Apple admits cracked Macbooks

They'll release a mysterious "Hardware Integrity" update in the next 36 hours. All the fan bois will install it, reboot, have to repair permissions, and then claim that Safari renders javascript 1000% faster and their windows minimize faster and smoother.

What yoru saying is that Apple has come clean and will replace the case even if out of warranty..is this good thing or bad??

Will dell replace a notebook motherboard
even if the Nidivia chip fails due to the bump problem.

Will Apple?

You pudding head Microsoft bois make me laugh...
You do know that one hell of a lot of developers (PC, Mac, Linux) use Macs. And just because we/they think it is a better operating system/computer, does not make us "fan bois". Why don't you talk about how great your OS is instead of running down something you know little or nothing about ? You all reek of jealousy...

I do love Ubuntu. I have it installed on 6 machines which it supports 100%. Know how much those 6 machines cost me? As much as one Mac Pro. Know how much the next incremental upgrade is going to cost me? Nothing. My windows dance around the screen, do a jigue if I want them to; I have any enterprise app at my hands without having to pay $500 for a server edition. I have everything you have with OS X, plus more, and it didn't cost me a penny. So stick that in your plastic crack and smoke it.

"hell of a lot of developers"? I'm a developer and in all my time, from studying to working in 3 companies I've never known anyone who likes using a Mac.

Also saying something is better just because it costs inordinately more because of it's aesthetics or other things superficial rather than value for money pretty much defines "fan bois" in my book.

Apple will release a BIOS fix or a firmare fix for that .

Sorry was to easy ;-)

I'm really tiring of the Wars of Religion that Mac, Linux, Windows, Solaris, Be, Next, Atari, Commodore Fanbois regularly subject us to when it comes to evaluating the relative merits of Operating Systems and attendant Hardware (sorry for the caps, but it only seems appropriate when discussing matters of such weighty religious import).

As for Nick Farrel, I can't decide whether he's more Cardinal Wolsey or Lord Privy Seal Cromwell. In any event, he spins right up there with his distinguished English predecessors. Thank God the English outlawed burning at the stake, or I would fear for many an innocent computer's life.

That said, it's puerilely simple to cherry pick stories about design defects and the line them up like so many straw men to be knocked down. Every computer company is guilty of this and many computer companies are asa arrogant as Apple (Sony, HP, nVidia, Microsoft, Sun, SGI . . .).

It seems to me, the differentiating factor is customer service and satisfaction. For myself, I've been building, maintaining, installing, and programming computers since 1984. A long time in this business. I used to loathe Apple for its trendiness, cheekiness, arrogance, and steep prices.

However, I needed a Mac for molecular biological research that I was doing pursuant to an advanced degree, and so took the plunge with an iMacDV and have never looked back, particularly after the introduction of Mac OS X which is quite simply the best OS now in existence.

However, what has impressed me more than any other factor is Apple's customer support. In a word, it is sterling. While the so called "geniuses" at the Genius Bar are frequently less knowledgeable than I am, I am almost always treated like royalty and the staff go above and beyond the call (in most instances) on my behalf. I'll give you two recent anecdotes.

Last week, I lost a function key on my two year old wireless keyboard when the keyboard fell on the floor. I took the board in to have a replacement key affixed. Staff were unable to repair the key, and I thought I would have to lump it. To my very pleasant surprise, they exchanged it for a brand new keyboard. Last October, I dropped my iPod Touch into a bucket of water. I retrieved it, dried it off and let it set for a several weeks to dry completely (not so difficult in the Vegas desert). After five weeks, the iPod resurrected itself, except for the USB data connector. I took to 'Pod in and explained what had happened, expecting to have to pay for repairs. Instead, the courteous young lad exchanged it for a fully refurbished model and extended my warranty (which was due to expire the following week) by another six months.

Finally, I had trouble with the power supply on my G5 iMac. This was a known issue and, unfortunately, it struck while
i was away from home for work in Kansas City. I took it in to the local Apple Store, and explained I needed to get the repair pronto as I was due in Cincinnati in a few days and after that in Austin for several months before returning home. During repair, one of the techs scratched the front panel. Although pure cosmetic, it ruined the appearance. The problem was, there were no spare parts available until after I left. So instead of giving me back the computer, they swapped it out for a brand new G5 iMac that had a significantly faster CPU, twice the RAM and a 50% larger hard disk.

