Switcheroo from 16GB to 8GB on M1 Mac Mini Repair

[FloatingBones]

A friend had a logic board failure on his M1 Mac Mini. It was configured with 16GB/1TB. The repaired unit was 8GB/1TB -- noted on the System Report. No word from Apple that they had returned a downgraded hardware. I suggested that he take a screenshot of the config report and email it to Apple.

This sounds like an extraordinary thing for Apple to do on a warranty repair. I realize that Apple is constrained on the 16GB M1 units, but I can't imagine that they'd not do a same-config swap. I'm guessing my friend would even be willing to return his new monitor and swap that for an 16GB/1TB M1 iMac. Has anyone encountered a problem like this on an M1 Mac warranty repair? Do you have any recommendations? TY.

 

[cmaier]

A friend had a logic board failure on his M1 Mac Mini. It was configured with 16GB/1TB. The repaired unit was 8GB/1TB -- noted on the System Report. No word from Apple that they had returned a downgraded hardware. I suggested that he take a screenshot of the config report and email it to Apple.

This sounds like an extraordinary swap for Apple to do on a warranty repair. I realize that Apple is constrained on the 16GB M1 units, but I can't imagine that they'd not do a same-config swap. I'm guessing my friend would even be willing to return his new monitor and swap that for an 16GB/1TB M1 iMac. Has anyone encountered a problem like this on an M1 Mac warranty repair? Do you have any recommendations? TY.

This is simply a mistake by Apple. I had something similar happen to me (they replaced the main board of my MBP with a board that had the wrong processor on it). I simply pointed it out to them and they immediately made it right (in fact, they allowed me to pick up the machine the next morning before they were even open, by directing me to the back door employee entrance).

Your friend should simply call apple and have it dealt with.

 

[bobcomer]

A friend had a logic board failure on his M1 Mac Mini. It was configured with 16GB/1TB. The repaired unit was 8GB/1TB -- noted on the System Report. No word from Apple that they had returned a downgraded hardware. I suggested that he take a screenshot of the config report and email it to Apple.

This sounds like an extraordinary thing for Apple to do on a warranty repair. I realize that Apple is constrained on the 16GB M1 units, but I can't imagine that they'd not do a same-config swap. I'm guessing my friend would even be willing to return his new monitor and swap that for an 16GB/1TB M1 iMac. Has anyone encountered a problem like this on an M1 Mac warranty repair? Do you have any recommendations? TY.

Wow -- I would be so ticked off if that happened to me. I'd never buy another Apple computer.

 

[jazz1]

God! I hope Apple ships him/her the correct 16GB unit ASAP. That would have been a shock to find out. I wonder if they simply replaced it with a refurbished MacMini, and made the mistake then. I'm sure Apple can remotely take a look at the "shrunken" RAM state to confirm their error.

 

[Blue Quark]

Wow -- I would be so ticked off if that happened to me. I'd never buy another Apple computer.

Well, unlike everyone else here, I am the Blue Quark, and so it would be the absolute supreme insult to ME that they would dare be imperfect in any way whatsoever with the servicing and return of my Mac. In fact, for the absolute and unmitigated FAILURE and utter show of personal disrespect on the part of Apple to have delivered unto ME a unit requiring of eventual service in the first place, I would EXPECT and REQUIRE the entire staff to flog themselves for at least five days, resting on the sixth, and then set up hot coals for the the district manager to crawl on their belly over while delivering unto ME my CORRECTLY repaired unit while repeatedly apologizing, and every time they uttered "Mr. Blue Quark" they would immediately have to follow it up with five repetitive stanzas of "may his name be worshiped, praised, and adored, oh let it be oh let it be, Mr. Blue Quark" which then would trigger five repeat stanzas because of having had to utter my name again.

And that's if they repaired it correctly the first time. What they would have to do for a second repair would be almost unimaginable.

 

[triptolemus]

What did Apple say when your friend contacted them?

 

[pshufd]

That's why I have spare computers. Just in case someone else messes up.

 

[bobcomer]

That's why I have spare computers. Just in case someone else messes up.

Ditto -- but still!

 

[Blue Quark]

Ok, so, let me tell you my serious story of dealing with Apple for a repair.

In 2009, I bought a MacBook Pro. What I didn't realize at the time is that the DVD player had been regionalized to somewhere other than Region 1. Anyhow, I had called them and they walked me through the process of re-regionalizing it. It seemed like there was something else which had also taken place within the first 12 months of my ownership (there must have been) but now I can't remember what it was.

