Apple REFUSED to Fix our iMac Pro
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,259 words · ~6 min read
0:01
That was how Anthony got tasked with taking our iMac Pro
0:10
to the Apple store for repairs.
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Only one small problem.
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They refused to fix it.
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And we're not even talking warranty service.
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We understood we would have to pay.
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We wanted to pay.
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And they outright refused to fix it.
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How the f*** does that even work?
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Because that was back on January 30th, two months ago.
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And our machine is still not repaired.
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This one gets interesting.
0:41
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0:43
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Our story begins with Anthony's first interaction with Apple support.
1:08
It was pretty pleasant, all things considered.
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Apple representative Andrea was very sympathetic.
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But for some reason, she couldn't give us any guarantee
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that they could actually do anything.
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That should have been a bright red flag.
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But when Anthony and Tyler later returned
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from dropping off the Pro at the local Apple store,
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they told me that, well, they smiled,
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told us they'd order the parts,
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and get us back up and running in a jiffy.
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Our iMac Pro review actually ended up coming together
1:43
pretty well in spite of our limited ability
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to get additional B-roll footage.
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So all we could do at this point was wait for our repair.
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Then, a couple of days later,
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the Apple store sent a follow-up email
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letting us know that we could come pick up our computer and...
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Sorry, what?
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Right?
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Have you responded to this yet?
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This is...
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No, I've got to...
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This is completely unacceptable.
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No, we've got to...
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This is through email?
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Get in touch with them some other way.
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Get Ivan to...
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We still have, like, three or four videos
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to make with this thing.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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Just see what you can do.
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What does this even mean?
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If they are unable to obtain the parts,
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they wouldn't be able to repair the iMac.
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Oh, gee, thanks, Jesse.
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So, what?
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At this point, what are our options?
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There's just no recourse
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if we can't get an Apple-authorized service provider
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to obtain...
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the parts, and these are parts
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that Apple wouldn't even send to their own store.
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Yeah, I will contact an AISP.
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Ed mentioned he knows a guy,
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so maybe we can even get a bit...
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Are you guys following this so far?
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We thought there must have been
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some kind of misunderstanding.
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Remember, we're paying for the repair after all.
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But the Apple store confirmed
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that they were unable to fix it
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because HQ wouldn't send them the parts they ordered
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and that our only option
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was to come and get it back
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unpaid.
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And that's what we're doing now.
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So, we're going to go ahead and get the parts
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that Apple didn't even touch.
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And it actually gets even better from here.
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Because we asked, well,
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if Apple themselves can't fix our computer,
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who can?
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And we got told that the only option
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was to bring it to a third party,
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an Apple-authorized service provider.
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So, since there's no way for us
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to order new parts from Apple directly
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and fix it ourselves,
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we reached out to one.
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The new update,
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they can order the part,
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but for them to approve the sale,
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they need someone with Apple pro certification.
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And unfortunately that doesn't exist yet.
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And let me guess,
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even if it did,
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if they ordered it
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and just gave us the parts,
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they'd lose their certification.
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Yep.
4:10
So Lewis Rossman,
4:11
you remember that guy, right?
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He showed me the right way to fix BGA solder joints.
4:15
So, so he's
4:16
constantly, constantly fixing some parts.
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complaining about Apple pulling crap like this,
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but not being someone who repairs Apple's products
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for a living, I always kind of figured
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it was mostly shop talk.
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However, as someone who now has to repair an Apple product
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in order to flip it on Craigslist,
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no, I don't believe that anymore.
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It's absolutely real.
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Like, I get it.
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What Apple's done here is to release a brand new platform
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that they are unwilling and or unable to provide support for.
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I mean, yeah, we broke it, we get that.
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But I mean, imagine this in some other industry.
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Imagine if you bought a brand new car
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and drove it into a lamp post as you were leaving the dealer.
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Then both the dealer and your third party insurer
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said that they,
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couldn't fix it
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because the parts and the repair manual don't exist.
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As far as we can tell right now,
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they expect us to just roll over
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and accept that our workstation
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is now essentially just a collection of pretty rocks
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for some indeterminate amount of time
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because they released a product
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without the training or support structure necessary
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to actually support it.
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They've thrown their support staff under the bus.
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They've thrown their authorized service providers under the bus.
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And most damningly of all,
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they've thrown the customer,
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because I bought this thing,
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under the bus.
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Despite Apple's careful design,
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accidents do happen.
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And if a former repair technician
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can screw up from time to time,
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and trust me, they do,
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the end user will too.
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So, returning to our community for bright ideas.
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We still want to repair this thing.
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So we're gonna have a forum thread linked below.
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If maybe you know a guy who knows a guy
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who can get a board, PSU and display,
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or if someone who works at Apple
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happens across this video and agrees that,
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what, yeah, that is totally unacceptable,
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well, we'd love to hear from them too.
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For now, we will just continue to stew in impotent rage
6:31
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