original F/U

Genius AND Store Manager said "vintage" product now, and they don't even have "access" to the parts to fix it, suggested maybe AppleCare online could help.

AppleCare Online said "vintage" product now, and while they "might" have parts, the parts would be "so old" that they couldn't even "guarantee" that the fix would stick. She even noted that we've been great customers over the years.

REALLY? You're telling me that if you pop in a NEW mobo (old stock, obviously) it might just fail cuz it's 5 years old? I guess that's true of any electronic part, though.

The wife is not pleased since it's a known problem. And this MBP spent most of its life in a Speck hardcase sitting on the dining room table. Genius even said that it was really clean and looked like it was in great shape.

Oh well, off to figure out another option. Might be a refurb, might be a cheap PC laptop. She basically uses it for an online program for work (teacher) that requires IE. And SERIOIUSLY? REQUIRES IE???

And before anyone gives me the "well it IS 5 years old" speech, I am aware. But a known hardware problem? It probably would have shown up earlier if she had dragged it back and forth to work everyday, banging it around, loosening things up. It's not like it was dropped, spilled, etc... The G4 AlumiBook is still going strong (well.... considering!!!!).

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-Bill



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 10:18AM by BillMac.

I would have pointed out that it is still supported by the current version of the OS and rumored to be supported by the next version of the OS (10.9). It was probably sold as refurbs into late 2009, and maybe 2010, and those could have had 3 years of Apple Care. There might be a few out there that are still under Apple Care warranty.

I had one done last Nov/Dec and they sent it out for Depot repair. So I can believe that they don't have the parts in the stores, but that shouldn't mean that they can't repair one.

As for the logic boards, I'm pretty sure that they do component level repair of the defective ones, so the stock used for repairs isn't necessarily brand new, but rather "refurbished", in which case there can be some components that are fairly old, but they should have passed all diagnostic tests.

I don't understand why they didn't offer you the $310 flat rate depot repair. He got a new motherboard, battery and fans out of it. My brother just did this two weeks ago with his MBP which is the same as yours. Try going back to a different genius bar. That "we can't guarantee it" statement sounds bogus. I think all depot repairs have a 30 or 60 day warranty. Perhaps he meant that they can't give it a full 1 year warranty, which is always true.

---

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 11:38AM by davester.

If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems is they will likely fail eventually. Apple should have issued a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 11:48AM by silvarios.

Quote
davester
I don't understand why they didn't offer you the $310 flat rate depot repair. He got a new motherboard, battery and fans out of it. My brother just did this two weeks ago with his MBP which is the same as yours. Try going back to a different genius bar.

davester, don't you live in California?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 11:39AM by silvarios.

Quote
silvarios
If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems seems to be they will fail eventually. Apple should have issues a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).

But won't the serial number give it away that it's a Pennsylvania MBP?

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-Bill

Quote
silvarios
If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems seems to be they will fail eventually. Apple should have issues a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).

Do you have any details to back that up? I'm in CA and never heard that before, although I was successful in getting them to repair one after being persistent when they first said no.

Apple's initial written policy on the NVIDIA problem said it would repair them for 4 years from purchase date, and never mentioned anything special about CA or no time limit. But there have been a lot of reports of successfully getting them to do it after 4 years.

Quote
BillMac

Quote
silvarios
If you are in California, Apple has to repair the MacBook Pro. Maybe a California resident in the forum could take it in for you. The problem with those NVIDIA 8600M systems seems to be they will fail eventually. Apple should have issues a recall and had NVIDIA foot the bill (NVIDIA did reimburse repair costs for systems that failed in the extended warranty period).

But won't the serial number give it away that it's a Pennsylvania MBP?

I wouldn't think so, because if you give the system to someone who happens to live in California, they should be covered by service terms. You'd still have to pay most likely. I doubt Apple will give you the free repair. $310 plus shipping to and from, I'd save my money and get a new computer. $400 into a dog isn't worth it, in my opinion.

Quote
GGD
Do you have any details to back that up? I'm in CA and never heard that before, although I was successful in getting them to repair one after being persistent when they first said no.

Apple's initial written policy on the NVIDIA problem said it would repair them for 4 years from purchase date, and never mentioned anything special about CA or no time limit. But there have been a lot of reports of successfully getting them to do it after 4 years.

Sorry, not a given Apple will repair for free, but Apple is obliged to offer service on products between 5-7 years of age in the state of California.

[support.apple.com]

The vintage/obsolete coverage list terms have been around for a while.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 11:45AM by silvarios.

I'm in California and had a SR MBP repaired for that issue just a couple months ago. For free.

I never heard that Apple treated them differently in other states. Guess I'm lucky I live here (unless you count the unGodly high cost of living in these parts)

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Skill without imagination is craftsmanship. Imagination without skill is Modern Art.

Quote
timg
I'm in California and had a SR MBP repaired for that issue just a couple months ago. For free.

I never heard that Apple treated them differently in other states. Guess I'm lucky I live here (unless you count the unGodly high cost of living in these parts)

Different consumer protection laws, I'd imagine. Apple is likely not required to these systems for free, but since you follow under general coverage, maybe Apple is more likely to make an exception. I don't know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 02:46PM by silvarios.

Go back through some of the older (and recent) posts here on the Nvidia problem. A number of us have had it repaired out of warranty for free by Apple. Mine was last fall and I think the most recent was a few months ago.

Maybe Apple finally put the kibosh on that but maybe you just need to try Apple Customer Relations. In particular, mention the Apple Tech Note (found in those posts) where it says something to the effect of "Apple will continue to evaluate and make further repairs as needed."

Good luck.

I went through this last year, and I decided against continuing the repair - it was going to be my fourth motherboard.

I decided to part out the machine (RAM went to one machine, the SSD into another, and I'm about to use the keyboard on a third repair).

The real problem I had with that model is that the machine would get quite flaky a month or more before the hardware would fail the Apple test.

AllGold,
Depending on how long ago, the MacBook Pro might not have hit the vintage product list. It was added sometime in the first half of 2013, if I'm remembering correctly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2013 10:04PM by silvarios.