One day, all I did was open the laptop (it was still off) and wipe the screen down to take off the accumulated fingerprints you get on it from the keyboard because of the keyboard touching the screen when it closes. At that point, when I turned it on, I got this really weird-looking grainy screen where the colors were inverted. Again, I didn't do a single other thing beyond using a cleaning cloth to clean the screen (funny enough, back when Apple still sold those potassium-based screen cleaning kits, that's what I'd bought and that's what I was using). It was now out of warranty, in calendar year 2011, but just by a few weeks. I took it over to the Apple Store, and was debating between buying an iPad to replace it, or paying the repair costs. They looked up the service history, and everything I'd called in about before counted, so they said they would do a replacement of the laptop under warranty. That's how I come to own the 2011 13" MBP (8,1) that I do. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with their service.

This is part of what made me not worry so much about buying an M1 MBA. It's also part of what makes me not worry so much about buying an iPhone if I do decide to get one.

 

[haralds]

I've had personal computers from Atari 800 to CP/M, DOS, DEC systems like Rainbow, workstations like VAXstation, Mac, Dell Sony, and now mainly Macs since Steve came back. There was a gap between MacBook Duo (total SLUG) and the TiBook, which I still have. Since then I have used nothing but Macs. There tend to be five to seven systems in use in my house.
I have found that Apple gear really does have the best long-term value and overall quality. After my son killed his Windows laptop in 3 years I forced him to have my MacBook Pro 13", which was two years old. It survived the rest of college. Dented and scratched, it kept working. Even out of AppleCare the AppleStore in Chicago diagnosed and fixed it for the cost of the drive cable - 10 bucks!
With tens of systems have I seen failures? Yes. But far fewer on Apple's stuff than others. And as for the service there is simply no comparison. Dell, Sony, where are you?
Has Apple Service screwed up on a few items, yes. Have they made it right, yes.
Nothing's perfect. But my family does not call me a fan boy for nothing. I have to get the problems resolved. And with Apple, I have fewer and more support.

 

[pshufd]

I've had personal computers from Atari 800 to CP/M, DOS, DEC systems like Rainbow, workstations like VAXstation, Mac, Dell Sony, and now mainly Macs since Steve came back. There was a gap between MacBook Duo (total SLUG) and the TiBook, which I still have. Since then I have used nothing but Macs. There tend to be five to seven systems in use in my house.
I have found that Apple gear really does have the best long-term value and overall quality. After my son killed his Windows laptop in 3 years I forced him to have my MacBook Pro 13", which was two years old. It survived the rest of college. Dented and scratched, it kept working. Even out of AppleCare the AppleStore in Chicago diagnosed and fixed it for the cost of the drive cable - 10 bucks!
With tens of systems have I seen failures? Yes. But far fewer on Apple's stuff than others. And as for the service there is simply no comparison. Dell, Sony, where are you?
Has Apple Service screwed up on a few items, yes. Have they made it right, yes.
Nothing's perfect. But my family does not call me a fan boy for nothing. I have to get the problems resolved. And with Apple, I have fewer and more support.

I am generally happy with Apple's notebooks but there are considerable advantages to building your own desktops in that you can select the parts, design of the case, cooling, storage and RAM with more flexibility and, often lower costs, than you can with Apple.

 

[ZebedeeG]

That's why I have spare computers. Just in case someone else messes up.

That reminds me of a conversation I once heard at a dinner party...

Someone had turned up in their new Ferrari and when asked if they missed anything about the previous model they had owned, the reply was, "Oh I've kept that one - I now have five!"

?

 

[pshufd]

That reminds me of a conversation I once heard at a dinner party...

Someone had turned up in their new Ferrari and when asked if they missed anything about the previous model they had owned, the reply was, "Oh I've kept that one - I now have five!"

?

I hope he has his own full-time mechanic.

 

[ZebedeeG]

I hope he has his own full-time mechanic.

Quite possibly!

I have heard that they're not very reliable so perhaps you need to buy several..! But it's not a problem I'm likely to be having any time soon...?

 

[robco74]

I am generally happy with Apple's notebooks but there are considerable advantages to building your own desktops in that you can select the parts, design of the case, cooling, storage and RAM with more flexibility and, often lower costs, than you can with Apple.

I've thought about building another PC with Boot Camp no longer an option with ASi. Unfortunately the cost of video cards is still through the roof.

 

[pshufd]

I've thought about building another PC with Boot Camp no longer an option with ASi. Unfortunately the cost of video cards is still through the roof.

That's currently the main problem. Ryzen 5950X is available at MSRP again.

If you had shares of AMD, video card cost wouldn't be an issue. I don't have any directly though.

 

[Thomas Davie]

That's why I have spare computers. Just in case someone else messes up.

Yes, I understand this thinking entirely. my MBA, MBP and iMac are there in case my IPP gives up the ghost. Should that all die, I do have a low power abacus.

Tom

 

[Maconplasma]

I am generally happy with Apple's notebooks but there are considerable advantages to building your own desktops in that you can select the parts, design of the case, cooling, storage and RAM with more flexibility and, often lower costs, than you can with Apple.

