MacBooks less user servicable than ever
Crunchgear's list of reasons why damaging a MacBook is a worse idea than ever before brings up a lot of great points on why the glass-and-aluminum uniformity of Apple's newest laptops need to be eyed beneath a cocked eyebrow for anyone who doesn't store their computers in hermetically sealed vaults.
The big changes in the MacBook design, from a user service point of view:
• The glass screen is irreparable if broken, scuffed, or scratched, since it is fused with the lid.
• Dot-like spill sensors stuck to the innards like so many blind mute's ellipses, giving every Apple tech a reason not to repair your computer if it has been in the presence of that strange Earthen element, moisture.
• A keyboard that can't be replaced short of unwinding 80 screws.
Those last two really resonate with me, since I have spilled a couple beers on my MacBook Pro over the last three years, and in each case I found it cheaper and easier to replace the keyboard myself than try to argue with a Genius about the funky skunk water leaking out of the SuperDrive tray.
In truth, the new MacBooks are rather lovely, but with Genius Bar lines being what they are, I'm not really sure discouraging customers who actually are willing and capable of repairing their own busted products is such a hot idea. But Apple's been on this path for years, so no surprises.
5 Reasons Damaging Your MacBook Is A Worse Idea Than Ever [Crunchgear]
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You buy a mac for a prepackaged 'this is what is cool' pod. Look at the iMac, look at the iPod, look at the iPhone. The ability to upgrade or replace parts on your own is not high on Apple's list of priorities. This is not an accident, it is deliberate.
Whiner. Didn't the same tear down article that documented the 56 tiny screws holding the keyboard in place also say it only took them 15 minutes to disassessmble? Didn't they also say they would be selling replacement keyboards? Why yes they did!
I replaced a failed backlight wire in 12" rectangular iBook. With the full detailed instructions it still took me 120 minutes. You can also lose the "than ever" hyberbole.
I suggest you try "Macbook keyboard is not attached with a bayonet quick mount for rapid replacement!" Or perhaps: "Oh NOZ! Customers fraudulently seeking repairs for beer drenched computers can no longer just microwave the motherboard and claim the thing stopped working."
Now look what you did. You made me whiney and hyperbolic too. I hope you're happy.
Personally I love how the post goes from one extreme to the other. Either you keep your laptop in a hermetically sealed vault, or in an environment where you can spill beer all over it. Clearly there is no middle-ground here, like a house or an office.
I've NEVER had to replace a battery in a phone and I've had a lot.
I've NEVER spilt liquid all over my computer (shockingly, I keep glasses away from the big expensive machine that I just bought)
I've NEVER been able to see the need to replace an entire keyboard as being greater than the need to get a cheap replacement USB one.
Frankly if I let something of mine get broken, then I would have been extremely careless to the point that any accident which wasn't preventable would have caused the complete destruction of the item as a by-product of the accident. Basically, if it's broke then it's going to be a result of something being completely out of my own control and therefore unpreventable.
I will grant that keyboards do seem to wear down with time, and that many do need to be replaced.
Similarly, I can't help but think that Apple have a few screws loose when it comes to designing their products to be serviced. This sort of nonsense has to be hurting *them* as well by driving up their labor costs. Hard drives on apple's laptops have always been infamously difficult to replace.
On the other hand, bits about the screen and spill sensors don't really bother me that much.
Fixing macbooks is, by far, the least favorite part of my job. I got one in a couple weeks ago that was thoroughly trashed due to the owner's son trying to close a car door without noticing the black case that had half fallen out. I had to replace the entire chassis as well as the LCD and I think, all told, I spent at least 3 hours on the repair. And this is from someone who is used to the aesthetically pleasing micro-screws that apple insists on putting in every damn hole. I would have had a small mountain of the little things if I had put them all in a pile
Of course it would have helped if apple had not simply "forgotten" to put some steps into their instructions. Really, Apple goes out of their way to insure that anyone, even the "qualified repair technicians" will have a hard time pulling these things apart.
I hear the next MacBook will have a seal on the case that cannot be broken without preforming an intricate blood ritual...
