My wife’s iMac G5 is still terribly noisy, even after the warranty repair. The fan noise may be slightly lower, but it makes a heck of a lot more noise than it ought to.
The shop that had performed the warranty service said they ran the computer for two hours and did not hear any noise. Perhaps they didn’t actually run any software? Once my wife started using the computer again, the noise started again. I had hoped it would be better, but it is not.
We called the Apple shop on Friday and had them listen to the whining fan. They definitely heard it, but did not have a really great answer - other than for us to just send it back in.
I found a fantastic discussion on ScienceMan’s iMac G5 Fan Mod Forum about the terrible noise and great number of complaints about iMac G5 fans. It seems to be a result of insufficient sound dampening with one of the fan housings.
How is it I can find a forum thread about noisy iMac G5 fans but the Apple repair shop was not able to sort out the issue? It does not seem far off from the iPod battery issues they experienced and the class action settlement that resulted.
The funny thing about a company like Apple is that everyone thinks they are the best designers but in reality they are producing a number of faulty products that seem to get grossly overlooked. In less than two years, I have personally experienced:
- A defective iPod that could not hold a music library for more than a few days. There was something wrong with the unit’s hard drive.
- A 17″ iMac G5 that intermittently shut off due to fan failure. After warranty service, the fan is still terribly noisy and simply unacceptable for use in an office environment.
- A 12″ Apple iBook (that we bought last October) whose white paint is fading off. The area around the touch pad has faded from white to yellow and looks quite disturbing. This should be covered by warranty, but we decided to wait until the iMac issue was sorted out. (The “when” is uncertain.)
The way I see it, we are experiencing a 75% defect rate on Apple products. The only item that has not failed has been my own 20″ iMac G5.
I love my Mac, but is the hassle worth it?
13 responses so far ↓
AppleDefects.com » MySwitchToMac.com : 75% of Apple Products I Bought Have Been Defective Apple Defects, Defective Apple Products, MacBook runs hot, MacBook CPU Whine, iPod Scratches, dead pixels on my iMac // Jun 19, 2006 at 3:59 pm
[…] 75% of apple products are defective […]
75% of Apple Products Bought By This Guy Were Defective at Hipster Union // Jun 20, 2006 at 7:12 am
[…] read more | digg story […]
Brian Peat // Jun 21, 2006 at 12:28 pm
This is interesting as I’ve owned macs since the Mac Classic. This includes a Classic, Classic 2, a Quadra 66av, a G4 500, a G5 d867 (stil have that) a Powerbook G3, a Powerbook G4, 2 ibooks and a Al 15″ Powerbook. Through all those years, I did have a hinge failure on the first Powerbook, and had a screen glitch on the newer Powerbook that required a new screen (under warranty). The first 500 iBook is finally having some screen problems (it goes black sometimes) but other than that I haven’t had any earth shattering problems with any of my machines. They just keep on trucking. Oh, I’ve also got 3 ipods (including a refurb 5 gig original) and all of them still work fine.
Alexander // Jun 21, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Hi Brian,
I’m sure you’re not the only person that has bought tons of Apple products and had no problems. And from what I’ve read about their new MacBook Pros, people are getting burned, people have complained about a whining sound, and some are complaining about the wifi too. I’d be willing to wager I’m not alone in my bad experiences either.
So the real question I’m trying to ask here is: which one of us is the statistical anomaly?
Cheers!
Alex
Tyson // Jun 21, 2006 at 2:51 pm
I’ve owned a Performa 550, eMate, iBook SE 466, iMac 300MHz, iBook 500MHz, iBook 800MHz, iPod 5gb, and a PowerBook 1.5GHz. All worked perfectly over their lifetimes, except for the PowerBook, which a friend spilled an entire bottle of water on, while running. After I let it dry out, it worked again, but it occasionally freezes if you pick it up too fast.
So, 100% success rate here.
You can’t extrapolate Apple’s entire millions of products from just a few people.
If 75% of Apple’s products were defective, as you claim, do you think they’d still be in business?
Wade // Jun 21, 2006 at 8:37 pm
My Apple failure rate over the last decade is well above 50%. The only reason they get away with it is that their competition (windows) is worse even in a fully functioning state.
I won’t buy any Apple product without testing it in the store now.
john // Jun 23, 2006 at 10:41 pm
I’ve been responsible for the purchase of about 20 PCs. One arrived with a faulty floppy drive, one with a faulty modem. 10% defect rate, but neither of the problems was a deal breaker. I’ve bought two Macs, one of them wouldn’t boot at all (I believe it was a poorly seated video card, but it was a Mini….so, DOA.) Put me down for a 50% Mac fauilure rate.