I never understand this mentality of comparing Apple's laptops to a homemade Windows desktop. Two completely different category of computer, completely different OS's and no ONE manufacturer to blame when something goes wrong. But mostly it's senseless to compare an Apple laptop to a homemade PC. With that logic you can also compare Dell, Lenovo and HP laptops to a homemade PC especially since they are all Windows machines and many Windows laptops are also limited in upgradeability and some are the same as current Macs not having any upgradability.

 

[pshufd]

I never understand this mentality of comparing Apple's laptops to a homemade Windows desktop. Two completely different category of computer, completely different OS's and no ONE manufacturer to blame when something goes wrong. But mostly it's senseless to compare an Apple laptop to a homemade PC. With that logic you can also compare Dell, Lenovo and HP laptops to a homemade PC especially since they are all Windows machines and many Windows laptops are also limited in upgradeability and some are the same as current Macs not having any upgradability.

Because it's the one place where you can get what you want at reasonable prices when looking at component margins. Modern hardware makes it easier to move your production around so that you don't need as much horsepower on your laptop because you can offload it to the cloud, your desktop or your home cloud.

I do think that Dell and HP make junk. I have never owned a Lenovo system so I can't judge them. I generally prefer to look at trends and reviews.

 

[Maconplasma]

Because it's the one place where you can get what you want at reasonable prices when looking at component margins. Modern hardware makes it easier to move your production around so that you don't need as much horsepower on your laptop because you can offload it to the cloud, your desktop or your home cloud.

This has nothing to do with why I questioned comparing Apple's laptops to a homemade Windows desktop. It also doesn't address why you're not picking on PC laptops (which also have limited to no upgradability) to compare to a homemade PC desktop since they are in the same OS category.

I do think that Dell and HP make junk.

I never suggested any of the sort. Not sure why you said that.

 

[pshufd]

This has nothing to do with why I questioned comparing Apple's laptops to a homemade Windows desktop. It also doesn't address why you're not picking on PC laptops (which also have limited to no upgradability) to compare to a homemade PC desktop since they are in the same OS category.

I never suggested any of the sort. Not sure why you said that.

You asked why I'm not picking on other manufacturers.

Other manufacturers do make more expandable notebooks which is of interest as I could just run macOS on them as well.

At least I can buy a Precision which is quite expandable and is a lot thicker to deal with thermals. Apple's Intel line doesn't offer such options which is why I'm still using 2014 and 2015 models.

 

[Maconplasma]

You asked why I'm not picking on other manufacturers.

Other manufacturers do make more expandable notebooks which is of interest as I could just run macOS on them as well.

Right but you're not going to get your pick of the litter. There's only a small few of Windows laptops today that are upgradable. You had to mention the Dell precision which is obviously a thicker notebook and it's a workstation PC so that's not a viable product to give credit to over an Apple laptop.

Once again you're evading the question. No matter what PC laptop you choose it will be limited when comparing them to a homemade Windows desktop so that's why I'm questioning why you're making this about Apple (especially a laptop) when comparing a desktop. No Windows laptop will be comparable to a homemade desktop either. I can go to Best Buy to buy a PC laptop and many of them including the Surface laptops aren't upgradable. Also I don't support illegally installing MacOS on non-Apple hardware. That's on you and you'll be playing the "fix it" game every time Apple offers a software update that breaks your DosDude hack.

 

[pshufd]

Right but you're not going to get your pick of the litter. There's only a small few of Windows laptops today that are upgradable. You had to mention the Dell precision which is obviously a thicker notebook and it's a workstation PC so that's not a viable product to give credit to over an Apple laptop.

Once again you're evading the question. No matter what PC laptop you choose it will be limited when comparing them to a homemade Windows desktop so that's why I'm questioning why you're making this about Apple (especially a laptop) when comparing a desktop. No Windows laptop will be comparable to a homemade desktop either. I can go to Best Buy to buy a PC laptop and many of them including the Surface laptops aren't upgradable. Also I don't support illegally installing MacOS on non-Apple hardware. That's on you and you'll be playing the "fix it" game every time Apple offers a software update that breaks your DosDude hack.

My workflow allows me to move my workload around to desktops and laptops. So the consideration of a desktop is a viable option.

The laptop is a convenience as I can easily move it around. But sometimes, having a home server is the solution that provides the power and efficiency that you don't get from Apple's limited product line.

 

[Maconplasma]

My workflow allows me to move my workload around to desktops and laptops. So the consideration of a desktop is a viable option.

The laptop is a convenience as I can easily move it around. But sometimes, having a home server is the solution that provides the power and efficiency that you don't get from Apple's limited product line.

Haha, you're fun to talk to. You keep replying with answers that have nothing to do with my questions. ?. Thanks for making my day. Take care. ?

 

[pshufd]

Haha, you're fun to talk to. You keep replying with answers that have nothing to do with my questions. ?. Thanks for making my day. Take care. ?

I'm merely detailing my use and how I deal with the current market issues for equipment.