Repair manuals (and simplicity of procedure) are, themselves, a vital measure of the quality of the computer product. I would never buy a laptop that didn't have service manuals online, and for many years that's only been Apple and IBM / Lenovo. That said, the elegance of design of these latest MacBook / Pros is such that even Apple's own support manuals cover practically everything except replacing the optical drive; and iFixIt's guide show's that's relatively trivial, just a few more screws. I'd argue that this is the easiest to repair and upgrade design yet.
(I am disappointed by the lack of mini-PCI-e slot for 802.11n though. However, I realized last night that tethering to a mobile phone, with USB or Bluetooth, isn't so bad for a WWAN solution.)
The gentleman's agreement is that if you buy the $250 AppleCare, then for the next three years the Genius should fix anything that ever breaks due to any reason that isn't "I stepped on it" or "I poured gasoline on it and set it on fire." In other words, that the Genius should fix anything that's "wear and tear", and that includes the occasional liquid spill or falling off a desk. Or, previous models just get dirty and stuck due to chronic use by our fleshy meat paws. Hair, crumbs, and skin oils accumulate under the keys no matter how meticulous you are. Eventually this interferes with the membrane electromechanical contacts that register keystrokes.However, the new "chiclet" style keyboards seem to be designed with the intention of greatly reducing the opportunity for dirt and hair to fall into the spaces between the keys, so I'm hoping this amounts to preventative care.
But 3 hours for a major repair like that is actually pretty fast. Anything less would be suspect that you were sloppy or rushing it.
Cross-reference the official Apple Service Manuals with the iFixIt guides. (It's like reading both the Factory Service Manual and the Haynes guide for repairing a car.)80 screws?
Actually, I think apple is making the things EASIER to repair, for fast turn around. If you take it into the shop, under apple care, they just replace the module. The module gets sent to refurb. You get your own macbook back faster.
Its easier than ever to change hard drives, typically the most complicated thing any end user does with their laptop.
They were going the modular route with iMacs right before the intel switch (the g5 imac looked like a 6 piece lego set inside, just swap out the bad unit) With switch to intel, they had to give this up to some degree, based on how contract manufacturers were used to building things.
And a membrane keyboard like that is much less likely to get gummed up because of a Pepsi.
Its about fast warranty covered repairs, not hobbyists trying to fix on the cheap and possibly screwing the pooch.
Water ingress indicators are nothing new, your phone has probably had one for years... as long as it doesnt turn red, your fine.
Of course, if you do some searching online, finding replacement "water ingress indicators" for mobile phones isn't that difficult. With the popularity of Apple products (and the increased prices), I'm sure that a booming grey market in these detectors will sprout up.
i bought a powerbook in 04, between 04 and 07 it fried two hard drives, and eventually its own logic board. in 06 i purchased a mazda 3 hatchback that was effectively totaled by a traffic cone. apple products seem to follow that same frame-line. pretty, plastic, and not serviceable by the owner.
i have since learned to avoid both companies.
I got my Razor phone replaced for free because of a malfunction involving using it right after getting out of the shower... despite it being pretty clear to me that it wasn't working specifically because of the water damage, the little moisture sensor hadn't gone off, so I was in the clear!
They even gave me an upgrade to a new model that doesn't suck quite as much.
Any time I read something negative about macs, I find commenters accusing the person of whining, and essentially saying that if they don't like it, don't buy it. In this case there's a commenter who said "You buy a mac for a prepackaged 'this is what is cool' pod."
This is simply untrue, as are most "this is why people buy a mac" statements, because Macs are proprietary systems. Therefore, it is very possible that someone is buying a mac not because they want what is on offer, but because they have a need to use the proprietary system.
I currently find myself in a situation where I feel the need to buy one because I work in a field (the arts) where they are prevalent. If I want to interoperate well with others, I am finding it more and more desirable to have a Mac. So I've been looking into buying one of the new MacBooks.
They're still not cheap. And they're only available with glossy screens. And I don't like the new rubbery keyboards. And I'd like to be able to service it, at least a little bit. Etcetera, etcetera.
