Popular YouTuber Says Apple Won't Fix His iMac Pro Damaged While Disassembled

[Smartass]

If you disassemble your HP/Dell/Asus/Sony laptop into a bunch of modules and parts, and in the process damage some of those modules/parts:

Will the manufacturer perform an out-of-warranty repair for a fee, with that repair being warranted? If not, will the manufacturer sell you modules/parts so you can do the repair yourself?

If they're normal they will repair it and charge it quite nice. They will also sell you motherboard/CPU/whatever with higher price than you would pay for on ebay. This is quite normal. but it is also different since all the components are normally obtainable elsewhere.

But apple obviously has policy which forbids their certified resellers/repairs selling any apple components to anybody outside. This wouldnt be a problem if iMac was a normal computer like all others, but since every part is custom made, and its more or less impossible to obtian via 3rd party at this time, Apple essentially locks you out from any repairs whatsoever. If anybody thinks this is a fair practice then i'm quite shocked by it.

 

[Jay42]

I suppose an overreaction here was inevitable. He said he knew he'd have to pay for the repair, and was fully willing to pay for it, completely uncovered by warranty, but they outright refused to repair it, regardless. Makes no sense to me.

His YouTube videos are pretty entertaining, imo. I don't get the hate.

Except that if they were to repair it, they'd sort of be representing that it is a fully functional machine once the repairs were complete. Imagine Apple replacing components, putting it all back together, and then 2 weeks later the customer says the machine stopped working. Was it Apple's fault because of a poor repair job, or was it a different component that has gone bad after the repair?

 

[citysnaps]

If they're normal they will repair it and charge it quite nice. They will also sell you motherboard/CPU/whatever with higher price than you would pay for on ebay. This is quite normal. but it is also different since all the components are normally obtainable elsewhere.

But apple obviously has policy which forbids their certified resellers/repairs selling any apple components to anybody outside. This wouldnt be a problem if iMac was a normal computer like all others, but since every part is custom made, and its more or less impossible to obtian via 3rd party at this time, Apple essentially locks you out from any repairs whatsoever.

"If they're normal they will repair it and charge it quite nice."

It sounds like you don't know.

I'd be shocked if they did, as the manufacturer would have to warrant that repair, and no manufacturer would take on that risk once a sealed unit not designed for user access has been disassembled into a bunch of modules and parts by the customer.

 

[threesixty360]

And there lies the heart of the matter, consumers having the belief that they 'can do what ever they want' and the manufacturer is expected to 'suck it up'.

That is why the FTC made it's ruling regarding warranties and why the push for 'right to repair'. Consumers are saying i have the right to do what ever i want with my product and if i break it, the manufacturer must either repair it at their or the customers expense or they must provide the spare parts at cost so the customer can fix the product.

And that "provide the spare parts at cost so the customer can fix the product" is kind of a problem.
Because a) you are asking the company to provide individual components / parts beyond what they might need or plan to need to fulfill this. Taken to it's logical conclusion a company must provide the ability to get spare parts for every single machine they sell!

So If Apple sell 10,000 imac pro's there must be 10,000 sets spare motherboards, cpu's, screens etc.. in case 10,000 people open up their imacs and break them and expect to repair them themselves!

This whole "right to repair" is coming from PC land (or perhaps old school industry) where all parts were sourced from third parties anyway. So you could just go to Intel, GEC or whatever and get the same part that Dell used in a machine.

Thats not how modern electronics works right now. So many parts are custom designed, tweaked, cut to size to fit into a particular mould because modern machines are smaller and lighter. Apple make exclusively many processors that no other company supplies and they dont actually "sell" them in the conventional manner.

I think people are stuck on the old school supply chain of components and assembly and I don't think that works for modern equipment in exactly.

 

[lpolarityl]

Linus did this for the views. Hes' a smart fella when it comes to generating discussion and views over something that is as obvious as a elephant in a room. Of course Apple won't warranty or offer to fix his iMac Pro, he took it apart and broke part of it. I don't blame Apple at all for being sticklers about it.

