Is there anyone here who has a recent Mac that has had no hardware failures inside the warranty period?

Every single musician I know has had to send their Mac to apple care at some point because of bad hardware. Drives failing, batteries being replaced, keyboards stopped working, screens dying, optical drives - the list is growing.

It seems like apples marketing is a little too clever, and now their quality control can't keep up with the amount of units being sold. I'm sure they'll catch up, but at the moment it seems like they're growing too fast.

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Visit my band's website

I've never had a problem.. 2006 Macbook, 2008 MacPro...

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http://www.christopherferreira.com

I feel quality control isn't what it used to be, and the manufacturing scale and product diversity (and more aggressive inline pricing) means Apple are in some cases skimping on components.

While my 2008 Macbook Pro is a far far better computer than my 2005 G4 Powerbook, the G4 Powerbook cost nearly twice as much, and is built much better. The inbuilt audio circuitry on the MBP is a joke compared to the old Powerbook.

For Apple laptops, I would *always* recommend getting Applecare, as mobile devices tend to get used far heavier than desktop computers and often are more expensive to service. You can often pick up Applecare on ebay etc for quite a lot cheaper than buying it from Apple.

Both my Apple laptops have had problems. My MBP, about a year and a half in is now on it's third battery after the previous two failed, and the once of the fans failed - so far, the replacement cost (would have) equalled what the Applecare cost, and I've still got another year and a half to go on it yet.

For desktops, Applecare seems less of an essential purchase imo, they tend to be fairly reliable in the main (design issues aside).

Basically - Apple stuff is no more or less reliable than other consumer products - there will always be a certain percentage that cause problems, and a very small percentage that give a huge amount of unwarranted grief. but by and large, the vast majority will be fine - and Apple are imo pretty good about replacing/fixing things in general - their service and customer support is far better than *any* other company I've had to call - one of the few call centres that actually leave me feeling in a better emotional state at the end of the phone call than at the beginning (it's usually the other way around with just about everyone else!)

Quote desmond:

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For desktops, Applecare seems less of an essential purchase imo, they tend to be fairly reliable in the main

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And there's maybe more bits you can fix yourself, compared to a laptop.

my imac purchased new in august developed screen problems within 2 months. there are faint lines that can be seen against a black background & when the screen is off is still there. i will be chasing it up with applecare as soon as the current workload is out of the way. i'm thinking of selling it & going back to a diy pc based daw, it was far more reliable.

I've been using Macs since the days when beige was the only colour computers came in.

I had a problem with my current macbook. Fixed under warranty in 48 hours. That's the first time I've had a problem.

Other than that, I STILL have my 7600 (you have to be old to know what that was) which retired still working fine. I'm hoping some day it'll become a classic and I'll get loads of money for it.....

My old 12" G4 powerbook is now on it's second owner and still won't die! It spent most days being on the back of a motorcycle on my commute to work.

My current G5 Powermac hasn't missed a beat in 4 years.

I briefly had a beige G3 which a friend is still using to talk to a Tascam multitrack, had a G4 tower thing which a friend bought and still used for something nerdy I never understood!
Years ago I got my mum an old G3 iMac which I believe is still used by some youth volunteer group who got it.
My brothers kids still use an old G3 iMac. They got it when he bought a new iMac 2 years ago- it's still fine.
My mum got a new iMac about the same time - again 2 years with no trouble.

I hope to buy a mac pro in the next few months, and I'm hoping for quite a few years of life out of it too. I hope I'm not back here eating my words!

I'm not saying there aren't faulty macs about, there's bound to be.
And the more they sell then relatively speaking more will be faulty.
I'm not saying PCs aren't reliable - I've use them in work and my main one has been flawless for 3 years.
But, for me, Macs been very reliable and I'll be voting with my credit card when I buy the MacPro.

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Cubase, guitars.

My first G4 is still running at a friends. My G4 Powerbook worked for about 7 years up to a month or 3 ago, then the power logic board failed. It was cheaper to replace it with a new macbook pro so that's what I did. My 1 year old macpro 2x2.8 still has no problems. I work dayly with macs and so far my 12" powerbook and a G5 with the (wellknown) powerbutton problem where it won't start up sometimes are the only 2 problems I have seen. At the studio I work are currently 2 G5 modells, 2 intel macpro's, an very old annyversary BOSE/Apple modell (The coolest I've ever seen) 2 G4's, and some 9600's 7600's.... All running. O, I almost forget the client imac (original imac) that had it's RAM replaces once....

I think that is pretty reliable....