After having dealt with customer service for HPs, Sonys, and IBMs, I can truthfully say that none of them even come close in terms of my customer satisfaction. I can say with a fair degree of confidence that it is very unlikely that any of these companies would have reproduced any of the three experiences outlined above.

As for several comments posted above referring directly or indirectly to the Apple Tax, It's simply not true anymore. A careful, unbiased comparison demonstrates that, within the same market segment, Apple computers are no more expensive than the competition. My new Macbook costs more not because of aesthetics, but because it has the most advanced Core2Duo at that speed with better performance and larger cache than previous iterations; it has a 1066 MHZ frontside bus with DDR3 RAM, not the ancient 667 or perhaps (if you're lucky) an 800 MHZ bus with bargain bin slow specced RAM; it has a 500 GB, 7200 RPM hardisk (an option, I grant you, but still much better than the very slow 4200 RPM sub 300 GB disks in most "bargain" laptops; its 4GB of RAM can be upgraded to 8GB once the price of 4GB SODIMMs becomes reasonable; it has nVidia 9400M graphics, which runs circles around any of the integrated Intel "graphics" offerings found in the cheapo laptops being flogged in the latest MS ads, along with a dual link DVI out DisplayPort, capable of driving a 30 inch monitor at 2560-by-1600 pixels; It has Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth and N protocol WiFi (the Toshiba Satellite I purchased for a friend ($999) had 10/100 base-T ethernet, no Bluetooth and stinky slow a,b,g protocol WiFi; an LED backlighted Display with fantastic color gamut and reproduction (noticeably better than the stock screen on the old Macbooks and Macbook Pros - and yes, the screen is glossy, which I don't particularly like, but which was easily remedied with a $29 screen glaze); it has a single-piece aluminum chassis which is not only stylish, but rugged, and which is less than an inch thick; The whole macbook, including the power adapter, weighs significantly less (only 2 kg). Am I happy that I lost the Firewire port? No, but I'd rather have vastly improved graphics, screen, enclosure, etc. You can buy a computer for less, just like you can buy a Yugo or Chevy Vega, instead of a Lexis or Porsche Coup. So please, let's try and compare Apples to Apples, and not Oranges, or Acers or eMachines, or Packard-Bells, shall we.

Since I want to keep the focus on hardware, which the microsofties and Apple haters are disparaging these days, resale value of Apple hardware is conveniently and consistently overlooked. Virtually all commodity PCs are ready for the landfill after two or three years. Just like american cars, they loose a significant portion of their value as soon as they are used. There's a reason those open box PCs at CircuitCity and Best Buy are frequently marked down 20-30%. Macs, in contrast, sustain their value. I just sold a 2001 1.25 GHZ single core G4 Powerbook for $1000 (original price $2400). I sold the G5 iMac discussed above in 2006 for $700, again about %50 0f its original value. Although the initial cost of entry is considerably steeper than one would pay for a throw away computer package from Walmart or Target, much of that cost can be recycled every four or five years through enhanced resale value.

Now, will the Inq please fire Farrell, or at least hire someone more agnostic to report on Apple doings. There is plenty to dislike about Apple, especially Mr. Jobs whom I loathe, but an intelligent adult is capable of setting aside such biases when reviewing actual kit. I'm afraid Farrell is neither very intelligent or very adult.

If you are a woman don't bother buying a mac. You will never get customer service. Period. They will make you wait hours while they take "walk-ins" even though you had an appointment. They will then treat you like a total idiot even if you have more years in the programming world then their "geniuses" have had out of diapers.

So, if you are a woman, skip macs. The customer service is blatantly sexist.

I bought a new white MacBook recently - and yes my previous one was held together (very effectively btw) with sellotape to contain the cracks... that said... the new built in China one doesn't seem to be of the same build quality as my previous... and has a once a week "freeze" issue my old one NEVER suffered - personally I'd say tape over the cracks and keep surfing.

"I needed a Mac for molecular biological research that I was doing pursuant to an advanced degree"

How come you couldn't do this on any other computer?

