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How many devices did you return or replace because of a problem so far?
- Thread starter emraha06
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Not a single device and I am using Apple devices for about 20 years now starting with the iPod.
However, almost all devices eventually had a spicy pillow battery, some multiple times in a row costing me actual thousands just in Apple battery replacement service costs. Had multiple displays replaced for staingate, and from more than a dozen Macbooks only the 2015 is still alive now with a third party battery because the last original Apple battery was yet again swollen and Apple told me to buy a new one as they no longer stocked replacement batteries.
I find all Apple devices to be of very solid quality considering it's products for the masses, it's amongst the highest quality tech products that are sold in such quantities. Their batteries however are trash. They are consumables and it's normal for them to lose charge but swelling up isn't.
However, almost all devices eventually had a spicy pillow battery, some multiple times in a row costing me actual thousands just in Apple battery replacement service costs. Had multiple displays replaced for staingate, and from more than a dozen Macbooks only the 2015 is still alive now with a third party battery because the last original Apple battery was yet again swollen and Apple told me to buy a new one as they no longer stocked replacement batteries.
I find all Apple devices to be of very solid quality considering it's products for the masses, it's amongst the highest quality tech products that are sold in such quantities. Their batteries however are trash. They are consumables and it's normal for them to lose charge but swelling up isn't.
Many. For over a decade I kept my companies offices running on Apple computers. Mostly it was a lot of GPU failures early models, in the later models it was all kinds of weird stuff like firmware corrupting SSDs & Bluetooth modules, batt and overheating component failures on the more recent models. The only machines that never gave us a problem (or died) were the 2009 iMacs and the 2015 MacBook Pro‘s, several of which are still running 24/7 today.
One. I had an iPod that came down with swollen battery disease relatively early. It was replaced under warranty.
I also had a 2010 iMac that had to go in for repairs twice, due to systemic power failure issues. But it got fixed.
I've been all-Apple since 2005, so this includes a multitude of devices. At least four iMacs, two MacBook Airs, several MadBook Pros, a variety of iPhones, iPods, iPads, Watches, AppleTVs, etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Our house has come to look like an Apple ad placement.
All of the iMacs (going back to the 2009) are still working and productive. Some of the older MacBooks have been retired, mostly to failures well after their expected lifespan. (The first one lost a HDD about ten years in.) I discovered this week that the iPhone 4 has stopped working (it was being used as a remote camera).
I also had a 2010 iMac that had to go in for repairs twice, due to systemic power failure issues. But it got fixed.
I've been all-Apple since 2005, so this includes a multitude of devices. At least four iMacs, two MacBook Airs, several MadBook Pros, a variety of iPhones, iPods, iPads, Watches, AppleTVs, etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Our house has come to look like an Apple ad placement.
All of the iMacs (going back to the 2009) are still working and productive. Some of the older MacBooks have been retired, mostly to failures well after their expected lifespan. (The first one lost a HDD about ten years in.) I discovered this week that the iPhone 4 has stopped working (it was being used as a remote camera).
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Hmm…
Lately things have been pretty good though.
- Late 2006 white MacBook with flickering backlight
- 2012 15’ Retina MacBook Pro with many dead pixels
- iPhone 5 with defective power button (two replacements)
- iPhone 6s with defective battery.
- 2015 13” MacBook Pro with screen delamination. The logic board on the same machine failed in some way a few months later. Sold for parts.
Lately things have been pretty good though.
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Laptops rarely. Mostly the plastic white MacBook.
Desktops never.
Apple Watches occasionally in the earlier models.
Ipads occasionally AND
iPhones frequently HOWEVER
Whereas it became almost routine to not end the year with the same iPhone I bought given it had issues that needed replacements.... I have to say that the last 5-6 models have never needed replacements. The same can be said for iPads.
Looks to me like build quality is much better in recent years and manufacturing defects or potential manufacturing defects have largely vanished.
I guess it's an offshoot of the thing that people complain the most about i.e. iterative upgrades and so little changes year to year that significant redesigns and rebuilds just dont happen anymore and the quality remains high.
I've had quite a few devices repaired under warranty over the years, mostly iPhones but only one device I've actually returned and refunded - I purchased a MacBook Air m1 whose keyboard had a defect where a few keys would intermittently stop working within the first few days. When I took it in to the Apple Store, they said the best way to deal with the issue was to get a refund and then purchase a new one as they didn't have parts for the fix and I was in my returns window.
