My 2008 MacBook Pro Issue List

[dogtanian]

I just wanted to share my story regarding my beloved 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro from May 2008.

I got off the phone with someone from Apple Executive relations earlier today who was very polite. His call was prompted by a ridiculously long email I sent which I won't bore you with here.

The long and short of it, my MacBook Pro is a shadow of its former self! The only original part is the case. (I upgraded the RAM and Hard drive myself)

The following has gone wrong:

- Logic Board (Replaced due to 8600 graphics issue)
- LCD screen (Replaced due to strange white spots all over)
- DVD drive (Died after months of failing to read DVD's consistently)
- Logic board (Replaced again, no clue why)
- Battery (Replaced due to shut down at 30%)
- IO Ports along left side (Replaced to ensure battery issue is fixed)
- Keyboard assembly replaced inc. backlight (I didn't know it was broken tbh)

She's been in for repair 3 times and each time there seems to be something new to replace! I am glad I have AppleCare, I would be furious if I didn't.

The reason I emailed Apple was because an AppleCare advisor was quite happy to replace the device due to the problems but as soon as they realised the computer was being tested (after giving them a call whilst I was on hold), they cancelled the replacement and accused me of lying to Apple! (I can assure you I did nothing of the sort and requested they listen to the call, quite bizarre).

I am also awaiting my order for a 2.8Ghz MacBook Pro so Apple certainly make their money from me, £8000 last time I checked, excluding O2 iPhone bill.

So the result of all this was that the chap named Matthieu at Apple has specified on my file that the next repair required will warrant an immediate replacement.

Not sure to be entirely happy, at the end of the day I just want a reliable computer (Which is now going to my partner). I think i've so far had all the known issues with the machine but if not, i'm sure I will at some point!

 

[cababah]

That sucks...why are logic boards always failing? Is this like the Achilles Heel component of the Macbooks?

 

[iLog.Genius]

That sucks...why are logic boards always failing? Is this like the Achilles Heel component of the Macbooks?

That's what I like to know as well. With non-Mac's, I've had bad RAM, bad cables (IDE, SATA), bad HDD's but never any motherboards. Out of all the parts I listed, you really can't blame Apple because they're not part of the design process but the logic board is something that Apple definitely has a hand in and I want to know why they tend to fail.

 

[getz76]

That's what I like to know as well. With non-Mac's, I've had bad RAM, bad cables (IDE, SATA), bad HDD's but never any motherboards. Out of all the parts I listed, you really can't blame Apple because they're not part of the design process but the logic board is something that Apple definitely has a hand in and I want to know why they tend to fail.

I am no Apple fanboy, but I think we just hear about failures more often because the community is vocal and the complaints are concentrated on a couple of forums (Apple's official forum and here, in general).

Last year I had a Gigabyte P35-based desktop motherboard fail on me. Terrible to deal with; it was driving me insane. It would hang about 25% of the time I ran Nik Dfine 2.0 (Photoshop plug-in). I swapped RAM, drives, video cards. Luckily I purchased a plain-vanilla Intel board with a P35 chipset and I was able to swap without reinstalling Windows Vista and the system has been robust since. Gigabyte replaced the board and it is sitting in a box somewhere...

 

[317342]

The reason I emailed Apple was because an AppleCare advisor was quite happy to replace the device due to the problems but as soon as they realised the computer was being tested (after giving them a call whilst I was on hold), they cancelled the replacement and accused me of lying to Apple! (I can assure you I did nothing of the sort and requested they listen to the call, quite bizarre).

Tested? Please explain.

 

[dogtanian]

Tested? Please explain.

Yes of course. The computer had it's battery replaced along with the IO ports and I was expecting it back Friday. Because of testing it to make sure it worked it was pushed back to Monday and because they were waiting for parts to sort out the keyboard. I didn't get it back until today (Tuesday).

I phoned Apple on the Friday as Group 8 (The UK's repair service) had informed me they were replacing the keyboard as well to discuss replacing the laptop. When they found out the laptop was now being tested after the battery issue they declined it straight after! Group 8 were still to fix the keyboard so I really didn't understand any of the issues. I still don't.

 

[djvic87]

I just wanted to share my story regarding my beloved 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro from May 2008.

I got off the phone with someone from Apple Executive relations earlier today who was very polite. His call was prompted by a ridiculously long email I sent which I won't bore you with here.

The long and short of it, my MacBook Pro is a shadow of its former self! The only original part is the case. (I upgraded the RAM and Hard drive myself)

The following has gone wrong:

- Logic Board (Replaced due to 8600 graphics issue)
- LCD screen (Replaced due to strange white spots all over)
- DVD drive (Died after months of failing to read DVD's consistently)
- Logic board (Replaced again, no clue why)
- Battery (Replaced due to shut down at 30%)
- IO Ports along left side (Replaced to ensure battery issue is fixed)
- Keyboard assembly replaced inc. backlight (I didn't know it was broken tbh)

She's been in for repair 3 times and each time there seems to be something new to replace! I am glad I have AppleCare, I would be furious if I didn't.

The reason I emailed Apple was because an AppleCare advisor was quite happy to replace the device due to the problems but as soon as they realised the computer was being tested (after giving them a call whilst I was on hold), they cancelled the replacement and accused me of lying to Apple! (I can assure you I did nothing of the sort and requested they listen to the call, quite bizarre).