All of those things would be fine if you could legitimately say "well, if you don't like it, buy something else," but again, because it's a proprietary system I need to work with, something else has its own set of problems. No matter how widespread (or not) it is, every proprietary system eventually imposes itself on someone who doesn't like what it has on offer.
I miss those old CRT monitors. When I accidentally cracked the glass while using excel, I just went downstairs and blew another glass tube. Oh, wait... no I didn't. I agree with the anon poster that this most likely means much faster swaps at the Genius bar.
As for coffee spills, you can get a $10 rider on your renters / home owners insurance that covers spills, drops, etc.
I will at some point upgrade, replace and/or modify components in every computer that I own, as will a lot of other people. There's a reason that other notebooks have access to the RAM, removable batteries and a case that can be disassembled with normal tools(at the very least). It's because a computer isn't like a disposable Bic lighter.
I'm not sure, but wouldn't the MacBooks be a lot less thinner and lighter if they weren't designed as they are now?
Would people be bitching about how heavy and thick they were if Apple made them more user-serviceable/bulky? I betcha they would.
If you want a nice quick-release keyboard, go buy an old used clamshell iBook if it's not too bulky for ya.
#4
Similarly, I can't help but think that Apple have a few screws loose when it comes to designing their products to be serviced. This sort of nonsense has to be hurting *them* as well by driving up their labor costs. Hard drives on apple's laptops have always been infamously difficult to replace.
It might drive up costs for Apple at the genius bars, but Apple doesn't give a damn about the labor costs at their authorized service providers.
At my last job, I didn't deal directly with the depot side of things, but know a fair bit about the situation.
ASPs get paid on a "per incident" basis. It's flat rate, so you don't get paid extra if Apple ships you DOA parts.
And Apple ships a shitload of DOA / gimpy parts - I've seen cases with 3 and 4 DOA logic boards in a row.
Which means a tech spends 20 minutes installing a motherboard into a laptop, powering it on, maybe running some basic tests that fail, then having to spend another 20 taking it out again to ship back to apple. Probably figure an extra 15 minutes a week talking to a customer who is pissed at the delays.
Every single one of the Apple techs hated repairing Apples. Some even quit and left. It didn't help that management used billing as the only factor in the bonus structure. If you were an apple tech, it was impossible to get a bonus.
In the last few months, the company dropped Apple, as did others. From what I understand, our city - with a population of ~165,000 - didn't have a single company who was able to do Apple warranty work for about 3 months.
If your Apple broke, you'd have to drive 3 hours or mail it out to get it fixed.
I've worked on many laptops (service wise) over the years... The thin-and-light variety are always a bitch to service. Apple seems to do a better job at it than most though. Sure, it's not exactly easy, but go take apart a Vaio, or a Latitude D-series. Then we'll talk.
I spilled water on my Powerbook. Before finally sending it into repair for a pre-spill issue, I was asked if it had been dropped or had liquid spilled on it. I said yes, liquid, but I dried it immediately and left the computer open and upside down in the arid Texas climate. For a flat, set non-Apple Care price of $350, they said no problem, that'll be okay, send it in.
I get a call from a different rep a couple days later saying the price is $950 to repair (because of water damage), or $275 to send it back unrepaired (since a tech looked at it to determine that water had been spilled on it). When I told the rep about my conversation with the initial rep, she just said, "Well, he shouldn't of said that."
Why would you want to open it up? That would allow the tiny computing fairies inside to escape.
Had a 1st gen MacBook and the motherboard went all crazy on me. I took it in to get serviced and they opened it up, took one look, and told me it wasn't covered because I'd obviously spilt a glass on milk on the thing. I hadn't, and swore up and down that I was telling the truth. Only after another tech got involved did he point out that white, powdery residue they'd found was from the manufacturing process, not dried, spilt milk.
So yes, they do open it and look for a quick easy way to sent it back to you with the above "tough tits" comment. This is why false positives can really, really suck....
#19 POSTED BY IVAN256:
Great point.
If anyone is interested to see the insides of a Unibody MacBook Pro Screen, there is a great page here:
http://www.missionrepair.com/crackedunibodyglass
It shows how thin the glass is and how its attached to the housing.