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

Losing Faith in Apple

N

ncook06

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 11, 2006
184
0
Tampa, FL
As of today, my girlfriend and I have owned 9 Apple products. 8 of the 9 have failed.

3 15" MBPs - all DOA
2 MacBooks - 2 faulty logic boards
4 iPods - 3 hard drive failures, one took 4 months, one 2 weeks, one took 1 day.

The two week old iPod had all of my backed up data from my MacBook on it (as the Genius suggested) when it failed.

I called Apple today and talked to a supervisor, who said if I have any more problems to call him. That was before the replacement iPod I got this morning failed tonight. I am really struggling with not switching back right now. I don't want to put up with Windows ever again, but it may make work easier and I can't afford to have my computer and data gone again during school.

Yes, there are so many arguments for buying a Mac - I've gotten 3 of my friends to switch. However, most of those arguments are software and I am coming to realize that if my computer doesn't work, all that software means nothing.

EDIT: The only iPod that hasn't failed is a week-old replacement for another iPod.
 
That is veeerry bad luck. none of my Apple products (8 macs, a couple of iPods and lots of accessories) have ever given me a moments hassle:)
 
Which Macs were they? As you can see, all of mine were Intel...

EDIT: I'm really not in the mood for any of that "You shouldn't have bought first-gen" stuff, because it was first-gen, outdated, or nothing. Also, no company's QC should be that bad.
 
Wow. The only Apple hardware I've had fail was my iBook G3's logic board. It was a known problem and they offered free replacements.

I have owned 7 Macs, 1 iPod and 1 AirPort Extreme base, and that's the only hardware trouble I've had.

ncook06 said:
Which Macs were they? As you can see, all of mine were Intel...
Click to expand...

They're all Intel.
 
Yes, there are so many arguments for buying a Mac - I've gotten 3 of my friends to switch. However, most of those arguments are software and I am coming to realize that if my computer doesn't work, all that software means nothing.
Click to expand...

I would say yes, I agree with you on this bit, I have some friends that shouldn't switch because they need programs that can only run on windows. The mac isn't for everyone.

I terms of all you failures! I'm sorry to hear it, all I can say is, I think apple products are getting worst in the sense of quality. May be you live near electrical lines that fry any apple product you own?
 
You do seem to be particularly unfortunate - more so, than anyone else I know!

I'd give that supervisor a call and see what he offers to put it right. I wonder if he would arrange for your DOAs to be swapped out at a local Apple store where you can turn them on and check that all is well rather than mailing them back and keeping your fingers crossed.

Assuming that you've got surge protectors etc on the sockets where you're using them in case you have 'dirty' power that might be causing problems with the internals?
 
cwedl said:
I would say yes, I agree with you on this bit, I have some friends that shouldn't switch because they need programs that can only run on windows. The mac isn't for everyone.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. Microsoft makes a decent and popular product. I think Apple's is a lot better, but I can at least choose hardware with a good proven track record with Windows.
 
Applespider said:
I'd give that supervisor a call and see what he offers to put it right. I wonder if he would arrange for your DOAs to be swapped out at a local Apple store where you can turn them on and check that all is well rather than mailing them back and keeping your fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

I evetually had the MBPs refunded.

What I'm kind of hoping for right now is a refund on my Macbook and a BIG discount on something that has been thoroughly checked - hopefully a MBP 17", as I've heard of very few problems with the 17".
 
Applespider said:
Assuming that you've got surge protectors etc on the sockets where you're using them in case you have 'dirty' power that might be causing problems with the internals?
Click to expand...

Always, always, always, use a surge protector in Tampa, the lightning capital of the world! :eek:
 
Out of 8 iPods, 2 eMacs, 3 iMacs, 2 iBooks, 4 Minis and a Partridge (in the past 3 years)..

.. I have never had one single problem.

The only time OS X or my computer itself have made me go :eek: was when the screen dimmed and a message came up, in all different languages, saying I needed to restart. Thats happened once.

You must be cursed. :p
 
PC manufacturers are tampering with your mac product shipments before they get to you.
You have REALLY bad luck. I have seen people who have had to return 3-4 of the very first MBP but they are pretty rare.
I do agree that the QC is going down a bit with macs but not THAT much.

I hope things start working for you and that witch doctor forgives you soon.
 
If you do switch back, Microsoft has really gotten their act together with Windows XP, and it rarely crashes anymore as long as its not an acer.

