MacBook Pro issues and local support

MacUAE · 20th June 2006, 01:38

I am sure all of you heard of the MacBook Pro's issues. Heat... Mooing...Buzzing. Well I guess I am one of the lucky ones. The heat in my MBP is... not normal and there is this faint buzz that is coming out of somewhere. Its not a fan. Its there in Mac OS X, but not Windows XP?!? Its very faint but noticeable none the less. Worst part is its comes and goes.

I bought my MBP from Dubai's Mac Apple Store Center (Whatever!)... I was aware of such issues and voiced my worries to the Salesman at time of purchase. He said that any MBPs that exhibit such issues will get replaced, no questions asked! So I decided to get a one reassure that any problems will be sorted out.

I visited the store later on to get extra RAM, but they didn't have stock.

With confidence that ABM will support me, I decided to keep the MBP hoping that Apple will fix this issue.

Apple release a firmware to fix the heating issue, but that only seems to throttle the CPU speed depending on demand. We all heard of the lousy CPU thermal paste application in MBP, which I guess is the main culprit. The firmware did not really fix the heat issue nor did it eliminate the buzzing.

To make things worse, the store will not support or fix this issue since they do not officially classify this as a defect.

Local MBP users, please post you comments and experiences.

Now thats Dhs8000 down the drain

snow7 · 20th June 2006, 03:21

I got one from US eBay. Custom made and all top options - apple ram, 7200 hard drive, usb modem, iwork etc. Seems alright until now but is obviously running very hot. Also I experience the faint noise most of the times, its seems to be coming from the bit where the lcd joins the base of the laptop, but i work and also live in a noisy environment so it has never bothered me. Its still an issue though. Can you tell us more about how ur complaint was handled and what else were you told by them, except the bit about "not officially classified as a defect"?

elchemor · 20th June 2006, 04:19

snow7, the noise you're talking about is called a whining noise, and this is a very well known bug with the intel core duo processors, hopefully there is will be a softpatch sometimes in the future to correct this ( I hope not a hardware correction)

as for the heat, the latest firmware update from Apple, has significantly reduced the heat generated by the MBP, i consider you to install it, and there is an application to monitor ur coreduo temperature called

CoreDuotemp

MacUAE · 20th June 2006, 05:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by snow7

I got one from US eBay. Custom made and all top options - apple ram, 7200 hard drive, usb modem, iwork etc. Seems alright until now but is obviously running very hot. Also I experience the faint noise most of the times, its seems to be coming from the bit where the lcd joins the base of the laptop, but i work and also live in a noisy environment so it has never bothered me. Its still an issue though. Can you tell us more about how ur complaint was handled and what else were you told by them, except the bit about "not officially classified as a defect"?

Until they see this as an issue, they will note offer to fix it for free. It was as easy as that, a quick Q&A. They have Apple USA to support them since they also have not acknowledged this issue. So the message was:"live with it". I am not worried 100% about the noise or heat, I am worried that these might be symptoms of bigger problems in the future.

MacUAE · 20th June 2006, 05:28

Check out this site:
http://www.intelmactemp.com/

MacUAE · 20th June 2006, 05:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by elchemor

snow7, the noise you're talking about is called a whining noise, and this is a very well known bug with the intel core duo processors, hopefully there is will be a softpatch sometimes in the future to correct this ( I hope not a hardware correction)

as for the heat, the latest firmware update from Apple, has significantly reduced the heat generated by the MBP, i consider you to install it, and there is an application to monitor ur coreduo temperature called

CoreDuotemp

You mean this one snow7
http://macbricol.free.fr/coreduotemp/

elchemor · 20th June 2006, 06:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacUAE

You mean this one snow7
http://macbricol.free.fr/coreduotemp/

exactly! its a very handy tool !

Magnus · 20th June 2006, 06:50

Thanks MacUAE for raising this issue and telling is about your experience. I don't have a MBP myself but I've heard from enough users - in the UAE and elsewhere - about this issue that I believe that somewhere along the line Apple really dropped the ball on this one.

