Video Suggests Screws in iMac Pro's VESA Mounting Kit Are Prone to Break When Unfastened

[VulchR]

For too long Apple has been prioritizing form over function. And not thinking things through. They need to get back to their roots when their products were reliable. I have a PowerBook 180 that still works fine (of course I do not use it, but it still boots and runs programs). The high cost of Apple's products used to be justifiable on the basis of their longevity....

Anyone care to take a bet on whether Apple will simply withdraw the offending VESA mount rather than doing the right thing and offering a properly engineered one with - wait for it - screws that don't break? What ever possessed Apple to use such thin screws to support such a heavy, valuable, mission-critical device?

As for the level of support, that would be par for the course at any other computer manufacturer. From Apple, though, this is rather shocking.

 

[joueboy]

If you are an Apple Pro user they’ve been ****ing with you for a years now. You can feel special because you’re Pro user and pay tons of money. For Apple you are nothing to them anymore. Your contribution to their profit is almost nothing compared to regular customers who buy their Pro labeled products. You can make videos and and question them, but there are more popular Youtubers that praises them all the time. The only thing that will get attention from are the just people in this forum. And most of them here will defend Apple of any kind of wrongdoing.

 

[curtvaughan]

Like I said. People who don’t own these products. If you had an iMac Pro or new MacBook Pro then I would care about what you had to say.

The very first iMac I got was defective & Apple replaced it immediately in the Spring of 2001, just in time for OS/X 1.0. It's been Mac all the way ever since but it would never occur to me to put an iMac Pro on a VESA mount. Asking for trouble. Cheers!

The point is that the mount was purchased from Apple for the intended use on an iMac - it did not work as advertised, and even when he took it to the Apple store for repair, they did a sloppy job of it after finally agreeing to do it. I shouldn't be "asking for trouble" to install an Apple sanctioned mount as an option for a top of the line iMac.

Actually, I'm glad folks post articles and comments about defects in expensive products - that way, I'll be much more wary and careful before buying.

 

[motorazr]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/09/apple-ends-off-site-genius-training/

That is all.

 

[trifid]

Another great piece from Steve on Apple going on the wrong path...

Minute 39:15:

“what ruined apple wasn’t growth what ruined apple was values […] they cared about their own glory and wealth than what built Apple in the first place which was making great computers for people to use, they didn’t care about that anymore, and they didn’t have a clue about how to do it…”

 

[motorazr]

One thing that's clear from the video: he was the only person breaking the screws when attaching/detaching the mount. The Apple Store was successful in putting it on without breaking the screws, then he broke a screw taking it off again.

Maybe he just needs to watch a video on how to properly position the monitor before removing or adding the screws?

Not him. Cheap screws. Apple stores are instructed to replace them after each use.

 

[BigDO]

Kwalitee stuff.

 

[curtvaughan]

Hold not thy breath.


I also heard he’s responsible for climate change, Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, plague, and Dutch elm disease.

No, that was John Sculley.

 

[macintoshmac]

Screw this thing.

 

[Count Blah]

This is one anecdote. It seems like every week vloggers are just trying to find something wrong with Apple hardware. Then forums fill up with a bunch of comments from people who don’t even own this stuff. Whatever.

Ahhh, the ‘ole if it didn’t happen to me, it didn’t happen, or defend Apple no matter what.

I can’t decide which angle you are going for here - perhaps both?

 

[az431]

Tim Cook just doing what he does best at cutting corners to increase profit.

Doing what you do best, trolling the internet with baseless illogical comments.

 

[Gudi]

This is one anecdote.

Nah! It’s more like three anecdotes, if I count the broken screws correctly. Only God knows how many more screws broke during the two weeks of unsuccessful repairs? You’re basically screwed with these screws.

 

[macintoshmac]

Using cheap screws is embarrassing enough. But the MOST embarrassing thing (for Apple) about Nelson's video is that Nelson felt the need to create it in the first place.

I've always had very good service from Apple. But I'd be pretty hopping mad if a screw broke off while installing or removing an $80 adapter on a $5,000 computer. It's something that should have NEVER happened, not at those prices. And Apple can blame its vendor all they want, the bottom line is APPLE is responsible for what it sells.

