My Apple is a Lemon

Visual by Matthew Oliphant
I'm not an Apple fanatic, but I generally prefer them over PC's—especially since I use design software like Adobe Illustrator.  My first computer was a Mac.  A Mac Classic with a 5 inch black and white screen.  I loved that little guy—so dependable, like a good friend.  Since then, I've had mostly Macs, though I did go through a "PC phase"—that is until Steve Jobs came back.

Then I fell back in love with Apple again.  Until recently when my second work-issued Macbook Pro started giving me "black screens of death".  Ive been through this already.  It was painful.  "Kernel Node" crashes—they call it.  The likely offender is a bad mother board.  That's one bad mother alright...  this means there's no way to fix it but to send it back to Apple.  Ironic isn't it...

My Apple is actually a lemon.

Anyone else out there having similar issues?

Comments

[Tim McAlpine]

Yup - I am on the phone right now with Apple Care. "All of our representatives are busy. Please hold for the next available representative."

One dead harddrive, one dead logic board and now I can't boot past the blue screen. Fourth long call. I am going to demand a new one. Although they have said it has to have three hardware failures to get a new one. I wonder if dropping off the building qualifies?

[DA]

"wonder if dropping off the building qualifies?"

LOL

As long as you don't go down with it. I've been there man.. . don't let it get the best of you! ;-)

[Mud Puppy]

Eerily, I was just telling my co-worker that my emac at home is starting to have monitor issues. But I have to say, if that's the only complaint I have about a personal computer after 4 years of use, then my life is pretty good.

I'll never go back to the hassle of PC!

[John]

Others are having these issues with every brand of computer ever made. There are always lemons. My iMac G5 is one of the crankiest computers I've ever had. But don't get me started on the Sony Vaio from years ago.

[Cam Beck]

Not at all. Please keep us posted on how Apple handles your issues.

[C]

I had a logic board go belly up. Now I work off hard drives and use mainly web based apps (thanks to 37 Signals). Every thing runs smoother and no issues...as of yet.

[tim erdmann]

My 2 month old MacbookPro produces 'Black Screens of Death' and just restarts itself.

Going to bring it to the Apple store as soon as these SanDiego fires subside....

[Daniel R]

Our office first-gen iMac has had continual problems. I think its a know fact that they have issues because the Apple folks fixed it free of charged despite being out a warranty - probably one of Apple's "quiet" recalls.

I'm a first time Mac user and so far my MacBookPro has been very faithful and dependable to me. I've heard that the first 3 months are the test to see if you've got a MBP lemon or not.

Sorry to hear you've gotten two lemons in a row.

[neal s]

I had this same problem with my PowerBook G4 about three months after I bought it (5 years ago). The good news is, that's the same computer I'm using to write this comment.

For me the solution didn't actually entail sending my machine back to Apple. I simply had to boot it up in safe mode and transfer all my data to an external drive, then wipe the hard drive clean (a solution that Apple and I only arrived at after about three hours on the phone). You should exhaust all software-based solutions before assuming you need a new board. You likely know that already, but it bears repeating.

Since I did that it's been running pretty well. I use Cocktail once a month or so for maintenance, and I archive and delete old files when I can. I fully anticipate getting at least two more useful years out of it.

[Kelly Shaw]

I switched from a PC to MacBook Fro with much enthusiasm. No big issues although I did experience annoying battery issues.
I chime in here to support David in noting the power of bad experience. Our general acceptance of crap product does us all a disservice by allowing OEMs to ascertain quality by acceptance ratios verses actual customer experience.
Some of us are in the business of building brands, lets help our clients hear their customers beyond their front line service metrics and personnel.

[davidicus]

.

my first mac had 128KB of RAM too, and i went on to be a passionate devotee.

until my G4. i put out thousands for it. latest and greatest at the time. they touted it as a video and audio workstation. its audio buzzed. others had the same problems all over apple's support boards. their official response? that there was no problem.

my dealer talked to apple, who said i should bring it in on applecare. they charged me a hundred dollars and denied the problem. i'm not sure if i've ever been so angry over my treatment.

they stopped being the company that was changing the world one person at a time that day.

i stopped being an evangelist.

.

[James Davidson]

We just replaced all of our developer laptops with Macbook Pro's running OSX and WinXP. Since the switch we've experienced countless issues like the one you outlined, as well as problems with them crashing with the latest OS update when switching from LAN to wireless. Seems like Apple are catching up to Microsoft of the blue screen of death and overall QA issues!

