How durable should your computer be?

Hardware and technical stuff
21

Then you really don’t know anything about Apple’s products. Maybe you don’t understand why people are loyal, but even this board is filled with people who like Apple products and have talked about why. It would take a tiny amount of effort to find out why other people in the world continue to buy Apple products.

Here’s my reality, having used both Windows and Apple products extensively: until the latest generation of laptops, Apple’s mobile hardware has been far and away better than anything that runs Windows. From the design to the trackpad to the retina display, to the OS, they were way, way better.

That has changed in the last year or two. I currently use a 15" Surfacebook 2, which is the most Macbook-like Windows laptop I’ve ever used. The display is really great, it’s powerful, and the trackpad is the best on a Windows laptop I’ve touched, though it still isn’t anywhere near as good as a Macbook.

But I just couldn’t deal with the latest Apple keyboards. They truly do suck IMO, and forcing the dongle life with the Macbook Pros was another dealbreaker for me.

As for desktops, I still love the form factor of the iMac, and I used one as my primary home PC for years. Not having any extra cords flopping about is of high value to me, but I bought a PC a couple years ago because I needed something more powerful.

I still have several AppleTVs, including their new 4K one, but also own a Roku and the difference at the end of the day is minimal. Yes, Apple has an App store, but they both have all the apps I need.

I owned a Time Capsule router for a very long time, mainly because it was always the easiest to deal with, and Time Machine is just a vastly superior backup solution to anything available on Windows. I wish there was something similar for Windows 10!

And of course the iPhone has always been, in my opinion, better than any Android device until the latest Samsung Galaxy, which I think finally outranks Apple on design. If I wasn’t in the Apple ecosystem I probably would have switched this year, and may next year if I get enough energy.

Lastly, there’s just nothing in any other ecosystem that compares to the iPad, which I use extensively both at home and on the road. It’s hard to believe that nobody has really made a go at this on the Android side.

22

You are crazy. How open the machine up to show the parts, and he broke it. It should be possible, for a 10,000 machine, to get the parts and fix it, or least be able to sell said parts directly to Linus to fix himself. The fact that Apple refused to repair the device for any amount of money or let anyone get the parts to repair it shows the sort of company that Apple is.

23

Let me help you with your apparent crippling inability to use Google search.

Click this!

But I’ll save you the trouble.

An update from the repair center advised they could order parts, but to approve the sale, they needed someone with Apple Pro certification, “and unfortunately, that doesn’t exist yet.” Furthermore, if they somehow got someone with the certification and were able to order the parts required, the third-party repair center could not risk losing their new certification by simply handing the parts over.

24

There is a long, now closed, thread here where a lot of AASPs posted to say “the certs and parts are available. You got bad information.”

That said, on a recent Connected Stephen Hackett said whatever Apple will charge you for the repair, that is what an AASP will be charged by Apple for the part. So, if Apple will repair something for $100, an AASP will charge you $100 + their labor costs. Which is why I think Linus’s example is a bad one. He pretty much broke the entire computer. It’s not even accidental non-warranty damage like a kid’s nerf ball took out the screen, or it got dropped moving it. Were I the manager of an AASP, I’d probably tell him it’s not worth repairing and just to get a new one. Especially since one I repair it, I now need to provide service warranty on the entire repair, which is pretty much the entire computer.

25

You read a lot of Apple sites, do you? Owned a lot of their products? I read about Apple going above and beyond all the time, but I also read Apple sites/forum and have been using their products for 20 years.

You have already made up your mind that Apple and their products are horrible and then latch on to anything that supports that viewpoint. Anyone who disagrees or provides a counter point are sheep who just like them for fashion.

They are far from from a perfect company and I have a ton of complaints with them, but I still wouldn’t think of giving up my iMac or going back to Android, and that has everything to do with their OSs, not fashion or status.

26

Acer, Samsung, IBM, Dell, Razer and ASUS do not have an international chain of retail + service locations in actual bricks and mortar form to make the customer happy with service appointments. Microsoft is aping them with good reason–it pays off for them to do so.

I do find many of the so-called “geniuses” intolerable though. This whole thread is insincere with the persistent insistence on proving the “look! Apple users are fashionable-wannabe douchebags” narrative.

27

Yeah, I do know that, and thought it was another example of how horrible Apple is. Why don’t they have anyone certified in this, or a way to certify people, but they are going to insist on certification before they can work on it?

Kind of a catch 22 policy isn’t it?

28

I’ve used Macs for 20+ years in business and have been impressed with thier dependability in bulk. Any machine will have issues, but overall, Macs, iMacs, and MacBooks have way outlasted thier specs.

They also are consistently trendsetters when it comes to features which make a nicer user experience. Speaking for laptops, High-dpi / quality screens weren’t really a focus until Retina (this was a huge win for the industry). Large trackpads as well. Fit and finish / flex have all been great on the Mac laptops I’ve used.

