MP 7,1 Repair issues

[profdraper]

Interesting experiences and advice here (& somewhat surprisingly from what is usually a Apple propaganda outlet): https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...by-apple-store-genius-bar-months-after-launch

This would seem to be American. No doubt experiences in other countries may differ greatly.

 

[MisterAndrew]

That's interesting. It sounds like it had only the standard one-year warranty. If AppleCare provides better support then that is definitely a must for these Macs if a Pro-level service contract cannot be obtained.

 

[Macsonic]

Apple probably did not have adequate trained technicians knowledgeable on the 2019 Mac Pro. They need to step up and provide more techs who had hands on training with the 2019 Mac Pro. After sales support is important.

 

[venonm]

and to see what alternatives they offer when the graphics cards start to break down.

 

[mattspace]

and now with all apple stores worldwide closing for two weeks, what folks are supposed to do if their "professional workstation" breaks down and they're not a large corporate customer with an onsite support contract (assuming they live anywhere near an apple store with a "genius" who's qualified to work on the mac pro)...

 

[honestone33]

It's been a while since I have owned a MacPro, but I just saw this, via the site tidbits.com:

Apple’s Mac Pro Support Reportedly Lacking - TidBITS

AppleInsider reports on the troubles it had getting a new Mac Pro repaired, stumping both Apple phone support and Apple Store technicians.

tidbits.com

Sure is disturbing that Apple can not do anything for that organization. And now it will get worse, with Apple closing more of its stores due to the virus.

 

[Schismz]

Random thoughts...

Short of flagship stores in NYC and of course B&H Photo, there are no regular Apple Stores I've ever visited in NY state that have any idea what a Mac Pro is (be that 5,1 Cheesegrater or trashcan). I'm pretty sure that dragging current heavy metal sculpture to Genius Bar will produce head-scratching, and confusion as to whether or not they actually made this thing. "Oh hey, there it is on the web site, it sure looks like an Apple product."

The only place I've ever had positive experiences with is certified Mac Repair place targeted at business customers where the owner and half the employees all personally use Mac Pros, <3 them, and understand what they are. If you bring a flashed 4,1 running modded video card and OpenCore, they will get what that all means and resolve problems rather than cause new ones -- they will also show up at your office or house and do work there (I did not find using special secret connects; found via Apple Mac Pro customer support connecting me to them many years ago). My faith that any normal Apple Store will do anything useful with Mac Pro is roughly 0.

Other than all that, ya know, there's that Coronavirus apocalypse thing happening in NY, parts of Cali, Seattle/Vancouver right now. There's a high possibility they're about to shut down all of NYC, no traffic in or out, as per 9/11. None of this may have affected middle America yet, but ... it's coming. Not zombie apocalypse, but US healthcare system is about to burst at the seams.

On the flipside, from a personal/experiential level: Shanghai has been back online and shipping molecules as of last Thursday. Distributors there indicate it's basically over and done with; living in aftermath, back to business as usual. IDK if same applies to tech, but I suspect yes.

The entire US is about to get very strange for a few weeks/months. Hope your computer(s) don't need service, because right now, best of luck with that on any model, nevermind new Mac Pro. Also, hello recession. Bummer.

 

[honestone33]

The entire US is about to get very strange for a few weeks/months. Hope your computer(s) don't need service, because right now, best of luck with that on any model, nevermind new Mac Pro. Also, hello recession. Bummer.

Thus, it is wise to make an extra effort to keep one's machine "lean, mean, and clean". Myself, I have been following that credo for so long, it is second nature. Also, it has resulted in me having very, very few (and 99.9% of the time, no) issues. I clean my machines daily by constantly permanently removing unneeded files, folders, etc. Most of that is deleted EMails. With Thunderbird (my EMail client), it is easy to permanently remove them. And once a week, typically every Saturday, I run Onyx and Tech Tool Pro to do more cleanup, perform maintenance, and if necessary, do repairs. I then run SuperDuper! to do 2 backups for each of my Macs to 2 separate SSDs.

As for the recession, thank god my wife and I are immune to that, for various reasons. In fact, I suspect gas prices will fall, and thus we will be spending less to fill up our automobiles. Also, numerous items could get cheaper.

And yes, the Seattle area is going through tough times. And Trump is again talking about restricting travel within the US, and in particular some specific "areas". I suspect Washington state will be at the top of that list, given all the cases/deaths that have occurred here.

 

[bxs]

Thus, it is wise to make an extra effort to keep one's machine "lean, mean, and clean". Myself, I have been following that credo for so long, it is second nature. Also, it has resulted in me having very, very few (and 99.9% of the time, no) issues. I clean my machines daily by constantly permanently removing unneeded files, folders, etc. Most of that is deleted EMails. With Thunderbird (my EMail client), it is easy to permanently remove them. And once a week, typically every Saturday, I run Onyx and Tech Tool Pro to do more cleanup, perform maintenance, and if necessary, do repairs. I then run SuperDuper! to do 2 backups for each of my Macs to 2 separate SSDs.

As for the recession, thank god my wife and I are immune to that, for various reasons. In fact, I suspect gas prices will fall, and thus we will be spending less to fill up our automobiles. Also, numerous items could get cheaper.

And yes, the Seattle area is going through tough times. And Trump is again talking about restricting travel within the US, and in particular some specific "areas". I suspect Washington state will be at the top of that list, given all the cases/deaths that have occurred here.

Here you go for latest WA state COVID-19 stats....

 

[honestone33]

Yeah, I saw those a few minutes ago. I'm down in Kent, about 4 miles from that "problematic" motel. So far, Pierce County is not reporting too many. Not sure if my surgery scheduled for March 24th at St. Joseph's Hospital will proceed on time. We'll see.

What part of Seattle are you in?

 

[bxs]

Yeah, I saw those a few minutes ago. I'm down in Kent, about 4 miles from that "problematic" motel. So far, Pierce County is not reporting too many. Not sure if my surgery scheduled for March 24th at St. Joseph's Hospital will proceed on time. We'll see.

What part of Seattle are you in?

Edmonds.... everything here is in 'lockdown' state, but got out today to run/walk the dog to avoid cabin fever.

 

[honestone33]

Edmonds.... everything here is in 'lockdown' state, but got out today to run/walk the dog to avoid cabin fever.

My wife and I are not necessarily locked down. She still goes sometimes to Federal Way to play some cards with a few folks at an apartment, and from she knows, none of them have the virus, nor have been in contact with any such folks (they are Korean, and have not been out of the country recently). Myself, I'll go for some walks, and also run errands. Even though I am no longer going to any of the casinos, I am plenty entertained by Netflix, watching other movies/series, etc. And with the good, nice weather coming this week, I'll spend at least 2 afternoons washing our cars.

 

[fuchsdh]

In general, I think it's fair to say Apple's customer service is still excellent, but because they have to deal with a greater breadth of products and sheer volume of issues, the margins of that service have suffered, and the Mac Pro is probably going to be one of the biggest issues, as a new product and incredibly niche one. The flip side is that the pro products command higher price tags and more vocal users who rely on the machines more than a person with a broken tablet.

(I don't get them going after the tech for trying to power the machine with a USB cable in the reporting, though. Seems unlikely a 1400W machine would ever POST with just 100W of input power but might as well try it.)

Interesting experiences and advice here (& somewhat surprisingly from what is usually a Apple propaganda outlet): https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...by-apple-store-genius-bar-months-after-launch

This would seem to be American. No doubt experiences in other countries may differ greatly.

The notion that AppleInsider or MacRumors are "Apple propaganda outlets" is a laughable one.