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AppleDefects - Pretty scary
- Thread starter SXR
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This isn't true; studies have shown the majority of people who use laptops leave them plugged in more than 90% of the time. This is a design flaw, and nothing else. People shouldn't be afraid to leave their laptops plugged in because their faulty adapters may set their apartments on fire while they're out. The only way to use a battery as a primary source of power would be if you completely drained the battery each time you used it, and unplugged it again as soon as it were charged. Absolutely *no one* uses a laptop this way; it isn't practical, and would kill a perfectly good (as in, non-Apple defective) battery within a year. The longer people keep trying to shift blame from a corporation manufacturing bad equipment to people who rely on this equipment to work, the longer Apple can keep denying the equipment needs to be fixed.
Didn't see any negative reviews on Apple's website. Searched on Apple's support site and didn't see anything about the power supply catching fire either.
I know dozens of people who have mac laptops and other than physical harm/abuse, are all working perfectly even years later. So I feel safe
I can't say the same for my mom's Dell laptop that had an exploding battery replaced 3 times.
Didn't see any negative reviews on Apple's website. Searched on Apple's support site and didn't see anything about the power supply catching fire either.
Go to the Apple Store (store.apple.com). Put in "magsafe" into the blue search box on the left. You'll see the MBP and MB adapters as the first two hits. Click on either, and start reading either the most recent or most helpful reviews. I can't link there directly due to the AS's cookie policy.
Absolutely wrong. A laptop is nothing more than a compact, all-in-one computer. When your computer (and perhaps even your house) can be put in danger because of a power adapter, it is nothing short of a design flaw.
Oh, definitely. They're great computers when they work. Knowing what I know, I wouldn't return the computer. It's just that it would be nice not to have to worry about things like this happening. I hear 'you can call Apple/go to the Apple store/etc', but in the end, no one buys a computer expecting to have to return it a bunch of times to get a functional model. Before coming to this forum, I had no idea people could be chided for not wanting to do that.
lol, I like your response - pretty clever. I guess so, then. I also guess that Apple is a victim of it's own success! It has created such good software that it has made users more capable of making videos about how bad their hardware is lmao.
interesting theory.
My power brick gets uncomfortably hot, but not burning hot.
One time it went under a cushion on my sofa while I was using the laptop, I saw that the charging light had gone off, then realised the brick was under the cushion, it was really burning hot, the cushion was also very hot to the touch. The brick had stopped functioning. I unplugged it and left it for an hour, it works ok again now.
It looks like they at the least need good airflow around them.
One time it went under a cushion on my sofa while I was using the laptop, I saw that the charging light had gone off, then realised the brick was under the cushion, it was really burning hot, the cushion was also very hot to the touch. The brick had stopped functioning. I unplugged it and left it for an hour, it works ok again now.
It looks like they at the least need good airflow around them.
Ironies
I'm surprised not many people find it ironic that in order to get a laptop that works, you will have to rely on Apple's 'generous' return policy. The reality is that it is the owners who pay more for an Apple product, in order for the company to afford all these returned laptops. Why not refuse to pay that money for a defected product, and insist that quality be improved in order for that expense not to exist in the first place?!
Another irony is that we pay for Apple's advertising campaign - their adds, pitching themselves against PC's and pretending to be better! I'd be embarrassed to buy an Apple product, knowing that they use my money to show themselves off, when the reality is that they have just as many pbs as any other PC manufacturer. The others, at least, have the decency not to make fools of themselves.
And a third irony - IMHO - is that so many users waste their time on forums defending the quality of Apple products in spite of the most obvious set of problems that are haunting their owners, rather than pulling together and humbly admitting to the lack of quality control and lobbying Apple not to let them down. Imagine what would happen if all the Apple users will get together and force Apple not to release a product unless they are as 100% certain as it is humanly possible to be, that it will be working well. If all the enthusiasm which characterizes Apple fans would be used in this way, rather than defending what is a questionably reliable line of products (MB's and MBP's alike), Apple will not have to waste its (our) money on add campaigns discrediting themselves - word of mouth will do the job.
