I'm buying one of the most basic but functional Windows PCs around from HP until I can save up for something nicer.

So it's goodbye Apple, hello Windows.

Perhaps I'll update on my experience if anyone wants to know

 

[Count Blah]

Thank you for pointing that out. I didn't realize that the machine got a spec bump in its last year.

No need to be rude though.

That was not my intent.

I usually know when I am rude

 

[EnderBeta]

That was not my intent.

I usually know when I am rude

ok

But seriously though good catch. I miss that generation of MacBook Pro.

 

[Count Blah]

ok

But seriously though good catch. I miss that generation of MacBook Pro.

Only because it's near and dear to my heart, as I have the 15" model, with 16Gigs of RAM and SSDs. A fantastic, upgradable machine. If only they made it with a better screen and upgraded internals, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. But Tim's Apple doesn't work that way anymore.

But on a positive note, I am looking forward to the updated iPads

 

[l.a.rossmann]

In defense of Tim Cook, this happened far before him. Macbook Airs had soldered in RAM 3 years before Steve Jobs died. The iPhone had glued in batteries that sometimes required removing the entire motherboard 5 years before Steve Jobs died. It's just their chosen path + progress of technology

 

[bopajuice]

It's not the end of the world. There are plenty of laptops out there that would get you through school. Worse case scenario buy an external keyboard. Short of that not sure what we can do for you. Another poster said you have been complaining about this for a while. Time to move on.
[doublepost=1489818677][/doublepost]

I've now sold the screen, fan, internal brackets, SuperDrive, speakers, etc.

I'm buying one of the most basic but functional Windows PCs around from HP until I can save up for something nicer.

So it's goodbye Apple, hello Windows.

Perhaps I'll update on my experience if anyone wants to know

Keep us posted. I'm sure you'll do fine.

 

[Count Blah]

In defense of Tim Cook, this happened far before him. Macbook Airs had soldered in RAM 3 years before Steve Jobs died. The iPhone had glued in batteries that sometimes required removing the entire motherboard 5 years before Steve Jobs died. It's just their chosen path + progress of technology

The Air delivered exactly what it promised, lower performance for an ultra portable Mac. I see no one here saying that was a bad choice. In fact, a more and more capable air, along with an actual Pro portable, is a awesome 1-2 punch. But instead of focusing on making the air more capable, Apple focused on making the pro more like the air.

Of course the iPhone was all glued in. That was to be expected.

 

[Sanpete]

But instead of focusing on making the air more capable, Apple focused on making the pro more like the air.

Apple has clearly made both the Air and the MBP both more capable and lighter. Most people who buy Apple products like that. A few are upset that Apple did what most of its customers prefer instead of what the few prefer, but that's how businesses typically thrive, by pleasing customers.

 

[0989383]

Update: The Mac is now gone

I bought a very cheap HP 14" Notebook running Windows 10. It was the cheapest Windows laptop with an actual hard drive and not eMMC chip. It has an AMD quad core processor E2-7110. About in line with a Pentium ffs. WHAT A REGRET.

It's not even the hardware. I'm grateful to have a 14" decent looking robust little machine. The slow speed is expected and fine. Typing on it is quick.

My Problem: WINDOWS 10.

God. What a mess. For the first two hours I was like 'Wow, this is amazing!' I thought they'd done it, that Windows was now an able competitor for the Mac for UI. That's, until I started to use it.. putting my content on it was a nightmare.. so many apps: desktop, touch, office all to do the same thing... so confusing and disorganised.

I bought the machine yesterday and today it's on Craigslist/Gumtree.. Hoping to make a minor loss from the experience.

My girlfriend lent me her iPad mini for now. Slow, old yes. But its managing my immediate needs okay. Though Excel struggles with a simple spreadhseet.. But remarkably, the battery is fantastic.

I'm hopefully going to recover the money I spent on the Windows PC. And put it to one side over the months of 2017...

What until then? Well, my dad has kindly offered to give me his 2014 iPad Air with Cellular. I'm taking it so I can continue to use my iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Drive with all my filesystem and then of course calendars, contacts, mail and whatnot. Plus I can use Word, Excel and PowerPoint for my university work. I dont think it will demand too much more than the function of the iOS editions. I have 24/7 access to their library PCs if any situations arise when i do.