 

[oyabroch!]

I can imagine the out of warranty repair fees must be insane.....either way I am sure this is just for clicks.

Edit: Additionally, i really hate myself for watching 20 seconds of this video. I hate this guy and the fact he is famous and probably makes more money than I do really makes me want to rethink my life.

You know, it's really not nice to hate people, or even "hate" people. It's understandable to hate how they behave, but "hating" them is poisonous to your spirit, doesn't affect THEM, and smacks of immaturity.

 

[bflowers]

The problem is Apple has insanely tight control over their 3rd party repair shops. If you have watched the video, they attempted to go through a 3rd party Apple certified supplier (the only ones you can use other than Apple proper) to get replacement parts (paid, not under warranty) and were still rejected because Apple has not put in place a training program or access to the parts of the iMac Pro yet. Additionally, they were told even if they could somehow get the parts Apple would remove their 3rd party repair certification if they found out they had repaired this Mac.

All around, it doesn't speak kindly to the process of repairing the iMac Pro. Not a positive sign if you are looking for a machine for professional workflows. Especially given that units in a professional environment are expected to be repairable (whether in or out of warranty, whether accidental or not).

I wasn't disagreeing, I was pointing out that Apple could supply the part even if they didn't want to do it themselves, but are being very anti-consumer on this. There isn't really a difference between repairing one that was intentionally taken apart and the screen damaged, and one that was knocked off a desk and the screen damaged. In both cases, it wouldn't be warranted, but they should still be able to repair either. From the sound of it, Apple would refuse both based on the lack of certification process and the unwillingness to even supply their own stores with parts. I get a "you broke it, buy a new one" mentality for a wide range of things (from toys to small appliances) but a 3 to 13 thousand dollar computer? That isn't reasonable.

 

[oyabroch!]

Cue 1,000 people all commenting exactly the same things, only phrased a tiny bit differently to the comment above theirs, because no one understands that it's redundant and rhetorical to post exactly the same sentiments, 1,000 times in a row.

This ain't an Apple survey, Apple won't read it OR change their policies based on your comments, you're wasting time & keystrokes, talking into the wind about a "problem" of someone's own, wilful creation.

 

[MacDawg]

Geez, nearly 1,000 posts and nothing new has been said by anyone since page 2

Edit: LOL see above post

 

[panjandrum]

Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see how many people seem willing to just bend-over and let corporations "have their way" with them, but somehow I still find it shocking every time.

But let's all put on our critical-thinking and/or logic-caps and step back from fawning Apple-worship for a moment and apply this policy (if true) to any other company/product in the world: Let's say, for example, your handle falls off your fridge, and you have the shocking temerity to take the door apart and put it back together. In the process you break the left-handed-polymerizing-absolute-zero-f*ckermathingy... And then the manufacturer refuses to repair it. Or you *gasp* replace the spark-plugs in your car and over-tighten them, stripping the threads in the head (any other classic air-cooled owners here? You know what I mean!) and the manufacturer simply won't repair it. It's not that you are asked to pay for it, of course you have to pay for it, you were the idiot who broke it. No, they actually *won't* repair it. See? Now that it's not the all-holy Apple doing it doesn't it sound like just about the scummiest (and hopefully illegal - if not then it sure as hell should be) behavior imaginable? And yes, he took it apart himself as a tear-down. But that doesn't matter, period. He/they are willing to pay for the repair, and of course Apple should do the repair. Anything less than that is scum-of-the-Earth, for any company. The sacred-Apple-cow is all in our head...

 

[Brian Y]

You can order original spare parts from the car manufacturer itself. They cost more, but they will sell them to you. Will apple do that? Nope. And why? Because apple is using this excuse how "only Apple trained certified dealers can repair the mac and nobody else" yet we all rknow the news just two days ago from Norway how that policy ended for Apple.

