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Molcroft

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 13, 2016
71
35
UK
Just got a reply from my local Apple specialist with a quote for replacing my Fusiondrive with an 1 TB SSD in my late 2014 5k 27" iMac, the total was £750 (approx 970 USD). Anyone know what the going rate usually is for this kind of work? IMHO the quote I was given seems to be a bit high.
 

alphaswift

macrumors 6502
Aug 26, 2014
429
1,280
A 1TB Samsung is $150, so they want about $800+ for labour. I would tell them several impolite and unkind things.
 
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iluvmacs99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2019
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Just got a reply from my local Apple specialist with a quote for replacing my Fusiondrive with an 1 TB SSD in my late 2014 5k 27" iMac, the total was £750 (approx 970 USD). Anyone know what the going rate usually is for this kind of work? IMHO the quote I was given seems to be a bit high.

According to the iFixit site, it takes roughly 1 to 2 hrs to replace the drive inside this iMac to a SSD and it is not an easy job to separate the screen from the chassis. The price, perhaps, is in lieu of the 2 hr labour cost (approx $70-$100/hr labour x2 ) plus a possible cost of a new screen (you pay for it, even though they damaged it) if they would have cracked it because the adhesive bonding Apple used is quite sturdy. That's because, if you crack the screen yourself while attempting your own upgrade, you also have to pay for the replacement screen as well.

Perhaps ask them if the cost of the upgrade includes the screen replacement. If so, are you willing to sign some documents to absolve the liability of screen damage to save some money? Usually stores don't offer this because the screen is always a contentious issue. That's been my experience as I work/volunteer for a computer store who regularly refurbished Macs and PCs and screens are always issues customer complain after repairs, because you sometimes aren't going to get exactly the workmanship of the original screen placement. Ask them if this is the case and perhaps the Apple Store, if they are in your area, would probably be able to quote you similar pricing but with better warranty support.
 
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bbednarz

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2017
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Depends on how comfortable you are with this stuff, but you can do it much much cheaper. That is an asinine price.
 

iluvmacs99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2019
920
673
The 27" iMac 5K retina replacement screen is $503 US on eBay alone. Add $100-150 US labour + $150 for 1Tb SSD and misc stuff which equals to $800 USD of sort. It is not an asinine price; but rather taking off the screen is tough and always is a gamble. Can you fully 100% guarantee that if you do it yourself that you won't damage the screen?
 

bbednarz

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The 27" iMac 5K retina replacement screen is $503 US on eBay alone. Add $100-150 US labour + $150 for 1Tb SSD and misc stuff which equals to $800 USD of sort. It is not an asinine price; but rather taking off the screen is tough and always is a gamble. Can you fully 100% guarantee that if you do it yourself that you won't damage the screen?
If the person you're paying to do this work believes that there is a good chance they will break the screen in the process then I would suggest they are not very good and you should look elsewhere... Making someone pay $500 just in case you break the screen seems way way off.
 

iluvmacs99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2019
920
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If the person you're paying to do this work believes that there is a good chance they will break the screen in the process then I would suggest they are not very good and you should look elsewhere... Making someone pay $500 just in case you break the screen seems way way off.

Watch this video. Apple refused to replace the screen of the iMac even if they would "PAY" for it. That's Apple Inc. So even Apple isn't very good at fixing their stuff, that they would send you to a third party repair shop and order the part from Apple with Apple Pro certification, which didn't exist then yet.

 

bbednarz

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Watch this video. Apple refused to replace the screen of the iMac even if they would "PAY" for it. That's Apple Inc. So even Apple isn't very good at fixing their stuff, that they would send you to a third party repair shop and order the part from Apple with Apple Pro certification, which didn't exist then yet.

iFixit has it as a moderate difficulty. I watched the first few seconds of the video and the break occurred from the screen being dropped (kind of looked like he did it on purpose)... But even if it wasn't that is an issue with the person doing a poor job replacing the screen. Isn't this guy kind of known for clickbaity videos?
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,333
4,724
Georgia
As everyone else has stated. That price is absurd.

