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Macs are reliable. Are you sure?

fox777

fox777

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 11, 2008
127
0
USA
I think it is funny that Apple and all of their customer base claim that Macs are the most reliable computers out there and PC is no competition. The reason I think so? Well, just read this forum. One guy says he bought brand new Macbook Pro and day later replaced it with another brand new one because his original one had dead pixels. After he got his new laptop there was another problem. So all in all he had to replace his computer 3-4 times in 10 days.
Overall is just seems that a lot of people have issues with dead pixels, weird problems, keyboard freezing up, computer rebooting for no reason and list is endless. So I am just wondering how in the world can you claim that Macs are most reliable systems out there if SO many people have endless list of problems with them?

Sure you can say that PCs fail a lot too. That is right but they do not advertise that PCs are super reliable and you would have complete peace of mind.
 
Have you not considered who comes to the forums? Yes, mostly people who need help and people who are upset with :apple: in one way or another. Not a good way to judge Apple's reliability.
 
Since you put it that way, and asked the question, I am now full of unrelenting doubt as to whether or not my Mac is reliable.

Well played, sir/madam.... Well played.
 
No, I don't understand these people either.


Personally, I don't believe Mac hardware is more reliable or durable. Software crashes whether you're on WinXP, Linux, or OS X. With regards to the OS, my entire OS rarely just freezes up and locks, so this rates about the same on all OSes nowadays.

However, I do not claim to buy Macs for these reasons, so I don't care if the above isn't true. The reasons I buy a Mac is because I like using OS X more, and because they look good. As long as I continue to enjoy the UI of OS X, and I like the way Macs look, AND it continues to do what I need/want to do with a computer, I don't see the problem.
 
fox777 said:
I think it is funny that Apple and all of their customer base claim that Macs are the most reliable computers out there and PC is no competition. The reason I think so? Well, just read this forum. One guy says he bought brand new Macbook Pro and day later replaced it with another brand new one because his original one had dead pixels. After he got his new laptop there was another problem. So all in all he had to replace his computer 3-4 times in 10 days.
Overall is just seems that a lot of people have issues with dead pixels, weird problems, keyboard freezing up, computer rebooting for no reason and list is endless. So I am just wondering how in the world can you claim that Macs are most reliable systems out there if SO many people have endless list of problems with them?

Sure you can say that PCs fail a lot too. That is right but they do not advertise that PCs are super reliable and you would have complete peace of mind.
Click to expand...

If I were you I would keep in mind that you are on a forum where people post issues with their Mac's. Sure all manufactures have their problems and Apple is no exception to this, however, they do have one of the highest reliability rates of any brand, many users on here are still using PowerBooks which are at minimum 3 almost 4 years old and have never had an issue.

BUT

If you want to troll go somewhere else and leave this forum alone because you are not going to survive the onslaught of hate you get for posting this. There is no real reason for this post and it really wouldn't surprise me if this thread gets removed along with you.:rolleyes:
 
I have wondered the same thing.

I'm getting ready to switch over to my first Mac and some of the quality control problems on this forum are alarming.

Are we just super picky here or something?

But for example my current PC is on it's last leg and needs to be replaced soon.

It's a pos emachine that ended up with the worst reviews.
Well, it's going on 6 years now and I think I got my moneys worth out of it.

Sure I've had virus's and have had to reinstall windows a few times but I have never had any hardware failures on it yet.

So when I get my Mac this emachine will go to my Mom and she will no doubt be using it for her email and light computing for years to come.

knock on wood
 
You know that this is a help forum, don't you, so most of the times (999 out of 998) people come her asking for help or complaining about their Macs and such.

This forum has 389,571 members, the approximate install base of Mac computers is around 60-80 million, Mac OS X might be in the 30 million count.
source: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/9E601E8E-2ACC-4866-A91B-3371D1688E00.html

So 1 out of 100 Mac OS X users comes here. And not every one has hardware problems. I had software related ones, and I stayed so I could help others with their software related problems.