If Apple thinks that only certified dealers can repair the macs and they are actively blocking every 3rd party repair shops from doing that, and dont want to sell ANY repair parts, then they MUST offer repair service. These are the basics of a consumer law.

(My emp.)

Erm... no it's not. There is absolutely nothing in any consumer law worldwide which states manufacturers have to sell you parts, or repair defects which were caused by you. I'd actively challenge you to prove that one, since it's a load of tosh.

If you crash a car, the dealer doesn't have to fix it. You smash your TV, they don't have to offer to repair it.

Everyone beats Apple up on this. Try getting a new mainboard or panel from LG for your TV. Ain't gonna happen. Chances are, with the amount of damage on this machine it's a write off. I know that. You know that. He knows that. But, I'm sure all the views from that video will pay for a replacement.

Plus, AASPs aren't bound to not repair what apple won't repair. There's nothing stopping an AASP taking on this repair. So why won't they? Because once that machine is back in warranty, they'd be liable for anything else that he's broken.

 

[BigHonkingDeal]

He can write this off as "Cost of doing business"..... Everybody who buys an Apple product (especially people who tear them apart for reviews) should be familiar with Apple's terms of use/service.

To me it looks like he should get insurance.

 

[kodos]

This is one reason why after the cheese-grater Mac Pro, I divested myself of most of my Mac products. I keep one to make builds of iOS software I develop. That's it.

Apple is so anti-Pro and anti-consumer at this point ... but even if they punched you in the nose after purchasing a new iMac Pro, there is a certain segment of the Apple community that would say, "thank you, may I have another?" and run screaming with tears of joy.

 

[bflowers]

Since you like auto analogies... here's one:
What does your insurance company do when you are in accident, and the estimated cost of repair is more than about 80% of replacement cost? they just give you replacement cost. They don't want to bother taking risk that actual repair costs exceed replacement cost. That's probably what is going on here. Apple knows it's not covered under any warranty coverage. And they likely know it's easier, and maybe cheaper to just replace (given they have started designing these to be throw ways.. integrated...).
Is Apple being any more ridiculous than the auto insurance company?

I don't think your analogy works. It is also the owner's prerogative to take the check from the insurance, minus the salvage cost, and go get the car repaired anyway. You may have safety issues, but that is between you and the licensing agency, not the insurance company. They may refuse to insure it going forward, but again, you still have the option to get it fixed. Apple isn't an insurance company. They aren't looking at the broken screen and saying it would cost more to fix. They are refusing to provide access to the parts or the service personnel (both their own and qualified third parties). They are being very anti-consumer, because it isn't like he can go anywhere else and buy the replacement part and pay to have it installed.

Also, you can't tell me the cost of the screen and reassembly is more than a new one. They take the standard version iMac apart all the time for hard drive failures and many other issues. They aren't radically different.

 

[Brian Y]

You have to realize, that if a company sells certain product, they must offer repair service for it even if its not under warranty.

Wrong. No legal obligation to do so in the US, the UK, or anywhere else for that matter.
[doublepost=1524147715][/doublepost]

If they're normal they will repair it and charge it quite nice. They will also sell you motherboard/CPU/whatever with higher price than you would pay for on ebay. This is quite normal. but it is also different since all the components are normally obtainable elsewhere.

But apple obviously has policy which forbids their certified resellers/repairs selling any apple components to anybody outside. This wouldnt be a problem if iMac was a normal computer like all others, but since every part is custom made, and its more or less impossible to obtian via 3rd party at this time, Apple essentially locks you out from any repairs whatsoever. If anybody thinks this is a fair practice then i'm quite shocked by it.

