Sold a 2019 iMac with faulty Logic Board

[Chef Murray]

My 2019 iMac is currently getting repaired by Apple in Surrey and they have emailed me to confirm the issue of the painfully slow performance was a faulty logic board. I bought the product in September 2019 from Apple online and have had the issue ever since I unboxed it. I first made a call to Apple Customer Services in October 2019 and it’s taken 8 months of calls and trouble shooting to get them to diagnose the issue and offer to fix it. I’ve been working with a faulty machine since I bought it brand new and I can’t believe they sold me a faulty machine and were so slow to do anything to rectify it. I’ve been asking for a replacement machine under the sale of goods act since the beginning and they wouldn’t do it without making me jump through so many hoops. Now they’ll replace the part and not even the machine. I don’t have the machine returned to me yet but even if it is working I’ll be looking for compensation.

Has anyone else had this issue with a brand new iMac and any ideas for the best way to go about compensation? I’ve probably spent a working week of my time on calls to them and troubleshooting, not to mention the inconvenience of working with a faulty machine since I bought it and now being without a machine for 2 weeks. I was given a named contact at Apple in Ireland who’s an executive something or other to help deal with my issue and he says Apple don’t give compensation. That can’t be right though? A section 75 credit card claim is maybe an option given I was sold a faulty product, don’t know if anyone has had success with this? Apparently you can claim for damages through this route too.

I expected so much from Apple in terms of excellent customer service and they have been awful! Bizarrely when my mums iPad broke she took it into the store and they replaced it (twice) without her even asking for a replacement!

 

[AlexGraphicD]

My 2019 iMac is currently getting repaired by Apple in Surrey and they have emailed me to confirm the issue of the painfully slow performance was a faulty logic board. I bought the product in September 2019 from Apple online and have had the issue ever since I unboxed it. I first made a call to Apple Customer Services in October 2019 and it’s taken 8 months of calls and trouble shooting to get them to diagnose the issue and offer to fix it. I’ve been working with a faulty machine since I bought it brand new and I can’t believe they sold me a faulty machine and were so slow to do anything to rectify it. I’ve been asking for a replacement machine under the sale of goods act since the beginning and they wouldn’t do it without making me jump through so many hoops. Now they’ll replace the part and not even the machine. I don’t have the machine returned to me yet but even if it is working I’ll be looking for compensation.

Has anyone else had this issue with a brand new iMac and any ideas for the best way to go about compensation? I’ve probably spent a working week of my time on calls to them and troubleshooting, not to mention the inconvenience of working with a faulty machine since I bought it and now being without a machine for 2 weeks. I was given a named contact at Apple in Ireland who’s an executive something or other to help deal with my issue and he says Apple don’t give compensation. That can’t be right though? A section 75 credit card claim is maybe an option given I was sold a faulty product, don’t know if anyone has had success with this? Apparently you can claim for damages through this route too.

I expected so much from Apple in terms of excellent customer service and they have been awful! Bizarrely when my mums iPad broke she took it into the store and they replaced it (twice) without her even asking for a replacement!

I had a terrible experience with my first iMac while I lived in Europe. Sadly, only if you live in the US you get to experience the nice service of apple.

 

[hexagenia]

What were the specifications of your machine? I have the base I3 and can’t imagine anything slower.

 

[fastlanephil]

My 2019 iMac is currently getting repaired by Apple in Surrey and they have emailed me to confirm the issue of the painfully slow performance was a faulty logic board. I bought the product in September 2019 from Apple online and have had the issue ever since I unboxed it. I first made a call to Apple Customer Services in October 2019 and it’s taken 8 months of calls and trouble shooting to get them to diagnose the issue and offer to fix it. I’ve been working with a faulty machine since I bought it brand new and I can’t believe they sold me a faulty machine and were so slow to do anything to rectify it. I’ve been asking for a replacement machine under the sale of goods act since the beginning and they wouldn’t do it without making me jump through so many hoops. Now they’ll replace the part and not even the machine. I don’t have the machine returned to me yet but even if it is working I’ll be looking for compensation.

Has anyone else had this issue with a brand new iMac and any ideas for the best way to go about compensation? I’ve probably spent a working week of my time on calls to them and troubleshooting, not to mention the inconvenience of working with a faulty machine since I bought it and now being without a machine for 2 weeks. I was given a named contact at Apple in Ireland who’s an executive something or other to help deal with my issue and he says Apple don’t give compensation. That can’t be right though? A section 75 credit card claim is maybe an option given I was sold a faulty product, don’t know if anyone has had success with this? Apparently you can claim for damages through this route too.

I expected so much from Apple in terms of excellent customer service and they have been awful! Bizarrely when my mums iPad broke she took it into the store and they replaced it (twice) without her even asking for a replacement!