Vista even moreso looks pretty nice even if it does look pretty much identical to OS X.

P.S.
The windows Vista comes with an integrated photo editing software called iBlocks.........
 
Wow, that's some seriously bad luck! In the last 18 months, my family have had 3 iPods, 1 PowerBook, 1 iBook, 1 Power Mac G5 and 2 Cinema Displays. Not a single glitch or failure with any of them.

As mentioned above, I'd definitely check your mains supply as if its dirty, it could explain a lot about some of your failures.
 
intel iMac perfect. iBook G4 perfect. 3 iPods all perfect. something really weird is going on. I would buy a battery backup that will condition your power coming into your house.

Your friends that you have gotten to switch what has there luck been like?

Macintouch.com did a survey and only 20% at most for the MB & MBP have had to have them repaired.

Here's the link:
http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/macbooks.html

So based on this something is up with your house.
 
I've only had one Apple product fail on me -- a G3 iBook that was DOA. Otherwise, I've had really good luck with all of my Apple hardware.

I guess now I'm just rubbing it in.

ncook06 said:
I'm really not in the mood for any of that "You shouldn't have bought first-gen" stuff, because it was first-gen, outdated, or nothing. Also, no company's QC should be that bad.
Click to expand...

I understand where you're coming from, but you can't ignore the fact. First gen. hardware (and software -- thus software updates!) is going to have its share of problems -- that's why I've put off buying an Intel Mac for a while (that and it's not in the budget!). But that obviously doesn't excuse your 9 busted products.

Such a run of bad luck is likely to be balanced by great luck for the next 20 years, right? ;)
 
thestaton said:
Macintouch.com did a survey and only 20% at most for the MB & MBP have had to have them repaired.
Click to expand...

ONLY 20%? :eek:

Not to be taking a jab at you by any means, but 1 out of every 5 of the computers shipped having to be repaired does not seem good to me.
 
I been though 4 PPC macs and they are good. At work, the MBP 17" are good and across the street, the teachers are enjoying their 15" MBP at work. So its just bad luck but I been seeing good macs out there.
 
By the way guys, dirty power is not the problem. We are talking about two separate houses with bad MacBook logic boards, and mine is ALWAYS on surge protection. I think I'll call today. I'm just a little mad.;)
 
Yea not to comment at the user itself, but something other than the apple product itself seems to be at fault here...

It seems that people who get a DOA usually get 2 or 3. They are like traffic tickets, they come in threes.

Dirty power sounds like a definite possibility.

Maybe when you get a new one, don't use it at home first... Use it somewhere that is a "known good" like somewhere that you have seen someone else use a MBP or something like that. Then if it works (which you wouldn't be wrong to pray a little for that part) then take it home and see if it blows up again. If it does, then obviously there is your problem...

But I don't really know anything...

So hopefully that might work.
 
ncook06 said:
By the way guys, dirty power is not the problem. We are talking about two separate houses with bad MacBook logic boards, and mine is ALWAYS on surge protection. I think I'll call today. I'm just a little mad.;)
Click to expand...

Surge protection doesn't protect from dirty power, you would need a power conditioner for that.
 
Agreed - you must have some bad luck!

I've had a PowerBook G4 (That had a dodgy hinge, but only because I dropped it!) My eMac, iBook, Mac Mini and Powermac have all been perfect. My only problem was with a G5 iMac that had to have the HardDrive replaced.

I've been quite happy with my Hardware :)
 
I think of Apple as producing some pretty high quality items. I'm not sure how this could have happened to you. Seems a bit beyond bad luck to me though. Maybe you pissed off someone at the online store a long time ago?:) ;) Anyways, these things always balance out so your next Ipod might just end up being super duper fantabulous!!
 
I have my own issues with the recent quality control of Apple, but a case of bad luck like this is amazing. I would start looking for other possible reasons for such a failure rate.

I have a friend that swears to me that she cannot use Apple products. She claims that they will all go up in smoke (figuratively) eventually, some immediately and other after a little while. When ever she has a watch that uses a battery, it will eventually not work anymore because of some electrical issue. I was quite skeptical, but her husband assures me that it is very true. I don't know what a condition like this would be called, if it is actually something recognized, but try to look into it. Does you or your girlfriend have any other problems with electronics. I doesn't have to be all electronics, my friend doesn't have problems with other PC's. Why I would have no idea, but she doesn't.
 
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