Is It Time For Apple To Acknowledge Flexgate? (macobserver.com) 92
In January 2019, iFixit revealed a design flaw where the ribbon cable that connects the body of some MacBook Pros to their display wears down too quickly, causing uneven backlighting at the bottom of the display. There now appears to be growing frustration among users at Apple's reaction. Vlad Savov from The Verge said it is time for the company to acknowledge and deal with the issue: A petition, now numbering more than 15,000, would beg to differ. It calls for Apple to publicly recognize Flexgate as a design flaw, and to commit to repair all MacBook Pro laptops affected by it. I think that's exactly what Apple should do, and it's no less than we should expect from a company that touts its reliability and user satisfaction numbers any chance it gets. No one should have to pay upwards of $500 to replace an entire display just because Apple (a) decided to affix a fragile cable to one of the most expensive components in its MacBook Pro, and (b) miscalculated the necessary length of that cable in its first design.
No. They got at least another two years. (Score:5, Interesting)
By then they'll have gotten enough people to pay for the repair or buy new laptops to replace the broken ones. Then they'll acknowledge the flaw and offer a cheap repair for the other suckers they couldn't fleece.
Re: HEY YOU GIANT DOUCHEBAG BEAUHD! READ THIS, MOR (Score:1, Funny)
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Of course millenials know who Ford is. He's the guy who invented cars!
Re:No. They got at least another two years. (Score:5, Interesting)
By then they'll have gotten enough people to pay for the repair or buy new laptops to replace the broken ones.
This happened to me. My 2017 MacBook had the exact problem described in TFA.
I sent it in to be repaired in January of this year. There were a few other issues that were fixed at the same time: Sticky keys, and one USB-C port didn't work.
My repair bill was $800.
Re:No. They got at least another two years. (Score:4, Insightful)
This happened to me. My 2017 MacBook had the exact problem described in TFA.
I sent it in to be repaired in January of this year. There were a few other issues that were fixed at the same time: Sticky keys, and one USB-C port didn't work.
My repair bill was $800.
When it comes time to buy a new laptop, will it be from Apple? If so, then I see no reason why they would care to fix this issue. Or worry about such things in the future.
I'm curious, how long did you own your 2017 MacBook before you had to send it in? While I'm not a big Windows fan, my Dell laptops for work have always lasted for 5+ years with heavy travel. They've always been replaced due to company policy, not because they had any issues, other than the battery wear.
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When it comes time to buy a new laptop, will it be from Apple?
Unless someone else starts shipping laptops with MacOS, yes it will be another Apple. My spouse has an app business, and I help her out with it, so using Windows or Linux isn't an option. But I do run Slackware on my desktop, so I am not a total Mac-dweeb.
If so, then I see no reason why they would care to fix this issue. Or worry about such things in the future.
Indeed. I wan't happy to pay $800, but I just see it as a cost of doing business.
I'm curious, how long did you own your 2017 MacBook before you had to send it in?
About two years. In November it started having problems if I opened it more that about 80 degrees, but I could still use it by wedging something under the keyboard. By De
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Same here, two years, open past 70 degrees or so, and display goes off. It was under a third party three year warranty, which they honoured.
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Help me understand. It's a 2017 Macbook, and it failed in 2018... Presumably it came with a mere 1 year warranty and was just outside that, but don't have you any consumer protection laws to help you?
In Europe that would have been a free repair.
Re: No. They got at least another two years. (Score:2)
We have insurance instead. You pay for the level of support you want. The law doesn't even cover one year in many U.S. states. Insurance is fine though. Remember that electronics are typically cheaper in the U.S., so we have enough left over to pay for EU level support if we so choose.
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Electronics prices in the US seem to be about the same as the EU, once you remember to subtract local taxes. Particularly for computer hardware.
Also looking at Applecare it's a lot more expensive than what we get for free.
Re: No. They got at least another two years. (Score:2)
Negative. Macbooks, after adjusting for the current exchange rate and according to everymac.com, which lists the historical MSRPs of ever Mac, the French and German markets pay about a 15% premium. The nominal prices are similar, but USD is cheaper than EUR.
So, you are essentially forced by your government to pay for the extended warranties which are optional in the U.S.
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Apple always rip you off, I'm talking about normally priced hardware.
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Yes, warranty is included in the price here.
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My repair bill was $800.
I just spent $400 on a 13" Windows laptop that's as slim as my $1200 MacBook, similar metal case, full HD screen (non-reflective!), good keyboard, etc.
