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Do most macbook owners bring their machines in for repair at least once?

G

gonnabuyamacbsh

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2010
324
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back to the apple store? I'm reading a lot that whenever there's a problem people just bring it back into the store and they fix it and it usually takes days to fix it. Do most macbooks need repair like this? how many of you never had to take it in? I have a 7 year old dell that's given me a few problems throughout the years that were software related that I was able to fix easily.

One or two hardware problems to like the disk tray stopped working (don't use it so wasn't an issue) and the screen stopped turning on (I fixed this by slapping it a few times. serious :p).

I'm kind of OCD about my stuff and don't feel comfortable giving it to people. If I get a mbp, should I worry about unavoidable issues coming up that I would need to take it into apple for? I don't believe it but it does concern me when some critics say apple designs their stuff to fail after a certain period of time.
 
I don't think you'll find any reliable statistics on how many machines get brought back for repair. On these boards, most threads are due to the user having a problem, skewing the perception.

On the whole I'd say Apple machines are no more or less reliable than any other brand. This is mostly because the components that fail most often- disk drives and hard drives- aren't manufactured by Apple (or Dell, or HP, or Lenovo, etc.).
 
This is a forum. People come here to tell about their issues and how should they deal with them. They don't come here to praise how good their MBP is and how it has never needed a repair. Only a fraction of people have issues, Apple's failure rates are normal when compared with others.

FYI, I have iMac and MBA and neither of them has required a helping hand from Apple
 
I used to work in collections. I thought no one paid their bills till I found out (at the time) only 5% of our account ever went to collections.

Same thing here

Could be interesting if you added a survey but again, most people that would read it has had work done.
 
I think it's fair to say the vast majority never have to.

I think also, PC laptops get "brought in" (wherever) for repairs very rarely, because...

1.) Where do you bring it? GeekSquad? Joe Shmo's Computer repair who's number you find in the yellow pages? Your friend's nephew Zack cause he's a computer wiz?

The Apple store makes it very convenient to take care of anything you need.

2.) I know any PC laptops I've had develop problems over the year, I just try to fix it myself, or deal with it. I always had a much more "disposable" view of PCs. You use 'em til they just get slow and messed up. Than you give them to charity or throw them away. Or keep 'em around as a beater computer, or to let your 1.5yr. old play with (that's one of my uses for an old Acer). Mac's to me seem more like something you want to keep running well, like your car. So you do things like buy AppleCare and get it serviced if need be.

In any case, the short answer is, I doubt Mac's have a higher failure rate than PCs. They may have a higher repair rate though, only because Mac owners love their computers and actually make an effort to get them repaired instead of just let them die.
 
gonnabuyamacbsh said:
back to the apple store? I'm reading a lot that whenever there's a problem people just bring it back into the store and they fix it and it usually takes days to fix it. Do most macbooks need repair like this? how many of you never had to take it in? I have a 7 year old dell that's given me a few problems throughout the years that were software related that I was able to fix easily.

One or two hardware problems to like the disk tray stopped working (don't use it so wasn't an issue) and the screen stopped turning on (I fixed this by slapping it a few times. serious :p).

I'm kind of OCD about my stuff and don't feel comfortable giving it to people. If I get a mbp, should I worry about unavoidable issues coming up that I would need to take it into apple for? I don't believe it but it does concern me when some critics say apple designs their stuff to fail after a certain period of time.
Click to expand...

I don't keep my Mac laptops too long (other than my first Titanium Powerbook which I kept 4 years before selling), usually 12-24 months. Of the 7 Mac laptops I've owned these past few years only the 2.2 SR MBP with the nvidia 8600 had to be serviced. I used to work at a University and out of about 300 students who used Macs in the Visual Arts program we saw about 5-7% need service during the 3 year Applecare timeframe. These were for legitimate warranty repairs. We had many more user damage but that's going to happen no matter what. We had about 20% of the 2000+ Dells in for service but user damage was covered so that skewed the numbers. The only thing Dell would not cover was insect infestation. (Don't ask - some people are just disgusting)

Cheers,
 
Not only do I use Macs myself, but I also buy for corporate purposes, so I deal with a LOT of hardware.

No, most macbooks/macbook pros/powerbooks do not need service during their reasonable lifetime. There have been the odd versions that have had problems (graphics chip issues on the 2007 MBP with Nvidia 8600s for instance), but Apple gear is, in general, about the most reliable in the marketplace.
 
I would say that in general most PC's are fixed by the user or as in my case....throw them a way when they broke and buy a new one. Mac's are generally not revered in the same light as a PC. Mac's due to having a much higher price tag are treated better by the owner and not treated as a throw away item like their counterparts. That being said ..we are also more prone to take a mac in for the slightest little imperfection or anomaly that would usually go un-repaired or noticed by a pc owner.

In general this is a good thing..we tend to keep a unit twice as long as a pc person and the resale value of used mac is 10 times that of a pc after 5 years. I guess you could say mac people are more "green" by not tossing out our machine the first time it blips.

I can compare it to owning a high end car...i.e. an Audi. It prolly goes to the dealer 10 times as much as a Ford Fiesta...better car you ask? Well yes the build quality is superior but the maint of the car is more because we tend to respect and care for the investment we have made. The same owners of said Audi's also will tend to find every little imperfection and pick it apart each time it goes in for service. The guy driving the Ford Fiesta could give two ***** about the rattle when he goes over a bump. He figures ..."geez it's only a fiesta"...when it falls apart I'll buy a new one . Again...the Audi (well taken car of one) will achieve a much higher resale value than the Ford with 100k on the clock.
 
Short-term failure rates for major brand laptops (including Apple) are in the range of 20%-25%. Many of those need repair because of user-caused damage, so the rate of defects is considerably lower. Based on the failure rates of desktop hardware, I think it's fair to say 5%-10% are actually defective.

Personally, of the 7 Macs I've owned from post-Jobs years, I've had one that had a defect (a 2006 CD MBP with a screen failure).
 
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