The Big Sad: your dead Macs ☠️

[VirtuallyInsane]

MBP M1 13 inch 2020/1 that I don't remember buying -

I upgraded this from a 2016 MBP 13-inch, which was upgraded from a 2014 Air (that both work, funnily enough). I wanted more power and speed, and some upgrades. I can't remember where or how I got this, but it was a great machine, very powerful. I had keyboard issues, for some reason. Two of them ended up coming out. And all of a sudden, one day, the screen just cracked and I couldn't use it anymore, so I had to use my iMac for a while, and the MBP 2016, I think, until my Mom got her 13-inch, 2020 M1, and ended up selling it to me half price.

I still use it, and no problems.

MBP 15 inch 2006 -

Yes, this one still turns on and works, but it needs a new top case and the battery back into it. Was gonna use it for parts, but we'll see.


They live under my desk, out of the way.

 

[ihatemy2011macbookpro]

Welcome to PowerPC forum, @ihatemy2011macbookpro !

Sidebar: send me that 2011 MacBook Pro you hate.

it’s broken lol
more info in my about

 

[B S Magnet]

MBP M1 13 inch 2020/1 that I don't remember buying -

View attachment 2170507

That 2020 MBP has either seen a very hard life or the build quality of more recent MBPs has gotten a lot worse.

A ruined retina display has felled — unnecessarily — probably hundreds of thousands of MBPs for which Apple still won’t let LG sell the replacements they manufacture for Apple. There’s no excuse for it.

 

[Pedro Passamani]

My 12" 1.33 GHz iBook G4 died on me last week... The onboard RAM went bad and now it refuses to boot (beeps three times when I turn it on) even with a stick installed in the memory expansion slot. I also have a 15" DLSD PowerBook G4 that died out of nowhere (probably a short) a few years ago. Someday I'll open it to try and fix the problem.

 

[Jim Cook's MacBook]

2009 MacBook - hard drive, battery, also probably logic board bad
2015 MacBook - destroyed screen from a 2 ft drop
2017 MacBook Pro 13" - Actually works perfectly fine but I was using a sharp object instead of a brush to clean the hinge and it broke the bezel. The apple store (Apple Augusta) would not give me anything for it despite it working fine. I blame it on the fact that the employee was probably not happy with me being there because even if it had a broken screen, the laptop could have netted at least $50 according to the website. No cap I really did experience this.

I now use an M1 MBA.

 

[christiann]

can you tell me more about that fly back transformer issue? ive never heard of it but i think my g3 might also have it.

Here

 

[doctor_dog]

I will probably post a troubleshooting request in the Early Intel Mac forum because I'm not ready for it to go to the great beyond, but the 2007 MBP in my signature seems to have died. It was on, then went to sleep, but didn't actually turn off and, well, it never woke up. I suspect after reading through the various troubleshooting posts that it has suffered the seemingly inevitable Nvidia GPU death.

If anyone with any experience in the matter cares to lend an ear, it will give me the three power light flashes in quick succession that keep repeating if there is no RAM installed, but otherwise it just boots to a black screen with no startup chime, no nothing. I suspect it is in fact dead. Tried all the normal NVRAM/SMC resets and various startup modes to no avail. Assuming I can't get it revived, it is up for grabs to a new home for parts if someone wants it =)

 

[B S Magnet]

I will probably post a troubleshooting request in the Early Intel Mac forum because I'm not ready for it to go to the great beyond, but the 2007 MBP in my signature seems to have died. It was on, then went to sleep, but didn't actually turn off and, well, it never woke up. I suspect after reading through the various troubleshooting posts that it has suffered the seemingly inevitable Nvidia GPU death.

If anyone with any experience in the matter cares to lend an ear, it will give me the three power light flashes in quick succession that keep repeating if there is no RAM installed, but otherwise it just boots to a black screen with no startup chime, no nothing. I suspect it is in fact dead. Tried all the normal NVRAM/SMC resets and various startup modes to no avail. Assuming I can't get it revived, it is up for grabs to a new home for parts if someone wants it =)

That comports with my experience of the bad GPU symptoms in the 2007–08 MBPs.

If you’re in the U.S., @dosdude1 offers GPU replacement service of swapping in the revised GPU. Last I recall, he charges USD$150 for the swap.

 

[iWrightG3]

I managed to get my hands on a revision A iMac G3 a couple years back, wasn't really able to do a whole lot with it at the time so it mostly sat in its box for a while, finally got around to setting it up a couple months ago and the CRT flickered and popped like crazy until it eventually just popped and died. Taking the video cable out and powering it on works fine but having it connected instantly powers it off after a few seconds. I suspect it could possibly be the FBT or the capacitors, but I don't have it in my finances to be able to really investigate, so it's back to sitting in its box again until I can eventually get around to having a look.

Absolutely gutted.