I'm surprised not many people find it ironic that in order to get a laptop that works, you will have to rely on Apple's 'generous' return policy. The reality is that it is the owners who pay more for an Apple product, in order for the company to afford all these returned laptops. Why not refuse to pay that money for a defected product, and insist that quality be improved in order for that expense not to exist in the first place?!
Another irony is that we pay for Apple's advertising campaign - their adds, pitching themselves against PC's and pretending to be better! I'd be embarrassed to buy an Apple product, knowing that they use my money to show themselves off, when the reality is that they have just as many pbs as any other PC manufacturer. The others, at least, have the decency not to make fools of themselves.
And a third irony - IMHO - is that so many users waste their time on forums defending the quality of Apple products in spite of the most obvious set of problems that are haunting their owners, rather than pulling together and humbly admitting to the lack of quality control and lobbying Apple not to let them down. Imagine what would happen if all the Apple users will get together and force Apple not to release a product unless they are as 100% certain as it is humanly possible to be, that it will be working well. If all the enthusiasm which characterizes Apple fans would be used in this way, rather than defending what is a questionably reliable line of products (MB's and MBP's alike), Apple will not have to waste its (our) money on add campaigns discrediting themselves - word of mouth will do the job.
thanks, I was searching in the upper right search box. Okay, wow, there are a lot of unsatisfied owners of this adapter. Kinda scary, though I do question some people who have adapters broke 'right out of the box' or have gone through 3 of them already.
Mine is very cool and I keep my macbook on 24/7. So we'll see, maybe it's all hit and miss with these things. Also my adapter must be an older one because it doesn't have ears on it to wrap the cord around the adapter.
17 months, not one problem. Great screen, battery is still holding a really good charge after 70 cycles, and it has been a fantastic computer.
Don't believe everything you read some people will never be happy with anything. I am the IT manager for the my company and I am in the slow process of switching all computers to MAC as the PC's fail or I need to add new ones. I have 5 macbooks and 2 macbook pro's in service now. These computers get very hard service left on for weeks at a time. 2 of the macbooks are the very first ones out 2 are second generation and the third is 2 weeks old and as for the 2 macbook pros 1 is first generation and the second one is the second generation. I also just put a mac mini in service. I have not had any problems at all with any of the computers. I cannot say the same for the HP laptops we bought they all failed, The compaq also had lots of problems, The sony had the hard drive fail 3 times before I gave it away. The Dell's seem to be ok only minor problems with a couple of them. But from what I have seen the MAC's are as good as any that we have used.
I was flipping back and forth between AI, PS, and Id working on a school project when I could smell something burning hot. The green light went out on my mag safe. I went to pick up the brick, and I couldn't touch it with my bare hands, it was so hot. It wouldn't work anymore, so I put it in the freezer to cool off. 20 minutes later it was working fine. Love my Blackbook!
I've had this MacBook Pro for a few weeks now, heavy use for photo editing (Photoshop CS3, Nikon Capture NX,) and watching DVD's. I've never heard the fans go off on this machine.
Here's the current Temp Monitor window.
Here's the current Temp Monitor window.
Luckily I haven't had any of those things listed (yet)!
You probably never will, either, I hope. And I agree with heatmiser. Some people buy a laptop not just to take it on a business trip or whatever. Some people ( like me ) buy laptops to move them around in the house , and I will probably keep the AC adapter in most of the time.
"force Apple not to release a product unless they are as 100% certain as it is humanly possible to be, that it will be working well. "
To the extent possible... they already do that. As has been mentioned, Apple has a great statistical track record but very VERY vocal and repetitive customers when something goes wrong.
They also have to consider a few other factors that we Monday-morning quarterbacks don't:
1. Nobody wants an $8k Macbook, no matter how "perfect" it is.
2. Nobody wants Leopard to ship in 2012, no matter how "perfect" it is.
Real-life companies face real-life constraints on cost, size, date to market, etc. and Apple seems to deal with those constraints well.
