Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Do people complain about all new hardware releases?

G

gorby

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 20, 2007
263
0
Some people attribute the pretty widespread Alu iMac 'issues' being reported across forums as "only a small percentage... etc etc." or "people only go on forums to complain... etc. etc."


So was the environment pretty much the same when the G5 iMac or Intel iMac's first released? (lots of people complaining about problem X and problem Y) Those who've been around for those launches (or earlier ones), please enlighten us.
 
From the short time I've been in these forums and in the Apple Discussion forums it would appear so.

"Anyone else think XXX sucks?"
"I hate XXX give me my XXX back"
"Apple gimmi gimmi gimmi gimmi gimmi"

I have b!tched about a few things, mainly one game in particular and it's more related to Apple's Video driver. But that's the extent of my gripe. And justfully so. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with my switch over.
 
Nobody is ever satisfied with a product around here. Apple could come out with a 24" Quad-processor iMac selling for $1499 and I know for a fact somebody would have something negative to say about it. It's pretty sad, but these forums are used for diagnosing problems along with others talking about their love for Macs. I've never had a problem with any of my three Macs (eMac G4, iBook G4, and Core Duo Mac mini) and only had a couple of issues with a refurbished iPod mini (Apple replaced several times and the last one I had was finally perfect).
 
My experiences say yes!

I read for weeks all the problems people had with the new aluminum iMacs. I had ordered mine before I went on vacation in September, but held off having it shipped until I returned just before leopard was released.

I read even more issues when I returned. I almost cancelled my order, but did not in the end.

I received my iMac last Thursday and could not be happier.
 
ryannel2003 said:
Nobody is ever satisfied with a product around here. Apple could come out with a 24" Quad-processor iMac selling for $1499 and I know for a fact somebody would have something negative to say about it.
Click to expand...
That's the way it seems these days.

I've personally owned numerous Macs over the years (since 1986) and they have all worked very well out of the box. The one exception was my PB which had some issues that Apple fixed for free under Apple Care. And it is still working fine after 4 years!
 
Not just product complaints, also pricing complaints:

- Why hasn't the Mac Pro pricing changed?
- Why did Student OS X pricing increase with Leopard?
- Why did the iPhone price drop?

Basically if Apple lowers a price, increases a price, or keeps a price stable... it leads to complaints. Their only option is to drop a product and replace it... which leads to:

- Why did Apple orphan the ____ that I just bought?
- Why did Apple drop the ____, I wanted to get one!

The common thread is people. People like to complain, and some people LOVE to complain, and some need very little provocation.
 
sushi said:
That's the way it seems these days.

I've personally owned numerous Macs over the years (since 1986) and they have all worked very well out of the box. The one exception was my PB which had some issues that Apple fixed for free under Apple Care. And it is still working fine after 4 years!
Click to expand...

Same thing here I did almost cancel my order but so far I did not had any problems
 
But that's one of the great things about this forum, you can get it off your chest. If you have a valid complaint, there are certainly a lot of people willing to help and who understand the problem. If one is having a moan just for the sake of having a moan, there seem to be no end of posters willing to tell them to shut up.

Unfortunately I took delivery of my new iMac just over a month ago. For almost two weeks now it has been sat in the Apple Store in town, apparantly having a screen replacement. I am somewhat unhappy about not being able to use my new Mac, but I realize that's how it is, there are glitches in the system, a few bad apples in the barrel and Apple in my case seem to be doing their best. They even refunded me 400 Norwegian kroner, just over 70 US dollars for my inconvenience. I am also confident that if my machine is not right when I get it back, Apple will fix it.
But for those people who have been suffering from poor screen issues I am glad they have let their problem be known on these forums, because of that I knew that I was not alone.
For everyone else suffering genuine problems with their machines, you have my sympathy. For the majority with perfect working machines, I'm pleased you are enjoying the Apple experience.
 
The other thing to remember is that personal experiences are binary.

You'll read that new Macs have a 1 in 10,000 failure rate. That does NOT mean that you will have a 99.99 experience. You will have a "1" experience, or a "0" experience.

If you have the 1 in 10,000, it sure doesn't feel like a 99.99% effective product/service!
 
CashGap said:
You'll read that new Macs have a 1 in 10,000 failure rate.
Click to expand...
Not disagreeing with your "personal experience is binary" comment, but the rate is somewhere around 2 in 100 (I actually have no proof of that, and I can't be bothered trying to find the figures) for newly ordered machines, rising to 10-15% with problems in the first year. Which is roughly the same (or slightly better) that other top tier computer makers.

This puts into perspective the "this is the third Mac in a row that's failed! The chances of that happening by chance is infinitesimal. I'm not buying any more Macs until they fix their QA!" comments. If the failure rate is say 2%, the chances of two lemons in a row is 1 in 2,500, three lemons is 1 in 125,000. So if Apple sells 500,000 per quarter, you'd likely see about 4 people (with some variation on that figure since probability isn't certain) with 3-in-a-row lemons. If they sell 2,000,000 you get four times as many 3-in-a-row lemons and four times as many people complaining with four times as much noise.
 
