Why not purchase Revision-A hardware?

[WabeWalker]

In this section of the MacRumors Forums, I'm seeing the same argument advanced over and over again, which is that a person should never purchase revision-A hardware.

What kind of crap is this?

Listen man, SOMEBODY has to buy the revision-A hardware. If nobody did, then Apple would be out of business.

The people who buy revision-A hardware are blazing a trail for the folks that will follow. These people, instead of being scorned, or told that they're fools, ought to be cheered instead.

Clearly, Apple (or any other computer manufacturer for that matter) NEEDS early adopters to help them iron out the kinks - in a pefect world computer hardware would be flawless right from the get-go; but of course ours in not a perfect world.

It shocks me that so many people at this forum, instead of saying that Apple needs to go out of its way to help early adopters, will actually blame the early adopters themselves.

"Dude, you say your computer is randomly shutting down on you, and that your top-cover has become discolored, well that's what you get, isn't it, for purchasing revision-A hardware. How stoopid r u, dude."

Yeah, dude, and guess what, since we've gone out and bought revision-A hardware, and suffered through all the problems associated with such, you, when you do decide to buy your hardware, will probably have a much smoother ride for it.

The fact is, early adopters are the most loyal Apple customers out there, and if you were to tell me that you had purchased revision-A hardware I would raise my hands and cheer.

 

[joshysquashy]

I think a better thing to do is to warn people:

If you buy the very first revision of hardware or software, you can expect minor flaws, these can often be rectified, particularly software, but there is a risk involved.

If you want an easy life, wait a few weeks to find out if there are any problems with new hardware, before forking out your hard earned cash!

 

[Zwhaler]

Thank you! I have been critisized in the past for purchasing revision-A hardware from Apple, and finally I can say something back.

But one question - how do you know when revision-B has been released? (for whatever product)

 

[macgeek2005]

In this section of the MacRumors Forums, I'm seeing the same argument advanced over and over again, which is that a person should never purchase revision-A hardware.

What kind of crap is this?

Listen man, SOMEBODY has to buy the revision-A hardware. If nobody did, then Apple would be out of business.

The people who buy revision-A hardware are blazing a trail for the folks that will follow. These people, instead of being scorned, or told that they're fools, ought to be cheered instead.

Clearly, Apple (or any other computer manufacturer for that matter) NEEDS early adopters to help them iron out the kinks - in a pefect world computer hardware would be flawless right from the get-go; but of course ours in not a perfect world.

It shocks me that so many people at this forum, instead of saying that Apple needs to go out of its way to help early adopters, will actually blame the early adopters themselves.

"Dude, you say your computer is randomly shutting down on you, and that your top-cover has become discolored, well that's what you get, isn't it, for purchasing revision-A hardware. How stoopid r u, dude."

Yeah, dude, and guess what, since we've gone out and bought revision-A hardware, and suffered through all the problems associated with such, you, when you do decide to buy your hardware, will probably have a much smoother ride for it.

The fact is, early adopters are the most loyal Apple customers out there, and if you were to tell me that you had purchased revision-A hardware I would raise my hands and cheer.

My family bought 3 Rev A intel iMacs, and i've ordered a Rev A Mac Pro.

 

[CyberPrey]

......I would raise my hands and cheer.

Soooo, the fact I am using a Mac Pro I got less than a week after they were released... does that qualify??

If so, toss money to LOL LOL

 

[Chone]

Yeah I hear the same thing and it pisses me off, nothing wrong with buying rev a hardware, I have tons of revision a hardware which never gave any trouble and I think marking early adopters as stupid is a very stupid thing to do, its because of them that you get an error free product, in any case, any hardware should be error free, we are not guinea pigs or anything so if people get recurring discolored palm rests, its up to Apple to replace them, not up to macrumors users to say "told ya".

I mean, now we expect revision a hardware to be error-prone and when it is we DONT have the right to complain and demand a new product\repair from Apple? Now thats just stupid, you make it sound as if we were buying unfinished products or something and if something goes wrong then "your fault for buying revision A", I'm sorry but some users here have some very dumb ideas and judgements on stuff, I guess I know where Mac users bad popularity comes from, no wonder the PC guys make fun of us.