Wrong again. To consumers, Dell will only sell you user-serviceable parts. On most models, this is limited to RAM, SSDS/HDDS and a couple of other minor bits.
[doublepost=1524147844][/doublepost]

I don't think your analogy works. It is also the owner's prerogative to take the check from the insurance, minus the salvage cost, and go get the car repaired anyway. You may have safety issues, but that is between you and the licensing agency, not the insurance company. They may refuse to insure it going forward, but again, you still have the option to get it fixed. Apple isn't an insurance company. They aren't looking at the broken screen and saying it would cost more to fix. They are refusing to provide access to the parts or the service personnel (both their own and qualified third parties). They are being very anti-consumer, because it isn't like he can go anywhere else and buy the replacement part and pay to have it installed.

Also, you can't tell me the cost of the screen and reassembly is more than a new one. They take the standard version iMac apart all the time for hard drive failures and many other issues. They aren't radically different.

It's not the screen and reassembly. It's the screen, logic board (and ergo, GPU, etc too), power supply, potentially RAM and other bits which may have been fried/damaged.

 

[oyabroch!]

Why is every moderately successful YouTuber, a "SquareSpace" shill? You hear that brand's name SO MUCH, it's almost offensive spam... do they not realise that OVER-advertising looks desperate on their part?

 

[trip1ex]

I'm no expert but if you took apart your car completely and put it back together then you very well might have to get a rebuilt/salvage title for it. And it would be more difficult to insure the car.

 

[oyabroch!]

You know what we engineers get fed up of? Public misunderstanding and assumed "entitlement".

Read the T&C before taking things apart.

 

[dragje]

if you think you're clever enough to open it up and modify it, you should be clever enough to fix it yourself

You're mixing up breaking apart different parts and putting them back together again with breaking apart different parts and then actually 'breaking' a screen., a broken screen is not something you can put back in the machine, it needs to be replaced and can't be fixed.

 

[oyabroch!]

I'm no expert but if you took apart your car completely and put it back together then you very well might have to get a rebuilt/salvage title for it. And it would be more difficult to insure the car.

It's not a car, by the way. You're right; you're definitely not an expert.

 

[4jasontv]

You know what we engineers get fed up of? Public misunderstanding and assumed "entitlement".

Read the T&C before taking things apart.

You know what we customers get fed up with? Engineers that think taking a device apart voids the warranty. Do you also think those "warranty void if this sticker is removed" are legal?

 

[Thomas Crandall]

Blame whoever wrote and posted this article for Macrumors. It's clearly SPIN to make Linus look bad eventhough those who watched the video know better.

Actually, I respect Linus far more than Macrumors or any other tech enthusiast out there, I didn't even need to watch the whole video to know that it'd be a legit complaint... he's easily the most credible tech guy out there and yet MR still tries to smear the guy.. and now you have a legion of MR members making up ludicrous complaints defending Apple for being EXTREMELY petty.

Agreed, they are picking a terrible video to try and smear him on as well. In the initial review of this product they were actually very impressed with the product and they liked it.

It just happened that there was an accident and the screen broke along with other parts. But broken parts can happen to anyone and there should be some avenue for customers to get things repaired regardless of if they voided the warranty. Linus Media Group doesn't hide the fact that they voided the warranty.... there is video evidence ffs.

 

[oyabroch!]

You know what we customers get fed up with? Engineers that think taking a device apart voids the warranty. Do you also think those "warranty void if this sticker is removed" are legal?

They're there for a reason; to keep fiddling fingers and enthusiastic amateurs, out, at the risk of losing warranty. How is the service engineer supposed to gauge the level of technical competence of the unseen, unknown stranger whom broke the warranty seal - Telepathy? Even if he DID know all this, what gives one tiny fraction of the customer base, assumed exemption from what has CLEARLY been stated, and which applies TO ALL CUSTOMERS?

You're entitled to open and fiddle with your own property to your heart's content, and you're a grown up, so man up and accept that actions have consequences.

 

[rsdotscot]

Linus is a whining maggot.

 

[Drogba11]

if you think you're clever enough to open it up and modify it, you should be clever enough to fix it yourself

This is an idiotic statement. Just say the screen was broken not by tearing it down but by an accidental knock, falling over. Then what?