HDD Replacement on MBP SR voids Apple Care??

[Wolfpup]

Grrr... Bloody... Americans... and... their... obsession... with... Christianity...

(No offence, of course)

Why can't religion be left religion, and be kept separate from politics and law???

I think it's dumb regardless of your religious beliefs, but that's what we use here as a legal term to mean "a storm blew it up"

No, it says it's void if you cause damage through unauthorised modification.

I looked up the line, it's a little different than what I remembered, but:

(e) to a product or part that has been modified to significantly alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple

It's kind of lame, but quite possible Apple can use this to exclude anything but official user serviceable parts.

They can use (a), and (d) to claim the warranty's void too.

 

[CanadaRAM]

I've been asking this too (multiple places). It's literally what's stopped me from ordering a Mac Book Pro-and if I end up with a Dell instead, it will be entirely because of this issue.

Don't read this, then

"This limited warranty does not cover:
...
· Problems that result from:
- External causes such as accident, abuse, misuse, or problems with electrical power
- Servicing not authorized by Dell
- Usage that is not in accordance with product instructions
- Failure to follow the product instructions or failure to perform preventive maintenance
- Problems caused by using accessories, parts, or components not supplied by Dell"

 

[Wolfpup]

I missed that servicing bit. I think it is pretty clear that cracking it open does void the warranty.

And I wouldn't even care except for the hard drive. In fact I'd be happier if you couldn't access the RAM, but could get at the HD (not that I recommend Apple do that...)

 

[Apple Corps]

But that's just the point. Apple can claim that the very fact that you changed the supported hardware of the machine in question caused direct or indirect damage by action of the computer owner and, therefore, the warranty is void. In other words, you didn't scratch or damage the machine otherwise, but the fact that you installed an unsupported drive = void warranty. Do you not see that?

And I'm not even sure that the warranty is in fact valid after opening the case. There could be a clause somewhere in the mounds of a legalese found in the full copy of the AppleCare warranty terms.

No - they would have to demonstrate that an unsupported drive CAUSED the defect you are seeking coverage on. A defective display is not likely going to be caused by an unsupported drive = warranty still valid on display. State law is controlling on most of these warranty claims and the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act (Federal):

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.shtm

Knock yourself out on this one.

 

[johnmclane2000]

Many Thanks!

Hey guys,

thanks so much for all your input. It really helped a lot. I got a better idea now about what I'm facing here.

So as long as I'm not damaging anything myself during the replacement process I should be ok.

Sure, Apple could blame any future defect on my opening the case and theoretically insist on the guaranty being void but I honestly don't believe that would happen after reading all your comments.

If the damage is unrelated I think Apple would see reason. Besides they have no interest to piss their customers off and want them to buy hardware from them in the future.

If Apple would void my guaranty over this I for sure would never buy anything from them again. Ever.

So thanks again, all! I'm looking forward to my new MBP SR and the 250GB HDD

cheers

John

PS

If you have a lot of pictures and if you need to partition your internal HDD for Bootcamp and Windows, then the 120GB HDD just won't cut it believe me. I'm down to 2GB free space on a similar configuration...and it's not fun!

 

[maverick808]

Hey guys,
Sure, Apple could blame any future defect on my opening the case and theoretically insist on the guaranty being void but I honestly don't believe that would happen after reading all your comments.

It would happen, I've seen it happen. Apple will void your AppleCare/warranty for anything at all they can. I had a really tiny dent on my PowerBook, I mean really tiny, and about a year later my CD drive stopped working. Apple refused to repair it stating that the machine had been abused.

My boss had a small scratch underneath his MBP and Apple refused to fix the whine (common on all first model MBPs) as they said the scratch had caused it. This was particularly ludicrous, as all other MBPs built at the same time had the same problem.

My own first MBP had case warping at the front where the latch release button is and so did my friend's. They were both the same model and I believe that it was a design fault in them that causes the metal there to gradually move out over time. Apple refused to fix it stating that they could not see how that could have happened unless I had "used the machine in a manner it was not designed to be used".

Although I love Apple products, Apple are truly terrible when it comes to service and repairs.