When a company nails these things time after time, It will gain loyalty. This is a good thing. It does mean that people will buy based on trust, and so that company might get away with a miss or two. New Mac keyboards are a miss for me. Too many misses and the trust goes away.

OR

I’ve just been hoodwinked by hyptnotic cult magic, orchestrated by Steve Jobs, and blindly spend thousands more for no other reason than the apple symbol has been emblazoned into my subconscious as a social necessity, without which my pleasure center will be permanently compromised. Also those who don’t display the apple symbol are other, and to be disparaged with self-righteous prejudice.

Whichever one works.

29

Well, they don’t make themselves hard to hate. I mean, if you read all the websites, you are ready know about this story that came through, right?

I mean, fair and balanced news site would report on it.

30

Maybe reading the thread I posted – where AASPs have said that the cert is available, and the parts are available, and they don’t know why Linus was told neither is case – would help you with this.

31

Probably best to stop engaging what is now obvious was just a troll post. OP is not interested in any dissenting information.

I guess we’re just lucky he hasn’t called us sheeple yet.

32

I’m no sheeple! I’m an, er, wolf person? A Weeple? That can’t be right…

33

Personally I’m a meeple.

34

I saw one post with non anecdotal information, and rest is just accusing me of hating apple (which is fair, since I stated at the beginning that I hate apple).

So far, I really haven’t heard anything except how horrible I am for hating apple.

I get that at one time that made great products, but these days, I just hear how bad they are from tech journalists, and how great they are from mainstream media and apple journalists.

I feel like they have gone the route of 1990’s Microsoft. They feel like they can’t do wrong, which gives them the coverage they need to remove the earphone jack (although several Android phones did it first), insist on using their on proprietary connectors so they can charge you more or try to keep you in their walled garden.

35

There’s a ton of frustration from techheads (i.e. people who hobby tech) that Apple has all but stopped innovating or even updating their products, yet their margins on iPhones are so high the company not only keeps printing money hand over fist but is even growing in market cap. They have so much cash now a not inconsiderable amount of income now comes from investments. At the same time when products like the Mac Mini haven’t been updated in four years. even when HTPC ready motherboards and chips are readily available.

This manifests in former friends of Apple ready and eager to pounce on their increasingly indifferent consumer facing computing products.

However th laptop keyboard issue really is more than grousing. The keyboards are very susceptible to grain sized sand breaking the keycap posts and\or the butterfly switch itself. I’m somewhat willing to accept this in th Macbook 12 because it’s designed to be as light as possible - i’d be far less willing to accept this in the 13 or 15 MBP as the gains in thinness are far less useful, and the all-alum body is heavier than carbon fiber no matter how thin it is.

36

I feel like I am arguing with a Trump supporter on Twitter. “CNN won’t tell you about this great thing Trump did!” Shows them article how CNN covered that a month ago.

You keep showing how little you know about Apple and the community. Apple sites cover everything, good and bad. Apple is heavily critiqued by the people you think are blind sheep. Sure there is that crowd who think Apple can do no wrong, but they aren’t the majority.

I couldn’t care less what you think of Apple, but will you please stop acting like we are all in denial about how horrible they really are? It’s just not true.

37

Apple makes lots of products.

Which are we talking about? MacBook uses USB C which isn’t so proprietary. I subjectively feel that USB C is more convenient and capable than USB A (that may also be objective, but I’m no tech journalist). I’m MORE than happy to put up with a slight inconvenience, if this makes it so that in three years everybody is using C for everything. Isn’t this exactly the innovation that people accuse them of not having anymore?

Apple also made the Mac cube and the trash can Mac Pro octo-monstrosity. These aren’t so great, but came during a time of other good innovation.

The Apple Pencil with iPad Pro is absolutely amazing. So is the iPad Pro keyboard.

What was I arguing again? walks away with vague expression on face

38

Their treatment of the mini is so frustrating. That thing made SUCH a nice workstation, which was the problem for them. I didn’t start buying iMacs until they nerfed the mini.

Mac Pro is another black eye. Maybe they redeem themselves, maybe not. At the same time, their imac’s are pretty nice and fill the need for most.

39

Ah, the walled garden argument… lols. Actually it’s not worth wading into it, though there are attempts at a reasonable discussion.

@legowarrior, it really comes across as emotional insecurity. Stop caring so much, man, and just embrace the dark side. Or just move on. Why you care so much?

Edited because it came across as an insult… sorry.

40

I used to hate Apple when I thought they would eventually pull neck-and-neck (or close enough) to Microsoft PC, and in conjunction with consoles, kill off PC gaming.

Now it’s clear they won’t, so I’m happy to ignore Apple.