 

[ToneyParka]

Hello everyone, I didn't know there were so many that felt a similar pain! I have a PowerMac G4 MDD. Love... that computer, it was the work horse of the studio. Would like to get it up and running. Won't power up. When I hit the reset button on motherboard, I get a flicker of hope... after I push power button (power button lights up momentarily), fan attempts to spin, then nothing ☠️. Any ideas on how to repair/replace?

 

[lepidotós]

Just two for sure.
Kennedy, the MacBook2,1; new RAM let it at least try to boot, but when plugged in the light goes amber for just a little bit then goes green but I can't turn it on, maybe getting a second of boot. Every so often from cold storage it stays on for a couple minutes, but then shuts off at which point the light goes green and I can't turn it back on.
Aleister Crowley, the Gigabit Ethernet: I've seen that apparently the power switches can break on G4 cases so I'll try fixing that since its button seems spongy compared to either of my others. The case is also dinged up and I guess at some point the left side of it got bent in and cracked, leading the Apple logo to fall off it.

Maybe a third, maybe just my charger: H. Benbridge (my 15" DLSD) isn't charging anymore or I'd still be using it instead of a Surface Laptop 3 15". Still works but without new power eventually it'll be in a coma.​

 

[VirtuallyInsane]

The 14 inch iBook G4 is now on the list. I turned it on today, and I got a black screen, and the fans were making weird noises and it had a weird, starting to burn plastic smell coming from it. Not gonna plug it back in for a while. Not gonna take out the battery either right now for a while, just incase.

Plugged the 12 inch back in, and it runs like clockwork still and I stuck the Firewire into it, and it's running fine but on a smaller screen. Pity, I was really get into the 14 inch iBook. Maybe I will go back to it someday on another model, who knows?

 

[MultiFinder17]

Ah yes, the graveyard. I've only got a few that are truly dead these days thankfully...

1. Lombard PowerBook G3 - Logic board is dead, and the plastics are so brittle that they snapped the first time I opened it up. The rest of them fell to pieces getting it apart slowly and carefully. Poor thing.

2. Mac Pro 2006 - I got this machine for free from the recycle pile at the computer shop I used to work at. It had apparently taken a lightning strike and most of the I/O was dead, but a couple cards for USB worked that out well enough. My dad used for several years until it took a second lightning strike (yay Tampa, Florida!) which finally killed it. I keep it around because it's still pretty and I've convinced myself that some day I'll mod it to take a regular PC lobo.

3. 17" iMac G5 - Another recycle rescue. Little bugger worked great for the first year or so that I used it, and I even started using it as the announcement computer in my classroom when I first started teaching middle school. After the first week of school it just up and died. I replaced it with another recycle find 20" Intel iMac, gutted it, and hung its parts around my classroom as a warning to the other computers because computer components make good wall decorations.

4. Early 2008 15" MBP - Poor thing is on its third logic board, all three of which have dead GPUs. I've given up at this point fixing it since the proper fix is out of my budget range for the machine. It's a shame, since it's in beautiful shape without a single ding or scratch on it.

I think that's about it? I have a 21" 2010 iMac in my classroom that doesn't have an LCD in it that I have set up to another 21" that I use for announcements so the kids can see what's inside it, but that one still works fine, I just don't really need it

 

[SkippyThorson]

The Big Sad... At the office, I started an office joke and got everyone calling Big Sur, Big Sadz. Even had a parody of Apple's marketing wallpaper for it:

Anyway...

This is an interesting topic and one I have to say I haven't seen here. Happy to be a part of the sadness.

The only dead Mac in my collection is a G4 Cube. Came from my office ready to be recycled, or as we say, techno-trashed, but I couldn't let it die a literal crushing death. It would seem the power brick is fried. Due to its age, I haven't pursued any replacement or desire to get it running; I have it for its design.

The same reason I have two iMac G4's - one 15" with the old Apple Garamond font and one 17" with the minor widescreen redesign using the Myriad font. Few recognize that the acrylic bezel on the 15" framed the plastic while that on the 17" and 20" encased the face of the white plastic. I do not have a 20" but the size and added weight of a stagnant design piece didn't make sense.

Regarding that 17" G4, its paltry 40GB HD gave me grief later in life, and both were replaced by an iBook G4, also still kicking. That era of computers plus a 5th gen iPod locked me in to the world of Apple circa 2005.

Now that I mention it; adding that 17" iMac's HD to the list of questionable tech... I had no desire to play with goop called 'thermal paste' and never took the time to crack it open. One day.

Tangent... An eMac G4 sits in my office to this day as the final PPC device we've found hidden in a hoarder's office. Makes for interesting conversation when someone walks in and they're thrown by the nosecone off a space shuttle sitting there. I explain it still works but sounds like an idling electric lawnmower - followed by; find me another 20-year-old PC on this campus that still works. (File it under suspect hardware as well.)

3. 17" iMac G5 - Another recycle rescue. Little bugger worked great for the first year or so that I used it, and I even started using it as the announcement computer in my classroom when I first started teaching middle school. After the first week of school it just up and died. I replaced it with another recycle find 20" Intel iMac, gutted it, and hung its parts around my classroom as a warning to the other computers because computer components make good wall decorations.