Also, when you use phrases like "pursuant to an advanced degree" then I know you're meant for Apples ;-)

I shouldn't be smacktalking but I just can't help myself! ;-)

Apple is just a pc with a 50% price hike, and 100% upgrade price hike, and an OS that won't play a lot of software.

As a software developer I've yet to see anyone coding on one. However I have seen a few job adverts in recent years for coders using Mac, at least I think that's what they meant!

"Apple is just a pc with a 50% price hike, and 100% upgrade price hike, and an OS that won't play a lot of software... As a software developer I've yet to see anyone coding on one."

That's utterly at odds with my experience. I know a hell of a lot of coders who have switched to the mac over the last several years. And most have done so because it allows them to run a hell of a lot of software: OS X, Windows, and Linux, not to mention OS X ports of Unix software.

Believe it or not, not all of us use our computers in work for just coding or other mundane tasks. Coding in particular is something you don't even need a decent computer for, just a comfortable one with the tools you need; compiling or other more intensive tasks can be offloaded elsewhere. So people choose their coding environment based on their tools and personal preference. Some people like using Visual Studio, others like Codewarrior, I myself like Vim + other tools. Whether you code on a Mac, Windows, Linux, Amiga or whatever machine shouldn't matter.

Never seen a coder using a Mac? You must not have much exposure to programmers, or perhaps not much experience with it yourself. While Mr. Cranfill seems to be a Mac-convert, it is not ridiculous to purchase and use Macs in industry or academia. Even that iMac G3 Mr. Cranfill purchased was quite reasonably priced in its time, and probably worked well with the software he had to interact with.

In some cases it is actually necessary to purchase and use Macs. While I am normally at odds to suggest Apple computers, I recently had to spec out a computer for some extremely computationally demanding single-computer applications. Only the Mac Pro fit the bill, with its dual-socket Nehalem board. It cost a bit ($3400 + $220 for 12GB mem), but really, at the high-end such pre-built computers cost about the same anyway. We'll be installing Windows XP 64 on it to run the simulation software.

"How come you couldn't do this on any other computer?" Because pre-built machines in this spec just aren't sold by other companies. Not yet anyway. Dell only just recently announced it will be having such computers, but they are still not sold yet. I also will not waste my time building such a machine myself; I'm not paid to be an IT bitch.

So while Mr. Cranfill does sound like an Apple zealot, please don't make unsubstantiated assumptions about why people may choose to use a certain platform, especially in this day and age where it truly doesn't matter anymore.

not only expect the inq to report it when a product develops fauls. I expect them to be sarcastic and sly, it is what I keep coming back for. Their news is short and to the point and with that whole nvidia thing they even had the evidence manufactured, in the form of electron microscope pictures. So just because there are cracks in macbooks doesn't mean we should go on an all out flame war about what is the better computer. Besides, everyone knows that no coders use macs and besides they suck so what's there to argue about anyway.

Now, I don't think that came out right. I should probably have run it by drashek first. Never mind, happy easter to macalytes, pc zealotas, and linux freakoutas alike. And if you're not christian -like me, celebrate the fact you have been given time off from work for no particular reason other than some madhatters taking a fairytale literally. I'm breaking out my sun lotion and book 1.0 to head into the sun and this is all getting highly irrelevant. Bye.

Regarding the comment about the Nvidia defective chips on the mac books.

I have to say that my MBP failed after 1 year and 8 months of use so it was beyond warranty.

I thought i was sc%$^ed, and went to a MacStore in my country to see the price of a new one because i love the os.

To my surprise after they heard my rant about the defective video parts, they told me the warranty was extended for an extra year for all macbooks shipped with the infamous 8400m. They are waiting for the replacement motherboard and will fix my laptop for free.

I have to admit it was great to see people interested in giving my problems a solution, instead of looking for excuses to save their company money.

I have my grudges with Apple but i have to admit their costumer service is great even when they take their time to admit their flaws.

Now for a comment that will start either a bunch of praise or a whole new flamewar. I wager on the latter.

The best bang for the buck computer you could ever get is one that you pick out all the parts and assemble it yourself. ALWAYS a lot cheaper then prebuilt and you know exactly what you get and what to expect. From there, chose your OS of choice, no matter which one you're still saving money. Enjoy(Wait.. i forgot, Mac doesn't play nice at being installed on custom built PCs that aren't 100% apple certified. I guess there's always the hackintosh way, not very user friendly way to do it but oh well).

