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How long did you have your Macbook for? How many repairs so far?

T

toothache

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 18, 2011
39
0
I wanted to start a thread so that people new to mac or even existing owners can get an idea of how long these machines last. There are numerous threads regarding AppleCare or not and I thought this could answer many owners' question about it's reliability.

I'll start off with mine with a format.

Machine 1
Product: Macbook pro 15 2009 Late Unibody
Applecare? Yes
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 3 (2 logic board replacement and 1 screen replacement)
Reason: Infamous GeForce 9600m failure - blinking screen on Lion OS X

Machine 2
Product: Macbook pro 15 2011 Late
Applecare? Not yet
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1 (screen replacement)
Reason: I broke it and Apple repaired at no charge
 
I had a late 2006 Macbook Pro that went in 3 or 4 times for a battery/power adapter issue over 3 years, but it was eventually resolved. It also went in for a bad fan in 2008, and to fix a few problems it had out of the box (DVD drive was wonky, power button wasn't flush, and dirt behind the LCD).

It was going on 5 years old when it was stolen. It was replaced with a 2012 Macbook Air that I've had for 5 months or so, and it's already been in for a new motherboard.
 
Machine 1
Product: Macbook Aluminium Late-2008
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes when I sold it in early 2010
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 2
Product: Macbook Pro 15" Mid-2009
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 3
Product: Macbook Air Mid-2011
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1
Reason: FaceTime camera stopped working

Machine 4
Product: Macbook Pro 15" with Retina Display Mid-2012
Applecare? Yes
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0
 
Mac 1: 1GHz 12" PowerBook G4 I bought used in 2005. I had it until I sold it in early 2007. No repairs.

Mac 2: 2.0GHz C2D 15" MBP refurb. Bought it and had a ton of problems with it. The optical drive was replaced 2 or 3 times, along with the optical drive cable several times as well. The display once. The logic board once. The battery and A/C adapter once. The machine was a lemon. Apple replaced it in late 2007 with a newer model.

Mac 3: 2.2GHz C2D 15" MBP refurb. This was the replacement under Applecare. I didn't have any issues with it besides an A/C adapter problem that was covered under a warranty extension. Sold it in early 2010 to upgrade.

Mac 4: 2.53GHz C2D 13" MBP refurb. Probably my favorite Mac so far(previously it was the 12" PBG4). I haven't had any issues at all with this one and I'll probably keep it for another year or two. I've upgraded the RAM to 8GB and swapped out the 250GB HDD for a SSD.
 
PowerBook G4, bought summer 2008, with apple care
14" they were back then I think, can't remember.

Worked flawlessly until December 2008

December 2008: unibody MacBook. Again with apple care, it's so cheap with HE discount.

Had screen and lid replaced after I dropped it in spring 2010. All under apple care, although here was a good chance hat the fall caused the screen to fail.

No trouble since. Battery is on is last legs after 1600 cycles though, will have to replace that eventually.
 
Product: Macbook Pro 2006 (first gen!)
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1 (1 logic board replacement, and I changed the battery once, but I don't count that as "repair")
Reason: Infamous Macbook Pro whine! (high pitched noise), I also changed the battery once because it couldn't charge anymore. The new one died in like 2 months (so I guess there is something else wrong with it). It now works on battery for only 15 minutes, but other than that it works fine.
 
Purant said:
Product: Macbook Pro 2006 (first gen!)
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1 (1 logic board replacement, and I changed the battery once, but I don't count that as "repair")
Reason: Infamous Macbook Pro whine! (high pitched noise), I also changed the battery once because it couldn't charge anymore. The new one died in like 2 months (so I guess there is something else wrong with it). It now works on battery for only 15 minutes, but other than that it works fine.
Click to expand...

this is epic hahaha
 
Machine 1
Product: Macbook pro 15 2008 Early "Classic"
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1 Replaced fans myself
Reason: 2 years of sucking up dust in the Middle East, running time exceeds 30K hours, another 2-1/2 years in the Tropics runs great.

Machine 2
Product: Macbook pro 15 2011 Late
Applecare? Not yet
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 3
Product: Macbook pro 15 2012 Mid Retina
Applecare? Not yet
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0
 
retina since launch date, not a single problem
air since jan last year, not a single problem
 
Machine 1
Product: Macbook pro 13" 2012 basline model
Applecare? no
Still working? barely
Number of repairs: 6 (4 of them to fix the hinge, never got fixed, twice for trackpad failure)
Reason: Crooked display, scratching sounds, I could move the screen left to right.
 