That's absolutely fantastic!

 

[MultiFinder17]

The Big Sad... At the office, I started an office joke and got everyone calling Big Sur, Big Sadz. Even had a parody of Apple's marketing wallpaper for it:

View attachment 2175943

It's funny, my old roommate and I started making better names for OS X versions following the Leopard / Snow Leopard theme and we've kept it up since.
10.5 - Leopard
10.6 - Snow Leopard
10.7 - Lion
10.8 - Snow Lion
10.9 - Mavericks (the one that broke the system)
10.10 - Yosemite
10.11 - Snowsemite
10.12 - Sierra
10.13 - Snowerra
10.14 - Mojave
10.15 - Snowjave
11 - Big Sur
12 - Big Snow
13 - Ventura
14 - Snowtura

 

[Doq]

I approve of this and will refer to these versions by these names until the end of time.

Ironically, of course.

Mostly because Snowjave sounds soooooo good to say.

 

[lepidotós]

@MultiFinder17 ...10.4 Snowther. 10.1 Sneetah.

 

[B S Magnet]

It's funny, my old roommate and I started making better names for OS X versions following the Leopard / Snow Leopard theme and we've kept it up since.
10.5 - Leopard
10.6 - Snow Leopard
10.7 - Lion
10.8 - Snow Lion
10.9 - Mavericks (the one that broke the system)
10.10 - Yosemite
10.11 - Snowsemite
10.12 - Sierra
10.13 - Snowerra
10.14 - Mojave
10.15 - Snowjave
11 - Big Sur
12 - Big Snow
13 - Ventura
14 - Snowtura

I still think of Big Sur as “iOS 14”.

 

[Amethyst1]

My take, reflecting a certain bitterness towards post-10.6 releases.

Spoiler

LiOSon
Mountain LiOSon
MAAHvericks (just joking, I love 10.9)
Yoses*ite
El Crapitan
Suckerra
High Suckerra
MojARGHve
CatalinAAH!
Big S*it

 

[B S Magnet]

Cute.

It’s only a matter of time before they reach macOS Shasta (as a major peak in California). When they do, I’ll be ready to roll out the soft drink ads of the early ’80s by referring to subsequent iterations as macOS Fanta, macOS Royal Crown Cola, macOS Vernors, and macOS Sarsaparilla.

 

[weckart]

A timely warning that the clock may be ticking for your old tech for various reasons

 

[Amethyst1]

It’s only a matter of time before they reach macOS Shasta […]

At some point decidedly before 10.14’s first announcement, I was partitioning an SSD for Intel installers and needed a placeholder name for the partition that would hold 10.14’s. Presumably I remembered that a greyscale wallpaper of the desert had been shipping with OS X for ages and chose… Mojave.

I don’t have a screenshot or anything to prove this, so feel free to take it with a grain of pepper.

 

[B S Magnet]

A timely warning that the clock may be ticking for your old tech for various reasons

This is a warning for places which experience extensive high temperatures, high humidity, or both (as is often the case). Houston, Florida (all of it), New Orleans, Savannah, Brasilia, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Doha, Accra, Lagos, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Ahmadabad, Bangkok? I’m looking at all of you.

Although the video poster is based in South Australia (probably Adelaide area), where it gets quite hot (but fairly drier than, say, the swampy-hot Darwin and steamy Brisbane), I’d be willing to put down a bet his clamshell lived much of its life in Queensland (Brisbane) or the Northern Territory (Darwin).

Moral of the story: keep old gear (and all tech gear not in use) in dry, mild and/or cool spaces. A storage locker, an unfinished basement, an attic, a garage, or wherever a tropical system can make landfall? These are not the places for your old gear.

 

[lepidotós]

A storage locker

This... is where I'm keeping my stuff, old and new. I don't want to, but I had the house I was in sold out from under me two and a half years ago and I'm still waiting on a new one to be bought to move into. I could have graduated from college by now if I knew where I was gonna be living.
​

macOS Fanta, macOS Royal Crown Cola, macOS Vernors, and macOS Sarsaparilla.

I'm quite partial to Cheerwine. It's just cherry soda but it's well executed cherry soda.​

 

[B S Magnet]

This... is where I'm keeping my stuff, old and new. I don't want to, but I had the house I was in sold out from under me two and a half years ago and I'm still waiting on a new one to be bought to move into. I could have graduated from college by now if I knew where I was gonna be living.​

That is extremely relatable and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with that. It’s not OK.

On one upside, as it relates to electronics: you live in a milder climate than, say, the eastern half of the U.S., and a drier climate than areas to your north. Just, as you can visit your storage, check up on your gear to make sure everything appears to be stable.

I'm quite partial to Cheerwine. It's just cherry soda but it's well executed cherry soda.​

Around here, that would be macOS Cotts.

And, as I need not explain this to Canadians, Cotts goes hand-in-hand with a Montréal smoked meat sandwich.