Apple panics about broken Macbooks

"Oh, and they paid how much for their MacBook Pros? µ"

It's like buying a Nike sweater from JJB or a similar shop; you pay £49 for the Nike logo on the front and 99p for the dodgy stitching that fails after 2 washes.

I guess the irony is that this whole problem was caused by overdesign. Apple laptops have long included accelerometers to provide anti-drop protection regardless of what HDD is in the computer. For whatever reason, Apple choose a HDD model for the most recent MacBook Pro that also included it's own anti-drop sensor and the 2 are conflicting. If Apple had simply used a Seagate 7200.4 drive without anti-drop this would have never happened. Seagate HDDs with anti-drop sensors are more expensive, but I guess this is a case where cheaper components would have actually been better.

With an MTBF of 600,000 hours and a 3 year warranty I would assume that both Apple and the end user would expect a reasonable length of service.

As has already been commented, the problem does not appear to relate to the (unsupported) suggestion that the component is of questionable quality.

"The problem apparently happens whether the computer is being moved or is stationary"

The problem also happens when you go get a beer or when you are not getting a beer.

If they're not flogging rubbish for elitist snobs, their subcontractors are so terrified of the Rotten Apple they're tossing their Chinese employee's off rooftops and Rotten Apple itself is not paying their Florida employees overtime.

Whats it going to take for people to stop supporting that A-hole Jobs?

SCREW YOU APPLE!!!

The thing is this is what happens when you get your gear made and put together by Foxconn.

Most PC users in the know would avoid Foxconn like the plague and wouldnt pay much for it if they had too. But they make most of the gear for Apple.

Nice how the illusion works.

HEY APPLE!!

I've got two words that'll solve the HDD problem...

And they are....

Western Digital.

If you're gonna charge premium prices, you can afford the extra buck for better hardware.

Not saying all Seagate drives suck but this appears to be a design flaw and can happen to anyone. I prefer WD drives myself.
@joey, Have you ever owned a Mac? I bet not. You should hook up Nick, he hates Apple too.
I remember changing out a HD in a old G4 powerbook. I almost had to disassemble the entire laptop.
The new Macbook Pros are much easier to work on. Take out 8 or 10 screws on the bottom plate and presto all the guts are right there, HD, Memory and Battery and DVD drive too.

There's no glitch, everything's fine. It's supposed to do that. Unlike stupid PCs, which suck.

Besides, do you **really** think there'd be a tiny, minor, insignificant flaw like this on a MacBook Pro after all the money it costs to buy one?

With the cost of a cheap PC laptop, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the damn things weren't spewing out benzine vapour and other nasties, and that's before you worry about the batteries exploding when you drop them, though it's probably for the best if we keep very quiet about that.

That's why I'd always stick to a Mac. You know you're safe and nothing like any of this will ever happen.

Something has been wrong with the realiability of the drives since the introduction of perpendicular recording. I have myself started losing all my drives only after about 18 months of operation irrespective of brand (Seagate 7200.10, WD RE2) while my old 120GB IDE Seagate (7200.8) drive has consistently saved my "digital life" many times over.

@Perry
Do a Google search "exploding mac book" and see what come up. There batteries have blown up to.

hmmm...there's something in it. got the same problem, old drives still in the box and i already replaced 3 new drives within last 18 months or so, they've just died. that's why i don't have raid0 anymore with new drives but with the old ones :)

Even the briefest of Google sessions would make it very clear that Foxconn manufacture a very diverse range of products including PCs for multiple vendors (including Apple).

Again, unsupported comments!

"Apple has not admitted that there is a problem with the Momentus hard drive. It just said that it is working on a fix for the problem."

Okay, if apple says they are working on a fix for a problem THEY ARE ADMITTING THERE IS A PROBLEM. now, they aren't directly admitting it, but they have admitted it. You need to work on how you word things. I'm not very good at writing, but your being paid for this shit.

Nick, you piss me off

Anyway, I hate macs. I had a friend who got the/a(there are many) new OS's from apple. lets just say it wasn't compatible. It seems that being dumb has become the "trendy" thing to do. Yes, take your overpriced laptop to Starbucks and then talk about how good of a product it is. but just remember, there is a battery sitting there, waiting to strike. I will enjoy seeing it blow that cup of coffee out of your hands mac-tards. This is what you get for fallowing something blindly.

Unlike Farrell, this work actually contains info germane to my headline:

It's clear Farrell's the one who's in a panic, manufacturing headlines that have no relation to the article. Where in the article do you justify your ridiculous headline about Apple panicking? Why... nowhere.

Just another panicked attempt trying to trick readers into reading mediocre work.

I quit purchasing Seagate drives as soon as I received a boxed Seagate with a Maxtor sticker on it!

It's a Seagate problem, clearly....
However that doesn't excuse Apple from
its' obligations. They were the ones that installed the Seagates. I agree with Regulas, Seagate isn't my thing, and I prefer WD, anytime. And regardless, Apple makes a good product, although overpriced, over-hyped and over-rated.

hahaha Mac-tards!!! I luv it!!!

... and I'm a Macbook! Both of us are equally overpriced, but I, the Macbook, have additional hardware flaws that can cause you to lose all your data!

lol nick i don't even know where to begin

That's sarcasm, right? As opposed to a Think pad where you undo 1-2 catches (docking station, hard disk) or one screw (memory).

Admittedly the hard drive is normally screwed into the caddy, but that's just common sense.

by a biased and attention seeking author. Apple rules.

It's a good job the UK laws don't allow Apple's retailers, or Apple if it's a direct sale, to dodge their duties then.

We're not having qualy probs at Apple again, are we? Now it's Seagate HDD's? Let's see how long before a recall. You paid all that extra for what? LOL!!!

The problem is the HDD industry in general and the first 6 to 12 months failure rate. Over the last year or so the drive failure rate in the first year of operation has soared. The price drop on drives for the consumer seems to be having a negative effect on the production quality and QA process. I would also say shifting manufacturing to a certian country has also contributed. Either way the effect is felt the most by the business and consumer clients ie us. We might want to start changing the mind set away from cheapest is best.

Everyone knows that PC's suck ass, it's not a secret... That's why all you PC lovers have to knock on mac whenever you get a chance, so you feel good about your lame ass PC. Mac has a problem (which is actually a seagate problem) and you dumb PC lovers go off on it. How many problems do PC's have? Endless... so please... shut the fuck up

Who is the real moron here Kimo? We are all having a laugh and joking around while making observations, and you come in and actually start insulting people. If you are what is to be expected from the average Mac user, I'm surprised we aren't more vitriolic in our statements against Mac computers. By the way, just because someone's main computer isn't a Mac doesn't mean they aren't a Mac user. I have a Mac, it's old (real old) but I very much enjoy using it. What I don't like are the new Macs that are a glorified PC with a different OS. One more thing, if the Mac is the best computer out there, why don't they have market dominance? Maybe it's the price? A computer is a computer is a computer is a computer. As long as it gets the work done who cares? See? I didn't have to insult anyone to get my point across.

Except you.

Thanks for your hilarious comment! If I *had* been getting a beer, it would have been coming out of my nose! Great line, sir - well played!