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I bought my MBP for $900 and it has AppleCare till May 09. Will the fan make the noise go away?

If the noise doesn't go away, it's probably going to be something gone wrong with the logic board. Perhaps it isn't interfacing correctly with the fans and is messing them up. Happened to me a few years ago with a Powerbook and took an age to get sorted.
 
Well I'm sure people have had that problem before so I wanted to see if anyone that did has gotten their fan replaced and if that was the solution.

Amen, i got a 2ghz 1st gen and so far i have had to personally (could not afford applecare at the time, though it would have been a valid investment had i known.) replace two fans, the keyboard, the superdrive, the screen, the power adaptor and the airport card. Still get the occasional issue! Next time i am not getting a rev a (suffered with a rev a G5 also) and definitely getting applecare immediately.

To answer your question, i had massive fan noise when they revved up and new fans did cure this, but as for the whine... hmm thats weird, i just tested the whine by taking out the power and its not happening. Though as far as i am aware that issue is not affected by the fans.
 
Not necessarily true since it's so old. My guess is they will just replace with a new model.


Do they do that often? What model would they replace it with? I can't imagine it would be a brand new one.

I'm in a similar situation. Have a May '06 17" MBP. Applecare expires in a month. There is a LOT of dust behind the LCD screen which is eligible for Applecare replacement. The keyboard back lighting only works on one side. I'm curious to see if they fix it or replace it. I've asked this question in other threads as well .... Do they keep stocks of old screens from old laptops? At what point do they just give you a new/refurb one.

eV
 
Do they do that often? What model would they replace it with? I can't imagine it would be a brand new one.

I'm in a similar situation. Have a May '06 17" MBP. Applecare expires in a month. There is a LOT of dust behind the LCD screen which is eligible for Applecare replacement. The keyboard back lighting only works on one side. I'm curious to see if they fix it or replace it. I've asked this question in other threads as well .... Do they keep stocks of old screens from old laptops? At what point do they just give you a new/refurb one.

eV

I just had my early 07 MBP replaced about 2 weeks ago for numerous problems which would not go away even after the repairs. I got the Apple store to finally replace it and much to my surprise they gave me a new unibody 2.4 MBP! If yours has never had any repairs before they will not replace it, even if they don't have the parts at the store they will just send it to the depot to be fixed.
 
Do they keep spare parts for 3 year old models lying around?

The LCD screen needs replacing and I have no idea what the backlighting means. One side doesn't light up and there's some kind of a burn mark on the right side of the latch.

Oh well. Dreaming is fun so let's see what happens.
 
Do they keep spare parts for 3 year old models lying around?
Unlikely the store would have them, but wherever Apple keep excess stock will have plenty of spares. Again, it all depends on 1. whether it's been serviced before and 2. whether fixing it outweighs the cost of replacing it. ;)
 
...if Apple replaces a defective machine, can you add apple care onto the new machine to extend what is currently left over?

If they replace your computer, it'll have the standard 1 year warranty in which you can buy applecare to extend it for an additional 2
 
I just got back from the Apple Store to get my Rev. A MBP checked. The Genius hadn't heard of the humming noise so he is replacing the fan and we'll go from there. I'm also getting the display replaced due to dust. I bought my MBP for $900 and it has AppleCare till May 09. Will the fan make the noise go away?

Probably not. This problem is caused by the logic board (Google 'Macbook Pro whine logic board')...

Point the Genius in the direction of http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1823?viewlocale=en_US next time - as pretty much anyone that had an MBP built in the first six weeks will attest, they were pretty crap when new, build-wise.
 
Do they keep spare parts for 3 year old models lying around?

Apple HQ does. Each store would just order in the parts.

They can fix pretty much any Mac from this decade. People who got a replacement because their MacBook is broken, and "old" are just very lucky. After all, if your laptop is still covered under AppleCare, they'd certainly carry the parts for all computers within 3 years because that's what they definitely need to have parts for.

They'd rather fix your laptop than give you a new one, even if it costs them more money to fix it than it's resale value. Why? Because if they fix your old laptop under warranty, and it breaks again after AppleCare has expired, chances are you'll buy a new Mac laptop from them to replace it. If they just give you a new replacement machine, you won't need to buy anything. It's not smart business to give you a new laptop after 2 years and 9 months of ownership, when they could fix it, and you'll probably be back at the store in 6 months anyway.

Apple knows how high their customer retention rate is. A person who buys a Mac will most likely continue buying Apple computers, so they know they're going to keep most of their customers, since Apple is the only one who sells Apple computers (other than Psystar and ModBook).

I'm in a similar situation. Have a May '06 17" MBP. Applecare expires in a month. There is a LOT of dust behind the LCD screen which is eligible for Applecare replacement. The keyboard back lighting only works on one side. I'm curious to see if they fix it or replace it. I've asked this question in other threads as well .... Do they keep stocks of old screens from old laptops? At what point do they just give you a new/refurb one.
eV

No chance.

Backlighting is easy and cheap to fix, while the screen is easily fixable as well. They don't need to keep old screens in stock. If you brought it in, they'd have the right to fix it using the same parts they used in 2006, or better. That means they could give you the LCD screens they used in early 2008 MBPs. Why not? They haven't changed much over the years. Perhaps the new one is a bit brighter than the old one, but that's it.
 
Well I'm sure people have had that problem before so I wanted to see if anyone that did has gotten their fan replaced and if that was the solution.
I have a feeling you might be having a Logic Board issue. The fans on mine would rev like mad sometimes when the MBP was left idle with NOTHING open. Unless if you hear a clipping/exceptionally loud clicking sound, I'm pretty sure the fans are not your issue, just the TEMP sensor on your logic board.