Only had to return one MacBook Air with the butterrflyy keeyboaardd issuuee.
Never had a return, but I've replaced a motherboard on a G3 iBook back in the day. I just recently had a warranty repair on my 15 Pro because the cellular failed. Overall I've had pretty good luck with my Apple devices!
Edit: forgot - my 2015 MBP was sent in for the delaminating screen issue.
Edit: forgot - my 2015 MBP was sent in for the delaminating screen issue.
I got rid of the 12" Retina MacBook because of the Butterfly keyboard. Loved the lightness and the display, but that keyboard was a piece of ****. Mine didn't even break or anything -- I just hated the way it felt to type on.
I'd originally planned to replace my 11" MacBook Air with that machine, but had to backtrack and hang onto the Air for several more years until Apple finally came to their senses in 2020 and started shipping laptops with usable keyboards again.
I'd originally planned to replace my 11" MacBook Air with that machine, but had to backtrack and hang onto the Air for several more years until Apple finally came to their senses in 2020 and started shipping laptops with usable keyboards again.
Same here. And, even then, the HomePod didn’t really fail per se. It’s just that the software and Siri were wonky and I didn’t enjoy using it. Essentially, there was the occasional (but repeated) “fart of death” after which Siri would forget everything. I eventually gave away the HomePod to a friend.
My 1st generation AirPods Pro were replaced two times. I eventually gave up on them and sold them second hand.
AirPods 3rd generation replaced once because the speakers inside one earbuds broke. I still have them. They work very well now.
iPad 9th generation had battery life issues and was replaced. Lack of adequate RAM made it unusable for certain apps. So I ended up selling it second hand.
iPhone SE 1st generation replaced 2 times because of battery issues. Was still a good product.
iPhone SE 2nd generation. Persistent issues with charging, discharging, random rebooting, and the speakers randomly emitting distorted sounds when charging: Apple refused to acknowledge any of this as its seemingly not a part of the standard tests they run iPhones through.
I’ve only ever used original Apple cables and chargers for all my iPhones and still have no idea what the cause was.
I kept the SE 2nd generation and bought an iPhone 11 instead. No issues with the 11, ever.
However, all the issues with the SE 2nd generation seem to have been fixed in later iOS updates.
SE 2nd generation is still terrible in terms of battery life and RAM and just seems low quality and subpar in every way compared to the regular iPhone 11, despite both of them being A13 iPhones.
AirPods 3rd generation replaced once because the speakers inside one earbuds broke. I still have them. They work very well now.
iPad 9th generation had battery life issues and was replaced. Lack of adequate RAM made it unusable for certain apps. So I ended up selling it second hand.
iPhone SE 1st generation replaced 2 times because of battery issues. Was still a good product.
iPhone SE 2nd generation. Persistent issues with charging, discharging, random rebooting, and the speakers randomly emitting distorted sounds when charging: Apple refused to acknowledge any of this as its seemingly not a part of the standard tests they run iPhones through.
I’ve only ever used original Apple cables and chargers for all my iPhones and still have no idea what the cause was.
I kept the SE 2nd generation and bought an iPhone 11 instead. No issues with the 11, ever.
However, all the issues with the SE 2nd generation seem to have been fixed in later iOS updates.
SE 2nd generation is still terrible in terms of battery life and RAM and just seems low quality and subpar in every way compared to the regular iPhone 11, despite both of them being A13 iPhones.
A ton of PowerBook g4s for the display defect. A couple iPhone 6 Plus? Is that right? For the phantom touchscreen problem. A couple MBPs for various defect issues.
None. My first personal Mac product was one of the candy-colored clamshell MacBooks, bought for college in 2000. Most recent was an M2 MacBook Air.
In between have been desktops (iMac and Mini), laptops, iPads (mini through pro, with pencils and magic keyboards), iPods (OG through Touch), iPhones (Gen 1 through 13 mini), AirPods, Airports, AirTags, and watches.
In between have been desktops (iMac and Mini), laptops, iPads (mini through pro, with pencils and magic keyboards), iPods (OG through Touch), iPhones (Gen 1 through 13 mini), AirPods, Airports, AirTags, and watches.
