I am confused about UMBP RAM upgrade voiding my warranty.

[Steve686]

So I ordered some RAM from Newegg and received it today.

The only problem I had was removing 3 screws that were torqued very tight and I didn't want to strip them, so I stopped trying.

I dropped by my Apple store here and asked if they could help, as they would have the exact spec tools to use. After a bouncing around of a few employees, I finally got to a Genius/Tech who told me that the new MBP RAM is not meant to be user upgradeable, since it is deeper inside and the logic board would be exposed during upgrade....short out....static....damage....warranty....design....can't help you...liablility....have to buy our RAM...

You get the idea. I told her I have no problem doing these simple tasks with a static wrist bracelet, but she pretty much told me I was on my own if I did go ahead and pop in my own RAM.

She then told me if I replaced the RAM myself, my warranty would be voided, and I was shocked. All previous MACS and PC's that I have owned, this has been one of the simplest and probably most encouraged user upgrade that companies let you perform.


Well, in the end I just needed to get my RAM bumped up to 4GB so I went with what they had in store. It was $200, so it's not like a ton of money, but I haven't been able to find any definitive answers here with search on the validity of warranty voids with replacing RAM yourself.

Seeing as how my manual illustrates upgrading RAM along with Apples website, I would be surprised if I was flat out lied to and will be contacting Apple if that is the case to voice my...pissedoffness.

Anyone else run into this?

 

[SecondDealer]

I have also heard that replacing your RAM yourself and especially with "non-Apple" ram can void your warranty. I'm not sure where I heard this but it seems to just be a fact in my mind.

I personally bought 2 sticks of 2GB Corsair ram off of Amazon for $25 total after a $40 mail in rebate. I bought the proper screw driver and installed the ram myself despite the fact that it may void my warranty.

I was very careful to store the original Apple ram that came with my computer in a safe and secure place so that if i ever need to turn my computer in for other repairs I can simply reseat the original ram and act like nothing has changed.

I've heard that computers with foreign ram may not void your warranty per-say but instead Apple decides to blame every problem your computer experiences from that point on, on your self installed ram. "Oh your keyboard doesnt light up properly?, must be the ram you installed", "Your might mouse isnt working with your computers bluetooth? Must be your ram" ETC...

Hope that helps.

 

[iMacDragon]

Considering the manual, and indeed the underside of the battery cover iirc both tell you how to upgrade the ram, it invalidating warranty would be a bit stupid, they just plain and simply would not tell you how to do so if this was the case. Pretty sure you got someone that wasn't fully clued in.

 

[bossxii]

They want to control everything, including the huge profits they reap from selling you ram. I do know you can upgrade your HDD without voiding the warranty and if nothing else, self install Ram, keep the old. If something happens you need service put the original HDD and Ram as the machine was configured. There is no way they know you swapped ram and if they wanted it non user swappable they could make it clear in their paperwork.

I'll have to read over it again, but that's total BS Apple employe's go to those types of extreme's to make you feel you cannot do it vs just showing you documentation of it voiding or not.

 

[pyroo]

you should be able to upgrade the ram without voiding the warranty, ask someone else who is more knowledgeable about this stuff.....PLUS, they even have a picture at the bottom of the battery cover showing you step by step on how to replace the ram, why would they put a picture there showing how to "void your warranty", that would make no sense......

 

[sehnsucht77]

i checked with apple on this upgrade before changing my early 2008 mbps ram..they said that the ram is user serviceable but any problems from you screwing up the computer because you don't know what you are doing will void the warranty. this, i think, includes bending the and portruding parts in the mbp and scratching the circuitry of the mbp because you were reckless in installing parts. installing ram is pretty straightforward if you've done it a thousand times but it always helps to know what you are doing. if you are not confident in installing the chips, get someone who can do it for you.

 

[ViciousShadow21]

what happens is the RAM in your computer is no longer covered by apple but everything else is. also if you replace the RAM and the HDD then again the RAM and the HDD are no longer covered, but everything else is.

 

[chrmjenkins]

They want to control everything, including the huge profits they reap from selling you ram. I do know you can upgrade your HDD without voiding the warranty and if nothing else, self install Ram, keep the old. If something happens you need service put the original HDD and Ram as the machine was configured. There is no way they know you swapped ram and if they wanted it non user swappable they could make it clear in their paperwork.

I'll have to read over it again, but that's total BS Apple employe's go to those types of extreme's to make you feel you cannot do it vs just showing you documentation of it voiding or not.