Have a Genius check it out, it's the only way to be sure.

Apple HQ does. Each store would just order in the parts.

They can fix pretty much any Mac from this decade. People who got a replacement because their MacBook is broken, and "old" are just very lucky. After all, if your laptop is still covered under AppleCare, they'd certainly carry the parts for all computers within 3 years because that's what they definitely need to have parts for.

They'd rather fix your laptop than give you a new one, even if it costs them more money to fix it than it's resale value. Why? Because if they fix your old laptop under warranty, and it breaks again after AppleCare has expired, chances are you'll buy a new Mac laptop from them to replace it. If they just give you a new replacement machine, you won't need to buy anything. It's not smart business to give you a new laptop after 2 years and 9 months of ownership, when they could fix it, and you'll probably be back at the store in 6 months anyway.

Apple knows how high their customer retention rate is. A person who buys a Mac will most likely continue buying Apple computers, so they know they're going to keep most of their customers, since Apple is the only one who sells Apple computers (other than Psystar and ModBook).


No chance.

Backlighting is easy and cheap to fix, while the screen is easily fixable as well. They don't need to keep old screens in stock. If you brought it in, they'd have the right to fix it using the same parts they used in 2006, or better. That means they could give you the LCD screens they used in early 2008 MBPs. Why not? They haven't changed much over the years. Perhaps the new one is a bit brighter than the old one, but that's it.

Abstract's right.

Especially about the screen. They'll just replace it. The genius at my store told me they essentially had everything I needed replaced, except the Logic Board.


I'm waiting on Apple to call me back at this point. I have a feeling they'll take their Sweet time, so they can let my AppleCare expire :(
 
I'm waiting on Apple to call me back at this point. I have a feeling they'll take their Sweet time, so they can let my AppleCare expire :(

Shouldn't be an issue. As long as the machine is flagged to be repaired before the warranty runs out they will still cover it under the warranty. The burden lies on them to get the parts, not you, as you notified them of the issue before the warranty expired. :)
 
Hey everyone,

Well I got my MBP today. A few really cool things to note.

Apple gave me a new outer top shell, alongside all of the other repairs (although, I think that MBP LCD's already come with the casing attached)

They also (to my surprise) threw in a free set of recovery discs, which was very nice of them.

All of the repairs were done fine, except. You guessed it. The humming is still there.

It's especially worse when the LCD brightness is turned down.

Sigh.......What do I do now?

Should I go back again, and tell them to fix it?

Should I try reasoning with the manager to just replace it, as one of their genius's admitted himself that the problem is not repairable.

All I know is that, I can't keep driving back and forth between the Apple Store like this all the time. It's really not that close to me :p
 
Hey everyone,

Well I got my MBP today. A few really cool things to note.

Apple gave me a new outer top shell, alongside all of the other repairs (although, I think that MBP LCD's already come with the casing attached)

They also (to my surprise) threw in a free set of recovery discs, which was very nice of them.

All of the repairs were done fine, except. You guessed it. The humming is still there.

It's especially worse when the LCD brightness is turned down.

Sigh.......What do I do now?

Should I go back again, and tell them to fix it?

Should I try reasoning with the manager to just replace it, as one of their genius's admitted himself that the problem is not repairable.

All I know is that, I can't keep driving back and forth between the Apple Store like this all the time. It's really not that close to me :p

I just left Apple retail in Canada quite recently. A manager at the store will have to look up the history on the computer to determine whether the computer has been brought in on more then one occasion FOR THE SAME issue. At the same time, a retail store level manager is not allowed under any circumstances to authorize an exchange for a unit that old. If the manager feels that you are entitled to a replacement machine he/she will escalate the matter to Apple customer relations, who will say either yes or no to replacing the computer. Depending on the manager and your situation, there are situations where they will decide to just replace your computer without going through the appropriate avenues, but this is unlikely as the store and the manager does get in trouble for making such exceptions. If your keen on getting the machine replaced, I would suggest calling customer relations yourself and be polite but stern about your situation.
 
I wanted to add an update to this thread. I dropped off the MBP at an Apple store last Wednesday. It was shipped to the repair center.

Today is Tuesday. As of yesterday they had replaced

1. Fans
2. Screen
3. Keyboard
4. Top case
5. Bottom case
6. Logic board (determined after testing)

It was going through 'testing' at the repair center and this morning they decided it needed a new logic board. They've didn't have the part and have ordered it from somewhere. Where exactly would they order it from? It's already at the repair center.

I did speak to somebody about a loaner or a replacement and all they could do is expedite the repair.

Any ideas on what I should do next? Do they need a logic board from the same 2006 MBP17 or are the boards interchangeable?

eV

I'm surprised they didn't just replace the machine.
 
It was going through 'testing' at the repair center and this morning they decided it needed a new logic board. They've didn't have the part and have ordered it from somewhere. Where exactly would they order it from? It's already at the repair center.


Any ideas on what I should do next? Do they need a logic board from the same 2006 MBP17 or are the boards interchangeable?

the part has to be the exact same model number (chances nearly EVERY time a new laptop revision comes out) - so they will probably order it from the "main" place in the state (wherever that may be).
 
the part has to be the exact same model number (chances nearly EVERY time a new laptop revision comes out) - so they will probably order it from the "main" place in the state (wherever that may be).

Then I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that they can't find one for my model. It's old! The first MBP that ever came out

eV
 
Then I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that they can't find one for my model. It's old! The first MBP that ever came out

eV

haha i have the original revision too :), they are fighting strong machines (but too slow for me) - ebay has TONS of them some are used thought but plenty are new (just inscase the wrost happens)
 
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