My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs • Hacker News Board

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#91

Post by webmobdev » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #10

avgDev wrote: post #8

This honestly seems like a terrible machine. I own an XPS and had in-home service. I called dell and we agreed my keyboard needs to be replaced. A few days later a guy shows up at my door and replaces the keyboard. I never had to go anywhere. Obviously, the mileage might vary if you travel outside of the us. But......again....that many repairs are downright scary. There is also one anecdotal fact I want to add about…

> A few days later A few days ?! Is this not a major problem for you? The author is right - a great thing about Apple is I can pop into a store in many cities around the world and just get things sorted. In some random city in another country with a conference the next day? No problem.

I went to an Apple authorised service centre in India to repair an iPad screen that was not broken but was not displaying properly. I was told that Apple in India doesn't repair iPad at all. If it is under warranty, they just replace it. Otherwise you are out of luck as no replacement parts are available! Obviously, I wasn't impressed at all.

On the other hand, Intel once replaced a CPU for me (out of warranty) for free (they shipped it from Singapore to India). It was an old CPU (5+ years) and I never thought they would respond to my complain about it.

When one of my Western Digital HDD conked out under warranty, Western Digital asked me if I wanted the replacement drive shipped from the US (as I had purchased it there, and they had a newer model which they offered) or from India (where I was at that time, and had the same model in stock).

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#92

Post by TylerE » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

pqvst wrote: post #64

therouwboat wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it was funny that being unable to replace Dell battery while traveling in Japan is seen worse than having crashing and overheating macbook for 2.5 months + all the other problems.

Honestly the swollen battery made me fear for my life any time I used it. On planes it would swell so much (even when turned off) that the keyboard almost popped out.

This is…unwise.

I would never use a machine with a swollen battery, much less fly with one.

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#93

Post by mgkimsal » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:30 PM UTC

olyjohn wrote: post #65

mgkimsal wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> especially if the laptop is hot and goes into my backpack directly. I'd found MANY times that simply closing one of the more recent MacBooks (2019?) would not actually put it to sleep. I would close it, put it in my bag, then... hours later, find it was overly hot, still running, perhaps with 10% battery left. 2008 MB, 2012 MBP, 2015 MBP - never ever had this problem. I'm sure I overheated my 2019 MBP far more ofte…

Back in the day, when I was working at a PC repair shop, you'd see every kind of laptop come in. People would bring in Mac laptops, and then just open the lid up on the service desk and it would wake up immediately like it was still running! After all my experience with Windows PCs, I would be shocked that people would just shut the lid and put them away. We all knew that you'd never just suspend or sleep a PC laptop…

I think one thing I did sometimes would precede the 'no sleep Mac' thing. I'd have an external monitor connected, then disconnect it. Looking back, I did notice that often disconnecting a monitor would mean... it might take 20+ seconds for the OS to be 'normal' again. If I waited for a minute after removing a monitor, the sleep would seem to work. Disconnecting at office and putting in the bag... it never really went back to 'one screen' mode, and I presume continued to think an external monitor was connected.

I can't say that's behind all the events, but thinking back on it more, I know that was a repeating scenario.

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#94

Post by fsflover » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

DerekBickerton wrote: post #5

I looked at this person's homepage: https://pqvst.com/ Looks like they use their Mac a lot judging by all the projects they're working on. I have a strategy that is common to all hackers / nerds / technophiles and that is: having multiple devices for different things. It's common to see in hacker circles: This laptop is for gaming. This other laptop is for freelancing & business. My other laptop is for toying / tinke…

> You can extend that list to probably 10 devices if you're serious enough about compartmenting your digital life.

If you're actually serious about it, consider Qubes OS [0]. This should be much more secure and convenient than handling ten devices.

[0] https://qubes-os.org

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#95

Post by asdff » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

agilob wrote: post #17

My macbook from 2011 had recently a fan replaced, it cost me £10 on ebay. My ASUS and Dell (each for ~£350) from 2009 are still running, have only upgraded RAM and SSD. It's your fault for buying new Macbooks.

I'm back to my 2012 now. After the battery was on its last legs I upgraded last year to a 2020 air, figuring 8 years was a pretty good run. The air bricked itself just out of warrenty, and I'm back to the 2012 with a fresh battery (since you could still replace it yourself on these macs). Its honestly just as performant as that 2020 air since I gave it an SSD and 16gb RAM a few years ago. Not sure why I even upgraded, I'm planning on just shelling out for the repair bill then giving the 2020 laptop to my parents who are on 2006 era hand me downs still.

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#96

Post by jccc » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

"2 complete laptop replacements"

"Factoring in the cost of the complete replacements, it would be closer to 10,000 USD!"

I'm not sure how this $10,000 sum works unless you're saying you still have all three MacBook Pros rather than returning the first two.

I would assume the first two were returned to Apple and refurbished, not just immediately destroyed?

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#97

Post by coldtea » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:32 PM UTC

Well, mine had 0$ in repairs for 4 years I've had it. So it looks like YMMV.

Poster had "2 complete replacements" (so 3 laptops in total) and they still had problems?

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#98

Post by TrickyRick » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:33 PM UTC

jccc wrote: post #96

"2 complete laptop replacements" "Factoring in the cost of the complete replacements, it would be closer to 10,000 USD!" I'm not sure how this $10,000 sum works unless you're saying you still have all three MacBook Pros rather than returning the first two. I would assume the first two were returned to Apple and refurbished, not just immediately destroyed?

It's the equivalent cost of purchasing that same laptop I guess? The old one is probably broken and written off.

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#99

Post by tossaway9000 » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:33 PM UTC

Since 2016 I've gone through:

1 Macbook Air (stopped booting one day...) 1 iMac (Became unusably slow) 2 Macbook Pros (One stopped booting, one had keyboard issues and a swollen battery preventing the lid from closing)

and am on my 3rd Macbook Pro now which is plagued with the keyboard issues...

Meanwhile I have an E500 Thinkpad from 2011 that still runs like a champ and has been abused more than any of the Macbooks.

I'm not buy any more Macbooks to say the least...

Re: My MacBook Pro had over 10k USD in repairs

#100

Post by zzt123 » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 6:33 PM UTC

draugadrotten wrote: post #61

zzt123 wrote: post #42

I have a gripe with every Macbook Pro I've owned, and I've owned 4 of them over the last 10 years. They all lag when I type. I hit a key, and it takes a while before it shows up on screen. The effect is at its worst in Safari, but it shows up most everywhere else as well. Sometimes, I'll type a few letters or even words before they start showing up. Doesn't matter if I wipe the machine and reinstall, and Apple has ne…

If you type on a Mac on display in an Apple Store, does it behave the same way?

The M1 Macs I tried at the store are the first ones where I'm not sure if there is a lag or not. I'm planning on upgrading once the M-series Macs have at least 32gb of ram, so I'll see at that point.