Filed under: Hardware, Bugs/Recalls, Bad Apple, Apple, MacBook
A tale of two random MacBook shutdown cases
I bought myself a MacBook the week they came out, since a that point I didn't own an Intel Mac. I read about the Random Shutdown Syndrome (RSS) that some people were experiencing a little smugly. My MacBook didn't shutdown randomly! That is, until it started shutting down randomly. Dave Winer is also experiencing the same problem with his MacBook, but this is where our stories diverge.My MacBook began exhibiting signs of RSS one Friday evening. After it shutdown 5 times in a row, at random, I was certain I had an ailing MacBook on my hands. I hastened to my iMac and signed up for the first available Genius Bar appointment for the next day at the Suburban Square store (10:30am). I sallied forth to Ardmore with my MacBook in tow and explained what was happening. The Genius nodded sagely, took some notes, and let me know that they had the parts in stock. I was very happy, and left my MacBook in capable hands. 2 hours later I got a call that my MacBook was all fixed. A couple of weeks later and not one non-scheduled shutdown since. Kudos to the Suburban Square store staff (that's tough to say out loud).
Sadly, Dave Winer is experiencing something slightly different than I am. He has been without the use of his MacBook for almost 2 months, 9 days of which Apple has had the MacBook in their possession, and still there has been no resolution.
So, dear TUAW'ers, I wonder which of us is having the more typical experience. If your MacBook suffered from RSS let us know how long it took Apple to repair it in the comments and we'll have a fun unscientific poll on our hands.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dmitry said 5:05PM on 10-16-2006
I work at an Apple reseller store, and looking at the repair times for the Macbooks, most people get them within two weeks at the very most.
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Dmitry said 5:06PM on 10-16-2006
Oh, and I think like One came back with the same issue. The rest are working fine.
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Rob Dyer said 5:07PM on 10-16-2006
My Macbook had the RSS. It started about 2 months after I bought it in May. I sent it in to Apple and they were done with it in about a week. Its been flawless since I got it back a couple months ago (crosses fingers).
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Kyle Nilson said 5:09PM on 10-16-2006
I had a small INTERNAL scratch on my screen I wanted documented, but the Genius recommended I sent the computer off to AppleCare. It took over a month to come back and when it did, came back scratched horribly on the exterior. Three hours later on the phone with lots of threats of reversing charges, they finally set up an exchange for a new unit.
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Paul said 5:15PM on 10-16-2006
Knowing Dave Winer, they're probably keeping it out of spite because he was probably unbearably rude and condescending when he talked to the technicians.
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Debra said 5:26PM on 10-16-2006
I bought my MB (1.83ghz) on May 26, 2006.
Experienced my first RSD/RSS about 8 weeks later. I had read about others and mine wasn't so bad and there was too much not yet known about the cause so I kept my MB and waited. The shutdowns increased weekly until I was unable to deal with the problem any longer and called Apple (I also have Applecare). They shiped out packing materials (got it 2 days later), and sent out my MB to Memphis repair facility. Memphis logged in my MB that same day later that night. I got my MB back on the 7th day after I shipped it to be repaired.
They replaced my heatsink along with my bezel and wrist rest.
No problems whatsoever since I've had it back a week already. Fans are quieter too.
This is a first generation product and with it comes the risk of issues. Apple handled my issues promptly and professionally.
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Shawn Grimes said 5:27PM on 10-16-2006
I had the RSS issue after about 2 months of use on my week 21 MacBook. I called up Apple and with literally no questions asked after my explanation, they said they would be overnighting me a box to ship it to them. That was on a Thursday. On Friday my box was there as promised. I took it directly to DHL and it shipped to Memphis that day. I got my MacBook back on the following Tuesday and with it a list of about 6 or so parts they replaced and my MacBook has been rock solid ever since.
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Matthew said 5:34PM on 10-16-2006
At MacHollywood here on Sunset in Southern California, if someone bring in a system like this before noon we'll have it fixed the next day before 1pm.
It's a heat sink that needs to be replaced and we get the parts direct, next day from Apple.
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Mark said 5:34PM on 10-16-2006
Guys, using RSS as an abbreviation for said problem is a REALLY bad idea. Think of it...
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Smivey said 5:42PM on 10-16-2006
I think repair time also depends on if you have ProCare or not.
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Brian Underwood said 5:45PM on 10-16-2006
I had the MacBook RSS. Scheduled an appointment, showed up, dropped it off, had it back by the next evening (this was a week or two ago). They said I could have dropped it off the next morning (making it more of a half-day repair rather that a full day), but I didn't need it and I didn't want to make three trips. All in all a very pleasant experience (as have been all of my Genius experiences)
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Cygnus said 5:56PM on 10-16-2006
While I have a MacBook Pro (and have had no problems with it so far), I watched jealously as the lower-classmen at my school received Macbooks to use for the school year this year, and I know that 19 of the 350 or so had to be replaced/repaired on account of random shut down... dunno about exchange time, I assume rather quickly.
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Jack Brewster said 6:35PM on 10-16-2006
One thing I wondered after reading Dave's post was if Apple keeps your computer for a relatively extended period of time to address a problem (this one or otherwise) do they extend your AppleCare to compensate for the downtime?
