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iKnowMr.Jobs

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 17, 2010
273
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On Sunday this week, the Macbook Air listed in my signature died peacefully, due to a sudden motherboard failure, one mother after the warranty expired (how convenient). So the next day, I walked into the Apple Store with in, resembling a pallbearer of sorts, carrying a beloved lost one. The Genius told me that hope could be restored and a motherboard could be fixed and the $280 repair fee would be waived, but it'll take 5 days to get done. Awesome, no biggie since not having it at all is no more of an inconvenience than having a completely dead computer. I just got it and I'm certain that they put a new keyboard and trackpad on it. They both certainly feel different. The keys don't seem to be as raised as I recall but who knows. I refuse to be "that guy" who goes to the Bar and complain about "this feels different than it did before". But whats most interesting is that they processor on the new motherboard is a 2.0 GHz i7, not an i5 like i had before. Is any of this customary? Anyone else have an experience like this one?
 
Yes, you were lucky. :)
I did not have such experience with the Genius Bar, luckily never had to visit them for the same purpose as you.

Just to let you know, the Genius' can still service your out of warranty machine as if it were still in warranty for up to 45 after it expires. Anything beyond that, they'd need manager approval to override it. I knew that prior to this happening to me, so I wasn't totally surprised that my repair fee was waived. If something like this ever happens to anyone (not that i'd wish it upon anyone but the reality is I won't be the last guy to experience a motherboard failure), don't explicitly say you know this. Just be honest, and easy going, and they'll work with you ;)
 
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Thanks for the useful info, iKnowMr.Jobs. :)
I hope I'll never have to use this service.
What are your impressions about the overall performance of your repaired/renewed Mac? I am really curious.

Keyboard and trackpad have to be new. I'm absolutely certain that the trackpad is at least. The click is noticeably different than it was a week ago. Not in a bad way, it was used for 3 years so wear and tear on the old one was bound the happen (I'm a tap to click guy anyways). The keyboard keys definitely have a different...feel to them. Not sure if its feel or physical travel into the computer. Again, not a big deal, but it was sorta jarring to type on when I first opened it up.

As far as performance of the i7 goes, could't tell you how much faster it is than the i5 was. Personally, I never felt that the upgrade from an i5 to i7 on the machines with ULV processors was really worth the extra $200. The differences in speeds were negligible at best. iMovie exports would be 10ish seconds faster on the i7. Plus, if you're using video editors/encoders often, you bought the wrong machine for that application. Yeah it can do it once in awhile, and it'll work fine, but if you do it for a living, just get a Pro.
 
Keyboard and trackpad have to be new. I'm absolutely certain that the trackpad is at least. The click is noticeably different than it was a week ago. Not in a bad way, it was used for 3 years so wear and tear on the old one was bound the happen (I'm a tap to click guy anyways). The keyboard keys definitely have a different...feel to them. Not sure if its feel or physical travel into the computer. Again, not a big deal, but it was sorta jarring to type on when I first opened it up.

As far as performance of the i7 goes, could't tell you how much faster it is than the i5 was. Personally, I never felt that the upgrade from an i5 to i7 on the machines with ULV processors was really worth the extra $200. The differences in speeds were negligible at best. iMovie exports would be 10ish seconds faster on the i7. Plus, if you're using video editors/encoders often, you bought the wrong machine for that application. Yeah it can do it once in awhile, and it'll work fine, but if you do it for a living, just get a Pro.

Thank you for sharing you experience.
 
... I just got it and I'm certain that they put a new keyboard and trackpad on it. They both certainly feel different. The keys don't seem to be as raised as I recall but who knows. I refuse to be "that guy" who goes to the Bar and complain about "this feels different than it did before". But whats most interesting is that they processor on the new motherboard is a 2.0 GHz i7, not an i5 like i had before. Is any of this customary? Anyone else have an experience like this one?

It wouldn't surprise me if, instead of swapping out the motherboard, they just gave you a refurb'ed model with your SSD stuck in it.

I think that's not an unusual practice for these sorts of things. Gets a working product back in the customer's hands ASAP and the broken one can be fixed at the company's leisure and put in the refurb queue.
 
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It wouldn't surprise me if, instead of swapping out the motherboard, they just gave you a refurb'ed model with your SSD stuck in it.

I think that's not an unusual practice for these sorts of things. Gets a working product back in the customer's hands ASAP and the broken one can be fixed at the company's leisure and put in the refurb queue.

It seems absolutely logical. motrek, what do you think how often do they follow such practice?
 
It seems absolutely logical. motrek, what do you think how often do they follow such practice?
It wouldn't surprise me if, instead of swapping out the motherboard, they just gave you a refurb'ed model with your SSD stuck in it.

I think that's not an unusual practice for these sorts of things. Gets a working product back in the customer's hands ASAP and the broken one can be fixed at the company's leisure and put in the refurb queue.

Its definitely my old machine...at least the outside of it. Theres a distinct little mark on the black part of the hinge underneath the display, just as it was there a week ago.
 
It seems absolutely logical. motrek, what do you think how often do they follow such practice?

No idea, but I have had warranty repairs done on other products where the company ships you a refurb unit, charges you for the unit, then you ship your broken unit back to them using the same packaging, and then they give you a refund once they receive it.

It's very convenient.

Not sure how often Apple might do this, though, if they do it at all...
 
On Sunday this week, the Macbook Air listed in my signature died peacefully, due to a sudden motherboard failure, one mother after the warranty expired (how convenient). So the next day, I walked into the Apple Store with in, resembling a pallbearer of sorts, carrying a beloved lost one. The Genius told me that hope could be restored and a motherboard could be fixed and the $280 repair fee would be waived, but it'll take 5 days to get done. Awesome, no biggie since not having it at all is no more of an inconvenience than having a completely dead computer. I just got it and I'm certain that they put a new keyboard and trackpad on it. They both certainly feel different. The keys don't seem to be as raised as I recall but who knows. I refuse to be "that guy" who goes to the Bar and complain about "this feels different than it did before". But whats most interesting is that they processor on the new motherboard is a 2.0 GHz i7, not an i5 like i had before. Is any of this customary? Anyone else have an experience like this one?

I love stories such as this.
 
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