Apple users who pay a lot of money for their computers should get better support than this. It shouldn't be enough for whoever sells it to say "it's not a defect". They should do whatever they can do help customers out and fix problems.

What's your experience with Mac sellers in the UAE with regards to the MBP? We want to hear from others - good or bad.

Magnus · 20th June 2006, 07:03

As a follow-up to MacUAE's post about MBPs I put together this little piece. Shortly after the first MacBook Pro was released, reports started appearing of users finding the MBP unusually hot and that it had a loud whining noise that was annoying at best. Threads here here, here, here, here, and here, for example) on Apple's discussion boards have dealt with this issue at length (there are also examples of MBPs working on without any issues at all). Here at EmiratesMac we've written about this several times. There was even an "End the whine day" organized.

For those who want to know if the heat is a real issue or not, take a look at the Intel Mac Temperature List.

The only thing we've really heard from Apple is that there is no comment or policy yet. In addition to MacUAE, we've heard previously from people who have bought MBPs in the UAE, that they've been assured that if any problems would occur with a MBP that they bought, they could bring it back and as long as they have a receipt and the computer is under warranty, they would replace the MBP. After a quick call around yesterday to some Apple resellers in the UAE, it seems they say that if a customer has any problems with a MBP they can just bring it back and they would repair or replace it. That said, we've also heard from customers that stores are saying that they are not going to replace or repair MBPs even though it has been noted elsewhere that "starting with revision D... Apple has fixed many of the reported problems and will be replacing affected MacBooks with this newer version at customers' requests."

We tried to find out if customers elsewhere in the world were able to return their MBPs or get them fixed. MBP owners in Sweden have experienced the same problems and have in some cases been able to get their computers repaired or replaced. Other stories also say that repairs actually work in some cases. There are also users who say that even getting their MBPs "fixed" by Apple didn't really fix the problems. A user in the US said that he was able to get his MBP replaced:

Quote:

I received my Mac Book 2 GHz PRO yesterday and I have the same problem.
The MacBook emits high pitch noise that would give you a splitting headache in less than 10 minutes and I had to leave the room while it finished the data transfer. The noise did not improve after the data was transferred and it is related to the screen brightness. The intensity of the noise is reduced by dimming the screen backlighting, but it completely disappears only after the backlight is turned off. Plugging and unplugging power adaptor does not make much difference.
Apple has readily agreed to replace it and has issued me RMA to send it back.

Today we were told by Apple that you should do if you experience these problems:

Make sure you operate the MacBook Pro under the correct conditions, according to Apple's instructions.
Update the Firmware.
Bring the computer in to a MacStore, bring your receipt, and they may replace the logic board (motherboard). This is however a hit-and-miss options since it seems to work in some cases and not in others.

Some have good experiences with Apple customer support concerning MBPs:

Quote:

Apple Customer Relations is awesome! From the first call with my agent, she made it clear she was listening to me and understood my concerns. There were still very clear boundaries. No, Apple wasn’t going to send me a new computer. No, there are no loaners while the machine is in for repair. No, Steve Jobs will not take me to Disneyland. But within those boundaries she worked with me to try to find compromises that might make my life easier. She never questioned the legitimacy of my complaints (part of this is because they are not technically trained, but part of this is clearly because it’s bad business to tell your complaining customers that they are wrong).

Others are not so happy:

Quote:

Speaking to customer relations for the online apple store in the UK / Ireland (where I bought it) has resulted in one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever had and I am appalled by their reaction. I spent over an hour on the phone with a guy (Marcus) who:
- refused to believe there was a problem and did not accept the "Genius" apple tech guy as being qualified to make that judgement
-wanted me to take the machine to a qualified apple repairer who would then send it away for X weeks with no replacement in the meantime
-could not guarantee they could actually fix the problem
-refused my request to send a courier with a new Macbook Pro to my house which we then swapped for the old one (would be the most sensible!)
-would not put me in touch with his manager or anyone more senior!

