Macs that Fail
Posted December 28th, 2008 @ 04:19pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Over at 37 Signals I read about a guy who says every one of his Macs has failed.
I've had my own computers - always Macs and almost always two to three at a time - and, knock on wood, every single one of them has worked without any sort of "failure." The worst I've had it was my ATI card acting funny earlier this year, and that was replaced by Apple.
In fact, my kiddo just played some Web things on the 12" PowerBook and, as of right now, we've got no less than four Macs all running smoothly. Again, knock on wood.
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Posted 28 Dec 2008 at 5:24pm #
My powerbook G3 failed, after about 10 years of use. My iBook failed after about 6 years of use. My TiBook G4 is still operational (with Leopard) however it's starting to have video problems.
The worst Apple computer I have had is the 1st gen MacBook Pro, although it's still operational.
Posted 28 Dec 2008 at 6:21pm #
I had an iMac G4 1.25 GHz die after 25 months. I replaced it with a Mac mini, 3 years ago this March. The mini's SuperDrive died (worked except to burn DVDs), and since I bought AppleCare for it (because the iMac died at 2 yrs) it is currently out for warranty service... I should be able to get it back tomorrow.
Contrast that to my Mac Plusses, which are now 22+ years old and still work like they ran on day 1.
Posted 28 Dec 2008 at 10:55pm #
Every computer I have ever owned (Mac or PC) has had a hardware problem at some point in its lifetime. The difference between the Macs and PCs has been the experience in getting it fixed.
With my Macs, all I have to do is head to the Genius Bar and it has been fixed quickly. With my PCs, I either have to diagnose and fix it myself, or spend several hours on the phone and ship it somewhere.
Posted 29 Dec 2008 at 1:26am #
Parts go bad. Sometimes, they need to be replaced. Happens.
This guy's complaining about the optical drive, and considering it a 'failure'? Dude, they're not difficult to replace, and if you had bought the extended warranty, Apple would have covered both parts and labor.
It's only a total failure when the cost to get the computer fixed is comparable to buying a new machine. Logic board, display, etc. Most times, it's neither of those.
Posted 29 Dec 2008 at 4:39pm #
The only total failure I had was with my G5 back in October. The motherboard died on it. It lasted a little over 4 years though. I wasn't sure it was even going to last that long since it was the first gen. with the liquid cooling system in it. I expected that thing to cause problems a lot sooner. 🙂
Only other hardware issue with Macs that I've ever had was with my 2002 iBook. The left hinge got gummed up and froze. I ended up breaking it when I forced the lid open. Unit still works, the screen is just a bit wobbly since it's only held up by the right side.
Posted 30 Dec 2008 at 1:39pm #
My first mac, first revision G5 dual 2ghz died. Had almost every single component in it replaced while it was under applecare (dvd drive, 250gb hd, video card, cpu) and finally the logicboard bit the dust and it locks up randomly. Had a G4 powerbook from work that did ok. Now I'm on a 2ghz MBP that has had cooling fans replaced, superdrive and last night I replaced the wifi antenna.
I have a mac mini I bought used and upgraded the cpu but it some times goes to sleep and can't be woken up.
Posted 04 Jan 2009 at 9:46pm #
The last three Macs I have owned ended up with some sort of hardware failure.
My wife's iBook G4 is currently dead, with the power charging daughter board being knocked loose from the main board. Her replacement (my laptop) has the screen knocked askew from the keyboard. (Don't drop them when they are open.)
Which leaves me back with my trusty QuickSilver G4 (upgraded to dual 1.33 Ghz G4's). The PSU fan in it died a couple of years ago, so I taped and old case fan to the outside to cool it down. Unfortunately, it doesn't do a good enough job when the case is closed, so it is open on my floor when running. (If I close the case, it only takes about 10 minutes before it overheats and hangs.) Oh yeah, and something shorted out the built-in ethernet a very long time ago.