In short, I doubt all of the 389,571 members here had hardware failures or fox ups, and I also doubt that every Mac owner comes her for looking for help.
 
prodigee said:
If I were you I would keep in mind that you are on a forum where people post issues with their Mac's. Sure all manufactures have their problems and Apple is no exception to this, however, they do have one of the highest reliability rates of any brand, many users on here are still using PowerBooks which are at minimum 3 almost 4 years old and have never had an issue.

BUT

If you want to troll go somewhere else and leave this forum alone because you are not going to survive the onslaught of hate you get for posting this. There is no real reason for this post and it really wouldn't surprise me if this thread gets removed along with you.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yeah right. I've been on this forums for little more than 1 year and I'm troll?

No the reason I asked this question is that I'm thinking about getting one too. Main reason being that they look good. (laptop itself, not OS). But seeing so many people having issues with their machines got me thinking whether I should purchase Mac or not. Also, just wanted to see what people have to say in defense that "Macs are most reliable machines" with quite bing number of people having problems
 
fox777 said:
Yeah right. I've been on this forums for little more than 1 year and I'm troll?

No the reason I asked this question is that I'm thinking about getting one too. Main reason being that they look good. (laptop itself, not OS). But seeing so many people having issues with their machines got me thinking whether I should purchase Mac or not. Also, just wanted to see what people have to say in defense that "Macs are most reliable machines" with quite bing number of people having problems
Click to expand...

Yes, but look at what Spinnerlys said. Only "so many people" are having problems because a person with a perfectly fine Mac usually does not take the time to rant about it on a help forum, whereas lots of people (a small percentage, still out of 30 million users) come here to ask for help.
 
fox777 said:
Yeah right. I've been on this forums for little more than 1 year and I'm troll?

No the reason I asked this question is that I'm thinking about getting one too. Main reason being that they look good. (laptop itself, not OS). But seeing so many people having issues with their machines got me thinking whether I should purchase Mac or not. Also, just wanted to see what people have to say in defense that "Macs are most reliable machines" with quite bing number of people having problems
Click to expand...
Despite my sarcasm above, Mac's (in my opinion) are pretty reliable.
I've only had one computer out of the three that I have owned over the last ten years have an issue, and it wasn't even technically Apple's hardware that failed. If you recall the old Nvidia 8600M GT issue.

Take into account that just because there are posts here that are people having problems, that is not the majority.

Look at it this way, just because you see a lot of cars being fixed at the dealership (or in this case a specialist mechanic), doesn't mean that those all the thousands of cars that company sold are unreliable.
 
fox777 said:
I think it is funny that Apple and all of their customer base claim that Macs are the most reliable computers out there and PC is no competition. The reason I think so? Well, just read this forum. One guy says he bought brand new Macbook Pro and day later replaced it with another brand new one because his original one had dead pixels. After he got his new laptop there was another problem. So all in all he had to replace his computer 3-4 times in 10 days.
Overall is just seems that a lot of people have issues with dead pixels, weird problems, keyboard freezing up, computer rebooting for no reason and list is endless. So I am just wondering how in the world can you claim that Macs are most reliable systems out there if SO many people have endless list of problems with them?

Sure you can say that PCs fail a lot too. That is right but they do not advertise that PCs are super reliable and you would have complete peace of mind.
Click to expand...

I dont know if you are looking for an honest reason or are just looking to mac bash but ill give my 2 cents.

Im 23 and build my first pc when I was 8 with a intel 486. I have been using winbloze my whole life and love it. Well atleast I thought I did. It was all i knew. My cousin, who is a photagrapher knew how much I was into technology kept telling me to try OS X and that he knew I would like it. Being close minded, I just kept telling him **** his mac, ill stick with winbloze.

Then about 8 months ago I got a chance to pick up a nice late model blackbook for about 400 bucks with upgraded ram and HD. It was a steal at that price so I said **** it. I bought it and did everything I could to make it freeze, Hose it up, etc. No matter how many of thousands of dollars worth of completely pirated, Illegal, sketchy software I put on, which is usually infested with TONS of garbage, I could not get this thing to shut down, freeze or hang up.