Basically, I'm going iPhone SE + iPad Air as my lineup. It'll be an interesting experience.

What next?
I'm not going to Windows 10. I always saw it as a great Mac alternative now.. from the marketing anyway. Now I know better. I didnt want to go to the Mac given my experience with my Pro that you have all read about. Now, I'm thinking A) if the iPad works, continue to use it for as long as I can - I have university PCs for the rest and perhaps when I go to work I'll have work PCs there too. B) if the iPad doesnt work, my only other choice is another Mac. Only.. this time, with Apple Care so that if coming up to its third birthday its keyboard wears out it's all covered.

 

[iNarcoleptic]

Update: The Mac is now gone

I bought a very cheap HP 14" Notebook running Windows 10. It was the cheapest Windows laptop with an actual hard drive and not eMMC chip. It has an AMD quad core processor E2-7110. About in line with a Pentium ffs. WHAT A REGRET.

It's not even the hardware. I'm grateful to have a 14" decent looking robust little machine. The slow speed is expected and fine. Typing on it is quick.

My Problem: WINDOWS 10.

God. What a mess. For the first two hours I was like 'Wow, this is amazing!' I thought they'd done it, that Windows was now an able competitor for the Mac for UI. That's, until I started to use it.. putting my content on it was a nightmare.. so many apps: desktop, touch, office all to do the same thing... so confusing and disorganised.

I bought the machine yesterday and today it's on Craigslist/Gumtree.. Hoping to make a minor loss from the experience.

My girlfriend lent me her iPad mini for now. Slow, old yes. But its managing my immediate needs okay. Though Excel struggles with a simple spreadhseet.. But remarkably, the battery is fantastic.

I'm hopefully going to recover the money I spent on the Windows PC. And put it to one side over the months of 2017...

What until then? Well, my dad has kindly offered to give me his 2014 iPad Air with Cellular. I'm taking it so I can continue to use my iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Drive with all my filesystem and then of course calendars, contacts, mail and whatnot. Plus I can use Word, Excel and PowerPoint for my university work. I dont think it will demand too much more than the function of the iOS editions. I have 24/7 access to their library PCs if any situations arise when i do.

Basically, I'm going iPhone SE + iPad Air as my lineup. It'll be an interesting experience.

What next?
I'm not going to Windows 10. I always saw it as a great Mac alternative now.. from the marketing anyway. Now I know better. I didnt want to go to the Mac given my experience with my Pro that you have all read about. Now, I'm thinking A) if the iPad works, continue to use it for as long as I can - I have university PCs for the rest and perhaps when I go to work I'll have work PCs there too. B) if the iPad doesnt work, my only other choice is another Mac. Only.. this time, with Apple Care so that if coming up to its third birthday its keyboard wears out it's all covered.

How long did you use this windows machine? There's a learning curve switching to any device. I've been a little frustrated switching to lax from windows but once you learn the nuance things get easier.

 

[0989383]

How long did you use this windows machine? There's a learning curve switching to any device. I've been a little frustrated switching to lax from windows but once you learn the nuance things get easier.

It's the fact I am not able to move my data across very easily and when I do I'm getting error message after error message.. More so than I'd expect.

And the Windows 10 integration with OneDrive is so poor and confusing.. I just went into detail on my latest thread in the iPad sub-forum if you want to know in more detail why I'm deciding it's a massive failure for me :-(

 

[thesaint024]

Update: The Mac is now gone

I bought a very cheap HP 14" Notebook running Windows 10. It was the cheapest Windows laptop with an actual hard drive and not eMMC chip. It has an AMD quad core processor E2-7110. About in line with a Pentium ffs. WHAT A REGRET.

It's not even the hardware. I'm grateful to have a 14" decent looking robust little machine. The slow speed is expected and fine. Typing on it is quick.

My Problem: WINDOWS 10.

God. What a mess. For the first two hours I was like 'Wow, this is amazing!' I thought they'd done it, that Windows was now an able competitor for the Mac for UI. That's, until I started to use it.. putting my content on it was a nightmare.. so many apps: desktop, touch, office all to do the same thing... so confusing and disorganised.