I bought my MacBook (Feb 2008) in July, 2008. No apple care and no problems with it so far (fingers crossed).

Andrejs

I bought my first computer in 1993 - a Macintosh Performa 450, "made in Scotland" - OS 7.1. I still use it once in a while as a type writer (with ClarisWorks 1.0). After almost 17 years (12 years of uninterrupted use) it has never crashed. No issues at all; it just works, like a Rolex, a Rolls, or a Leica film camera.

Quote Paul Norheim:

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I bought my first computer in 1993 - a Macintosh Performa 450, "made in Scotland" - OS 7.1. I still use it once in a while as a type writer (with ClarisWorks 1.0). After almost 17 years (12 years of uninterrupted use) it has never crashed. No issues at all; it just works, like a Rolex, a Rolls, or a Leica film camera.

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I only chucked my Clarisworks floppies out about a month or so ago!
Amazing to think you can buy an imac now, for what you probably paid for your performa.
We need a nostalgia mac thread!

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Cubase, guitars.

Yeah, I paid 12000 Norwegian coronas - ca 1300 £. But it lasts 3 or 4 times as long as an iMac, and does exactly what it`s supposed to do - all the time.

I`ve had plenty of issues with my -05 Powerbook G4 and -08 MacMini. But none with the -93 Performa! It`s a pity that I can`t install Logic or the Arturia soft synths on it...

I've owned various Macs (ca.10) since the first one, from an SE/30 to my current MacPro and a MacBookPro, and my wife also have had 6 different ones during that time...

And the only one that I/we have had any problems with, were a white iBook that got a faulty motherboard after 14 months, since this were a known design issue with that model Apple replaced the motherboard without any problems.
And did it again after another 6 months after the replacement board started to have the same symptoms.

So for me it have been a totally reliably experience with Apple hardware, of course, issues can arise, but that why we have warranties.

Janne

Quote funkyant:

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Every single musician I know has had to send their Mac to apple care at some point because of bad hardware. Drives failing, batteries being replaced, keyboards stopped working, screens dying, optical drives - the list is growing.

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Same here! well not me personaly but friends I have who have Macs any way.
I personally find the build quality/feel of the mac books very tacky, I will invest in a MAC one day to use Logic on but I'm not a fan of their hardware to be honest although I think OSX looks pretty good and would rather opt for it than the new Windows.

Just some of the know issues with certain models

http://jimwarholic.com/2008/07/how-to-repair-apple-imac-g5.php

http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=MacBook

SInce when does price cuts means quality?

To keep the cost low and to stay in the market, you have to cut somewhere!
Unfortunately, the quality suffer. Indeed.

So, more than ever, the after sale service IS as important or even more important than the product itself. And to my knowledge, Apple has one of the best after sale service. (At least here, in Canada)

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intel iMac 20"/10.6.7, 2 GB ram, Logic Pro 9.1.5, Pro Tools 8.5, PropellerHead Record, Mbox2 PRO

Desmond summed it up well.

They don't make them like they used to Since apple went Intel, Apple are now very little different in terms of internal hardware, to your average PC. So it's no surprise that you now see more problems that you might typically associate with PC's also. By & large, it really is as simple as that.
Conversely, my old PPC Macs etc were utterly bomb proof. You can't kill them even if you tried (And I pretty much did try! ) Not so the intel iMac and Macbook..

Perhaps I would not mind so much, if it were not for the fact that the price of Mac ownership still carries a cost premium above a similarly specced PC.
Plus Apple these days appear rather more preoccupied with iPhones and iPods than they are with their computers, and it shows on occasion now with the odd shoddy bit of coding (In my opinion, Logic 9 is very shoddy in key areas!). Still, on the whole, the Apple OS is a lovely place to work in, and that does largely make up for the meat & potato hardware internals.
But it's those internals now that make feel like I have to figure in AppleCare with every new Mac. Whereas I never felt the need for it back in the PPC days. That just makes an already spendy computer even more costly.

That said, im not ever going Windows. But I could be tempted by a Hackintosh for sure. I couldn't care less for the fancy-pants Apple design really. And if the internals are little different to your average PC, and I only want the OS, then you can't blame folk for being tempted to wrangle OS X onto common PC hardware. It's a legal grey area however. But I think Apple has more to learn from this, than we, the consumers do..

Paul

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Paul

I have only had Intel macs - since they came out

We have 3 and have never had a hardware problem

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Matt
www.krcollective.org

So the replies above pretty much confirm my speculation. The new generation of Macs, perhaps since the intel switch, is still going through some teething problems.