I downloaded numerous copies of windows from XP to vista, duel booted the cracked copies in all kinds of ****ed up ways, Still ran perfect.

after 15 years of of being a windows user, I finally saw the light.

Being that the OS is built on Unix, which is hands down, no questions ask, the MOST stable OS you can be on, I think its a no brainer. I have since upgraded to a MBP (which im on now), Have it all hacked up with hardware and software mods along with those same thousands of dollars worth of pirated software and it is running perfect. Still to this day (3 months in) I have yet to freeze of hose up this machine.

the things you listed like faulty keyboards and dead pixels are hardware based things that you will get with ANY mass produced product. From cars, to computers, to televisions. If you are mass producing and selling millions of units, there WILL be faulty hardware in a small %.

.02
 
2 MikeSantor: Great post man.

Ok people. I DO realize that most of the people who come to this forums are in need of help and/or rant about their machines.

BUT the point is- with Apple claiming that Macs are most reliable machines, do you think there should be a lot less threads with people having multiple crazy problems with their Macs??

Meaning I see an Ad on TV with apple dude saying: "Macs are super reliable and will give you great peace of mind". Then I come to this forums knowing there are thousands of registered and unregistered users and when I go to Macbook forum see small amount of threads with people having problems?

I think then I would definitely say: "Damn, I am on the largest Mac forum and there are almost no people having problems with their Macs. They must be REALLY reliable machines indeed"
 
fox777 said:
Yeah right. I've been on this forums for little more than 1 year and I'm troll?

No the reason I asked this question is that I'm thinking about getting one too. Main reason being that they look good. (laptop itself, not OS). But seeing so many people having issues with their machines got me thinking whether I should purchase Mac or not. Also, just wanted to see what people have to say in defense that "Macs are most reliable machines" with quite bing number of people having problems
Click to expand...

Sorry, but getting a computer because it looks good is redonkulous. What if the OS pisses you off all the time? That would have been a high price for just a Windows laptop.

Try and look at other computer manufacturers forums and see what kind of problems they have, it just sticks out here as this is the most prominent Mac forum and people come here to complain.

And if by any chance (which are not ridiculously small, I agree) you get one of those lemons, you got 14 days to return the computer and get a replacement, and if the problem occurs after the 14 days you have Apple Care.

But I have to agree that Macs (software in combination with the hardware) have become less reliable than they have been in the G4 days, which is not bad per se, just an observation. They are still mighty usable machines, like many computers made by other vendors. The lemons are a side effect of mass producing such highly evolved technology products and the lacking ambition to put more money into QC as Apple produces more Macs now than it did in 2004.

Ahh, I love those topics.


PS: Have you actually counted the problems and threads and user who posted such problems?
 
While it's probably more true that most would admit, but QC has probably slipped a little since Apple's explosion in popularity. Even if you discount the debacle that was Nvidia's fault (8600M), there are still plenty of problems.

That said, when people buy something, and it works exactly as it should, why does anything more need to be said?

Now, if they buy something and it has problems, well, you'd want it to be resolved. Make noise.
 
Hardware is hardware. It's the same hardware, for the most part, on the mac than on the PC. The hardware fails the same in the mac and in the PC, with ONE exception: the unibody design. It simply is superior in both material and design (less parts, less failure).

Now, what makes macs more reliable then? The software. If you look in here and compare it to any Windows forum, you'll see there's a small fraction of problems here than there. No virus, no blue screens, no complete slowdowns...

So, if the hardware fails the same, but the software doesn't, it is correct to state that the Mac is more reliable.
 
fox777 said:
2 MikeSantor: Great post man.

Ok people. I DO realize that most of the people who come to this forums are in need of help and/or rant about their machines.

BUT the point is- with Apple claiming that Macs are most reliable machines, do you think there should be a lot less threads with people having multiple crazy problems with their Macs??

