"Emerging Issues" with Late 2018 Mac Mini

[bradofclark]

So I have a late 2018 Mac Mini (3.2GHz i7, 8GB Ram, 512 GB SSD) that died on me on Saturday. Specifically, it won't boot. It comes on, flashes the sleep indicator three times, pauses, flashes three times again in perpetuity. I contacted support on Saturday and apparently, there is some sort of "emerging issue" with the 2018 Mac Mini. No one will tell me what the error code means, and I've been asked to send it in for the team to "capture" it. It took five days for them to finally send me a FedEx label (not a box, a label in my email), after I was told some sort of senior adviser would contact me (they didn't). I contacted support again and keep getting "we don't know what the error code means" and "emerging issue."

I was wondering if anyone else had dealt with this? I have not ram swapped, have not opened it, nothing unusual as far as usage either. I liked the computer and would be happy to get a replacement, but I want to know more about the failure rate, and whether it's a common problem before I just ask for a refund and buy an iMac.

 

[inmnbob]

i had Apple call me out of nowhere having seen my posts at apple.com to ask me to send back my unit as well. So something may be going on -- there are enough "things" reported that i hope Apple can make these fixes with a software update as they did with the MacBook pro to fix those issues. However the MacBook fixes seemed to happen quicker

 

[Sun Baked]

If it as the same as the beeps it would likely mean...

RAM does not pass integrity check, check to make sure RAM is installed correctly.

---

Can happen at manufacture, and a few heat cycles moved it enough to cause the issue.

 

[bradofclark]

If it as the same as the beeps it would likely mean...

RAM does not pass integrity check, check to make sure RAM is installed correctly.

---

Can happen at manufacture, and a few heat cycles moved it enough to cause the issue.

I assumed this to be the case, having looked at support docs for older models, but no one at support would confirm this.

I totally understand and appreciate its a new product and things happen. Just wish I could get some clarity. Also don't like being told it's an "emerging issue" with no clarity on what that means. Particularly when I'm trying to make a decision about a replacement or a return.

 

[Cheapassmac]

Mine has been working great, but knock on wood. Just want to thank you for making me feel better on my Applecare purchase decision though.

Apple is really tight lipped when things go wrong. They cover up mistakes like a corrupt politician. I wonder if it's the 512gb ssd BTOs that are having issues or something. In general, I haven't heard too many reports on i7 bto defects, and the 8gb ram is pretty much default on all minis, so the problem would have been much more widespread if it was that.

 

[Rockies]

No issues so far with my mini. I have until January to decide if I want to keep it due to Apple's awesome holiday return policy. If I do keep my system, I will definitely be getting Apple Care just for peace of mind.

 

[Ploki]

sheesh... Apple's QC and testing is really understaffed apparently.

 

[Joestanxx]

So I have a late 2018 Mac Mini (3.2GHz i7, 8GB Ram, 512 GB SSD) that died on me on Saturday. Specifically, it won't boot. It comes on, flashes the sleep indicator three times, pauses, flashes three times again in perpetuity. I contacted support on Saturday and apparently, there is some sort of "emerging issue" with the 2018 Mac Mini. No one will tell me what the error code means, and I've been asked to send it in for the team to "capture" it. It took five days for them to finally send me a FedEx label (not a box, a label in my email), after I was told some sort of senior adviser would contact me (they didn't). I contacted support again and keep getting "we don't know what the error code means" and "emerging issue."

I was wondering if anyone else had dealt with this? I have not ram swapped, have not opened it, nothing unusual as far as usage either. I liked the computer and would be happy to get a replacement, but I want to know more about the failure rate, and whether it's a common problem before I just ask for a refund and buy an iMac.

[doublepost=1544107125][/doublepost]I had to return 2 mac mins both configured like yours expect for the SSD mine where both 256gb. Both failed after long handbrake encodes. The first would not boot, the second the SSD became unreadable. After the second failure I got a refund.

 

[Cheapassmac]

[doublepost=1544107125][/doublepost]I had to return 2 mac mins both configured like yours expect for the SSD mine where both 256gb. Both failed after long handbrake encodes. The first would not boot, the second the SSD became unreadable. After the second failure I got a refund.