[Gavin Heaton]

I hear the BadBanana has a room full of old Mac Classics. Might be worth making the switch ;)

[Matt Baird]

Reading your post reminded me of the article by Elizabeth Spiers in the October issue of Fast Company -- "The Tao of Steve: The Real Reason We Keep Buying Apple Products." Check it out.

[NYCtek]

I support lots of Apple computers. Nothing is quite as flakey as a defective Macintosh; their products either work perfectly or are plagued (cursed?) with repeated problems.

Try to get the unit replaced if possible, otherwise yours will be a world of grief.

[phil gillman]

the black screen of death can also be caused by software created kernel exceptions. I've had this happen several times, booting in verbose mode will show you where the kernel is locking up. booting in "safe" might solve it...if not, it likely is hardware.
and I've had several of the hardware failures too in my time...

[Arvino Mudjiarto]

I experienced same problem with my Mac 2 weeks ago. I was about to give presentation at 3pm in the afternoon at the OpenOffice.org Conference in Barcelona, when suddenly my Mac "dead", ... and it never wake up until today -- Blank screen. (They said it's somekind of logic problem whatever). How sad that with all the beautiful stuff that Apple built, Apple hardware seem to contain "major" bug that everybody at Apple seem to "less panic" nor "less meticolously detail about". On my side, I indeed super panic when it happened. It was just 6 hours before my presentation. I immediately have to use the "power of the web" to download everything, got everything setup again ... and run my entire presentation and pre-recorded screen-demo (I was initially plan to run live!!) -- and prepare all these -- in 2 hours time or so. I was really panic. With all Apple perfection and claim for beauty (which indeed IS true), I hope the same attitude and customer applies also to the hardware major bug stuff. I remember there was an ad that Apple did that mention how "PC eats my file" ... well, Apple not eat my file, it just make it unpresentable at the most crucial moment I need it. If Apple support team attitude is not to be "super-panic" about it, well they have to re-read their past claims about "PC eats my file" stuff ... and re-imagine again how "really really super panic" their customer is when at one the most important moment of their live, suddently their machine goes "staring blank" at them. Imagine if my Mac at that time "blank out" 5 minutes before my presentation ... I would not have sufficient time to recover from that (by using the web)! Apple staff will need to be retrained about that ... after all ... beyond the perfection, meticoulous detail and magnificent beauty ... we need passion and care for the customer. That's how it would really not just about "think different" .. but also "feel different". Pls. Apple, don't just "think different" .. "feel different" too for the customer .. not just at the time of enticing them to purchase ... but especially when they need your outmost care and help.

[Dan]

There's a good short article in the current issue of BusinessWeek where they talk about the current state of customer service at Apple, and theorize that perhaps the company expanded too quickly.

[TeTé]

Nice.Congrtls!

[CK]

My friend went to the Apple Store's Genius Bar in NYC to get a question answered on a software program.

They erased all her data. No lie.

She spent over 20 hours for 2 weeks at the store. And then probably 60 hours re-organizing the data they could retrieve as various files were renamed and then dupes named other names.

She was a delight to hang with for about 3 weeks ;-). Bless her heart.

[Steve Garfield]

My old PowerBook is on the shelf. On it I had a hard drive crash and now the screen is dead.

My newer MacBook Pro has had one hard drive crash and two motherboards replaced.

When the MacBook is good it's great, but when it's bad, it's horrible. I also have an HP VISTA laptop I got from Microsoft, and can tell you that VISTA is the worst operating system ever.

So even with the hard drive crash and motherboard replacements, I still love the Mac and OS X.

I now use SuperDuper! to back up weekly to a MyBook external drive.

[Abi]

After multiple Apple logic board failures I decided to get over my love for beautiful things and start buying something that was functionally ugly.

Cheaper too.

[RichardatDELL]

I do photography/photoshop...once considered only possible on Apple's. My Dell with great big screen works like a charm. I don't think Apple corners that "design" market anymore.

David, if we can help you in any way, please let me know

[RichardatDELL]

Oh David,
looks like others are having some similar difficulties

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_43/b4055070.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

[Anonymouse]

I run Bootcamp/XP on a Macbook, and it seems to function quite well; my only real complaint is the flimsy construction. The plastic keyboard-trackpad-palmrest started to warp and crack about 10 minutes after the 1-year warantee expired. Super glue seems to work, but it sort of destroys the whole aesthetic that made the Macbook appealing in the first place.