Please note that I am not Mac bashing. Obviously they are moving into the mainstream from a niche, whilst also adding many peripheral products to their range, so it's not really that surprising. But it has become fairly clear to me that the reliability which was once legendary (perhaps even the reason for the brands strength) is now somewhat compromised due to the companies rapid growth.

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Visit my band's website

Macbook pro... faultless
G4's out of probably a dozen, had 1 pus failure, 5 years after warranty ran out...
G5 pci-x after psu noise fix, faultless.
G5 PCi-e faultless
G5 imac faultless
Mac mini g4 , faultless
Mactel Mini core2duo faultless
iBook G4 faultless , battery replaced but only after about 3 years.. new screen due to daughter dropping it is fair comment really...

powerbook G4, new screen , new power inverter x2, new screen for backlight... all out of warranty all done for free by apple... after some encouragement....


(always buy from apple store, so basically apply consumer rights directly against manufacturer.... in the event of a fault.... warranty or no warranty...)

We regularly upgrade our Macs & I usually sell my stuff with some waranty remaining.
Over the years my wife (graphic designer) & I (music)
have used the following...

7600 120 - faultless (even when a G3 upgrade card installed - still have it)
Beige G3 266 - faultless (still have it)
iMac G3 400 DV (4 logic board replacements)
PowerMac G4 400 - faultless
G4 733 - faultless
iMac G4 800 - faultless
Imac G4 17" 1ghz - faultless
G4 Powerbook 15" 500mhz - logic board replacement & flaking paint on body work replaced under warranty
G4 PowerBook 667 - faultless
iMac G4 20" 1.25ghz - faulty modem
G4 Dual 867 (Windtunnel) - Replaced 4 times (lemon) & eventually upgraded to a Dual 1ghz G4 - faultless
G5 17" iMac 1.6ghz - faultless
G5 20" 2ghz iMac - faultless
Power Mac G5 Dual 2GHZ (ist Gen) - faultless
Power Mac G5 Quad Core - faultless
Mac Book Pro 2.16 Core 2 Duo 15" - faultless
MacBook Pro 2.16Ghz 17" Core 2 Duo - faultless
Mac Book Pro Core 2 Duo 15" 2.2ghz - faultless
MacBook Pro 15" 2.2ghz Core 2 Duo - Logic Board Replacement
MacBook Pro 15" 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo - faultless (my wife's current laptop)
Macbook Pro 17" 2.5 ghz Core 2 Duo - faultless
Macbook Pro 17" 2.66 Core 2 Duo - faultless (my current laptop)
Mac Pro Quad Core 2.66 ghz (1st Gen) - faultless
Mac Pro 8 Core (5400) 3ghz - faultless (my current music Mac for abou 18 months)
iMac 27" i7 - faultless (My wifes current Mac)

In addition to those listed, I have also been responsible for the maintenance of another 30 or so Macs for work & a dozen or so for family members ranging from G3 iMacs to 24" Core 2 Duo iMacs & have only had half a dozen or so with issues (Mainly G5 iMacs & G4 eMacs).

There have been some issues over the years, but overwhelmingly my experiences with Macs has been a good one.




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www.myspace.com/jazzygb1
www.myspace.com/revox1

As someone from outside the 'Reality Distortion Field' I can vouch for the reliability of all of our Mac Pros bought over the last two years. We have eight (and two iMacs and two Mac Pro laptops as well, but not for studio work) and have had no hardware problems. Neither have there been any hardware problems with the three PCs (one desktop two laptops) - I've probably been blessed but I have been very pleasantly surprised with the reliability on all of this.

I have heard lots of anecdotal talk about Macs being less reliable but, without trying to minimise the frustration felt by some, there have always been some problems - maybe we need to look for a way to be more empirical about this?

Tricky, as those who have problems are always more likely to respond to any polls or questions than those who haven't and we also have that RDF to deal with!

I think that it's just an unfortunate problem whereby lots of musicians have MacBookPros, the MBPs have had issues with graphics chips, ergo a lot of musicians have had issues with Macs. For a given value of 'a lot'. And it's made worse by the poor handling that they get which is inherent in a laptop.

Only machine that I've had an issue with was a MBP and that's been replaced. I learned a lot about how _not_ to deal with Apple when going through getting it fixed. Around the same time my sister had an issue with one of her ipods and it was picked up, fixed and returned in a couple of days. If nothing else, Apple seem to be better than average on the customer care front.