I had two mac minis as well, but both worked and both were 128gb (returned original after discovering Phil Schiller was trolling easy access RAM, I'd replace myself, but lazy and intended to get Applecare). Both worked well with overnight handbrakes queues. I wonder if Apple is doing a crappy job soldering the SSD to the motherboard. Or a design flaw that can't handle the faster SSD chips.

 

[MrAperture]

So is this the same issue that the 12” MacBook has with the 256GB SSD? It eventually fails.

 

[Cheapassmac]

Would be nice if people who have had failed minis to mention if they had a bto ssd or not.

 

[ktcifone]

BTO i7/32/512 - stock OS install new configuration no issues encountered.
runs like a champ.

 

[MacNeal]

I've got a BTO i5/16/512 SSD and I used Time Machine to migrate from a mid-2010 mini with 8 RAM/512 platter HD. On the whole it has all gone smoothly. I have run into Bluetooth issues with my wireless mouse (Macally), like many other people, so for now I am back to my USB wired dotmouse, which is not a big deal. My mini is quite silent, doesn't heat up, and is a zillion times faster than my old mini. I've even been able to run Adobe CS 5.5 programs since the switchover. One small glitch is that all the files in my Downloads folder lost their original dates during the migration. And there looks like there was a bit of corruption in at least an email thread or too after converting from the old Mail program to the new Mojave one. But, all in all, I can't complain. It was actually all less painless than I feared it would be.

 

[doboy]

So is this the same issue that the 12” MacBook has with the 256GB SSD? It eventually fails.

Yes, everything eventually fails (even your body), lol. I've had my 12" MB for over two years but it hasn't eventually failed yet.

 

[philipma1957]

This is good news indeed apple has figured out that soldered toshiba = garbage. We know there is a coil whine issue.

I remember they spent a lot of money on bad 1tb hdds in the 2009 imac (the only imac I ever owned) So maybe they make an adjustment to these minis ie removable ssds. I think anyone buying the 2018 mini may want to wait til 2019 and buy the one with removable pcie ssds or with samsung ssds soldered in.

Note all above is more or less conjecture.

 

[Ploki]

This is good news indeed apple has figured out that soldered toshiba = garbage. We know there is a coil whine issue.

I remember they spent a lot of money on bad 1tb hdds in the 2009 imac (the only imac I ever owned) So maybe they make an adjustment to these minis ie removable ssds. I think anyone buying the 2018 mini may want to wait til 2019 and buy the one with removable pcie ssds or with samsung ssds soldered in.

Note all above is more or less conjecture.

Even if it's removable, it's going to be the same type of "removable" as in the iMac Pro - two limp NAND boards with controller in the T2 chip.

I do hope they start using Samsung chips again... Those were amazing compared to toshiba garbage.
I can't wait anymore. I've bought the i9 in September and been without a working computer since... I need one.
If it has coil whine I'm going to get a 2nd hand mini and just keep replacing the new one until i get one without a coil whine. no other option really

 

[maflynn]

[MOD NOTE]
A number of posts have been removed as offtopic as they contain PRSI content. Please use the PRSI forum if you wish to discuss that topic.

 

[inmnbob]

I have another small problem-- my sound preferences seem to reset themselves. I have it set up for the system sounds to be played through the mac mini speakers and the other sounds to go through my Scarlett etc. Every so often I will get a loud system sound and then when i look at the sound preferences it was changed. Any ideas?

 

[Cheapassmac]

I have another small problem-- my sound preferences seem to reset themselves. I have it set up for the system sounds to be played through the mac mini speakers and the other sounds to go through my Scarlett etc. Every so often I will get a loud system sound and then when i look at the sound preferences it was changed. Any ideas?

I don't know if this would solve your problem, but I used to have all my audio be inputted to my mac, and used a program called LineIn for my mac to play the input sound. I did this because I wanted consistent volume and use only one pair of headphones. Back in the day, macs had a line in port besides headphone jack, but I also used a usb adaptor when I had more then one line in source.

 

[Cape Dave]

Samsung SSD's FTW! Toshibas suck!

 

[Partron22]

Soldered in trash? Apple should do better.
Whatever they were thinking was evil.