I think all available data supports Apple as having a great quality record on great products. I know, I know, try telling that to the guy who can read his screen from 79 degrees to the left but only 77 to the right, or the lady who cracked her Macbook screen in her dorm and went into a foamy-mouthed frenzy at the Apple store insisting that it cracked itself, but those colorful complainers don't make much of a blip in the data.
To the extent possible... they already do that. As has been mentioned, Apple has a great statistical track record but very VERY vocal and repetitive customers when something goes wrong.
They also have to consider a few other factors that we Monday-morning quarterbacks don't:
1. Nobody wants an $8k Macbook, no matter how "perfect" it is.
2. Nobody wants Leopard to ship in 2012, no matter how "perfect" it is.
Real-life companies face real-life constraints on cost, size, date to market, etc. and Apple seems to deal with those constraints well.
I think all available data supports Apple as having a great quality record on great products. I know, I know, try telling that to the guy who can read his screen from 79 degrees to the left but only 77 to the right, or the lady who cracked her Macbook screen in her dorm and went into a foamy-mouthed frenzy at the Apple store insisting that it cracked itself, but those colorful complainers don't make much of a blip in the data.
I share your sentiments in a number of issues.
However, what I am suggesting is that instead of wasting their money on replacing a faulty item (which seems to be their way of keeping your loyalty), Apple ought to rather invest that money in developing better quality products. It is after all, your money they are using in order to afford all these replacements and they will not have those money unless you would choose to pay for this kind of service.
Also, your humorous way of arguing away the reality of many users struggling with faulty products is not doing owners of Apple products any favors - it just allows Apple to get by with it's failures, rather than addressing them. The reality is that there are many issues and many people who experience problems with their MB's and MBP's, but it is fans like yourself who choose to ignore them and dismiss their existence (http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook_Pro & http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook). While I appreciate your enthusiasm for what used to be a high quality product line, I am baffled at the choice you make to ignore the reality and put it down to anecdotal situations. The links included are all from just one website, however, there are many others, including the one we are posting on - they are just not as centralized.
However, what I am suggesting is that instead of wasting their money on replacing a faulty item (which seems to be their way of keeping your loyalty), Apple ought to rather invest that money in developing better quality products. It is after all, your money they are using in order to afford all these replacements and they will not have those money unless you would choose to pay for this kind of service.
Also, your humorous way of arguing away the reality of many users struggling with faulty products is not doing owners of Apple products any favors - it just allows Apple to get by with it's failures, rather than addressing them. The reality is that there are many issues and many people who experience problems with their MB's and MBP's, but it is fans like yourself who choose to ignore them and dismiss their existence (http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook_Pro & http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook). While I appreciate your enthusiasm for what used to be a high quality product line, I am baffled at the choice you make to ignore the reality and put it down to anecdotal situations. The links included are all from just one website, however, there are many others, including the one we are posting on - they are just not as centralized.
Well, yeah. Just like any other power supply. There's a reason there are fans in desktop computers. That power supply is in the brick for a laptop.
Do you people really think this is an Apple-only problem? All transformer bricks get hot. Go check your video game or cordless phone brick. Hot. Treat the stupid thing properly.
I think too many people have this opinion that Apple is supposed to be perfect. And magic, like electricity conversion won't create heat if there's a recessed Apple shape on the thing. So then Apple owners come on the net and whine. PC owners are probably so used to software problems that hardware messes don't faze them.
I've had to replace twice as many Dell bricks as Apple. That's 2 vs 1 on about 10 total laptops over the years. This statistic doesn't mean a damn thing.
"Just like any other power supply."
I use a 4 year old Alienware laptop, company which is known for quick adoption of technology at the expense of making sure all the bits thrown together are working together well. However, I don't experience the same problems Apple laptops have with their bricks. But this may just be me!
"I think too many people have this opinion that Apple is supposed to be perfect."
That's another interesting point - if Apple and their owners would humbly admit that theirs is just another computer facing the same challenges as any other PC does (both, hardware and software), then Apple owners as well as switchers will not set themselves up for great disappointments.
