REV A replaced fans/logic board... still overheats. Advice needed

[matthewHUB]

Hi guys,

So i finally bit the bullet and took back my MBA a couple of weeks ago just before the year's warranty was up (mine was one of the first machines). It had been overheating whenever watching video (hulu/youtube) and most notably with video iChat.

The Genius bar guys sent it off and it came back with new fans, and a completely new REV A logic board. I was a little disappointed that they didn't give me a REV B one (i know i deserved to have the REV A) because all the problems associated with heat issues are fixed in the REV Bs.

Anyway, youtube is fine on the new one, but hulu and fox.com and even cnn can't cope. They're so glitchy! It's not a bandwidth issue and it always seems to occur after a commercial break or something (5 mins in there will be an ad, and then when the movie starts again the jet engines start firing and it gets all glitchy).

I am under the impression that although my warranty on the machine is up (no applecare) the new parts they gave me still carry a 30 day warranty.

Shall i take it back again? If so, do i plead ignorant or try to push for a REV B?

Thanks in advance,

M

 

[GoCubsGo]

I would take it back but I think you'll have to show them how it is performing. Honestly though, wasn't this just how the Rev A machines worked? People said it was always next to impossible to watch hulu and the likes. I can't confirm this but I was curious all the same.

 

[matthewHUB]

Well the Mac genius said "Macbook airs aren't supposed to play video. They're not for youtube". That is such a disgrace. I know I have to try and replicate it but it doesn't always do it on demand.

If the MBA can't even run one of the official Apple "small" version trailers on their website, then it shouldn't be sold.

 

[tubbymac]

Well the Mac genius said "Macbook airs aren't supposed to play video. They're not for youtube".

Wow the genius said that? I hope he bought Applecare for his face. Pretty soon somebody is gonna punch his teeth in for that

 

[matthewHUB]

Wow the genius said that? I hope he bought Applecare for his face. Pretty soon somebody is gonna punch his teeth in for that

yeh I told him i'd write to Steve with his name and tell him what he said... so he shipped off my MBA for a replacement logic board... kekeke

 

[Scottsdale]

Original MacBook Air = beautiful display and wonderfully portable case

New MacBook Air = beautiful display, amazingly portable, Penryn CPU that doesn't overheat or experience core shutdown, Nvidia graphics that operate at 4x the performance and can drive up to a 30" Apple Cinema Display, SATA-II drive technology at amazing speeds where an HDD operates better than a PATA technology SSD, 1066 MHz RAM (nearly 60% faster than 667 MHz RAM), a Mac that will NOT let you down (well, you get the point).

My advice = Sell the original MacBook Air + Buy the new MacBook Air

Your new MacBook Air will = True Happiness and no computer letdowns

 

[Sesshi]

Original MacBook Air = beautiful display and wonderfully portable case

New MacBook Air = beautiful display, amazingly portable, Penryn CPU that doesn't overheat or experience core shutdown, Nvidia graphics that operate at 4x the performance and can drive up to a 30" Apple Cinema Display, SATA-II drive technology at amazing speeds where an HDD operates better than a PATA technology SSD, 1066 MHz RAM (nearly 60% faster than 667 MHz RAM), a Mac that will NOT let you down (well, you get the point).

My advice = Sell the original MacBook Air + Buy the new MacBook Air

Your new MacBook Air will = True Happiness and no computer letdowns

Rev.A introduced in Spring. Going on Summer. Rev.B introduced in Winter.

Since I work often in ambients of mid-20's / low 30's ambients I can tell you that things are not significantly better with Rev.B, although it is better - but it didn't stop it from still being the crummiest ultraportable in my possession in the last few years in terms of actually getting stuff done. Come summer many of you are still going to have vestiges of issues with the Air. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised this hasn't registered for many.

To the OP - generally speaking, the fourth or the fifth legitimate repair gets you a replacement if you're polite yet clearly irate and press your point. If you have the patience, go for it. Either that, or sell that (admittedly gorgeous) piece of crap and buy an ultraportable from Sony et al that actually works.

 

[Elven]

Echo of the posts before, but it seems the Rev A MacBook Air's was nothing short of a nightmare for Apple.

Hope you get yours fixed.

 

[nph]

Sesshi, are you saying Rev B is almost as hot as rev A?
My experience from testing rev B in stores and running HD movies streaming is that it doesn't really get warm

I compare with last gen Penryn and original MBP and to me it seems cool.
How would you compare it to the older MBPs?

I live in Texas btw and we had 84 yesterday so it gets hot here...

Thanks

 

[Sesshi]

Oh - to the touch, infinitely better than the GeorgeForemanBook Pros. I'm talking about temperature-induced instability.

 

[matthewHUB]

OK i think i'm going to take it back again. I might as well try right?

The only problem is that the new paperwork from the hardware they replaced (the logic board and fans) says "tested to be working OK" so i'm not sure how rigorously they tested it. It's sometimes hard to replicate the overheating. Do you think i could take screenshots of iStat or something that shows a core shutdown instead of trying to make my air perform badly instore?

M

 

[Sesshi]

OK i think i'm going to take it back again. I might as well try right?

The only problem is that the new paperwork from the hardware they replaced (the logic board and fans) says "tested to be working OK" so i'm not sure how rigorously they tested it. It's sometimes hard to replicate the overheating. Do you think i could take screenshots of iStat or something that shows a core shutdown instead of trying to make my air perform badly instore?

M

What can I tell ya. I had exactly the same problems. I bought a second Rev.A since the Air started to spend so long in Applecare, so that I could get the first one properly looked at - however the second Rev.A started doing the same thing. So I was basically cycling the machines around Applecare. In three countries. 'Tested to be working OK' every time. Even after detailed notes.

I ended up selling the newer one and passing the other one to someone else who would never ever stress it enough and probably wouldn't realise if half the keyboard was missing - i.e. a perfect Mac user.

But it doesn't end there.

Like a moron I bought a Rev.B hoping it might actually be usable at last.

Passed along to a relative. So indirectly speaking, that's a ~$7,000 total hit since the newer Rev.A was the only one I actually got money for.

On the (many) other Apple Pile of S***s I've returned multiple times, they did have actual easily reproducible problems, and I've found it pretty simple under those circumstances to get things replaced with new (but mainly after wasting sufficient time to make it actually cheaper for me to have thrown the machine in the trash and buy a new one at the first encounter with Applecare). However I never did manage to get a replacement or any kind of restitution with the Air - so I wish you luck. By then though I'd just become accustomed to anything from Apple being the aforesaid POS, and since I had people willing to take the machines off my hands I didn't even try too hard with the CS guys.

I haven't really used them in the same conditions as the Airs yet so final judgement is out, but the UB Macbook's not a terrible compromise if you actually want to get stuff done, I have to say - well, at least for OS X as it's inferior to stuff I can buy for Windows. At least you can swap the cell for a less-than-pathetic runtime. However I have to say it just doesn't have that Air wow factor, even though the construction's the same flawed prettiness. And you bought it for that, right?

Sorry for the multiple edits if you were reading. Posts like this emerge in dribble-bursts from me as I remember something else about what I was writing about, get irritated over how irritating it was when it happened, then add a bit more about how irritated I was.