Categorically false. The MBP has gone from having only the RAM upgradeable to both the RAM and the hard drive being user serviceable. RAM upgrades have dropped in price, and are more in line with actual costs.

i checked with apple on this upgrade before changing my early 2008 mbps ram..they said that the ram is user serviceable but any problems from you screwing up the computer because you don't know what you are doing will void the warranty. this, i think, includes bending the and portruding parts in the mbp and scratching the circuitry of the mbp because you were reckless in installing parts. installing ram is pretty straightforward if you've done it a thousand times but it always helps to know what you are doing. if you are not confident in installing the chips, get someone who can do it for you.

what happens is the RAM in your computer is no longer covered by apple but everything else is. also if you replace the RAM and the HDD then again the RAM and the HDD are no longer covered, but everything else is.

It doesn't make sense for apple to cover products they didn't ship the computer with, nor should you expect them to fix something you did to screw up the computer.

 

[ViciousShadow21]

It doesn't make sense for apple to cover products they didn't ship the computer with, nor should you expect them to fix something you did to screw up the computer.

i know. im not saying that it should be. i was telling them that the 3rd party parts are not covered but everything else stays under warranty.

 

[chrmjenkins]

i know. im not saying that it should be. i was telling them that the 3rd party parts are not covered but everything else stays under warranty.

I wasn't implying you were, I was extending a logical explanation for the first guy who had to go on a rant against apple.

 

[ViciousShadow21]

I wasn't implying you were, I was extending a logical explanation for the first guy who had to go on a rant against apple.

ah haha ok. thank you for confirming it tho. sorry i snapped i was in a bad mood from this other thread

 

[bossxii]

Categorically false. The MBP has gone from having only the RAM upgradeable to both the RAM and the hard drive being user serviceable. RAM upgrades have dropped in price, and are more in line with actual costs.

You think it's false that Apple wants to control every aspect of it's hardware upgrades? You believe an Apple employee won't tell someone it does void the warranty to sell them premium priced products? umm okie lol

In what fantasy world do you shop? Google 8gb 1066mhz DDR3 memory and vs Apple's $1000 to $1200 price tag (depending on what your upgrading from) you can buy 2x4gig chips anywhere from the $800 to $850 range easy.


Enjoy paying Apple another $350 to $400 bucks but I'll pass. I don't consider a 40 to 50% mark up "more in line"

 

[fridgeymonster3]

I've heard that computers with foreign ram may not void your warranty per-say but instead Apple decides to blame every problem your computer experiences from that point on, on your self installed ram. "Oh your keyboard doesnt light up properly?, must be the ram you installed", "Your might mouse isnt working with your computers bluetooth? Must be your ram" ETC...

I have heard the exact same thing.

 

[chrmjenkins]

You think it's false that Apple wants to control every aspect of it's hardware upgrades? You believe an Apple employee won't tell someone it does void the warranty to sell them premium priced products? umm okie lol

In what fantasy world do you shop? Google 8gb 1066mhz DDR3 memory and vs Apple's $1000 to $1200 price tag (depending on what your upgrading from) you can buy 2x4gig chips anywhere from the $800 to $850 range easy.


Enjoy paying Apple another $350 to $400 bucks but I'll pass. I don't consider a 40 to 50% mark up "more in line"

Only an idiot buys 8 GBs for their iMac or MBP anyway. Their upgrade price to 4 GB is reasonable (and in line with other manufacturers).

An apple employee may say whatever they want. What matters is the actual policy. If they apple employees are knowingly spouting false info, they should be reported to their managers or corporate if that doesn't work.

 

[ViciousShadow21]

Only an idiot buys 8 GBs for their iMac or MBP anyway.

why do you say this?

 

[Steve686]

Well, after building 30 or so Windows gaming rigs, and easily swapping RAM and HDD in my previous MacBook, I have no issue at all getting inside the MBP and doing my own upgrades.

I was just surprised at how adamant the tech at my Apple store was being about the RAM not intended to be consumer serviceable, and if I did install my own, my warranty would be voided.

The tech pretty much said, "you're not allowed to unscrew the bottom panel".

LOL. Like I originally posted...I just told them to go ahead and do it for the $200 so I wouldn't have to deal with any warranty issue that could come up down the road, but I definitely don't like the fear factor sales pitch I was given.

BTW, those screws on the bottom panel really are a bitch to unscrew if they're too tight.

 

[ViciousShadow21]

Well, after building 30 or so Windows gaming rigs, and easily swapping RAM and HDD in my previous MacBook, I have no issue at all getting inside the MBP and doing my own upgrades.