As long as the attitude of 'I'm better than you' continues (starting from the HQ's with the PC \ MAC adds and carrying on to the last forum on line), Apple will only stand to loose its credibility more and more, while it will attract the vengeance of the hackers who will definitely exploit the security vulnerabilities currently present in Leopard, thus, forcing the company to make the OS heavier and heavier - am I the only one getting a sense of deja vu?.
http://keznews.com/2570_Microsoft__Windows_Vista_Safer_than_OS_X__Linux
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=111047
just to mention two.
And it is us, the users, who can change that entire attitude - ours and Apple's!
I use a 4 year old Alienware laptop, company which is known for quick adoption of technology at the expense of making sure all the bits thrown together are working together well. However, I don't experience the same problems Apple laptops have with their bricks. But this may just be me!
"I think too many people have this opinion that Apple is supposed to be perfect."
That's another interesting point - if Apple and their owners would humbly admit that theirs is just another computer facing the same challenges as any other PC does (both, hardware and software), then Apple owners as well as switchers will not set themselves up for great disappointments.
As long as the attitude of 'I'm better than you' continues (starting from the HQ's with the PC \ MAC adds and carrying on to the last forum on line), Apple will only stand to loose its credibility more and more, while it will attract the vengeance of the hackers who will definitely exploit the security vulnerabilities currently present in Leopard, thus, forcing the company to make the OS heavier and heavier - am I the only one getting a sense of deja vu?.
http://keznews.com/2570_Microsoft__Windows_Vista_Safer_than_OS_X__Linux
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=111047
just to mention two.
And it is us, the users, who can change that entire attitude - ours and Apple's!
Aren't bad reviews just as anecdotal as good reviews, as far as hardware is concerned?
Apple already spends money on "developing better products." If they didn't, we wouldn't have things like upgrade cycles and point revisions and the like. So you're just suggesting that they don't bother repairing defective units? Are you seriously trying to say that "investing more money" (a phrase almost entirely devoid of meaning in the first place) is going to garner more popular support than "replacing faulty items?"
You just sound like a sour puss or a troll. (And this is coming from someone who had to deal with multiple levels of support (Japanese regional and eventually Asian corporate) to get the yellow screen issue on his new MBP fixed a month ago.)
When I bought my Alienware, I knew (from reading reviews and forum discussions) that I will be buying a machine which has problems e.g. graphics card related issues, Customer Service of an unacceptable level etc. However, if Alienware were to put any part of the money I paid them into running TV adds in which they set themselves up as superior to others, I would have rather bought a Voodoo or Apple for that matter. And if the owners were to rant on and on, despite the obvious problems they experienced with their machines, as to how good and superior their machines are, I would not have wanted to be part of that community either.
The issue I have is not with Apple or its owners per se, it is with the attitude prevalent in the media and in forums, despite the personal experiences of owners who had to deal with many problems due to lack of ... you name it, in Apple products. This attitude is almost like a state of mass delusion, where folks refuse to acknowledge that Apple is just as much subject to bugs in its software, hardware incompatibility, poor Quality Control Standards, malfunction of components, as any other PC manufacturer is.
In fact, CashGap attempted to make light of the situation in his examples (and I enjoy a bit of sarcasm myself), but we are not dealing here with anecdotes - it is our money and our time and our lives (and livelihood at times). And our attitude is what can bring about changes.
Bottom line - it's a matter of attitude.
The issue I have is not with Apple or its owners per se, it is with the attitude prevalent in the media and in forums, despite the personal experiences of owners who had to deal with many problems due to lack of ... you name it, in Apple products. This attitude is almost like a state of mass delusion, where folks refuse to acknowledge that Apple is just as much subject to bugs in its software, hardware incompatibility, poor Quality Control Standards, malfunction of components, as any other PC manufacturer is.
In fact, CashGap attempted to make light of the situation in his examples (and I enjoy a bit of sarcasm myself), but we are not dealing here with anecdotes - it is our money and our time and our lives (and livelihood at times). And our attitude is what can bring about changes.
Bottom line - it's a matter of attitude.