I bought the machine yesterday and today it's on Craigslist/Gumtree.. Hoping to make a minor loss from the experience.

My girlfriend lent me her iPad mini for now. Slow, old yes. But its managing my immediate needs okay. Though Excel struggles with a simple spreadhseet.. But remarkably, the battery is fantastic.

I'm hopefully going to recover the money I spent on the Windows PC. And put it to one side over the months of 2017...

What until then? Well, my dad has kindly offered to give me his 2014 iPad Air with Cellular. I'm taking it so I can continue to use my iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Drive with all my filesystem and then of course calendars, contacts, mail and whatnot. Plus I can use Word, Excel and PowerPoint for my university work. I dont think it will demand too much more than the function of the iOS editions. I have 24/7 access to their library PCs if any situations arise when i do.

Basically, I'm going iPhone SE + iPad Air as my lineup. It'll be an interesting experience.

What next?
I'm not going to Windows 10. I always saw it as a great Mac alternative now.. from the marketing anyway. Now I know better. I didnt want to go to the Mac given my experience with my Pro that you have all read about. Now, I'm thinking A) if the iPad works, continue to use it for as long as I can - I have university PCs for the rest and perhaps when I go to work I'll have work PCs there too. B) if the iPad doesnt work, my only other choice is another Mac. Only.. this time, with Apple Care so that if coming up to its third birthday its keyboard wears out it's all covered.

Agree with @iNarcoleptic, maybe a new OS needs a little time to get used to. With Windows, you kind of just get used to the little s**tiness here and there. I use Windows regularly and it's not that different, just not preferred for me. It's amazing how much we learn to tolerate over time.

But it sounds like you have more constraints. If you do find yourself wanting to go back to a Mac, you probably should consider the Macbook. Given that you are getting by on ipad speeds, ipad screen size, are constrained by price, constrained by Apple eco, etc., Macbook sounds like it will work for you. But the options are plenty if you choose the Windows route IF you grow to tolerate/adjust to it, most do.

 

[Lihp8270]

If an iPad is able to your work suitably. Then maybe you should revisit whether you actually need the MacBook Pro.

If you want to stay with Apple. See what they are offering refurbished on regular MacBooks.

 

[EnderBeta]

Update: The Mac is now gone

I bought a very cheap HP 14" Notebook running Windows 10. It was the cheapest Windows laptop with an actual hard drive and not eMMC chip. It has an AMD quad core processor E2-7110. About in line with a Pentium ffs. WHAT A REGRET.

It's not even the hardware. I'm grateful to have a 14" decent looking robust little machine. The slow speed is expected and fine. Typing on it is quick.

My Problem: WINDOWS 10.

God. What a mess. For the first two hours I was like 'Wow, this is amazing!' I thought they'd done it, that Windows was now an able competitor for the Mac for UI. That's, until I started to use it.. putting my content on it was a nightmare.. so many apps: desktop, touch, office all to do the same thing... so confusing and disorganised.

I bought the machine yesterday and today it's on Craigslist/Gumtree.. Hoping to make a minor loss from the experience.

My girlfriend lent me her iPad mini for now. Slow, old yes. But its managing my immediate needs okay. Though Excel struggles with a simple spreadhseet.. But remarkably, the battery is fantastic.

I'm hopefully going to recover the money I spent on the Windows PC. And put it to one side over the months of 2017...

What until then? Well, my dad has kindly offered to give me his 2014 iPad Air with Cellular. I'm taking it so I can continue to use my iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Drive with all my filesystem and then of course calendars, contacts, mail and whatnot. Plus I can use Word, Excel and PowerPoint for my university work. I dont think it will demand too much more than the function of the iOS editions. I have 24/7 access to their library PCs if any situations arise when i do.

Basically, I'm going iPhone SE + iPad Air as my lineup. It'll be an interesting experience.

What next?
I'm not going to Windows 10. I always saw it as a great Mac alternative now.. from the marketing anyway. Now I know better. I didnt want to go to the Mac given my experience with my Pro that you have all read about. Now, I'm thinking A) if the iPad works, continue to use it for as long as I can - I have university PCs for the rest and perhaps when I go to work I'll have work PCs there too. B) if the iPad doesnt work, my only other choice is another Mac. Only.. this time, with Apple Care so that if coming up to its third birthday its keyboard wears out it's all covered.