 

[Nermal]

Question: In the US, are the repairs done *by Apple*? Over here, you take/send the computer to a service centre of your choice, all of which are independently operated. If I was to be told that I'd voided my warranty by replacing the drive (by the way, I took care to use the same brand/model that Apple use), then I'd simply take the computer somewhere else.

 

[Erasmus]

Stuff

So, whatever happened to "If you don't succeed, try, try again!"?

If one Apple guy tells you to shove it, go find another. And another, and another, until one finally says yes. It only takes one.

How many Apple stores are in America?

 

[maverick808]

So, whatever happened to "If you don't succeed, try, try again!"?

If one Apple guy tells you to shove it, go find another. And another, and another, until one finally says yes. It only takes one.

How many Apple stores are in America?

Believe me, I have tried many times. When the CD drive broke I sent the machine into Apple 3 times. 3 times they collected the machine, took it to their repair center, and then shipped it back untouched. The madness here is that it would have cost them far less to pick the machine up once and put a brand new CD drive in it than to have shipped it back and forth 3 times.

 

[logandzwon]

I've had my wife's slightly abused CD MBPs threw the repair center for a failing superdisk. It had been modified with a 802.11n chip, and had the ram replaced. I had no problem. I would be careful modifing you unit though. Notebooks are not like desktops. It's very easy to damnage soemthing in there. Also, if they want a reason to not repair it, they had some things to make a case with.

 

[gnasher729]

Section 1 (Repair Coverage), Part b (Limitations):
(ii) Damage to the Covered Equipment caused by accident, abuse, neglect, misuse (including faulty installation, repair, or maintenance by anyone other than Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider), unauthorized modification, extreme environment (including extreme temperature or humidity), extreme physical or electrical stress or interference, fluctuation or surges of electrical power, lightning, static electricity, fire, acts of God or other external causes;

So if your unauthorised hard disk upgrade causes any problems, that is not covered by warranty. But if you do an unauthorised hard disk upgrade, and then your screen breaks down (unrelated), that is covered. And if an Apple engineer adds a hard disk and it causes problems, that is also covered.

 

[iW00t]

So if your unauthorised hard disk upgrade causes any problems, that is not covered by warranty. But if you do an unauthorised hard disk upgrade, and then your screen breaks down (unrelated), that is covered. And if an Apple engineer adds a hard disk and it causes problems, that is also covered.

The Apple engineer will point out how the excessive heat from your harddrive resulted in expansion and contract of the logic board.... leads to a cracked connector.... costs $1000 to fix.... to be borne by you

It is not worth it, just pay the extra bit for the peace of mind.

 

[Squonk]

Quick question for everybody. How would Apple know if the work is done by a certified tech? Is there a database or something that they check off what's been done to a computer??? I mean if I took it to Compusa how would Apple know if it was them or me who did the work?

This is an excellent question. And the flip side is, what's to say that an authorized repair technician didn't (or won't) damage something while THEY are in there?

I'm sure that the next case redesign for the MBP will move to a user accessible hard drive akin to the MB's. OK, I'm not sure, but I really want this. I love the current form factor of the MBP except for this one fact.

 

[Wolfpup]

So if your unauthorised hard disk upgrade causes any problems, that is not covered by warranty. But if you do an unauthorised hard disk upgrade, and then your screen breaks down (unrelated), that is covered. And if an Apple engineer adds a hard disk and it causes problems, that is also covered.

No. Opening it at all voids the warranty. As some on here have mentioned, Apple will use anything as an excuse to void it, and in this case their warranty explicitly states that unauthorized modifications void the warranty.

 

[johnmclane2000]

That might be true. However as has been pointed out before, no matter what Apple writes they won't get through with something that violates state law.

I'd say if you don't break anything yourself you stand a pretty good chance of retaining your warranty. Depending of course on where you live and what your state law provides. But I'd say it's usually more forgiving than Apple's terms and conditions

Plus that Apple wouldn't wanna piss of paying customers.

 

[Habusho]

I just spoke to an Apple Genius and he says that they don't replace hard disks. Is this true or was he misinformed??? From what I knew you take a new hard drive and your MBP to them and they install it for you and charge you by the hour for installation. If so, who would you guys recommend to do this work for as cheap as possible?

Thx
VC