Oh, and my sister is a graphic designer. Her old G4 iBook is currently being used by our brother, and of the 5 other Macs she has, none have failed at all. My iMac and MacPro still going strong...

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Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)

As has been said, Macs are simply PCs. They're better built than many PCs out there. However, I imagine one can buy (at a price) PCs that are better built than Macs.

However, this is generally a moot point. Either you want a Mac, inwhich case you buy one (and accept the reliability, bad or good). Or you don't.

Of course, there's still the question of whether to get applecare or not.

I only had a problem with my first generation macbook pro when I dropped it. Otherwise it's worked perfectly.

I recently had a brand new MacBook pro on a tour I was doing monitors on, Never missed a beat for 2 months. We also had one of the first uni-body macbooks, which again hadn't had a problem with it since it was bought, and the drummer used it for his click track.

In general, everybody I know with a intel macbook/macbook pro, hasn't had a problem with it.

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www.exaviormusic.com
www.manninmusic.com Music Teacher, Isle of Man

http://gizmodo.com/5435561/my-second-imac-is-busted-too

Quote stratquebec:

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... more than ever, the after sale service IS as important or even more important than the product itself. And to my knowledge, Apple has one of the best after sale service. ...

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You can find horror stories just about anyting on the net. No one should be afraid to buy a Mac no matter all the horror stories you can read here and there.

Yes, Apple has one of the best after sale service. If ever anything goes wrong, just take the phone and call. They'll take care of your problem. And most of the time, they're fast!

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intel iMac 20"/10.6.7, 2 GB ram, Logic Pro 9.1.5, Pro Tools 8.5, PropellerHead Record, Mbox2 PRO

And this is one of the reasons I often recommend people to by directly from Apple, either from an Apple Store or their online service.

If You buy from an independent retailer, they have the responsibility of being the first line of support and not Apple. And when thing go bad the true colors of the retailer will show...
So if You haven't got previously great support from a retailer, it's a bit of gambling involved here.

Let's face it, the margins on Apples stuff are very low and retailers can't really afford to bend over backwards regarding support on it. (not in the way Apple can!)
So I tend to by my computers direct from Apple and support my trusty hardware dealer with memory, disks and other stuff...

YMMV,
Janne

Got my first Mac in '95, the only failures I've had are HD failures, passed the old ones down to relatives.

An old G4 iBook died after my niece dropped it down some steps, ouch!



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G-Dub
Studio G-fx 15inch quad-core i7 Macbook Pro Logic913

Not too many problems for me either in my 18 years of using macs. I had a powerbook G4 lose one of its RAM slots! That was the biggest one for me. It's HDD died also, but that happens (remember to back up!). Some other HDD's died too over the years. My Mother has an iMac G5 that has given her a lot of trouble though. It had some faulty capacitors which were fixed, but it's on it's way out.
My iMac core duo 2 has been running fine
I have heard that the newest biggest iMacs have some issues.

How many problems have I had with a G5 Quad, a MacPro and a MBP? Erm None..

How many have I had with PC's over the years.. Erm.. LOTS!

The hardware is one thing. Combine it with a shoddy OS and third party drivers and forget it.

Mac every time, Gents!

In 15 yrs of using Macs, the only failure I had was after a firmware update for the CD/DVD reader/writer on a Macbook Pro (first Intel version)- it just stopped it working, completely.

Just out of warranty and initially the lads at the genius bar in Regents St attempted to make me pay for the replacement. I threw a total wobbly (since it was Apple's own firmware update that screwed it) and they backed down immediately and replaced it for free.

Even so, I informed 'higher authorities' at Apple about the attempt to make me pay - they were 'shocked and surprised' and told me they'd 'had a word' with the Regent st lot that that was out of order- I have my doubts about whether they really did, but at least I did get the replacement drive for free.

Just shows that yelling your head off in the shop gets results !

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http://anotherfineday.bandcamp.com/ http://anotherfineday.co.uk http://apollomusic.co.uk

Quote _ Six _:

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How many problems have I had with a G5 Quad, a MacPro and a MBP? Erm None..

How many have I had with PC's over the years.. Erm.. LOTS!

The hardware is one thing. Combine it with a shoddy OS and third party drivers and forget it.

Mac every time, Gents!

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Actually if you were to spend the same amount of cash on an Apple PC or a PC from another manufacturer you would likely get very similar hardware, ie mac pro with seagate drives, foxconn board and intel processor. So hardware failure should be very even across the manufacturers using 'enthusiast' level hardware.