You make it sound like the machine died at three years old. It was used when you got it. No offense intended but you're making the machine sound worse then it was.

 

[thesaint024]

If an iPad is able to your work suitably. Then maybe you should revisit whether you actually need the MacBook Pro.

If you want to stay with Apple. See what they are offering refurbished on regular MacBooks.

Agree. I know MBP's are all the rage on campuses, but who cares. No computer will stop you from getting a degree. It sounds like you're already being somewhat frugal, so don't feel forced to go new Mac or even any Mac at all. Apple eco is premium priced. I'm not so sure all these students are making the right investment during school years. Everyone's financial situations and priorities are different, but I'm just considering stereotypes of starving students with massive loans. If an MBP will actually raise your GPA or get you some more a$$, then I say DO IT! But I doubt that either of these is the case.

 

[Altis]

Agree. I know MBP's are all the rage on campuses, but who cares. No computer will stop you from getting a degree. It sounds like you're already being somewhat frugal, so don't feel forced to go new Mac or even any Mac at all. Apple eco is premium priced. I'm not so sure all these students are making the right investment during school years. Everyone's financial situations and priorities are different, but I'm just considering stereotypes of starving students with massive loans. If an MBP will actually raise your GPA or get you some more a$$, then I say DO IT! But I doubt that either of these is the case.

I'm definitely seeing the number of MacBooks on campus dwindle. A few years ago, they were the most common.

Now, far fewer. The arts/social studies students probably have the most, usually MB Airs.

To my surprise, I see a ton of very generic looking laptops. I've only noticed one new MBP (touchbar generation) though it didn't have the TB, and one Surface Book, since September.

I think you're right that most students now don't really see a point in spending thousands on a computer just to do what a $500-$1000 one would do. I'm in Canada, though, where the base 13" MBP non-TB is nearly $2000 CAD (which is what the 15" started at in 2014).

 

[0989383]

You make it sound like the machine died at three years old. It was used when you got it. No offense intended but you're making the machine sound worse then it was.

It was ****ing brand new when I got it. If you're going to give cheek, check your facts! Read the post..
[doublepost=1489962722][/doublepost]

You make it sound like the machine died at three years old. It was used when you got it. No offense intended but you're making the machine sound worse then it was.

And to add to that.. the keyboard died. The machine could have went for another 3. It's Apples lousy policy stopping me from putting a good quality genuine new keyboard in it!!!

Naturally you say .. oh hell buy a new one now.. well .. £230 is a lot to spend on a 3 year old machine but vs what? 1400 on a new machine? Not a smart policy

 

[EnderBeta]

It was f*cking brand new when I got it. If you're going to give cheek, check your facts! Read the post..

Please watch your language. There is no need to curse at me. Lets go back and see exactly what you said.

I love the thing. It's a 2014 2.5GHz 13" unibody and it has plenty of life left in it yet.

It's a 2012 non retina but it was bought in 2014. Otherwise you guys would think it was 5 years old

You purchased it from a reseller and not directly from Apple. How do you know your machine was built in 2014?

And to add to that.. the keyboard died. The machine could have went for another 3. It's Apples lousy policy stopping me from putting a good quality genuine new keyboard in it!!!

Naturally you say .. oh hell buy a new one now.. well .. £230 is a lot to spend on a 3 year old machine but vs what? 1400 on a new machine? Not a smart policy

I said you had options and listed them.

The keyboard doesn't just have keys fall off. The keys have four screws per key. One for each corner on each key. The keys are all together in one piece.

This is the top of the keyboard.

This is the bottom of the key minus the backlight layer.

This is a view of the machine opened from the bottom.

The battery swelling looks like it wouldn't effect the keyboard. But it would effect the trackpad. If the trackpad was not working properly (clicks) then replace the battery.

The keys themselves on the keyboard are attached to the clips on the keyboard by what looks like metal. Nothing in the machine under the keyboard would cause the kind of pressure to make the keyboard fall apart.