Just use an external Thunderbolt SSD. You'll get great performance. No labor charges. Plus no worries about the screen not looking right afterward or getting damaged.
 

iluvmacs99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2019
920
673
iFixit has it as a moderate difficulty. I watched the first few seconds of the video and the break occurred from the screen being dropped (kind of looked like he did it on purpose)... But even if it wasn't that is an issue with the person doing a poor job replacing the screen. Isn't this guy kind of known for clickbaity videos?

Actually, that's the typical accident that would happen to those newer iMacs when the tech either takes the screen out or puts it back in. What most people don't really realize and is not quite illustrated on the iFixit website is that the reason why the person was holding the screen so close by his chest at such close range to the chassis is because, Apple designed the connecting flex between the screen and motherboard so short that that's the only distance to create a gap in between to disconnect the flex. If you are too far from the chassis then you'll rip the flex and say goodbye to the screen. If you're too close to the chassis, then you don't have enough clearance or room to disconnect or re-connect the flex. So what he was doing was assembling the screen in a very precarious situation. When you get the screen out safely, the repair and update is super easy. It is moderately difficult for an AASP (Apple technician) to work on this, but if you watch part 2 and 3 of his video series, you'll see that Apple charges third party repair shops basically for any mistakes they made. This dude ended up getting Louis Rossman to help fix his iMac Pro. Even Louise struggles a bit with this iMac. And Louise is not an amateur by any means! If the screen is not defective, but the tech broke it, then the shop gets charged for the new part. This was in part to discourage third party shops from selling used Apple parts on eBay. If you don't know; repair shops are basically 100% liable for even Apple's warranty repair. Sometimes, Apple third party repair shop won't even fix repairs because if they know they are going to be liable for their own damage, then they'll just send you to Apple and you'll end up buying a new Mac.

The iFixit video made it look like it's not hard, but the fact of the matter is, it is. I have experience working with those machines myself and despite my years of experience in electronics (close to 30 years), I still make mistakes. All technicians will make mistakes. To say that a technician will never ever make a single mistake repairing electronic devices is, at least to me, an egotistical and arrogant tech. I've never met a tech that made zero mistakes in his or her repair life. And that's what I think the shop is accounting it for. The iMac is not as simple to work with compared to a Mac Mini or a Mac Pro; both of which don't have built-in screen.
 
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bbednarz

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iFixit has it as a moderate difficulty. I watched the first few seconds of the video and the break occurred from the screen being dropped (kind of looked like he did it on purpose)... But even if it wasn't that is an issue with the person doing a poor job replacing the screen. Isn't this guy kind of known for clickbaity videos?

edit: just finished watching the video. This was in regards to the newly released iMac Pro. Not a standard iMac.
 

iluvmacs99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2019
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They are both identical to take the screen off. The iMac Pro, then, didn't have a replacement screen to be easily purchased. With a normal iMac, as I just said, a replacement screen can be purchased. If you watch part 2 and 3 of his video, you'll see that Apple's repair practice is basically to make you buy a new Mac every few years rather than fixing it.
 

bbednarz

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Nov 16, 2017
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They are both identical to take the screen off. The iMac Pro, then, didn't have a replacement screen to be easily purchased. With a normal iMac, as I just said, a replacement screen can be purchased. If you watch part 2 and 3 of his video, you'll see that Apple's repair practice is basically to make you buy a new Mac every few years rather than fixing it.
I get that, but then what was the point of the video in this discussion? They didn't have the part available. If they don't have the part they can't fix the machine. That doesn't really have anything to do with the difficulty of fixing it. Sure techs make mistakes, no one is perfect, but you don't build that into the cost of replacing a hard drive.
 

iluvmacs99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2019
920
673
I get that, but then what was the point of the video in this discussion? They didn't have the part available. If they don't have the part they can't fix the machine. That doesn't really have anything to do with the difficulty of fixing it. Sure techs make mistakes, no one is perfect, but you don't build that into the cost of replacing a hard drive.

