I have this odd screen distortion problems thats occurs sometimes and apple can't figure out the problem. They said its most likely pointed to a software issue. Is it rare for apple engineering to not able to resolve the problem? Who should I talk to if they are unable to fix the screen distortion on my computer? My computer is a Mid-2012 Macbook Air.
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What happens if apple support can't figure out what is wrong with my mac?
- Thread starter jtsang777
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I open my computer lid after sleep and this distortion happens for a split second before it goes away. I tried reformatting my computer and install Mac OS from fresh. This problem does go away when I had OS X Mavericks. But unfortunately, I can't use Mavericks as it is going to be unsupported soon and it does not work well with features like Live Photos in iPhoto app or inability to make calls from my iPhone using my computer.
Mid-2012 is long out of warranty. If you are in Europe, you can request that they need to fix problems for about two years for free. On the other hand, having a problem that they cannot fix even if you pay money is a different category, so you could try to argue that _having a problem that they cannot fix_ after four years is their problem.
Obviously if they can't fix it, it won't be fixed. So you _could_ try to convince the manager of the store to give you a good rebate on a replacement machine. For iPhones, they do that automatically, and call it "out of warranty repair" where the "repair" consists of opening a drawer full with refurbished iPhones, and exchanging one of them with your phone. (Usually costs about 50% of what an equivalent phone would cost).
Obviously if they can't fix it, it won't be fixed. So you _could_ try to convince the manager of the store to give you a good rebate on a replacement machine. For iPhones, they do that automatically, and call it "out of warranty repair" where the "repair" consists of opening a drawer full with refurbished iPhones, and exchanging one of them with your phone. (Usually costs about 50% of what an equivalent phone would cost).
There's no mystery of this sort that can't be solved, if you're willing to throw money at it, and feel having an answer would be worthwhile. The question is, does a problem that occurs for just a few moments after wake-from-sleep justify the expense? At this point, with the warranty expired, Apple has no obligation to spend the money, so it's up to you.
Clearly, system diagnostics found nothing, so Apple doesn't have a clear justification for replacing a particular part(s). Since, presumably, you'd be paying for the repair, give Apple credit for not asking you to spend money on replacing components on a guess, "We think it may be the main logic board. We can replace it to find out for sure."
There may be a hardware fault, but it could be very subtle. Since it only happens right after wake-from-sleep and self-corrects, it "feels" like hardware. If this was a CRT, nobody would give the issue a thought - CRTs are often unstable immediately after startup. Since LCDs don't have the same characteristics, a momentary instability is more noteworthy.
I'd connect an external display, and see if the issue is duplicated on the external - that could help narrow things a bit.
When you erased and reinstalled OS X, did you then immediately restore from a backup, or did you run the machine "clean" for a while, to test it?
Clearly, system diagnostics found nothing, so Apple doesn't have a clear justification for replacing a particular part(s). Since, presumably, you'd be paying for the repair, give Apple credit for not asking you to spend money on replacing components on a guess, "We think it may be the main logic board. We can replace it to find out for sure."
There may be a hardware fault, but it could be very subtle. Since it only happens right after wake-from-sleep and self-corrects, it "feels" like hardware. If this was a CRT, nobody would give the issue a thought - CRTs are often unstable immediately after startup. Since LCDs don't have the same characteristics, a momentary instability is more noteworthy.
I'd connect an external display, and see if the issue is duplicated on the external - that could help narrow things a bit.
When you erased and reinstalled OS X, did you then immediately restore from a backup, or did you run the machine "clean" for a while, to test it?