Throwing it away because of the keyboard was very rash. Less then $20 to get a keyboard and a hour or so to do the tear down and swap out the keyboard. http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Origina...655222?hash=item35fbda4ff6:g:CoIAAOSwezVW0VcI

 

[0989383]

Yes, the specification of the machine in Apples regard is 'MacBook Pro 13" (Mid-2012)' however, it was purchased brand new in 2014.

The machine was sealed in its original packaging with Apple seals. When I turned it on, set it up etc I got the 90 days Apple telephone support etc and a valid purchase date which came up as that very day I set it up.

Now, I don't know how long it sat in inventory for but the box had Mavericks on it so certainly no more than about 6 months.

So that settles that: it was a brand new machine.

Secondly, I've said multiple times on this forum, I ordered an eBay keyboard in January. Fitted it. After about two minutes after logging in I was getting intermittent function from random rows of keys. Took it out. Put my original keyboard in again. Struggled on. I returned the eBay keyboard much to debate from the seller who assumed I installed it wrong and somehow when I posted it off he 'never received it' so I lost that money.

In March, as my original keyboard got so much worse, I ordered another keyboard from another seller. This one didn't work whatsoever.

At the end of the day, I don't have the time in between returning lousy quality aftermarket sub-par quality parts again and again in between having to study with this machine.

I looked up Apples costs and for £230 I'd have done it no problem only they give 90 days warranty on their work.. no way.

In the mean time I realised I'll NEVER get a proper Apple keyboard new on the aftermarket. Local PC repair shops will only source on eBay anyway.. so I thought, you know what, screw this. I need to get work done.

And also, MY BATTERY DID NOT SWELL, it just simply reached beyond 1000 recharges and naturally didn't hold charge for as long as when new. I get that. It's still one of The best batteries in a laptop. Can't argue there. BUT.. it would also need to replaced to keep this machine as my main and only one. Same story. No good aftermarket parts. Don't want to risk in Exploding or bulging as you say so I ignored this issue. Apple wanted £120 for this and again, wouldn't sell me the part. So for £350 into the machine and only 90 day warranty on it I just lost the rag and said screw it.

And used parts aren't worth the time of day. Sure, you can get a really pristine part but you'll never know and could be in the same situation again quickly.

I've also found that these eBay sellers are getting the keyboards from Chinese wholesale sites like aliExpress etc.

Not ONE would respond to me on eBay when I asked for a simple confirmation that 'this is the same part Apple would fit in their store, manufactured by them' .. funny that.

 

[Sanpete]

Apple wanted £120 for this and again, wouldn't sell me the part. So for £350 into the machine and only 90 day warranty on it I just lost the rag and said screw it.

And used parts aren't worth the time of day. Sure, you can get a really pristine part but you'll never know and could be in the same situation again quickly.

I've also found that these eBay sellers are getting the keyboards from Chinese wholesale sites like aliExpress etc.

Not ONE would respond to me on eBay when I asked for a simple confirmation that 'this is the same part Apple would fit in their store, manufactured by them' .. funny that.

Did you see this post?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/being-forced-to-move-on.2037183/page-2#post-24403525

 

[EnderBeta]

Secondly, I've said multiple times on this forum, I ordered an eBay keyboard in January. Fitted it. After about two minutes after logging in I was getting intermittent function from random rows of keys. Took it out.

Unless it was mentioned in this topic I wouldn't know. I'm not searching back through everything you ever posted to try and help.


I find it odd that you're having all kinds of bad luck. Did you break a mirror or something? I purchased a keyboard for my 2011 MacBook Pro and it worked perfectly fine the first time I purchased the part. I have never had problem with parts from eBay resellers.

I'm not saying you didn't have an issue. There are other places like Mac Parts Online http://www.macpartsonline.com/923-0...15inch-macbook-pro-late-2011-a1278-a1286.html that sell parts. They cost more but I have heard they are reliable.

And also, MY BATTERY DID NOT SWELL, it just simply reached beyond 1000 recharges and naturally didn't hold charge for as long as when new.

I only pointed out the battery because people where suggesting the battery was pushing the keys out. Since looking at it shows the battery not being under the keyboard I was saying the battery wasn't the cause of the issue. As long as the trackpad was not pushed up into a stuck position where push to click didn't work then the battery is not swollen.

