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do all apple computers have issues?

BornToMac

BornToMac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 28, 2008
622
0
Hey guys,

I have been looking at making the switch to Apple from Pc for over a year. I have spent everyday since MacExpo 07 on the Macrumors forums, watching for leopard release news, then mbp updates (santa rosa, penryn, etc), waiting until I had the means to buy one of these machines. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I bought a mbp 2.4ghz nvidia 8600 w/256ram from the online apple store. I received it last week and have already had to call tech support twice, go to the genius bar twice, archive and install, and erase and install, and now I am waiting for my shipping labels so that I can send my machine off to be exchanged for another one. My new MBP would not recognize my hard drive at first, and now the screen goes gray and requires a restart after waking from sleep mode. On top of that, the guy at the Genius Bar had no idea what to do, treated me like an idiot and was very rude. I am new to apple but I am not a computer noob for the love of god! I want to know if any of you have had this many issues with your machines / apple. :(:confused::mad:
 
I've had nothing but good experiences with Apple. My macbook shipped with a warped battery but they replaced it immediately. It wasn't that big a deal.
 
I love Leopard and the design of the mbp cant be beat, but if I am going to pay $2500 for a laptop, I shouldn't have to restart it everytime I open it.
 
DMBGuru said:
I've had nothing but good experiences with Apple. My macbook shipped with a warped battery but they replaced it immediately. It wasn't that big a deal.
Click to expand...

So you actually don't have a 100 percent track record with Apple. Warping batteries is not a "good experience". It's bad quality control.
 
I've had no problems with my MBP at all. People don't come on these forums to post about how much they love their machines - they come to ask questions about them and get advice when things go wrong. So you're really only seeing one side of the issue. You're not hearing from the people who aren't having problems. Just keep that in mind.
 
No problems at all with my 25 month old iPod shuffle, 14 month old iPod, 8 month iPhone, 5 month old iMac, or 0 month old (and non-existent as of now) updated Penryn MacBook Pro. None of these things have caused me to go to Apple for an exchange or a fix.

As others have noted, people on these forums often come looking for help with their products. Few post when their new toys have no issues.
 
To the OP:
I have had several MBPs/powerbooks, numerous motherboards exchanged, back and forth for almost two years, until I got a working one. Not to mention more iPods replaced than I can count (until I tossed the last one in the bin, giving up).
In short, Apple's build quality has plummeted – it extends to all sorts of problems, such as the sudden-shutdown-syndrome, faulty chargers, weird keyboard errors, faulty motherboards, battery recalls, warping computers, leaking computers (yes, leaking!), batteries bulging and on and on in recent years.

I am keeping my working MBP until it doesn't work anymore (hoping to get another year or even two out of it). And when it's time to upgrade, I will have learned myself linux in-depth. Hardware-wise, Apple really has to pull themselves together in order to sell me another machine. They used to be great.
 
Forgot in the above post:
Of course I won't be buying upgrades for any more apple software, until I decide which way to go. That would lock me in.

speakerwizard said:
lowest failiure rate of any computer manufaturer.
Click to expand...

Source? And please, no old numbers from four years ago.
 
Nope they really really dont all have issues.

Apple would would not exist if they did would they?

No problems here. I have had issues with EVERY SINGLE PC i have ever had.
 
No. As TheVandit said, if all Apple computers have issues, they won't be in business.

Only a small number have issues, but since mac users demand perfection AND mac users are typically more informed than the average computer user, many mac users are very vocal about any issue.

Generally people don't all say: I have no issue, I have zero issue, my computer is running perfectly, etc. Thus on discussion boards, the topics are overwhelming about issues, although chances are small that you will have any issue.
 
TheVandit said:
Nope they really really dont all have issues.

Apple would would not exist if they did would they?
Click to expand...

That's rather much like saying Coca Cola is the better product, otherwise they wouldn't sell as much as they did.

Or that McDonald's has the best burgers.

Or that Windows is the best os, otherwise they'd be out of business.
 
Consultant said:
No. As TheVandit said, if all Apple computers have issues, they won't be in business.

Only a small number have issues, but since mac users demand perfection AND mac users are typically more informed than the average computer user, many mac users are very vocal about any issue.

Generally people don't all say: I have no issue, I have zero issue, my computer is running perfectly, etc. Thus on discussion boards, the topics are overwhelming about issues, although chances are small that you will have any issue.
Click to expand...

[My emphasis]

Except he already has. So much for small chances.
 
In a nutshell, QC @ Apple is poor to mediocre. Whether it's something big (like a buggy drive) or something small (like a buggy battery), you're probably going to get some kind of issue within a year. That's why so many people here scream for you to get Apple Care (while simultaneously screaming Apple computers are better built and more reliable than PCs). You've got to accept this if you buy an Apple laptop these days.
 