 

[bearbo]

i dont think they meant that people buy revision a hardware/software are stupid(and i wouldn't agree if they did), but simply to way that revision a are more likely to have problems(that i'm pretty sure most ppl agree). and for some people who aren't technological savvy, they could easily blame apple for making substandard product if their revision a product has defect. so unless you know what you are getting yourself into, you should have a second thought before rushing into rev. a.
but if you understand the risk associated to it, and you want to get your hand on cutting edge technology, and willing to put up with the potential problem with it, then you shouldn't be blamed.. esp if you are posting what kind of problem you are having, in attempt to inform future buyers...
but again, buying rev. a. product does have the risks that people should be aware of.

 

[Subiklim]

lol! according to a friend of mine who's an engineer at apple, Jobs tends to push the engineers to make products 'consumer ready' before they really are (but that's obvious, isn't it?). If no one bought Rev A. products due to bugs, apple would most certainly not go out of business, they would simply be making much better Rev A. products.

 

[amin]

In general, it is safer to buy later revisions. I don't have the patience, so I'm willing to go Rev A, as I have done with the Mac Pro. Nevertheless, the recommendation to wait for Rev B or C is sound, whether it pisses you off or not.

 

[jsw]

My username should be RevA, given my habits. I tend often to be the first one (or very near that) to buy a given item at my local Apple Store. G5 PowerMac, Shuffle, nano, Intel mini, etc.

Rev A stuff does tend to be flakier, I suppose, but only in a relative sense. My purchases haven't given me any troubles aside from one very slightly flaky graphics card on my PM - which really wasn't Apple's fault.

 

[Zwhaler]

No one answered my question... How do you know when newer revisions have been released

 

[iSee]

No one answered my question... How do you know when newer revisions have been released

Follow Macrumors obsessively--that's what I do.
Or wait for new product/major change annocements on Apple's site.
I consult a program called MacTracker that has info about many, many (all?) Apple products over time, which has rev info in it. I does have an auto update feature, although I'm not sure how quickly this happens.

Also, I believe Apple makes various improvements in throughout production of a product, so there may not be a rev associated with every fix.

By the way, I had a Rev A Dual 2.0 G5 PowerMac at my old job for years, which never had any problems--and it's still a bit faster than my current machine (a 2.16 MBP), at least at Handbrake.

 

[Zwhaler]

^^ Thanks

But how often is a revision released? I don't want to wait 6 months when I can get a (95% most likely) perfectly fine machine.

 

[CANEHDN]

I bought the new Intel iMac. There were a couple problems but have since been fixed by software updates. I agree that people need to buy them. There aren't that many problems that people should make such a big fuss over. There will be problems with every release of every product regardless of what Rev it is.

Revisions are released approx. every 6-8 months. This can obviously be longer or shorter. When a new product is released then that is the most recent Rev. A new Rev. can be from new processors to new features, like adding the iSight and bluetooth.

 

[Chone]

I'm just saying there shouldn't be any risk in being an early adopter in something such as a laptop, okay if I was an early adopter in something like blu-ray, I would expect some flaws, but not in a laptop and especially not problems like discolored palm rests which have nothing to do with "Revision A", it has to do with the fact that Apple made a mistake and its stupid to cover it up by saying its a Revision A product, deal with it.

I don't see problems like this in other Core Duo laptops, some in fact have had NO problems, so I don't see what is it with you and this Revision A bull****, its stupid to expect a newly released product to have problems, especially if its something like a laptop... the macbooks are not new technology, they are not revolutionary redesigned laptops, sure there might be a few problems liek mooing which you might miss but its not fair for a consumer to complain and have a bunch of people tell you its your fault for buying rev. a hardware, obviusly later revisions are going to be more polished but I expect a fully functional product with revision a and not be a friggin guinea pig.

Seriously I don't get you people, it seems you think that revision a hardware is incomplete or anything and you SHOULD expect bogus hardware and you SHOULD assume responsibility for buying a newly released product, a product which should be trouble free to begin with.

 

[bearbo]

I'm just saying there shouldn't be any risk in being an early adopter in something such as a laptop

problems like discolored palm rests which have nothing to do with "Revision A"

how is apple suppose to know the palm rest would have that problem, before massively produce it, except to release so-called rev. a to have people who are willing to take the risk to detect the problem?

problems like discolored palm rests is a classic example of rev. a risk.

(did apple ever replace the units for ppl who have that problem?)

it seems you think ... you SHOULD expect bogus hardware and you SHOULD assume responsibility for buying a newly released product

well, you should expect some problems with new release, and apple already assumed responsibility, you just have to live with potentially callign apple care more frequently and chances or send it to apple...

 

[MacsAttack]

Being an early adopter of any computer hardware (or anything else) has risks.