I guess you didn't really get the point of the video. The point is that, no technician will want to practice how to open this iMac, knowing that one mistake makes them liable for their customer's brand new machine, because you can't even get the parts to fix it! The difference between iFixIt and an Apple authorized repair shop is that, iFixit bought their own machines to take them apart. They are not liable for any damage other than themselves! And their technicians have many opportunities to practice on those machines, so obviously they are going to get really good at fixing things.

In the good old days of repairs of most electronics equipment, it is "DURING" the warranty period that all the technicians who hadn't been trained and gotten the experience would have had that 1 to 3 years warranty grace period, where the manufacturer would eat up the cost of the damaged parts, knowing that the techs are in the learning period. Certainly, when some techs are causing more damage than the average norm, then those technicians will be recalled, re-trained and re-certified. And if there are too many mistakes made, then those techs will loose certification. But the bottom line is that, the manufacturer would eat the cost of the damaged parts under warranty repair, because manufacturers then understood that maintaining good customer service was ultra important. That was then. Today, it is the technician or the shop who is NOW liable for any damaged non-defective part repaired under warranty. So if you damaged the screen or the logic board when you first work on the computer, the liability is on the tech and shop. Some shops would take on this liability and eat the cost simply because, it is the cost of doing business. But today, parts costs are just obscenely high (no thanks to Apple Inc -- please view chapter 2 and 3 of the video) that you are better off buying a new computer than fixing it under warranty. Which is why you hear this so common that when your Mac fails, there's a high chance that you are going to be buying a new Mac. Older Macs are somewhat repairable, whereas newer Macs are increasingly more difficult to repair.

So basically, it is Apple's policy to ensure that no used parts are sold on the internet that is causing this lack of technician experience. So yes, you can say that the OP should not be paying for the technician's training or mistakes. But it's not that tech's fault. It is Apple and Apple's drive to not allow third party shops to repair their products. So if you don't allow someone to repair your product by making that someone fully liable for his/her mistakes and no parts support, how then can that someone gain the experience to open up the iMac or even bother when the odds are stacked against the third party tech?!? Somehow Apple expects the techs to spiritually beam this experience without taking apart a single iMac. This was the main theme of the video. It is Apple's attempt to stop people from fixing their computer. Some people use iFixit as always an excuse that these techs should know better. iFixit buys their computers to be dismantled. The techs in the independent shops don't and how fair is it for the tech, who is only earning slightly above minimum wage, has to shoulder the complete burden of the total replacement costs mandated by Apple if they make a mistake? Best insurance policy; charge the customer for the potential damage that it may incur. The OP and the tech at the shop has at best a 50/50 chance of not breaking the screen. An experienced iFixit tech would have a far better odds of not breaking the screen, but that is not an iFixit tech the OP is getting.
 
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Molcroft

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 13, 2016
71
35
UK
Thanks for all the replies!

I thought about doing this myself but I just can't find the time to do it, but it may be a good project over Christmas while having the in-laws visiting :) Now I feel tempted upgrading both SSD and CPU.

Anyways, I found quite a few places charging around £150 further south in the country for the work meaning I should total around £250 (323 USD) incl labour and parts. Seems I live in an expensive part of the country, or simply the Apple specialist didn't wanted to do the job.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,205
13,266
Like MacManiac said, that's highway robbery.

I'm going to give you the best "Mac tip" you're ever going to get, so listen up:

The fastest, easiest, safest and CHEAPEST way to get more speed out that 2014 iMac is to buy a Samsung t5 external USB3 SSD (either 512gb or 1tb), plug it in, and then set it up to become the boot drive.

You will then see read speeds of 430mbps and writes in the 350+/- range (or better).

If the current fusion drive is 1tb, you can use CarbonCopyCloner (FREE to download and use for 30 days) to "clone over" the contents of the internal fusion drive to the external SSD, and you'll be back up-and-running afterwards.

So easy, that it's one of the tasks I can confidently call "child's play" on a Mac.

This will give you 2-3 more years out of the iMac, if you want that many.
 
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