I remember when the MacBooks came out, and people were saying they didn't like how skinny it was because it made it run hotter. Give me a *bleep*ing break.

The new Aluminum iMacs same thing happened... "Why doesn't apple just make the iMacs thicker so they can use a half-decent graphics card?" "Why don't they offer a matte option?!?!?! Now I am not going to buy!!!"

... and a week later on their sig they state they bought new iMacs. :rolleyes:
 
The more things change the more they stay the same

gorby said:
Some people attribute the pretty widespread Alu iMac 'issues' being reported across forums as "only a small percentage... etc etc." or "people only go on forums to complain... etc. etc."


So was the environment pretty much the same when the G5 iMac or Intel iMac's first released? (lots of people complaining about problem X and problem Y) Those who've been around for those launches (or earlier ones), please enlighten us.
Click to expand...

I got my first Mac in 1987. Macintosh has always had issues of some kind or another. Nonetheless, Mac hardware and software was superior then and it's superior now to the PC (even though we're all on intel now), IMHO.

Go to your nearest Porsche dealer and go to the maintenace bay and look at all the cars back there. What's your inevitable conclusion? "Man, the Porsche must surely be a piece of krap!" Now, do you really believe that?
 
Totally agree.
It seems to have gotten worse since the iPhone release though. I remember when I was on these forums before purchasing my MBP and it was more positive.
I would suspect a drop in quality assurance but then you factor in the complaints of pricing and today complaints about what the 10.5.1 update didn't do and you realize it probably has nothing to do with quality assurance.
The iPhone price drop was the worst.

Its just so people can vent. If they complained to everyday people, no one would care or listen...here its a community for the good and the bad.
So although its annoying, sometimes it helps people solve problems. I just when people complain that apple didn't do something the way they personally would have liked it and call Apple stupid or crappy for not doing it. (thats just ignorant)




CashGap said:
Not just product complaints, also pricing complaints:

- Why hasn't the Mac Pro pricing changed?
- Why did Student OS X pricing increase with Leopard?
- Why did the iPhone price drop?

Basically if Apple lowers a price, increases a price, or keeps a price stable... it leads to complaints. Their only option is to drop a product and replace it... which leads to:

- Why did Apple orphan the ____ that I just bought?
- Why did Apple drop the ____, I wanted to get one!

The common thread is people. People like to complain, and some people LOVE to complain, and some need very little provocation.
Click to expand...
 
It's never been this bad.

There was rejoicing when the G4 Mini came out.
And some more when the MBP CD came out.
And again with the MBP C2D.
And the Mac Pro, and the iPod Touch, and the iPod 4G, and 3G, and Mini and Nano 2G, and the iPod with Color (except price was much less then the iPod Photo for the same item)... that's all I've been around for.
 
I agree that all products will have there detractors and forums are indeed a biased sample. But one of the most valid comments I think is about the screens. I had waited for the imac update and was ready to buy one..until they put glass in front of a glossy screen. This is an issue that will not be solved by firm ware updates. I guess that apple has lost a lot of custom over this....but I also guess that loss has more than been more than made up for by people who really liked the screen. But the fact remains that there is now a sizable portion of would be mac users that are not being catered for. The mac mini is underpowered for many..and the mac pro overpowered and out of a comfortable price zone. I guess we will not see a solution to this anytime soon, and possibly never.
 
TSE said:
I remember when the MacBooks came out, and people were saying they didn't like how skinny it was because it made it run hotter. Give me a *bleep*ing break.

The new Aluminum iMacs same thing happened... "Why doesn't apple just make the iMacs thicker so they can use a half-decent graphics card?" "Why don't they offer a matte option?!?!?! Now I am not going to buy!!!"

... and a week later on their sig they state they bought new iMacs. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well, the MacBook did have serious problems with heat when it first came out. But it was fixed later on. It's still running pretty hot though, and it doesn't take much to get the fan running at higher speeds. So I think it's still a valid point.

I have a MacBook and I love it, but I can't use it for any heavy work because of the fan noise. But for light work, it's fantastic.
 
When I first joined in January 2005, there were a few cases of computers having issues. Not alot, maybe 2 or 3 threads on a whole page about the issues. Now, maybe half the page is full of issues people are having with their computers. My 3 year old eMac is a damn tank, and to this day still runs great. My used iBook G4 was the same, even though it did experience a few kernel panics over the 4 months I had it. My Core Duo Mac mini was also trouble free. Has the quality gone down, yes. But they can't be on top forever. There will be a few bumps in the road. Eventually, I think they will get it together and it will be back to the way it was in the good 'ol days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back