I've also found that these eBay sellers are getting the keyboards from Chinese wholesale sites like aliExpress etc.

That is why I purchased used parts from parted machines.

Not ONE would respond to me on eBay when I asked for a simple confirmation that 'this is the same part Apple would fit in their store, manufactured by them' .. funny that.

Maybe they didn't know. Feel free to reach out to the community here. I'm sure someone here will know and be able to help.

 

[0989383]

Did you see this post?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/being-forced-to-move-on.2037183/page-2#post-24403525

Yes but sadly now the machine is gone

 

[macjunk(ie)]

Update: The Mac is now gone

I bought a very cheap HP 14" Notebook running Windows 10. It was the cheapest Windows laptop with an actual hard drive and not eMMC chip. It has an AMD quad core processor E2-7110. About in line with a Pentium ffs. WHAT A REGRET.

It's not even the hardware. I'm grateful to have a 14" decent looking robust little machine. The slow speed is expected and fine. Typing on it is quick.

My Problem: WINDOWS 10.

God. What a mess. For the first two hours I was like 'Wow, this is amazing!' I thought they'd done it, that Windows was now an able competitor for the Mac for UI. That's, until I started to use it.. putting my content on it was a nightmare.. so many apps: desktop, touch, office all to do the same thing... so confusing and disorganised.

I bought the machine yesterday and today it's on Craigslist/Gumtree.. Hoping to make a minor loss from the experience.

My girlfriend lent me her iPad mini for now. Slow, old yes. But its managing my immediate needs okay. Though Excel struggles with a simple spreadhseet.. But remarkably, the battery is fantastic.

I'm hopefully going to recover the money I spent on the Windows PC. And put it to one side over the months of 2017...

What until then? Well, my dad has kindly offered to give me his 2014 iPad Air with Cellular. I'm taking it so I can continue to use my iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Drive with all my filesystem and then of course calendars, contacts, mail and whatnot. Plus I can use Word, Excel and PowerPoint for my university work. I dont think it will demand too much more than the function of the iOS editions. I have 24/7 access to their library PCs if any situations arise when i do.

Basically, I'm going iPhone SE + iPad Air as my lineup. It'll be an interesting experience.

What next?
I'm not going to Windows 10. I always saw it as a great Mac alternative now.. from the marketing anyway. Now I know better. I didnt want to go to the Mac given my experience with my Pro that you have all read about. Now, I'm thinking A) if the iPad works, continue to use it for as long as I can - I have university PCs for the rest and perhaps when I go to work I'll have work PCs there too. B) if the iPad doesnt work, my only other choice is another Mac. Only.. this time, with Apple Care so that if coming up to its third birthday its keyboard wears out it's all covered.

The Windows frustration will not last long once you give it some time. Plus like you said, university and work might have PCs (I am assuming PCs stands for Windows PCs) and that will aid in the process of familiarisation. Compare the frustration of using Windows to the feeling when Apple tries to reach deep within, trying to grab your b*lls.
See which one is worse and take a call.

AppleCare is ALWAYS a good idea but to me, it has always been a hit or miss. For e.g., my 2015's ESC key fell off. Apple tells me that this is not covered in AppleCare cause it is wear and tear. Ridiculous cause I treat my MBP like a baby.
Anyway, I am used to being treated like an idiot by Apple now. I follow whatever path they have set for me.

 

[maflynn]

My Problem: WINDOWS 10.
...
I bought the machine yesterday and today it's on Craigslist/Gumtree.. Hoping to make a minor loss from the experience.

Sounds like you really didn't give it enough time, changing platforms can mean a learning curve, especially if you're not familiar with the platform. Compounding the issue, is that you bought a low end machine, and I think that in of itself will introduce its own set of frustrations.

I'm running a Surface Book, and to be honest, many of the apps run wonderful, and I think office runs better in Windows then OS X. I mean both the UIX, and features.

 

[Sanpete]

Yes but sadly now the machine is gone

Right, but you keep saying you couldn't get a proper replacement. It appears you could have. Something to keep in mind.

For e.g., my 2015's ESC key fell off.

Fell off? You mean it broke and couldn't be put back on? That's odd.