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Tachyon said 6:36PM on 10-16-2006
Although AppleCare has usually worked well for me in the past, I have seen long repair times (2-3 months) before. In each of the cases (there were only 2 total to be fair and belonged to clients of mine) the machines were "lost" somewhere within the AppleCare system. Although AppleCare had the machines and freely acknowledged that fact, they were finally forced to admit that they had no idea where the machines were and had no idea if they were even repaired. Eventually, the machines were replaced with brand new ones (after some lengthy phone conversations), so all was well in the end.
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Tom Miller said 6:38PM on 10-16-2006
I guess I have a version of RSS. It's Random Start-up Syndrome. Ten percent of the time I try to start my black MacBook either the sleep light goes on and the screen stays dark or the screen lights up and the chime gongs and gongs and gongs, but no startup in either case. The other 90% of the time it starts up beautifully.
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Al said 6:48PM on 10-16-2006
I sent it in to apple. took three and a half weeks with customer service promising that it would be 'in a few days' for the last two weeks. applecare operators were very nice on the phone, but they'd give wrong information and deliver it with complete confidence.
my machine came back shutting down even more frequently and the case horribly scratched. took it to the apple store and was told that it would take 7-10 days to fix there, so i sent it back again through applecare. another week. now fixed.
to their credit, when it went back for the same problem again, they assigned me a person with a real phone number and a reachable extention.
while it does work now, i don't think it got the new heat sink fix, so it'll probably have to go back again. total time out of service was over 5 weeks.
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Boris said 6:50PM on 10-16-2006
I can't give enough Kudos to the Ardmore Apple Store. After sending my Macbook in via Apple Support the first time for RSS, they took 3 weeks to send it back to me, to my surprise when I visited the Ardmore store they didn't even replace the part they were waiting for!!
Within a week I was given a freshly repaired Macbook from the Ardmore store, and the gentleman was kind enough to replace my top and bottom case as well as give me expedited (ProCare) service for free due to my 3 week prior waiting time.
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Aaron C. said 7:08PM on 10-16-2006
Last week, after 6 weeks of use, my macbook experienced RSS and that day I took it into an Apple store at a mall nearby, without having made an appointment, they took care of it, repaired it within 2 hours and so far it's been good. However, there were a few scratches on both the top and bottom casing that wasn't there before and whoever repaired the heatsink must've been working as an auto mechanic earlier in the day because my macbook was pretty dirty when returned...
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Mark Zell said 7:28PM on 10-16-2006
My mother told me she wanted to purchase a new laptop for her to use at work, (she's a teacher) and since she works for a Macintosh district and has just been a Mac user, I told her to go MacBook. So, I went with her and helped her purchase it on May 27th. A little more than a month or so after it was purchased, she experienced her first random shutdown. Then she started it back up and had another shortly thereafter. I couldn't find anything about this issue online back in May and I took it to the nearest Apple Store for her after witnessing some shutdowns myself. The Genius was downright confused and honestly had never seen anything like it, reset the PMU and PRAM and sent us on our way.
Needless to say, the shutdowns got even worse the very next day. The computer wasn't staying on for more than 10 minutes at a time. There was a new Genius there this time, (who I have actually since become friendly with) and the new Genius said he was going to send the MacBook in for a MLB replacement and we'd have it back in about 7-10 days. Of course, 7-10 days, the Repair Depot claimed to never have received the MacBook and the Apple Store claimed to have had to sent it out late. In about 2 weeks, the Depot had received it and then I started calling about every 2 days, because it was getting ridiculous and then they said they'd update us to a priority status, but MacBook MLBs were on order because they're such a new product. In exactly a month, the repair was done; only no one decided to let us know. So I gave my next frequent call to the repair depot and they told us the Apple store had it for two days.
We went to the Apple Store and picked up the MacBook, happy as can be. Again, needless to say, in 2 weeks it started shutting down again. Same story, 10 minutes at a time. At this point, more people were starting to experience the problem and Apple still had no idea what was causing it at this point. School was about to start up for my mother again and the term 'school laptop' started becoming humorous. I took the laptop back to the Apple Store one last time, with the second Genius there, and he vaguely remembered me.
I told him flat out, 'I'm not going to come in here screaming at you and throwing a fit because I know you get enough of that and you do what you can. But, this is just ridiculous. My mother is a teacher and she bought this to use for school back in May. It's now August and with school about to start, she simply cannot be without it for another month. I know you don't replace machines after 3 repair attempts and out of the 14 days, but she simply cannot be without this.' The Genius took the laptop and went into the back and said he was going to talk to his manager. About 5 minutes later he came back out and said, 'We're gonna swap you out.'
The manager came out and spoke to us and apologized on behalf of Apple, brought us a new MacBook, to which I respond to your post on today. I understand this is just a luck of the draw problem, I just got to draw twice.
Also, on the way out, I thanked the Genius once again and started walking away, he stopped me on my way out and said, "Hey, thanks for what you said for not screaming and flipping out. Most people just don't understand that." And as I mentioned earlier, we've since become pretty friendly.
Sure it was a pain in the arse, but there's a happy ending.
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Vinny said 7:47PM on 10-16-2006
Paul (#5) took the words right out of my mouth.
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