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- Thread starter chimera56
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I have been using computers (Windows based) since the early nineties and have never had a HD fail. However, I have been getting nervous since buying my iMac two years ago as HD failures on the iMac appear to be relatively common. I can only assume this has something to do with heat dissipation in the enclosed environment of the iMac's casing. It doesn't inspire me to purchase a replacement iMac in the future though.
If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, that doesn't leave you with much of a choice. I do agree with you, that is ridiculous pricing.
I've had HDD failures on PC's too!
HDD's are mechanical devices and can fail - whatever type of computer they may be in!Let me guess, you didn't buy Apple Care?
Aside from having the extended warranty, don't you have a standard three year warranty in the UK?
Aside from having the extended warranty, don't you have a standard three year warranty in the UK?
Bring your own HDD, or even better .. HDD + SSD .. come to AASP and ask nicely to get your HDD replaced with yours, and SSD installed .. will cost you some $$ for labor .. but definitely cheaper than give your iMac to Apple for full service and replacement
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You are still protected by the law even after 12 months, that's just the length of the vendor's guarantee. The UK consumer law gives you up to six years to raise a complaint with the seller, depending on what the item is, price paid etc.
Linky:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Yourconsumerrightswhenbuyinggoodsandservices/DG_194650
MP
You are still protected by the law even after 12 months, that's just the length of the vendor's guarantee. The UK consumer law gives you up to six years to raise a complaint with the seller, depending on what the item is, price paid etc.
Linky:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Yourconsumerrightswhenbuyinggoodsandservices/DG_194650
MP
I agree the Apple repair prices are very high, however that's standard practice across all industries - it's not just Apple. If you take your Ford Focus to the local Ford dealership to get it serviced, you'll pay top price. Take it to an independent garage (or heck, let Tesco do it) and prices will be much lower.
You don't have a warranty to worry about, so you had no reason to go direct to Apple to get it fixed - take it to any local Apple repairer and you'll save money. Do a search for "Apple repairs" and you'll see there's plenty out there.
Ths is actually excellent advice, my early 08 MBP failed after 18 months (no apple care, its a rip of when your covered by law for longer) and although i did have to wave the law under the apple store managers nose (sales of goods act 1974) i got the MBP logic board, which had fried itself due to the NVIDIA issue these suffered from, replaced free of charge.
Apple, and , to be fair, all other high street retailers, work on the assumption that most people dont know the laws protecting the rights and purchases beyond the 1yr warranty they put on the sales sticker, it is UNACCEPTABLE that a professional level piece of kit such as a Macbook PRO or MacPro suffer any kind of failure after a blink of an eye 18 months.
I would argue that it is reasonable to expect a hard disk to last at least 3 years, if not 5, as most manufactures of drives offer warranty periods in that range if you bought the drive stand alone,
I still believe apple products suffer more drive failures than PCs of a similar age due to the bad thermal management in apple products (imacs HDD location is thermally awful but was located there to keep the imac pleasing to the eye, rather than locating it in a bay at the edge that makes it easily replaced, or better yet, moving to laptop sized drives so they could be moved to an easily cooled and easily replaced edge bay), also the Time Capsule is awful as a backup device, the 1st gen ones failed in the hundreds at around 14 months due to the PSU frying itself, those that managed to soldier on had drive failures around 18 months, apples answer ,a firmware update that keeps the drive spun down as much as possible to minimise heat, as they cant undo the bad design of the device.
But if you iMacs drive has failed, kick up a fuss in the apple store, dont shout or be rude, just be polite, and explain that you expect a device you paid to last longer than this, and that it was obviously unfit for purpose it was purchased for and that you expect apple to make it right under the sales of goods act.
I have done quite a lot of forum trawling regarding this issue and think you are spot on with your conclusion. A tower provides for a much easier and superior cooling solution than the tight enclosures Apple use. Now you will hear many people claim that the aluminium casing acts as a heat sink which may well be true. However, the drives and nearby components are still heating up to sustained levels you wouldn't get in a large tower.
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So you would obviously come to the conclusion that laptops (Mac or PC) are even more unreliable, being that they are even more compact in their design!
So you would obviously come to the conclusion that laptops (Mac or PC) are even more unreliable, being that they are even more compact in their design!
Depends on how compact. The MBP and HP Envy have hardly any space for cooling but bigger gaming systems have much better cooling tech. Either way, drives fail and all computer makers need to supply an easy method for removal/replacement.
Cheers,
So you would obviously come to the conclusion that laptops (Mac or PC) are even more unreliable, being that they are even more compact in their design!
Many Notebooks use 5400rpm drives not 7200rpm which obviously makes a difference. There are other factors to take into account too such as heat from graphics PSU and general airflow design.
Ditto
The iMac's HD is still the one, big design flaw. Not so much that it uses a HD, but that it wouldn't be a large design problem to make it removable from a side window/door so you can quickly swap drives and get going again or update drives with larger storage.
I wish they would do the same with the optical drive so people could switch out that thing with a HD, and not have to tear the machine apart.
If you actually do it and follow the directions laid out online, you'll be amazed how easy it is once you get it back together.
However, if you are lazy or a complete fool with mechanical stuff, you might find a local dealer/repair shop which does it for less.
I wish they would do the same with the optical drive so people could switch out that thing with a HD, and not have to tear the machine apart.
If you actually do it and follow the directions laid out online, you'll be amazed how easy it is once you get it back together.
However, if you are lazy or a complete fool with mechanical stuff, you might find a local dealer/repair shop which does it for less.
As far as I'm concerned, the title is perfectly apt. How can Apple make such updates 10 minute (or less) DIY jobs on MacBook Airs, MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Mac Pros but a freakin' nightmare on iMacs? It's always been this way with iMacs. I remember replacing the HD in an original G3 iMac and I had to essentially disassemble the entire computer. My G4 "Lamp Shade" iMac was even worse - you had to reapply heat sink compound to the cpu after the update. Apple's engineers have really dropped the ball on iMacs.
the local repair techies(the ones who specialized in Mac's) are the way to go , sure they charge for labour too maybe even £30 or £40 , but you can get your own HDD and bring it to them to get it fitted which will save you the best part of £200...
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More importantly, those drives have 5V lines instead of 12V lines in 3.5" drives.
Maybe they will one day, maybe they won't. If it bugs you so much either DIY or buy a MacBook/Air/Pro, Mac Pro, whatever.