I bought a new iMac G5 years ago that had a faulty display that developed large white blotches. The Apple Care person pretty much blew me off insinuating I was just being fussy or imagining it. Luckily, at the time, there was an authorized Apple service center not far from me so I took it in and they put it on the bench, immediately saw the issue and had a repair authorization from Apple, all within 20 minutes.

I’m sorry it took you so long to get it on a bench, tested and hopefully repaired.

 

[Chef Murray]

I had a terrible experience with my first iMac while I lived in Europe. Sadly, only if you live in the US you get to experience the nice service of apple.

Interesting. I didn’t know that. Surprisingly it should be so different.
[automerge]1590653314[/automerge]

What were the specifications of your machine? I have the base I3 and can’t imagine anything slower.

It’s a 21.5 inch, core i3, 3.6 GHz quad core. When did you buy yours? Mine was Sep 2019. I found an article saying Apple admitted a bunch of 2018 Mac books were sold with faulty logic boards and I am wondering if in time they’ll come out and say the same things about a batch of these iMacs. I bet I can’t be the only one. Get on the phone to them about it and demand they take it away for testing. Only way they can find the fault as I wasted so much time trouble shooting over the phone but they can’t diagnose the issue this way.

 

[CC74UK]

Interesting. I didn’t know that. Surprisingly it should be so different.
[automerge]1590653314[/automerge]

It’s a 21.5 inch, core i3, 3.6 GHz quad core. When did you buy yours? Mine was Sep 2019. I found an article saying Apple admitted a bunch of 2018 Mac books were sold with faulty logic boards and I am wondering if in time they’ll come out and say the same things about a batch of these iMacs. I bet I can’t be the only one. Get on the phone to them about it and demand they take it away for testing. Only way they can find the fault as I wasted so much time trouble shooting over the phone but they can’t diagnose the issue this way.

Hi

I was wondering if you got anywhere with your imac?? I have the exact same model - bought from John lewis in December 2019. It has been slow from day 1. Over the first year it got slower and slower and couldn’t do basic tasks without taking ages. Im only using office. I tried apple online technicians, took it to a genius bar etc etc but was told it is in full working order. It’s just the non SSD that makes it slow apparently. The technician agreed it was really slow. It’s now over its 2 year warranty. I feel absolutely cheated of nearly £1000 for a piece of rubbish. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hi

I was wondering if you got anywhere with your imac?? I have the exact same model - bought from John lewis in December 2019. It has been slow from day 1. Over the first year it got slower and slower and couldn’t do basic tasks without taking ages. Im only using office. I tried apple online technicians, took it to a genius bar etc etc but was told it is in full working order. It’s just the non SSD that makes it slow apparently. The technician agreed it was really slow. It’s now over its 2 year warranty. I feel absolutely cheated of nearly £1000 for a piece of rubbish. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Try the below method to see if it works for you:
1. Download Big Sur or Monterey from Apple Store
2. Install it to Applications.
3. Create an USB installer. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
4. Buy an external SSD (or DIY your own external SSD using 1 SSD + 1 USB (Thunderbolt) enclosure)
5. Plug both USB installer and external SSD to your iMac.
6. Reboot the system holding Option (on your keyboard)
7. Choose boot device : USB Installer (it would show Big Sur or Monterey etc on the menu)
8. Now install Mac OS to the external SSD.

After installing, you can boot the machine entirely from the external SSD, much faster than the internal HDD.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"My 2019 iMac is currently getting repaired by Apple in Surrey and they have emailed me to confirm the issue of the painfully slow performance was a faulty logic board."
and then added:
"It’s a 21.5 inch, core i3, 3.6 GHz quad core."

Hmmm....
What kind of DRIVE was inside?
Was it a platter-based hard drive?

If so, then it was going to be "slow out of the box", regardless of the motherboard.

Modern versions of the Mac OS (starting back in the Mavericks/Yosemite days) really need an SSD (or at the very least, a fusion drive, but they eventually slow down, too).
A platter-based hard drive isn't going to cut it.
Yes, the OS will "run" -- but it will feel to the user more like it's "walking", not running...

 

[CC74UK]

Try the below method to see if it works for you:
1. Download Big Sur or Monterey from Apple Store
2. Install it to Applications.
3. Create an USB installer. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
4. Buy an external SSD (or DIY your own external SSD using 1 SSD + 1 USB (Thunderbolt) enclosure)
5. Plug both USB installer and external SSD to your iMac.
6. Reboot the system holding Option (on your keyboard)
7. Choose boot device : USB Installer (it would show Big Sur or Monterey etc on the menu)
8. Now install Mac OS to the external SSD.

After installing, you can boot the machine entirely from the external SSD, much faster than the internal HDD.

Thanks @Nguyen Duc Hieu … I will give that a go.