RJ // Jun 25, 2006 at 4:08 am
I’m writing this on one of the cursed G3 iBooks prone to logic board failure (four years old; fingers crossed). No crippling problems yet. None with my two-year old iPod, either. But upon taking it home, my wife’s brand new G4 iMac whined like Rush Limbaugh with his dick caught in a revolving door. It took us hours to get the Apple store to do something about it; they finally churlishly replaced it. I’ll not soon forget that miserable experience or the death knell hanging over my otherwise fine laptop. Reading about the horrendous Macbook line heating problems and your travails, I’m not eager to buy anything more at Apple until they get their QA up to snuff.
Paul // Jun 25, 2006 at 6:03 pm
I’ve bought 3x 17″ Intel iMacs, 1x 20″ Intel iMac, a 15″ MacBook Pro, and a 13″ MacBook. All of these machines run fine.
Thats a 0% defective.
I like the support and quality Apple puts into their products (avg 6 year product support). It seems other PC manufacturers forget their products exist after newer ones come out.
The iMac is the most stable and powerful machine I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. I’m hoping there will be an update/fix for the Macbooks though; they run much hotter than they should, but overall I’m very satified with my Apple Computers.
rm // Jun 27, 2006 at 2:37 am
I’ve had a 100% failure rate. My iPod (after the 1st month) didn’t hold more than 20 minutes of battery. My iBook has had its hard drive die twice, the keyboard break, and the CD drive just stop. All in all, I haven’t been pleased, so much so that I’ve switched back. A lot of smug Apple users stick with their products because Windows computers are so much worse. They’re not. My Acer TravelMate doesn’t feel like it’s going to break. It’s a lot sturdier. You Mac Heads put up with waaaay too much. My old iBook is now a beautiful paperweight.
Alexander // Jun 27, 2006 at 7:50 am
Over the past year I have really grown to like using Mac OS X. I’m not sure if I’m ready to switch back to Windows..
Fortunately, I have been able to get everything fixed. No expensive paperweights (yet).
Alexander // Jun 28, 2006 at 5:27 pm
In response to Tyson: the post is titled “75% of Apple Products I Bought Have Been Defective”.
I’ve never assumed that this 75% defect rate carries over to everyone else; that’s not the point.
I can’t speak for the rest of the world - though they certainly have been talking about issues with the new MacBook Pros.
Jeremy // Jul 12, 2006 at 7:56 pm
I have to agree that Apple have an image of great products and good build quality. But since owning my first Apple, a MacBook Pro, I am very dissappointed with the build quality! The case is “separating” after only 2 months of ownership, hopefully Apple fix it without question.
Jacob // Dec 20, 2006 at 5:00 am
I bought my MacBook in June. Since August, it has been in for repair SIX (6) times. The first four were related to overheating, crashing, going to sleep and not waking up (no funeral), and a heat sink issue where they sent it away for 15 days (and made me BUY a replacement in the mean time).
Then the computer wouldn’t turn on, and they replaced the logic and optimum boards.
Then, FIVE minutes after getting it back at the Apple Store, it crashed at the Genius Bar, and my hard drive was erased. ALL OF IT. Right before my eyes. What a horrible event considering I’m a photographer — and hadn’t backed up in a few weeks. I’m usually on it, but I slacked off, and now I’m paying the price.
Apple refuses to replace the unit. They said, and I quote, “It has to break one more time, and then we’ll give you a new one.” Not only that, but they won’t pay for data recovery when they made a defective product from day one.
Go to Appledefects or macbookrandomshutdown.com, and you will see 1,700 complaints regarding the Macbooks at the latter site.
As a PC user for nearly the last decade, switching to Mac was the worst decision I ever made. Never again.
NoMoreMicrosoft // Dec 27, 2007 at 2:28 am
Well, granted I am new to the MacBook Pro (just got one from Santa) but my other Apple products (3 iMacs, 3 iPods) have not had a SINGLE problem since I purchased them. I have read about problems with the iMacs (I have Rev 1, Rev 3 and Rev 4) and iPods (I have Rev 1, Rev 3 and Rev 5) but can not duplicate any of these issues (sleep, battery, memory, et. al.).
Seriously, these days I don’t think anyone can use blogs or posts as a basis for purchase decisions. They are all so slanted (i.e. Microsoft employees posing as Apple owners, Apple employees posing as Windows users, Linux users posing as any other OS, etc.).
I made the move from Microsoft wayyy back in 1999 and have never regretted it. Microsoft is an unethical company that will NEVER get a single dime from me again! So what other choice was there? Apple! So far, over the last 7-8 years, it has been BLISS!
lee // Jun 24, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I too have always run Macs , since 1987, having owned several machines since then, 10 plus, lately they have been pants, my tower G4 failed before i finished paying for it, no one could fix apparantly, waste of money there, a nice new I Mac, howls so badly i stuck it in the corner and never used it again, no one acknowledged the issue, a Mini mac that died and has never worked properly and sits dumped on top of the G5 I mac, But i dont like PCs system….. pple rely on people like me, and have built a customer loyalty second to none, BUT GEEZ , dont they abuse it !!!!
Leave a Comment