I have 80+ Macs ranging from the Mac SE to the Mac Pro Quad Xeon, and everything in between. A fraction of them ever have any sort of problems...

I would guesstimate the number of my systems with problems to be about 6:

  • One PowerBook 1400c that has become schizophrenic when you touch it.
  • One PowerBook Duo 2300c whose trackpad doesn't work properly.
  • One PowerBook G4 17" whose hard drive failed.
  • One Power Mac 6500 with a dead motherboard.
  • One PowerBook 190cs that started smoking one day randomly.
  • MacBook Pro 17" warping battery after about a year - replaced for free.

As you can see, most of those systems listed are very old and it is reasonable that a few would start to have problems. They're also almost exclusively laptops, which are carried around and banged up a lot more than desktops.

I've had two systems that I damaged myself - a PowerBook Duo 280 in which I attached an IDE drive to it's SCSI bus and it went poof, and one Power Mac 8600, in which grape soda was spilled. It continues to operate. but crashes more than it should and has to be started twice to boot up.

Now out of my friend who own Macs (over 18 according to my private Facebook group dedicated to helping them) these are the problems that occur:

  • One girl's MacBook Pro battery just stopped working (not warped) - they replaced it for free.
  • Same girl as above had an iMac G5 Refurb that had random speaker popping noises and other issues. Apple replaced it with a Core Duo iMac at no charge.
  • Same girl as above has an eMac G4 that appears to have some sort of display issue.

That's pretty much it, and interestingly all from the same person.
 
heatmiser said:
In a nutshell, QC @ Apple is poor to mediocre. Whether it's something big (like a buggy drive) or something small (like a buggy battery), you're probably going to get some kind of issue within a year. That's why so many people here scream for you to get Apple Care (while simultaneously screaming Apple computers are better built and more reliable than PCs). You've got to accept this if you buy an Apple laptop these days.
Click to expand...

That is pure speculation. Otherwise, where is your data?

Here are some information on your beloved wintels:

Dell battery recall
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

HP battery recall
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06007.html

Lenovo battery recall
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=BATT-LENOVO
 
probably less than other brands

I've been a Mac man since 1989 - I've had 5 machines in that time - and have had only a very few problems, seemingly less than those of my PC associates. Definitely no virus or spyware. Nothing that required returning to the dealer or Apple. I've been on the phone to AppleCare several times, sometimes frustrated, but I generally solved my problems to my satisfaction. I've found the apple website discussions very helpful and this forum, too, in helping me learn about the computer, how to remedy or prevent problems that may or may not crop up, understand it's limitations, etc. Right now I have a G4 PowerMac MDD tower that continues to kick bootie for the stuff I do - desktop publishing, research, writing, etc. I've had two problems with it in four years. One, my Apple 17" studio display (which is by far the best monitor I've ever owned) - the brightness adjust button on the display quit working. AppleCare said to ship it in and they would fix it, but I opted not to because I can easily adjust the brightness with keyboard and software. Two, a hard drive started acting buggy, but I was unable to diagnose the cause. So, I just decided to install a couple others in one of the other three open bays and haven't had a problem since. Nothing's perfect, and you will likely experience a bit of a learning curve, but if you read up and keep up on maintenance and software issues by monitoring these sites you will do fine. IMHO.
 
dpaanlka said:
I have 80+ Macs ranging from the Mac SE to the Mac Pro Quad Xeon, and everything in between. A fraction of them ever have any sort of problems...

I would guesstimate the number of my systems with problems to be about 6:

  • One PowerBook 1400c that has become schizophrenic when you touch it.
  • One PowerBook Duo 2300c whose trackpad doesn't work properly.
  • One PowerBook G4 17" whose hard drive failed.
  • One Power Mac 6500 with a dead motherboard.
  • One PowerBook 190cs that started smoking one day randomly.
  • MacBook Pro 17" warping battery after about a year - replaced for free.

As you can see, most of those systems listed are very old and it is reasonable that a few would start to have problems. They're also almost exclusively laptops, which are carried around and banged up a lot more than desktops.

I've had two systems that I damaged myself - a PowerBook Duo 280 in which I attached an IDE drive to it's SCSI bus and it went poof, and one Power Mac 8600, in which grape soda was spilled. It continues to operate. but crashes more than it should and has to be started twice to boot up.
Click to expand...

Haha, yes, that does sound impressing. But as someone who doesn't know, I would venture out on a limb here, and say, that someone owning more than 80 macs – some of them vintage - might be a bit biased. As a journalist I certainly wouldn't use a wooden boat collector as a judge to tell me which is better: GRP, Steel, or Wood.
 
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