Meaning I see an Ad on TV with apple dude saying: "Macs are super reliable and will give you great peace of mind". Then I come to this forums knowing there are thousands of registered and unregistered users and when I go to Macbook forum see small amount of threads with people having problems?

I think then I would definitely say: "Damn, I am on the largest Mac forum and there are almost no people having problems with their Macs. They must be REALLY reliable machines indeed"
Click to expand...
Ok, I'm done.

Your expectations (based on nothing more than advertising, which is ridiculous) and your attempts at rationale and logic are merely going to do this dialectic dance until you run out of cyber-breath, or my head explodes.

So either one of following things is happening, you are indeed a troll, do not realize that the people on this board represent less than one percent of all Mac users in the world, or you're the kind of person who likes to play devil's advocate ad nasuem.
Either way, I'm tired.
Presuming that you're an adult and the money is yours, make your own decision.
Buy a Mac, don't buy a Mac.
Pick one of those. Should be easy enough.
 
fox777 said:
BUT the point is- with Apple claiming that Macs are most reliable machines...
Click to expand...

Ill answer the question with a question. What company, in the history of companies has ever put out a commercial or ad that has went something like "Come buy our product, even though 5% of the 80 million we manufacture will be faulty..."

stop looking at the marketing and start looking at the product.
 
prodigee said:
If you want to troll go somewhere else and leave this forum alone because you are not going to survive the onslaught of hate you get for posting this. There is no real reason for this post and it really wouldn't surprise me if this thread gets removed along with you.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Seriously, people have to stop calling anyone who says something they don't like a troll. It's childish, and you're evading the point. It's like when people accused others of witchcraft for personal reasons (read the crucible by Arthur Miller). The OP brings a valid point. Maybe you could all just calm down and discuss this like normal people...
 
fox777 said:
...Meaning I see an Ad on TV with apple dude saying: "Macs are super reliable and will give you great peace of mind". Then I come to this forums knowing there are thousands of registered and unregistered users and when I go to Macbook forum see small amount of threads with people having problems?
Click to expand...
If you take the time to pay attention to the ads, you'll see all Apple ads are about "Mac vs PC", not "MacBook Pro vs Toshiba" or "MacBook vs Sony VAIO" or "Mac Pro vs HP". That's because the ads... and references to reliability... are ONLY about "Mac OS X vs Windows". It's all about the OS, not the hardware. Hardware is hardware. Apple uses many of the same components in it's hardware that can be found in other PC hardware.
 
Unexceptionable! :mad:

Apple should have needs to make sure 100% of everything on every product functions 100%. They should stake their lives on it.

Welcome to the world where nothing is certain. No company can produce 100% function prefect products 100% of the time.
 
Maserati7200 said:
Seriously, people have to stop calling anyone who says something they don't like a troll. It's childish, and you're evading the point. It's like when people accused others of witchcraft for personal reasons (read the crucible by Arthur Miller). The OP brings a valid point. Maybe you could all just calm down and discuss this like normal people...
Click to expand...
Here's how this thread is going.

"Hey, I hear that some people have been hit by cars while crossing the street. Is that true? I'm wondering because I want to cross the street."
"Well, not everyone who crosses the street gets hit by a car."
"Yeah, but it can happen. Right? So I want to know that it won't happen to me if I cross. Cause it, you know, it might."
"Dude, the people that have been hit by a car while crossing the street is, like, less than one half of one percent of the entire population of the world. You should be fine."
"I don't know...."
 
pullfocus said:
Here's how this thread is going.

"Hey, I hear that some people have been hit by cars while crossing the street. Is that true? I'm wondering because I want to cross the street."
"Well, not everyone who crosses the street gets hit by a car."
"Yeah, but it can happen. Right? So I want to know that it won't happen to me if I cross. Cause it, you know, it might."
"Dude, the people that have been hit by a car while crossing the street is, like, less than one half of one percent of the entire population of the world. You should be fine."
"I don't know...."
Click to expand...


computer agoraphobia?
 
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