In all my years with Apple, the only devices I had serviced:
- iPhone 3G, it was swapped at no cost due to cracking starting to spiderweb from the charge port on the plastic rear housing, despite no damage otherwise. I believe they had a quality program for this.
- iPhone 3GS, exact same issue, exact same result.
- iPhone 5, battery started to swell, the whole iPhone was swapped at no cost, despite it being out of warranty. I think this was part of a quality program, too, as I expected needing to pay in this situation.
- 2012 MacBook Pro 15” with Retina Display, the display was replaced under warranty due to image retention/ghosting issues.
Ever since then, that’s been it. Nothing in the past 10+ years, and I have a heavy Apple ecosystem. Never had an accidental damage claim, ever, so I stopped buying AppleCare+ as it’s been a gigantic waste of money for me (spent over $2000 on AppleCare plans to never have used it). I’m way too careful with my stuff.
- iPhone 3G, it was swapped at no cost due to cracking starting to spiderweb from the charge port on the plastic rear housing, despite no damage otherwise. I believe they had a quality program for this.
- iPhone 3GS, exact same issue, exact same result.
- iPhone 5, battery started to swell, the whole iPhone was swapped at no cost, despite it being out of warranty. I think this was part of a quality program, too, as I expected needing to pay in this situation.
- 2012 MacBook Pro 15” with Retina Display, the display was replaced under warranty due to image retention/ghosting issues.
Ever since then, that’s been it. Nothing in the past 10+ years, and I have a heavy Apple ecosystem. Never had an accidental damage claim, ever, so I stopped buying AppleCare+ as it’s been a gigantic waste of money for me (spent over $2000 on AppleCare plans to never have used it). I’m way too careful with my stuff.
No worries, 2010...that is when things started to peak until 2012, then everything became condensed,
therefore you did not miss that much besides the presentaion launching of those 2000-09 inventions.
An iPod photo that had an entire line of dead pixels.
2007 MacBook Pro 15" had some type of internal issue that required multiple repairs though I can't remember exactly what they were.
2010 Macbook Pro 15" had a logic board issue due to the automatic graphics switching technology which was new at the time.
Back light on the 27" LED cinema display does after several years right before the end of its extended warranty however the display did get a lot of use.
2010 Mac Pro had a backplane board issue after several years of intensive use and they replaced it no problem.
I stopped buying Apple products for awhile after that, but not because of these minor issues listed above.
2007 MacBook Pro 15" had some type of internal issue that required multiple repairs though I can't remember exactly what they were.
2010 Macbook Pro 15" had a logic board issue due to the automatic graphics switching technology which was new at the time.
Back light on the 27" LED cinema display does after several years right before the end of its extended warranty however the display did get a lot of use.
2010 Mac Pro had a backplane board issue after several years of intensive use and they replaced it no problem.
I stopped buying Apple products for awhile after that, but not because of these minor issues listed above.
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I hear you. I’ve never had an Apple Care claim. Going forward, I may keep Apple Care on my phone, which I take everywhere. For everything else - iPads, Macs, Apple TVs - it no longer makes sense. In fact, adding Apple Care often destroys the value proposition for a nicely priced product, like a base MacBook Air or base iPad.
Just a clear case for my iPhone 15 pro max on launch day because it had a scratch out of the box. But nothing else really. I got an iPod touch replaced under AppleCare once and the replacement had touch issues, so there's that too.
I’ve bought loads of Apple stuff over the years. Only problem was with a keyboard that was banana shaped. It was replaced, but the replacement was not much better. Ended up bending it back into shape and adding deeper silicone feet to stop it rocking.
Oh boy, here we go: Apple ][+, Apple ][e, Mac, Fat Mac, iBooks, many iMacs, iPods Nano’s, iPod touches, all generations of iPhones, Cinema displays, iPencils, iPads, Air Pods, Air tags, Airports and AirPort Expresses, Mac Pro, Mac Studio, Apple Vision Pro. All these for a family of 5, all grown up now. I would guess maybe a total of nearly a hundred devices.
I did have 2 iPhone battery warranty replacements, and several broken screens (our fault).
Zero returns. But statistically, there has to be some of you too.
I did have 2 iPhone battery warranty replacements, and several broken screens (our fault).
Zero returns. But statistically, there has to be some of you too.