I'm glad Apple did the right thing in the end. But it should have NEVER gotten to the point that Nelson felt the need to create his video. A lot of people dropped the ball on this one, including AppleCare support and the geniuses at his Apple Store. The person most responsible for dropping the ball was the moron that decided cheap screws would be fine. An adapter that costs $80 and mounts to a $5,000+ computer should AUTOMATICALLY come with stainless steel screws. Nothing else should have ever been considered.

Mark

Just lightheartedly, at the price they sell this thing at, Sir Jony should have come up with the toughest screws in the world.

 

[Mike MA]

Let‘s see who’s first this time. Apple providing a fix or the mandatory class-action lawsuit.

 

[skellener]

Screws should not be breaking off a brand new device, iMac Pro or otherwise.

 

[0248294]

I remember, back in the old PowerMac G3 days, that Apple the people who manufacture for Apple used cheap zinc screws even then. Trying to install additional or replacement hard drives required zen-like patience, because you would inevitably strip or snap screws because they were just SO so cheap.

That, and cheap plastics. Seriously, the 90s Apple plastics break even if you look at them funny, especially the beige G3 PowerMacs. Although even under Jobs, the Blue and White PowerMac G3's case is prone to cracking, as are the beige strutcture parts underneath all of the colored plastics of all iMac G3 models in my experience. Was trying to work on an iMac G3 once, the beige plastics on the bugger just snapped while gently taking the colored parts off the correct way.

One thing for sure though that even though product quality under Jobs could be less than stellar at points, his product line ups made more sense. Apple did try an All in One workstation before Jobs came back, the PowerMac G3 AIO. Other than being ugly as sin, AIO PowerMacs just didn't make sense, AIO computers should remain just for the average joe, or at most artists. The iMac Pro is just a painful repetition of some of Apple's failed past. Just like the Trash Can Mac Pro and the PowerMac G4 Cube.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

The guy broke his own computer (twice) and then blamed Apple.

 

[VulchR]

Screws should not be breaking off a brand new device, iMac Pro or otherwise.

At least Apple didn't use glue.

 

[simonmet]

Wow! Incredibly apropos and prophetic after over 20 years.

I feel like the last bit is referencing Tim Cook and Phil Schiller in the future. Spooky!

 

[pier]

Tim Cook.

The iPhone killed the Mac.

 

[Porco]

The guy broke his own computer (twice) and then blamed Apple.

Not a fair characterisation. The guy installed a user-installable item and it wasn't up to the quality anyone should reasonably expect it to be, even before considering the price and the 'pro' categorisation of the items.

Good on him for making this a known issue and making Apple address it, I say. It's not like Apple want to have a flawed stand/VESA mount situation, I'm sure. The guy and his video/complaint was very reasonable I think, unlike some other 'I broke my computer by treating it badly and they won't give me a new one' videos out there.

 

[jonblatho]

It's almost as if people like to provide feedback. It encourages companies to you know, improve products.

Then give that feedback directly to Apple instead of spending hours effectively yelling into a void on an Internet forum hoping that someone in Cupertino might, just might, see your post; they most likely won’t.

Not that the overarching iMac Pro support situation isn’t an embarrassment for a company on Apple’s scale—it is! They’re selling these things but if something goes wrong, very few of their support staff have been trained on it.

 

[pier]

It’s sad to see the mac in such a bad shape.

Other than the 5K iMac the whole lineup is ****ed up.

My wife wanted a new macbook and we ended up getting a macbook air.

 

[Markoth]

People can make whatever guesses they want. Maybe that's true. Maybe it's not. I do know for a fact that other people on YouTube have successfully used the same mount kit without screws breaking. Mounting iMacs on swing-arms etc. isn't really anything new.

iMacs and iMac Pros are very different machines. It seems likely the iMac Pro uses a different VESA adapter than the iMac, so I wouldn't make any assumptions about that. I doubt any of those YouTubers had the iMac Pro. It's both new, and very expensive.

I'm not sure how you're planning on countering the rest of the argument I made, that you left out of the quote.

 

[aaronhead14]

Yeah, this is totally unacceptable. Professionals use the VESA mount quite often, and it's just absurd for it to be non-functional (and destructive!) to a "pro" machine.