I bought a Pentium 90MHz system just before the FDiv error was found. In this case it was not exactly that big a problem. But it illustrates the perils of being first out the trench and into no-mans-land.

Conversly I picked up a Abit BP6 motherboard just as they ended production. Able to use 2 Celeron processors (even though they were not supposed to work in multi-processor systems - it said so on their boxes), I picked the CPUs and board up for a knock-down price, by which time some fixes to the BIOS resolved some serious issues. So in this case being late paid off big time. Built them into a great little system which I only retired this year.

On the other hand, a Supermicro motherboard I purchased was buggy as anything - until I reverted the BIOS to an earlier version. If I had bought the board when it was released I would have been saved weeks of agrivation.

Sometimes it pays to be early.

Another example is the good old Sinclair ZX Spectrum. I got hold of a revision A - and just standing it next to a revision B showed that quality had gone downhill.

In the case of Apple, I bought a Rev A mac mini. No problems at all - though some people have reported issues with different VDUs. Of course the Mini was effectivly the iBook folded into a box - so the technology used was well proven.

On the other hand, the MacBook and MacBook Pro have apparently had their share of issues - being new technology. However, the intel Mac Mini and iMac have been far less troublesome.

The Mac Pro (thanks to the fact that while it includes a lot of new technology, that tech has been scrutinised by many different manufactures - a fringe benifit of the intel switch) has so far been free of significant issues. Poor hard disk performance in another unsuported OS and Beta software does not count as significant.

So there is nothing wrong with buying rev A hardware. Wait until people get the new grear and give it two or three weeks. There is always some sucker... err... brave soul... who will thake the plunge. Read these forums. Look at the support forums over at Apple. See if there are any issues that will be show-stoppers for you. Make an informed choice. Sure, there may be some long term issues that don't show up right away. But there is always the possibility of that - even (or sometimes especially) iin rev B (or C etc) hardware.

Look at all the battery recalls of late.

Just remember that the people who do have problms make the most noise. Satisfied customers don't post anywhere near as much. So if you just got some Apple hardware and are happy with it, tell people about it!

I've got a Mac Pro on order now. There have been some issues, but these have been few and varied (and as more data has become available - ofen self inflicted). If it gives as little trouble as my revision A mini then it will be a fantastic machine.

 

[JAT]

The fact is, early adopters are the most loyal Apple customers out there, and if you were to tell me that you had purchased revision-A hardware I would raise my hands and cheer.

The fact is, the people who get yelled at not to buy RevA are the ones who come here and whine, claim Apple should not exist, say they will never buy another Apple, say Windows is better, etc. I have a RevA, and have had problems. Nobody has said something like that to me since I haven't given reason. (problems are fixed btw, best laptop ever)

 

[Easy Rider]

your argument is stupid for the fact that you're admitting apple products are defective in their firt iteration and it takes product testers AKA consumers, to find all the bugs. you're professing loyalty to a company who doesnt have the smarts to do enough quality control in their labs to unleash a perfect product.

screw that man, first generation or 5th generation, one shouldn't have to worry about quality control.

but with apple ...

desktops seem to be fine since they're less complicated machines, but apple notebooks ... i'd rather get myself a thinkpad, dell, hp, or toshiba.

 

[voyagerd]

I have a rev. A PowerMac G5 and have never had any problems. It was my first computer ^^

 

[_Matt]

silly beta testers.

 

[jsw]

you're professing loyalty to a company who doesnt have the smarts to do enough quality control in their labs to unleash a perfect product.

No company on Earth has ever release a perfect product. I've had lots of Rev A products and no problems except for one graphics card.

 

[~L~]

I think the whole thing puts people off buying the Rev. A as well, as people with problems with their Rev.A products tend to ask for help and voice their opinion, giving the impression that ALL (or a large number) of the same models suffer from their same problems.

Also the advice of "Wait till Rev.B comes out then buy it" is also pish if they need to buy the product soon, like me

 

[Mr. Mister]

I'd say that the "rev. a is crap" rule applies to laptops a lot more than to desktops.

 

[FullmetalZ26]

That rule applies to almost anything, not just computers. For example, it's often not a bad idea to wait until the second or third year after a given vehicle has been redesigned, to allow them to find the problems that don't show up in "beta testing," like squeaks and rattles or high-failure parts.

That said, I have a Rev. A G4 Mini (bought on launch day) and a Rev. A Macbook (knock on wood), and I haven't had any troubles with either so far. So I suppose mileage varies.