Apple Should Be Ashamed

Skinnerpfc

I bought an IMac via John Lewis two and a half years ago. John Lewis provided an additional 1 year warranty to make it 2 years. A couple of months ago the machine refused to turn on.
As it is outside the warranty period I got a local repairer to take a look I then asked a second repairer to have a look. They told me the power unit needs replacing as no power was coming out of it. They replaced the power unit but now are telling me the motherboard still has a fault that can't be fixed and a replacement will cost me £900.00 not including labour.
This would make the cost of repairs more than the cost of a new iMac.

So the moral of this story is do not buy Apple computers if you want it to last more than 2 years or if you would like to repair it without taking out a mortgage.

PasturesNew

I am of the pauper classes and have never touched an Apple... nor, probably, socialised with anybody who owned one

My £200 PC I bought in 2006 is what I am typing this on.

searchlight123

Skinnerpfc wrote: »

I bought an IMac via John Lewis two and a half years ago. John Lewis provided an additional 1 year warranty to make it 2 years. A couple of months ago the machine refused to turn on.
As it is outside the warranty period I got a local repairer to take a look I then asked a second repairer to have a look. They told me the power unit needs replacing as no power was coming out of it. They replaced the power unit but now are telling me the motherboard still has a fault that can't be fixed and a replacement will cost me £900.00 not including labour.
This would make the cost of repairs more than the cost of a new iMac.

So the moral of this story is do not buy Apple computers if you want it to last more than 2 years or if you would like to repair it without taking out a mortgage.

have you actually contacted John Lewis to ask them about this as from experience they are very good on after sales service, and irrespective of the 2 year length of the warranty, a £900 computer under consumer law should last longer than 2.5 years.

contrivant

Maybe you should have gone with Apple Care instead? It's a 3 year warranty, cost me £50. They've been absolutely brilliant. I've had it for 4 years now and it's a champ!

burnsguitarman

Fact of life......Things do go wrong, even the most prestigious of brands, Apple are no different. You have probably voided any chance of help from Apple, by allowing a third party to undertake repairs. If you had contacted them or John Lewis, regarding the problems the outcome may have been different.

fishybusiness

So the moral of this story is do not buy Apple computers if you want it to last more than 2 years or if you would like to repair it without taking out a mortgage.

Applecare is 3 years??

Probably worth it for such expensive items. A percentage of all computer systems will go wrong, Apple or no more or less immune than anything else.

I've owned stacks of Apple products, still have a phone and iMac.

Two of mine have gone wrong over the years, both laptops, old 2007 machines. Had my moneys worth out of them. In the same time frame our house has got through 4 other £300 laptops, all failing with varying faults.

PSU's do fail, sometimes caused by power outages and spikes when power comes back on, and sometimes failure takes the main board with it. Do you use mains surge protectors?

Nothing wrong with Apple, just more expensive to repair.

LindaMary

I presume it was authorised Apple Service Provider that looked at it and not just a computer repair shop??

AndyPix

You pay an extortionate price, for a machine that is completely locked down hardware and software.


So that they can extort you further when you need any work doing on said machine.


I really cant understand why people buy into this [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] !!
Its like some kind of brainwashing by apple ..


It hurts - but just accept your loss and buy a decent PC that you can actually service yourself very easily, Install what you like onto it, and add/change hardware as you see fit - instead of having to take it to an "authorised apple service provider" - aka money printer ..

agrinnall

Although I'm not fan of Apple as a business or of their products I'm failing to see what it is that they "Should Be Ashamed" of here - they've produced an expensive product, it's had a fault, it could have happened with a £20 billion Chinese nuclear power station (if we had one).

Johnmcl7

agrinnall wrote: »

Although I'm not fan of Apple as a business or of their products I'm failing to see what it is that they "Should Be Ashamed" of here - they've produced an expensive product, it's had a fault, it could have happened with a £20 billion Chinese nuclear power station (if we had one).

Generally Apple products are designed not to be repairable or upgradeable - many key parts are soldered or glued into the motherboard so if one of them fails it not only means the entire motherboard has to be replaced but many good working parts can't be transplanted to the new board and have to also be replaced, hence the hefty cost. Even aside from that, the machines are difficult to work with and if you look at ifixit most of their machines get very low repairability scores.

Frustratingly many are following suit now and even batteries cam be difficult to replace which encourages people to buy a new machine which is incredibly wasteful when previously an older machine could be rejuvenated with a new battery, bit more ram and a new ssd.

There's a lot of hype with Apple products how they're a great long term buy compared to pcs but the reality is they're not because if a single part goes wrong it could well be the end of the machine due to a very pricey repair, not just the parts but the much longer labour needed for dealing with their difficult machines.

droopsnoot

Not just Apple - I would estimate* that the majority of modern computer motherboards feature parts that are soldered or glued to them. Doesn't follow that these components cannot be unsoldered or replaced, though the intense miniaturisation probably makes that more difficult than them being soldered in place. Helps reduce the cost, so as people want cheaper products that's the trade-off.


* - OK, guess.