It's not just the cheaper Macbooks. I've friends with Powerbooks who say the aluminum under the palmrest is eroding - chipping away like tree bark.

I love my machine, but it would be nice if it didn't feel so ghetto, so soon.

[DA]

Well Richard, I haven't heard a peep from Apple. Let's talk next week.

[Chris Bernard]

I've had and have numerous Macs and PCs (partial to ThinkPads, Dells and Sonys). My rule for Macs has typically been to buy the third rev on a line (so the current MacBook Pro for example). I have two and they work like a charm. I've had a Sony VAIO hard drive flake out on me before but I admit that Sony replaced it very quickly and cleanly when I sent it in (about a week). When I buy my next PC I'd look closely at the Lenovo ThinkPad tablets but if you really want something you can use on a plane that is fast and stylish you really can't go wrong with the new Dell XPS M1330, I had a chance to see one close up. It's a nice, compact and solid machine and is far less delicate than my equally loved VAIO.

[Sandy Renshaw]

Hi David,

I tried to make the switch from PC to Mac last year and went through two laptops with the dual chip. Had too many troubles to list here. Returned the first one for a new unit and on return of the second unit ended up paying 10% of the cost since I "used" the computer. I was too frustrated and far behind in my work to complain. Went back to a PC. Needless to say, while I may try another Mac in the future, I won't buy it from the Mac Store in West Des Moines. Hope you have better customer service.

Sandy

[Inaudible Nonsense]

Huh.

I'm always interested in these stories because although I've found that my personal Macs have not had any kinds of random problems. (I'm on my 3rd Mac. My 5th Apple computer.) That whenever I've had even a minor problem -- that Apple was quick to make the fix.

At work, we've had problems with iMacs, but they always took the computer back immediately.

I compare this to the string of dead computers that Dell has made for members of my family. And then had such an a stupid or almost dishonest return/repair policy that they've ended up basically being cheaply made electronic bricks. Like the laptop that they have that will only work if its plugged in.

But personally for me, I can't stand the WinOS. So even if I did have problems, I wouldn't want to do anything that couldn't run OSX.

Fortunately, my experience with Apple Care and the Apple stores has always been painless.

-- Christopher

[Mat Morrison]

Similar problems. Two MacBook Pros w/in 24 months. Both had catastrophic HD failures w/in 6. This one required a new motherboard, too.

Is this just the chances you take with laptops? Doesn't feel like it, but then - it wouldn't, would it? Maybe I'm just another anomaly.

[Carol]

My daughter's Mac hard drive died for the third time since 2005 and it is still under the warranty until Nov 08. Would love more info about "3 dead HD's and they replace will the computer" that Tim McAlpine discusses above. Also the fan is noisy and she feels it is more than a HD issue, perhaps a motherboard issue. I also had to replace the original keyboard with an old Mac keyboard laying around the house. Definitety have a lemon here. Has anyone received a new computer after three hardware failures while under warranty? Replacing the hard drive, motherboard and fan must cost Apple more than a new computer (it was $1500 retail new) but that would be too much common sense I suppose.....

[jmichel]

I am having many issues with my refurb macpro tower. I had the computer regress 2 updates after a freeze and the "genuis" called it a fluke. Now the usb ports went south and I am getting multipal freezes. Add to this the fact I bought the specific upgrade video card from apple for it and when installed in would not allow me to use my system disks. As soon as I put one in the superdrive cpu would crash so I couldn't partition my new hard drive. They had told me I had to come it to have the card installed (error-not true)and after calling them I had to bring the computer back in for them to figure it out again (after another hour or so on the phone). I can tell you, hauling one of these a block or more gets old real quick! My arms felt like they were 1" longer. I was then informed by phone a couple of days later that the card was not compatible with the system disks (???) but they had installed the partition for me. I asked when there would be a fix for it and they could not tell me so I told them to remove the card and give me a refund. After I got the computer back my 8 gigs of second party ram no longer worked so I am NOT a happy camper! I am going to try to have it replaced. NEVER buy a refurb. It is just not worth it! The only other mac I had major problems on was the ill fated 5100 laptop. They replaced it with a G3 so I was stoked about that. I come all the way from the apple II (hard drive? whats that?)and most of my experinces have been trouble free.
lol! I am writing this on my PC since I could not access my suppliers web site on the mac os. Oh, and add to that that nether my macbook pro macpro will run bootcamp correctly. I went and bought VMfusion which works fairly well on both.