Flame Away!

Your intellectual snobbery irks.

It would seem this is compounded by the associated trendiness of you owning a Mac too.

Thank you for those many many words, I indeed hate Apple more.

go home and bang your girlfriends? If you don't have girlfriends, try filling a dirty gym sock with warm cream cheese. Bang that.

iDiot

Hey guys, ( before i start, im 16 so by no means older, im not some sort of smart allec kid , i actually enjoy freerunning so im not some sort of book addict either.)

k , right first off.
@people bitching about os's
GROW THE FUCK UP. christ.

@the person who writes articles for apple at theinquirer
GROW THE FUCK UP, you sound like your inlove with steve balmer. and wtf is the jobs mob- its not like everyone who uses a mac is the same... what kind of planet do you live on.

people ripping into raymond cranfill -
grow up,

Yeahhh okayy so some people prefer apple to windows and some people prefer windows to apple (for the next person to go yehhh but windows has a bigger market share so people prefer windows and apple hardware is just a big usb stick to hold osx, fuck off. you do have a right to your opinion but in order to make yourself sound smarter than you are, don't voice it.

oh btw. i own a windows computer. well 2 apart from windows 7 has destroyed 1 of my computers by blowing the cpu.

and at somepoint i'd like to buy a mac, when i can afford it- im 16 so instead of complaining about how expensive they are ive got a job and im slowly saving up for one...

and yeahhh people can complaine more about osx but

windows - sloppy, slow , uac is like an anoying 5 year old constantly asking why to everything you do. blue screens, viruses which mean virus scanners which use up cpu which means you cant use the cpu to do something you actually want/need to do. but pc's are cheaper and normally come with bundles of trial software which we all love.

linux - yehh good whatever , but you have to be pretty good at computers to use it. its not as user friendly as windows or mac. doesnt run lots of programs, no offense linuxers but its not exactly cool.

osx - less programs. more expensive.
buuut ... hardware + software made by same people so its much more joined design. they look nice, i mean you look at macs and its like shit thats cool.

But im not some kind of mac fannnboii or whatever you wanna call me. ive never been on this sit before but the moment i surfed through some of these articles it just looks like a bunch of people with nothing else to do but moan about apple... real mature guys ... dont you have anything else to do... like work out why you get a blue screen when you shove your dick into the cd drive ?

oh and irene.. my ex girlfriend had a mac ... she went into an apple store and they were fine .. maybe its just the people in the apple store NEAR YOU ... ? shit do you really think dan ?

well thats rant over ... feel free to post things like iDiot or iHATEAPPLESOMUCH

or you could just be truthful like iHAVENOFRIENDSSOILURKONTHESEFORUMSCRYINGOVERAPPLEANDBITCHINGABOUTOTHEROS'SCOSWINDOWSFTW.

but maybe some of you will read this and go shit a 16 year old, who owns a pc like i do is arguing with me because... and then you will realise MACvsPC doesnt matter... the companys apple and windows dont really give a shit what any of you think anyway. so why argue amoungst yourselves.

i dunno, i just think this is all a bit pathetic really, to be honest.

Have a smashing day.

Dan, UK

Sometimes less text...is more.

I stopped reading after the second paragraph when I saw the wall of text.

Heard of an executive summary?

I am not an Apple Zealot. I own more PCs than macs.

I use macs because the molecular analysis software and gene sequencing software is Mac only.

There is no Apple tax on similarly equipped machines. Mac resale value is strong, PC resale value is non-existent.

The lot of you PC fanboi wankers are beer-guzzling, women-bashing, neanderthalic, homophobic reverse snobs.

Summary enough?

As opposed to white wine spritzer drinking, effeminate, elitist, homophillic snobs that, in my experience, most Apple owners are?

well screw you all, my sinclair spectrum beats the pants off mac and windows.

owner of 3 pc's 2 macs and a not only fully functioning sprctrum, but sn smigs 2000 to boot.

hell, i just want a modern computer that works with the software i like....

Nice one Dan, I think you summed it up beautifully, i think the inc should give you a job writing these articles, I haven't laughed so much in ages :)