I am also awaiting my order for a 2.8Ghz MacBook Pro so Apple certainly make their money from me, £8000 last time I checked, excluding O2 iPhone bill.

So the result of all this was that the chap named Matthieu at Apple has specified on my file that the next repair required will warrant an immediate replacement.

Not sure to be entirely happy, at the end of the day I just want a reliable computer (Which is now going to my partner). I think i've so far had all the known issues with the machine but if not, i'm sure I will at some point!

Let me share my story of my beloved 2.4ghz Macbook pro May 2008. (with appcare of course)

- Trackpad button (Replaced due to stuck button)
- Uneven lid (Which is one of the most common issues with the MBP)
- cranky chassis (For no reason at all. I hardly leaned on the chassis)
- Uneven lid TWICE
- two front dents (they have sent me back the MBP with the dents)
- distorted left side speaker (Came back from Apple with the left speaker distorted)
- trackpad button and chassis (AGAIIN!! called for an exchange ASAP)

Apple's service is one of the best warranties on the market. However, when it comes to the MBPs, I have to be honest but the build is horrible. I have sent my 2008 MBP more than 6 times. It was february 11, 2009, a day before my birthday. That day, I felt that I had to express my unsatisfaction to Apple and demanded the new unibody. I wanted to give it a shot so I called Apple. After speaking to a nice young tier 2 girl for about an hour, she decided to exchange my MBP for the new unibody 2.4ghz stock version. The only difference in spec was the 250gb hard drive bump and the buld quality. I can't complain anymore than that. And on top of that, I love my ubmp. I haven't got one single problem yet. It is just what I expected out of my pocket.

Before the swap
Also I just remembered. When I started getting the uneven lid and lid closing fast problem, (sometime in 2008) I went to the apple sotre immediately. I explained that many people have mentioned how bad it was to have the screen uneven. I told them that I will accept an immediate exchange and the genius guy was trying to give me some mechanical engineering gibberish. That it was completely normal. I was like "ok fine" I was not satisfied...

But I guess it was for a good reason. The day (feb. 11 09) the tier 2 lady told me to exchange my MBP for the UMBP, I went to the Apple store next day ( my birthday w00t) and coincidently I spoke to the same genius guy. I was kind of mad because I felt that I was going to run through the same gibberish. He hardly recognized me until I made him remember about my lid problem. He was kind of speechless and told me he never thought I would have more problems with the mbp. I was also worried if he was not going to approve the exchange. But anyways, He got OWNED.

 

[dogtanian]

Let me share my story of my beloved 2.4ghz Macbook pro May 2008. (with appcare of course)

- Trackpad button (Replaced due to stuck button)
- Uneven lid (Which is one of the most common issues with the MBP)
- cranky chassis (For no reason at all. I hardly leaned on the chassis)
- Uneven lid TWICE
- two front dents (they have sent me back the MBP with the dents)
- distorted left side speaker (Came back from Apple with the left speaker distorted)
- trackpad button and chassis (AGAIIN!! called for an exchange ASAP)

Apple's service is one of the best warranties on the market. However, when it comes to the MBPs, I have to be honest but the build is horrible. I have sent my 2008 MBP more than 6 times. It was february 11, 2009, a day before my birthday. That day, I felt that I had to express my unsatisfaction to Apple and demanded the new unibody. I wanted to give it a shot so I called Apple. After speaking to a nice young tier 2 girl for about an hour, she decided to exchange my MBP for the new unibody 2.4ghz stock version. The only difference in spec was the 250gb hard drive bump and the buld quality. I can't complain anymore than that. And on top of that, I love my ubmp. I haven't got one single problem yet. It is just what I expected out of my pocket.

Before the swap
Also I just remembered. When I started getting the uneven lid and lid closing fast problem, (sometime in 2008) I went to the apple sotre immediately. I explained that many people have mentioned how bad it was to have the screen uneven. I told them that I will accept an immediate exchange and the genius guy was trying to give me some mechanical engineering gibberish. That it was completely normal. I was like "ok fine" I was not satisfied...

But I guess it was for a good reason. The day the tier 2 lady told me to exchange my MBP for the UMBP, I went to the Apple store next day ( my birthday w00t) and coincidently I spoke to the same genius guy. I was kind of mad because I felt that I was going to run through the same gibberish. He hardly recognized me until I made him remember about my lid problem. He was kind of speechless and told me he never thought I would have more problems with the mbp. I was also worried if he was not going to approve the exchange. But anyways, He got OWNED.

I'll be honest, it's my own fault it hasn't been replaced, i'm a pushover when they are really nice and apologetic. One of the advisors mentioned a replacement but said in a lovely Irish accent "Are you willing to give us another chance?".

The other thing going against me is the fact that i've only actually had three repairs as I let them clump up. If I sent it for each issue, I have no doubt it would have been replaced. I would feel more secure with a replacement but as I said, this is literally a new machine! Nothing original about it.

I do believe this model had significantly more issues than many other Apple computer models but also am sensible and understand that as a community we are definitely more vocal.

Funnily enough it was my birthday Friday when the advisor was so rude! That was a really odd conversation.