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My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

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Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#131

Post by huxley »

matt-attack wrote: post #120
wvenable wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, this is a bad solution. You didn't say why this is a bad solution. The government mandates that cars get safer every year and fatalities are down 78% from the 1960s. Whenever government regulates things to benefit people, people tend to benefit. > One of the things macbook users praise the most is "build quality", which often means the solidity of the device, lack of flex, etc. It seems like the Macbook Neo has…

Do you have a reference for the neo being easy to repair? Is this regarding the keyboard? Or the whole thing?

The keyboard is probably the hardest bit but even then it’s more just some tedium rather than difficulty. https://www.ifixit.com/News/116152/macbook-neo-is-the-most-r...

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#132

Post by k310 »

k310 wrote: post #6

Go figure. MacBook Neo Is the Most Repairable MacBook in 14 Years [0] Much as a laptop would suit me, I opted for a mini and a large display. Come keyboard time, I was ready to spend $$$$$ for an Apple keyboard, but the only backlit ones come on laptops. I'm using a Logitech now, with the option of charging it all the time, else the lights dim themselves to conserve battery. Yes, I was 19 once. And three times after…

Replying to myself because I forgot the reference [0]

I'm happy with the downvotes if they're for the JK laptop keyboard mashup.

Otherwise, pretty much as others have posted. Peripherals otta be peripheral, not welded in place.

I worked around the dilemma.

Twice.

An iPad pro has a keyboard, trackpad and BT mouse.

And I have a doorstop iMac because of a somehow dead display. (repair $$$$$ )

I very much favor separate everything.

Peace.

[0] https://www.ifixit.com/News/116152/macbook-neo-is-the-most-r...

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#133

Post by echoangle »

phil21 wrote: post #44
tim-tday wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bought AppleCare for my AirPods. Never again.

AppleCare is leaps and bounds better than any other insurance you can buy for mobile or laptops. For accessories I don’t see the point, those are effectively disposable wear items. Ironically a large part of deciding to migrate to an iPhone from android was final frustrations with even Google purchased devices under warranty coupled with hardware quality requiring repairs. My wife’s experience with AppleCare won me o…

> AppleCare is leaps and bounds better than any other insurance you can buy for mobile or laptops.

Which doesn’t tell you a lot because they are pretty bad, too. Being better doesn’t mean it’s a good offer.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#134

Post by Gigachad »

RajT88 wrote: post #94
Gigachad wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decades of HN users finger wagging and suggesting FOSS hardware has progressed society nowhere. 12 months from EU mandatory replaceable batteries and products across the industry are being redesigned with repairability, usb-c, and user friendly designs. It’s time to accept regulation actually does work when you have a competent government.

Indeed, government regulation is decried mostly because of all the cases where it got polluted by special interests, instead of following the interests of general consumers. This is how you end up turning a chunk of your food supply into fuel to subsidize crops which aren't all that good at being distilled into fuel in the first place...

This is mostly because Americans keep electing total morons.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#135

Post by Gigachad »

wvenable wrote: post #97
VogonPoetry wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this also mean only using "standard" parts? Or does the manufacturer have to over-produce the parts for, lets say 7 years, and then warehouse and ship those parts, probably multiple times. Or keep a low rate production line running for 7 years? What happens to the parts that don't get used? Are they scrapped? That "what if" cost is going to be built into the cost of the laptop. Repairability doesn't always keep…

Repairability definitely doesn't keep the costs low. If it was cheaper and easier, it wouldn't have to be regulated. As for supply chain management, companies that get that equation correct are going to benefit. Which is exactly how it should be. We define the rules of the game and companies that can best implement those rules will succeed. That is capitalism.

It won’t self resolve because consumers don’t fully factor in every detail while buying, and they often don’t get such granular choice anyway.

It’s easier and more profitable for companies to make a product that catastrophically fails around about when the new model is out. So that’s what they do. Until just now when the EU is reeling them back in line.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#136

Post by Gigachad »

jclardy wrote: post #77
MostlyStable wrote: post #42

>Here’s hoping governments regulate laptop manufacturers to actually make repairable machines in the future. No, this is a bad solution. If you want a repairable machine, buy one. They exist. Others have already mentioned Framework, but there are other options that aren't that far down the spectrum either. One of the things macbook users praise the most is "build quality", which often means the solidity of the device…

Interestingly, Apple's newest and cheapest laptop (the Neo) is super repairable. And even the keyboard is finally replaceable without having to replace the entire top case. Hopefully the trend is continued in the next redesigns of the Air and Pro which are due soon.

Next year all consumer devices are required to have user replaceable batteries in the EU. Apple has noticeably been making massive design changes on many products to get closer in line with these laws.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#137

Post by Gigachad »

relium wrote: post #34

My MacBook Pro M1 keyboard broke too and Apple wanted $900 to replace it. I bought a $30 replacement on Amazon and started replacing it myself. Unfortunately the repair was a bit too complicated for me, but luckily one of my co-workers had more patience and replaced it for some beer. This video is a good overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGmMpEEP5ls

Thankfully the m1 was the last of the evil design era for Macs. Modern ones are significantly better. The neo being the best, able to be fully disassembled with a screw driver in a few minutes

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#138

Post by Gigachad »

phil21 wrote: post #44
tim-tday wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bought AppleCare for my AirPods. Never again.

AppleCare is leaps and bounds better than any other insurance you can buy for mobile or laptops. For accessories I don’t see the point, those are effectively disposable wear items. Ironically a large part of deciding to migrate to an iPhone from android was final frustrations with even Google purchased devices under warranty coupled with hardware quality requiring repairs. My wife’s experience with AppleCare won me o…

Insurance for things you can afford to replace never makes sense anyway. The expected cost of insurance will always exceed the expected cost of replacement in the long run.

Unless for some reason you know you will be breaking your device much more than the average person.

Insurance is for things that are unlikely to ever happen but would financially ruin you if they did.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#139

Post by nine_k »

Gigachad wrote: post #134
RajT88 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, government regulation is decried mostly because of all the cases where it got polluted by special interests, instead of following the interests of general consumers. This is how you end up turning a chunk of your food supply into fuel to subsidize crops which aren't all that good at being distilled into fuel in the first place...

This is mostly because Americans keep electing total morons.

Not that most other nations do dramatically better, alas.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#140

Post by crimsontech »

BoorishBears wrote: post #123
Gigachad wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Decades of HN users finger wagging and suggesting FOSS hardware has progressed society nowhere. 12 months from EU mandatory replaceable batteries and products across the industry are being redesigned with repairability, usb-c, and user friendly designs. It’s time to accept regulation actually does work when you have a competent government.

That's a great example of their point, all I got was a mechanically inferior connector (putting the most important piece of the female connector on a floating sliver of plastic was a choice) and the cable hell attached to USB C. If USB C had been so important to me I wouldn't have bought iPhones all those years.

I have tried to explain this so many times to people. You could just scrape out the lint from the lighting port with a tooth pick. The fragile part was the easily replaceable cable. Now the fragile part is in the iPhone itself.
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