I was just surprised at how adamant the tech at my Apple store was being about the RAM not intended to be consumer serviceable, and if I did install my own, my warranty would be voided.

The tech pretty much said, "you're not allowed to unscrew the bottom panel".

LOL. Like I originally posted...I just told them to go ahead and do it for the $200 so I wouldn't have to deal with any warranty issue that could come up down the road, but I definitely don't like the fear factor sales pitch I was given.

BTW, those screws on the bottom panel really are a bitch to unscrew if they're too tight.

did he say that replacing the RAM you void your whole warranty? if so that's not cool. you should talk to him about it.

 

[tcphoto]

You just spent 3x what you should have for the upgrade. They did not give you the right information on the warranty and sold you something that you did not need. The memory and hard drive upgrades will not void your warranty. I would have asked for a manager and asked him the same question. If they supported each other, I would have asked for the managers business card then watch them back pedal. After fifteen years of upgrading the memory in my computers, I have never had an issue with Apple claiming it voided my warranty.

 

[mattniles007]

Considering the manual, and indeed the underside of the battery cover iirc both tell you how to upgrade the ram, it invalidating warranty would be a bit stupid, they just plain and simply would not tell you how to do so if this was the case. Pretty sure you got someone that wasn't fully clued in.

My point exactly. When I upgraded my RAM I used the Apple provided tutorial.Remember it was just one Apple store employee, sometimes you get an overzealous one.

 

[Steve686]

Ya, it didn't sound AT ALL like my previous experiences with Apple.

But here is something unsaid that may have been more of what the tech was trying to tell me.

The tech(actually a girl) was actually being very cool and calm and not talking down to me whatsoever. She even said that after a brief conversation with me she could tell I had some knowledge of what I was doing and talking about.

But you know how people sometimes try to indirectly tell you something without coming out and just saying it? I kinda think that is what she was doing.

She was telling me..."in the event something does happen to your logic board or any other component while you install your own RAM, you will be completely on your own, warranty wise." She even told me the screws needed to come off in a certain order and that's why I was having such a problem with a few of them. Unibody flex?

Anyways, I think she was alluding to the fact that they have turned down a LOT of warranty requests and told consumers that it is due to incorrect installation of RAM or HDD. You get me? Kinda like Apple's way of denying warranty requests by telling people that they must have damaged something in the process of self upgrades. I mean she was ultra nice the whole time actually took time out of her work in back to come talk to me. The 1st tier salespeople really had no idea about what I needed to do.

Hey if insurance companies deny medical procedures to paying patients who really need them, why wouldn't a company deny warranty service and save money also? I think this may happen because I have a previous story with Apple selling me a new MacBook that was actually used/refurbished. Very apparent by all the scratches on the bottom, fingerprinted screen, and hastily repackaged charger and cables.

Just kind of a feeling I got after I played back the whole thing in my head.

 

[Abstract]

You think it's false that Apple wants to control every aspect of it's hardware upgrades?

They don't. You can upgrade the RAM and HDD if you wish. In fact, you've been able to upgrade your own RAM for years and years and years.

I dropped by my Apple store here and asked if they could help, as they would have the exact spec tools to use. After a bouncing around of a few employees, I finally got to a Genius/Tech who told me that the new MBP RAM is not meant to be user upgradeable, since it is deeper inside and the logic board would be exposed during upgrade....short out....static....damage....warranty....design....can't help you...liablility....have to buy our RAM...

She was telling me..."in the event something does happen to your logic board or any other component while you install your own RAM, you will be completely on your own, warranty wise." She even told me the screws needed to come off in a certain order and that's why I was having such a problem with a few of them. Unibody flex?

Anyways, I think she was alluding to the fact that they have turned down a LOT of warranty requests and told consumers that it is due to incorrect installation of RAM or HDD.

From what you said, they're right: If you DAMAGE the internals (i.e., logic board) yourself somehow, the warranty doesn't cover it. To be covered, all changes need to be performed by an Apple approved technician, which means an Apple "Genius", or someone at an official Apple reseller. If they damage your laptop, then they're completely liable.

However, RAM and the harddisk ARE user-replaceable. They have been for years. It doesn't mean the laptop is covered under warranty if you damage it while making these changes. If you push too hard, or you short something because you aren't grounded, it's your problem. That's why they asked if you just wanted them to do it. That, and they work retail. They're not your friend.


Personally, when I send my laptop in for repair (well over a dozen times now....), I don't change back to my original sticks of RAM or my original HDD. I know people advise others to do these things, but I've never had an issue.