Side by side, look and feel ... I honestly like it more than my 13" MacBook Air.
Now Imagine if I spent $800...
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Which laptop brand/model are you talking about?
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By then they'll have gotten enough people to pay for the repair or buy new laptops to replace the broken ones.
This happened to me. My 2017 MacBook had the exact problem described in TFA.
I sent it in to be repaired in January of this year. There were a few other issues that were fixed at the same time: Sticky keys, and one USB-C port didn't work.
My repair bill was $800.
Should have bought the warranty, and if you did, was anything actually covered under it?
Re:No. They got at least another two years. (Score:4, Insightful)
Should have bought the warranty, and if you did, was anything actually covered under it?
Extra warranties are rarely worth the money. Even if you might occasionally "win" in a case like this, you will lose even more often.
The warranties are priced so that they are profitable. If the company wins, on average, then obviously the consumer loses.
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Our K12 used to pay for a $100 warranty on $400 ipads.
Even assuming they had absolute no questions coverage (dropped, stolen, lost (and found later??), toilet swim, fire, etc) there was no way we could pretend 25% usage was happening. I don't know who was behind the practice, I don't know when it stopped, but we don't bother anymore, on any apple product. You'd probably get better value throwing the extra wad at a casino table. Those also have an existence based solely on the hard "Consumer loses." reality.
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Explain it to us. Companies sell insurance but they do it at a lost because it benefits the consumer, who always comes out ahead.
Really?
Really??
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I just ordered a replacement for $20 and will ask a friend in the area t
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They did that to my wife. By the time they admitted to the iPhone 6 battery problems she had got a 3rd party replacement one installed, and they wouldn't offer her the cheap replacement. Then a few years later they started offering the cheap replacement to people who got 3rd party batteries too, but which point she had long switched to Android.
This is their modus operandi, delay for so long you throw the useless and too-expensive-to-fix product away before offering to fix it at cost.
Here's a thought: (Score:2, Insightful)
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Start by referring to the problem using a less infantile word than "flexgate".
The "-gate" suffix doesn't refer to the problem. It refers to the coverup.
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That's what happens when the design team cares more about how thin a product is instead of durability.
What's great is that the other manufacturers seem to be in a race to catch up with Apple on how stupidly thin they make their products, so we can all expect similar issues from Dell and Lenovo and Samsung soon enough.
Vote with feet (Score:2, Insightful)
Here's better idea, just stop buying Apple.
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But I thought Apple products had longer resale value. Like, because they last long and there is little or no unrepairable attrition.
Fuck apple (Score:1)
I have bought a few Apple devices over the years, mostly with good success of not needing to repair or replace them.
However, my experience with them yesterday was appalling - brought a phone in for a battery replacement, and checked the "water damage" stickers myself before leaving it. They were all clear.
I go back two hours later to pick up my repaired iPhone - no can do - showing me a static picture of one of the stickers with water damage. I asked them to show me a video that shows the phone from me lea
No it's not. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's time the people in the USA actually got some consumer protection laws and ombudsmen to represent consumer interest so that *any* company is forced to actually address design flaws or other things they do that prevent their product from being fit for purpose.
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>> So men with guns should use violence to force Apple
You can use guns and violence against people.
You can't use guns and violence against corporations. They are untouchable.
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So men with guns should use violence to force Apple to extend their warranty on the fashion statements?
Your irrelevant word salad is one of the indicators you may have just had a stroke. I would go to the hospital.
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You must be a Trump supporter ... hyperbole much?
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is forced to actually address design flaws or other things they do that prevent their product from being fit for purpose.
The standard reply: It's not a flaw, it's a feature.
being "fit for purpose." It worked. It worked for a long time. YOUR long and MY idea of long may differ in length, that's a different issue.
No, really. Forever isn't an option. Ten years, five years, isn't really an option. The internal expected lifetime is whatever the standard warranty is plus one month. If it works past that, consider yourself lucky.
It's not design obsolescence; we'll have changed things around too much by then so the part
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It's true ...Apple likes to hide these issues.... (Score:2)
One example I ran across recently was the keyboard cover Apple sold for the 9.7" iPad Pro (original model). Mine started having issues where I'd open the cover to use the iPad and randomly get dialog boxes popping up saying "Accessory not supported". At first, I blamed my Apple Pencil, thinking it was having connectivity issues. But I eventually realized it was something with the keyboard not maintaining a solid connection with the iPad via its magnetic connector.
I brought it by Apple, just to see what the
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Weary (Score:2)