16’ MacBook Pro Dies - Only a year old - I have to pay $700

[prisoner54]

TLDR: I love apple. ”Hardware failure” is not a valid excuse for a top tier laptop. I was charged $730. My credit card company is likely going to refund me the amount. THANK YOU!!!!

I'm glad this worked out for you OK in the end. But it must still leave a bad taste in the mouth, and that bad taste is entirely Apple's fault.

Some of the advice here has been less than helpful: sure, hardware failure happens, but in previous decades computers were far more modular and repairable. Because Apple has led the whole thing of soldering RAM and CPU onto motherboards, and using glue and special screws, this has encouraged other manufacturers to do the same, leading to the ever-rising mountain of unnecessary e-waste. Since a $5 part can't be replaced easily, a $700 logic board replacement is necessary. This is madness.

Listen, we all have anecdotes. I've been using Macs since the G4 PowerBook, with Airs and Pros afterwards. My work bought me a 2015 MacBook Pro, which came with AppleCare, and I had to send it in three times to get repaired. My main laptop now is a 2019 16" MBP and (touch wood) no problems as yet. But yes, work paid for it and the AppleCare. Frankly, if I were buying one with my own money I would definitely get AC. It is super-annoying, but I don't think QC has been great for several years now, and as others have said, has got worse with the pandemic. And because the MBP 16 is so badly thermally engineered in the first place, and I sometimes play games on this thing, it's just a matter of time before failure happens.

The answer? M1 and M1X machines may have better longevity, because of lower thermal problems, they're even worse in terms of the RAM being part of the SOC. And QC remains an issue. But I have tried other manufacturers' machines and have deep suspicions over the Surface Pro line and the XPS line too. Maybe my next laptop will be a ThinkPad or a Framework. Seriously, the repairability is such an issue here, and we should not have to be nervous when paying $2400+ for a laptop.

 

[Deanster]

Wow, I’ve been on macrumors for years, but never posted anything and I didn’t think this would ever get a response. So, thank you!

I am a die hard apple fan, and have stood by them for every product/purchased every product, and I will die by Apple. But like, its a $2,400 computer ($2,600 with tax) I shouldn’t be worried about it failing in a year. If I had dropped it, or spilled something on it, or maybe even ran a really intense program that somehow made it crash, sure I should have to pay. But saying “hardware failure happens” like, duh, I should have known, shame on me for trusting your top tier computer, is not a valid argument.

I tried calling their customer service line several times, because they have always been good to me in the past with waving fees/replacing/fixing my products, but no luck this time.

Anyways, they charged me $730, so i’m guessing the logic board was replaced and I lost all my files (yes, my bad for not backing it up). GOOD NEWS, I called my credit card company, and turns out they do have a supplemental warranty that takes over when the manufacturers warranty expires. They basically confirmed that my laptop was eligible and they would refund the amount to me as long as it wasn’t due to physical damage (which it wasn’t).

TLDR: I love apple. ”Hardware failure” is not a valid excuse for a top tier laptop. I was charged $730. My credit card company is likely going to refund me the amount. THANK YOU!!!!

I both agree that Apple's one-year US warranty is total BS relative to their pricing scheme, AND I feel like it's worth saying that hardware failure absolutely does happen, all buying higher-spec items does is reduce the rate at which they happen - but it's NEVER zero.

For most electronics, the reality is that a few percent of units will die in the first few months because of initial parts/build issues, what's called the 'infant mortality' period of their lifespan, another few percent will die over the next couple years for no obvious reason, and then they'll start to die at a rate of a few percent a year due to age/time/environment issues. Apple's short warranty covers the early-death units nicely, and most people are pretty happy about the old-age and high-use lifecycles, they figure they got their money's worth.

The people who really end up unhappy are the ones who end up with dead units or high repair bills in years 2 and 3, it truly does suck.

I buy AppleCare for mobile products - the reality is that with heat/battery issues, they're just more likely to run into trouble. Even my 16" MBP sometimes takes a ride in my backpack... it just goes in harms way much more than an iMac.

Long story short, Apple's crappy US warranty is what it is, and while I've been lucky overall, I also KNOW that the high initial price only reduces the number of units that are going to crap out in year 2-3. It's up to each of us to assess that risk and our ability to pay the repair bill, or use other coverage like credit card protections.

But claiming that at Apple's price points there simply shouldn't be any hardware failures in the 12-24 or 12-236 month windows is just wishful thinking - it's simply not how the real world works.

 

[Freeangel1]

It happens. I’ve always purchased AppleCare on my machines with a dedicated GPU as that’s definitely a failure point. It’s paid for itself many times over with my 2011 iMac, my 2012 rMBP, it’s warranty-replacement Late ’13, and that warranty-replacement’s 2018 MPB.

Basically, Apple Silicon can’t come soon enough. All of the failures I’ve experienced have been a result of outside vendor’s chips (GPUs).

APPLE has had a long History of using CRAPPY Video cards in all their systems for many years.

Why do Mac graphics cards fail? | iRepairs

A recurring problem in Mac computers are graphics card failures. Although it is true that other brands such as HP, Acer and Asus also fail. It is a recurrent problem due to certain features of the computers, such as their little physical space inside, or the high performance that we require from...

www.irepairs.es

 

[ptfuzi]

16" are bad, they just die randomly (like any other electronic device can die..

In some Europe countries the warranty will be of 3 years, and if a part is replaced the warranty coverage starts again. But yeah we pay a bit more for that and have no protection on accidental damage