So here's a fun thing - I recently sold my otherwise excellent 2013 MBP, after the battery swelled up like a balloon on a flight back from Tokyo... (Don't worry, I paid Apple for a battery/top case replacement before selling it - I'm not a total Richard) ... Anyway, out of general dissatisfaction with the latest offerings and their high cost - $3500 for a machine that's less functional than the one I paid $2500 for 7 years ago - I decided it prudent to buy a nice used 2017 2.9GHz/512GB model while waiting for the next generation. I found one with about 3 weeks of original warranty left, made a bold cash purchase...
I get the unit home, and notice that the left side speaker isn't as loud as the right, so I take it to the Apple store ... They agree it isn't right, and agree to fix it. $800 for a top case (which includes the keyboard, trackpad, speakers, and battery - same as what was required for my 2013 battery replacement, but suspiciously more expensive), zeroed out because it's still under warranty. A week goes by, I pick it up and take it home as it seems to be working OK in the store, expectantly powering up when I opened the lid...
But when I'm home, I find that the power button doesn't work. The Touch ID does, and the button presses/clicks, but it fails to turn the machine on or off - holding it, pressing it lightly, heavily, quickly, slowly - nothing! It's also not possible to reset the SMC or NVRAM or anything else, because you need the power button to do any of that stuff. So back to the Apple store.
Again, they agree that it's not right, but add that they've never seen this particular type of failure before, and this time we're looking at a complete motherboard replacement for about $1200. Again, zeroed out because of warranty. I'm now patiently waiting for this repair and to see what breaks next...
But does anyone else find it really sad that it takes around $2000 worth of parts to replace a 50 cent speaker and $3 button? I'd expect that the removed parts end up back in the supply chain after someone refurbishes them, but I can't help but wonder if the base costs are so high because of all the logistical stuff that servicing these machines creates on the back end... In any case, turns out my "used" machine is now almost entirely "new"
But man, I can't imagine paying $2000 to fix a speaker had this happened a couple months from now...
I get the unit home, and notice that the left side speaker isn't as loud as the right, so I take it to the Apple store ... They agree it isn't right, and agree to fix it. $800 for a top case (which includes the keyboard, trackpad, speakers, and battery - same as what was required for my 2013 battery replacement, but suspiciously more expensive), zeroed out because it's still under warranty. A week goes by, I pick it up and take it home as it seems to be working OK in the store, expectantly powering up when I opened the lid...
But when I'm home, I find that the power button doesn't work. The Touch ID does, and the button presses/clicks, but it fails to turn the machine on or off - holding it, pressing it lightly, heavily, quickly, slowly - nothing! It's also not possible to reset the SMC or NVRAM or anything else, because you need the power button to do any of that stuff. So back to the Apple store.
Again, they agree that it's not right, but add that they've never seen this particular type of failure before, and this time we're looking at a complete motherboard replacement for about $1200. Again, zeroed out because of warranty. I'm now patiently waiting for this repair and to see what breaks next...
But does anyone else find it really sad that it takes around $2000 worth of parts to replace a 50 cent speaker and $3 button? I'd expect that the removed parts end up back in the supply chain after someone refurbishes them, but I can't help but wonder if the base costs are so high because of all the logistical stuff that servicing these machines creates on the back end... In any case, turns out my "used" machine is now almost entirely "new"
But man, I can't imagine paying $2000 to fix a speaker had this happened a couple months from now...