MacUAE · 20th June 2006, 21:20

Thanks EmiratesMac... that was pretty resourceful.

So for me the next step is to go and have them try to replace my motherboard!

Now I feel really bad about this. I am think will buying from other local resellers be a better choice if we need to get the support we deserve.

Anyone has any experiences with other local Apple resellers, maybe one popular among veteren UAE Mac-ers?

20th June 2006, 01:38	#1 (permalink)
MacUAE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 353	MacBook Pro issues and local support I am sure all of you heard of the MacBook Pro's issues. Heat... Mooing...Buzzing. Well I guess I am one of the lucky ones. The heat in my MBP is... not normal and there is this faint buzz that is coming out of somewhere. Its not a fan. Its there in Mac OS X, but not Windows XP?!? Its very faint but noticeable none the less. Worst part is its comes and goes. I bought my MBP from Dubai's Mac Apple Store Center (Whatever!)... I was aware of such issues and voiced my worries to the Salesman at time of purchase. He said that any MBPs that exhibit such issues will get replaced, no questions asked! So I decided to get a one reassure that any problems will be sorted out. I visited the store later on to get extra RAM, but they didn't have stock. With confidence that ABM will support me, I decided to keep the MBP hoping that Apple will fix this issue. Apple release a firmware to fix the heating issue, but that only seems to throttle the CPU speed depending on demand. We all heard of the lousy CPU thermal paste application in MBP, which I guess is the main culprit. The firmware did not really fix the heat issue nor did it eliminate the buzzing. To make things worse, the store will not support or fix this issue since they do not officially classify this as a defect. Local MBP users, please post you comments and experiences. Now thats Dhs8000 down the drain

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20th June 2006, 03:21	#2 (permalink)
snow7 Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Dubai Posts: 234	I got one from US eBay. Custom made and all top options - apple ram, 7200 hard drive, usb modem, iwork etc. Seems alright until now but is obviously running very hot. Also I experience the faint noise most of the times, its seems to be coming from the bit where the lcd joins the base of the laptop, but i work and also live in a noisy environment so it has never bothered me. Its still an issue though. Can you tell us more about how ur complaint was handled and what else were you told by them, except the bit about "not officially classified as a defect"?

20th June 2006, 04:19	#3 (permalink)
elchemor Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Abu Dhabi Posts: 235	snow7, the noise you're talking about is called a whining noise, and this is a very well known bug with the intel core duo processors, hopefully there is will be a softpatch sometimes in the future to correct this ( I hope not a hardware correction) as for the heat, the latest firmware update from Apple, has significantly reduced the heat generated by the MBP, i consider you to install it, and there is an application to monitor ur coreduo temperature called CoreDuotemp

20th June 2006, 05:28	#5 (permalink)
MacUAE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 353	Check out this site: http://www.intelmactemp.com/

20th June 2006, 06:50	#8 (permalink)
Magnus Administrator Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Dubai Posts: 8,396	Thanks MacUAE for raising this issue and telling is about your experience. I don't have a MBP myself but I've heard from enough users - in the UAE and elsewhere - about this issue that I believe that somewhere along the line Apple really dropped the ball on this one. Apple users who pay a lot of money for their computers should get better support than this. It shouldn't be enough for whoever sells it to say "it's not a defect". They should do whatever they can do help customers out and fix problems. What's your experience with Mac sellers in the UAE with regards to the MBP? We want to hear from others - good or bad.

20th June 2006, 21:20	#10 (permalink)
MacUAE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 353	Thanks EmiratesMac... that was pretty resourceful. So for me the next step is to go and have them try to replace my motherboard! Now I feel really bad about this. I am think will buying from other local resellers be a better choice if we need to get the support we deserve. Anyone has any experiences with other local Apple resellers, maybe one popular among veteren UAE Mac-ers?