MBP 1

2006 Core (not 2) Duo, pre-Unibody, 8GB (IIRC)
AppleCare: yes

  • 2.5 years, backlight replaced
  • 2.6 years, battery and keyboard replaced again
  • 2.7 years, power brick replaced (frayed cable)
  • 2.9 years, backlight replacement re-do

Still working when replaced with

MBP 2

Early 2010 Core 2 Duo 2.6GHz, 8 GB RAM, glossy display/standard resolution
Purchased Feb. 2010
AppleCare: Yes

  • 2.5 years, battery spat an error, replaced (I had to pay for this one-- "consumable item"
  • 2.5.1 years, keyboard replaced

Still going strong! I work this machine very hard. Replaced the hard disk myself for more space; current disk is a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB --works great as of Lion/Mountain Lion, didn't do so well with Snow Leopard.

Note: I'm delighted to be getting ~2.5 years out of the keyboards. Previous Dell and Lenovo laptops have required keyboard replacements at typically under 1.5 years. Guess I'm hard on keyboards!
 
Product: Macbook White 13" Mid 2007
Applecare: No
Still working: Yes
Number of repairs: 0
Reason: N/A

Perhaps I'm the minority, but the only problems I've had are cosmetic with the keyboard covering.
 
It's also good to hear from everyone who hasn't had any problems, otherwise it seems like every Mac is a problem waiting to happen (over and over and over).
 
Macbook Pro 15" Early 2008 - No Apple Care. Machine is dead after a year. Primary usage is Aperture and gaming

Macbook Pro 13" Mid 2010 - Apple Care. No repairs to date. Computer is still alive. Primary usage is Aperture and gaming
 
MacBook, 2008. One repair. Design flaw with the lid. Replaced (by Apple) and under Apple Care. £0.

MacBook, 2010. One repair. Dodgy CD/DVD drive. Replaced (by Apple) and not under Apple Care. £0.

MacBook Pro, 2012. Zero.
 
Last edited:
Machine 1
Product: Macbook pro 15 mid 2009
Applecare? Yes, but expired now
Still working? Yes, though superdrive now a little dodgy
Number of repairs: 0

Had it for over 3 years now and not a single fault that i've had to visit an Apple Store for

I've replaced the HDD but thats because i wanted more storage

The superdrive has just started to fail on me, but its intermittant

I'm very happy with it and quite tempted to let it be my main machine for at least another year
 
Machine 1
Product: PowerBook G4 12" 1.33 Ghz - 2005?
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 2
Product: Macbook Air Mid-2012
Applecare? Yes
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

I think I got lucky.
 
Machine 1
Early 2011 Macbook Pro

Applecare? No, bought it at a NEX (Navy Exchange) and bought their warranty for it which means I can take it back 2 years from original purchase date if anything goes wrong.

Still workin? Yes, so far so good. Getting a little worried from the way my wife handles it since she always manhandles it when putting it on a flat surface.

Any repairs? None so far. And hopefully it stays that way for a while.
 
Machine 1
Product: Macbook Pro 15" Late 2011
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 2
Product: iMac 27" Mid 2011
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 3
Product: Mac Mini Mid 2011
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1 (logic board failure)

Machine 4
Product: Mac Pro 1.1
Applecare? Yes, but long expired
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 5
Product: Macbook Pro 13" 2012
Applecare? Yes
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1 (Power Cube Failure)

Machine 6
Product: Mac G5
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0
 
Machine 1
Product: Mac Mini - 2007.
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0

Machine 2
Product: Macbook Pro 13" 2009
Applecare? No
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 1 - DVD drive failed after having it for three days. Sent it back and got a brand new one back.

Machine 3
Product: Macbook Pro 15" (Retina)
Applecare? No (Thinking about it)
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: 0 - had since launch and easily the best Mac (and Windows) based machine I have ever owned.
 
I'm still on my first Macbook, but i've had my fair share of problems.


Product: Macbook Pro 15'' Baseline Late 11'
Applecare? Not Yet
Still working? Yes
Number of repairs: New Hard Drive, EFI Reset, New Bluetooth and Thermals, New LogicBoard, New Superdrive.

Its not been a great 7 months with this machines.
 
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