As has been mentioned hardware failure is somewhat inevitable on all machines, especially those with moving parts. So a good return policy seems to be the best insurance on keeping a system in order.

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http://www.williammorrismusic.com

Mac plus late 80's had the screen go, although otherwise it still functions
Mid 90's 2 Ci still running
Mid 90's G3 still running
Accelerator card for above still running
Ti book still running (battery went after a few years)
Mac Book Pro still running.....

only experience with PCs through work - frustration

After months of struggling with firewire problems and blaming everything from my Saffire Pro 26 interface to OS X, to firewire cables, to Logic 9, SL, etc., I finally took my iMac Core 2 Duo (2008) in to the Apple dealer. They replaced the logic board and now all is WONDERFUL. I wish I would have done this sooner, but I did not find any threads to point me in this direction. Point being, the Mac was faulty right out of the factory, but service experience was great.

Hopeless. I bought a 17"MBP to replace my previous Mac laptop. Here is the list of what failed:

Power supply (twice)
Internal Drive (twice)
Battery (twice, replaced free 1st time, get lost 2nd time)
Logic board (that means the entire inside)

The screen is now on it's way out, and some of the keys have come loose.

I will NEVER buy another Mac. They are restrictive software wise, very expensive, and rubbish quality. I can only go by my own painful and expensive experiemce - and that of the hundreds of people who had the swelling battery, and fry an egg on the PS problems.

Their one saving grace (not by design) is they are relatively immune from viruses - for now.

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The only excuse we have for making music in the first place is to make it differently..vis-a-vis our own difference (Glenn Gould)

Quote It's Howdy Doody Time:

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Hopeless. I bought a 17"MBP to replace my previous Mac laptop. Here is the list of what failed:

Power supply (twice)
Internal Drive (twice)
Battery (twice, replaced free 1st time, get lost 2nd time)
Logic board (that means the entire inside)

The screen is now on it's way out, and some of the keys have come loose.

I will NEVER buy another Mac. They are restrictive software wise, very expensive, and rubbish quality. I can only go by my own painful and expensive experiemce - and that of the hundreds of people who had the swelling battery, and fry an egg on the PS problems.

Their one saving grace (not by design) is they are relatively immune from viruses - for now.

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Maybe you're just unlucky

Never thought of that...Usually though, if I fall in a river I come out dry with a salmon in every pocket!

More likely I got a duffer, ces't la vie.

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The only excuse we have for making music in the first place is to make it differently..vis-a-vis our own difference (Glenn Gould)

Back to OT

1 iMac,1 titanium Powerbook,1 Macbook pro 2008 and no hardware failure during warranty period.

One out of warranty period logicboard problem (very serious) but still got fixed cos the warranty for the a part got extended blah blah....

Had logic board problems too (luckily in warranty, just!).

Overall though, the Macs and PCs I've owned have been wonderful and without problems in the main. Worse problem I think I've ever had was with the wonderful "De(ath)sk Star" hard drives many, many years ago.

Been a Mac user since 1995 & have quite literally lost count of the sheer number of Macs I've owned over the years. First one was a Power-Mac 7200/90 and from that day to this I've never even once had any kind of failure with any of them. Only problem I had was with a G3/266 keyboard which stopped working, but that was only because I spilled a cup of coffee over it.! I remember then that a replacement keyboard was somewhere in the region of £50..!! A Kensington keyboard was swiftly purchased (£25) and all was well again. IMHO there's no doubt that todays Macs are not of the same quality as they once were, but then again neither is a Jaguar since Ford took control, maybe Intel are the Ford of modern Macs.

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Mac G5 Dual 2.3/6gb Ram, MOTU 828mkII, Yamaha 02r, DBX 286A, Logic 8, Roland SRV-3030D, Roland JV-1080, Roland JV-1010, Emu Proteus 2000, Roland SC55 MK2, Tascam DA-30 MK2

Maybe you've just been lucky?

Sorry couldn't resist that. Of course there are a lot of people with no problems at all with Mac's, and people like me who've had a nightmare with them.

I agree with you that lately Mac quality control appears to have slipped, which considering I've also owned countless PC's mostly cheap and mostly laptops and never had any problems whatsoever with any of them, is a bit naughty considering the price of Mac's.

But to the original poster I'd say answers to your question will always be subjective (like most comparison questions) but you should have gathered that your reliability question has generated at best a mixed response, which I'd be concerned at if I was about to shell out a biggish wadge of cash.

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The only excuse we have for making music in the first place is to make it differently..vis-a-vis our own difference (Glenn Gould)