Of yellow tinted screens, AppleCare and fixing your Mac

by L.Bhat
Friday March 27, 2009

Of yellow tinted screens, AppleCare and fixing your Mac

by L.Bhat on March 27, 2009

applecare While we’re all sure that Apple makes the best computers out there, at some point or another we’re reassured of the fact that they tend to overcharge for spares. And when I say tend to, I’m being very kind to our fruit company. If you want the RAM upgrade, you have to pay no less than twice the price that you would pay otherwise. The costs are even more inhibiting if you have to replace any parts. Here’s a case of heavy costs incurred, due to replacement of a faulty screen. Over to L.Bhat…

Last week, I discovered a yellow tint vertically across my MacBook screen. I took it to the Apple Re-seller in Bangalore and was later told that the LCD screen is faulty and needs to be replaced. The machine is out of warranty and not protected under AppleCare Protection Plan (APP). The price? A whopping Rs.26,000 (approx $520) [Ed: I believe it’s almost $900 if you have a Pro machine]. Having already spent a lot over the base price of Rs.68,000 (US $1360) on extra RAM, hard disk, battery and a new charger I couldn’t bring myself to pay this amount. I contacted Apple Support and ranted. At least I was heard out. The executive promised to ‘look into the matter and see what can be done’. I was told today that at best the labour charges on the repair will be waived but I have to fork out the money to replace the LCD.

macbook-like

The engineers at the Apple re-seller say that the fault is undetected on an external monitor and suggested that I use one. And what, carry the external monitor around? When I took a screenshot of my machine and saw it on another monitor is looks fine.

I now have a machine with a leaky-pipe-like yellow tint across the screen, staring at me. The exchange value of the machine would be near zero. The re-seller refused to entertain any thoughts of an exchange or upgrade to the unibody MacBook. I was also told that the condition of my screen could get worse over time.

Going by the book, I am not entitled to a free replacement. And manufacturers can’t be expected to keep replacing faulty parts for life. But this is Apple. I am disappointed that some part of the hardware went kaput so soon. While I am kicking myself for not opting for the APP, I feel trapped. What’s the way out? I can’t afford to upgrade without selling this machine, which no one will buy.

As you can see, Bhat should have opted for APP, and had peace of mind that his machine would be trouble free for the most useful years of the machine’s life. It’s like insurance. You should be happy if you never had to use it, but when you do, you’re glad you have it. You can buy APP from eBay, and save a lot of dough. Even if you don’t trust eBay, fork out the full amount at your Apple reseller, and get the APP. You cannot expect Apple to support out of warranty products (which will then make the whole point of buying APP moot)

Now, there is still hope for getting cheaper parts than what Apple charges. The iFixit guys have the MacBook 13” display priced at $200, which as you can see is over 60% (my math is a bit weak) cheaper than what Apple is charging. Their guides are very detailed and you could do the replacement for yourself. Hopefully Bhat will be able to get one of those screens and get his MacBook healthy again.

So, what’s your story, and how did you deal with it?

[img by Patrick Haney]

Tagged as: app, applecare, Hardware, macbook

Reader Comments

Dave K March 27, 2009 at 10:36 pm: APP is a scam, and Apple’s hardware is junk wrapped in a glossy package. In Canada my MBP 15.4” screen was $960. And APP would NOT replace it due to 3 dead pixels, because there was a small amount of liquid behind the screen, even though the dead pixels were documented before the liquid got back there, and the liquid got back there while waiting for a new screen. Once a non covered problem manifest the warranty vanished. I’ve also had to replace the logic board, top case and battery of this machine in the last 29 months also it often fails to wake the back lite from sleep, but Apple won’t replace it unless I can get it to do it in the presence of a tech, which will never happen because it means taking it down there and plugging it in working for a couple hours putting it to sleep for at least 10 hours and then waking it and this only happens one in 30 times. None of the other PC laptops I have ever owned have had such problems. And I’ve owned many. My other two MBPs (I have 3 MBPs not all identical) have also had issues, one has required a new screen and power connector the other has had stability issues. Also our Time Capsule has taken a dump twice and lost all of the backups on it (and revisions!). Apple refused to replace and then return with it, meaning that both times we’ve been without a router/NAS for several days each time while the techs verify it’s really broken. Apple also refused to replace a wireless mighty mouse that didn’t track smoothly.
bhatnaturally March 27, 2009 at 11:10 pm lbhat.com: Hi, I am the unlucky user of the Macbook mentioned above. I went ahead and ordered an LCD screen on the net. It cost me US$150 and I opted for priority Fedex delivery (US$ 50). The Apple re-seller has promised me that it will be replaced there even if the screen was not bought through them. BTW, the original price I paid for the Macbook was INR 77,000 (US$ 1500 approx) - add to it the RAM upgrade, hard disk upgrade, battery replacement, new charger and this LCD replacement, I am sure I have spent nearly Rs. 115,000 ($ 2273) on this machine!
beertje March 28, 2009 at 4:52 am: I have problem too with my iMac (brought June 2007, model late 2006) 1900 euro’s. Of course no Apple Care.
It’s making a ticking sound on the left corner (top). And I smell something burning!

First time I called Apple they said to wait until it is broke. Probably the HDD.
Second time they said to go to a Authorize Service Provider, if something is broke Apple will fix it, one time only out of warrenty. Then the ASP called and said nothing is wrong with mine iMac. He doesn’t hear the ticking sound, doesn’t smell a thing. And Apple doesn’t pay a thing.
SoI gave Apple a call. Apple tells me ask the APS to call to dealer support. You know what I mean.. from the wall till the closet and back again. Nobody does nothing… and you don’t have a problem. The law overhere says otherwize (basically you can expect that computer should be working for at least 3 years without problems) but Apple lifts it head and say nothing. Smart for now but not for long.

Maybe the iMac should get on fire in my bedroom… then Apple have got some explaining to do!
Gosh, I’m so disappointed!
Don’t feel like being taking seriously!
gM March 28, 2009 at 5:12 am thenewclassic.wordpress.com: I had the same problem in 2007 with my iMac G5. It was still under warranty, but the 17-inch screen had a few big yellow streaks through it. Well, I took it in and when they figured out that they didn’t have the lcd part in store they instead offered to upgrade my computer. They gave me a brand new 20-inch Intel-based iMac for free, upgraded my Tiger to Leopard and transferred everything from my old system to this brand new one. So at least in my experience, Apple’s customer service has been impeccable.
Phil Olin March 28, 2009 at 5:19 am philolin.me: We had a screen problem with one of the iMacs at work. 1st Gen 17in Intel iMac. First, a 1px wide yellow vertical line appeared. A few days later a cyan line, and a magenta line, all on the same side of the screen. Fortunately we had APP, as the screen alone was almost $600 in parts.

About a year ago, we had the HD die in another iMac, same model, and that was another $350+, covered by APP, which I thought was completely ridiculous, since I could run to Best Buy and pick up a 1TB drive for less than a third and put that in.
yash March 28, 2009 at 8:42 am yashrg.co.in: The moisture strip that they put in cellphones and other devices these days really blows! My friend here in oakville, canada was having some problem with his iphone, and he took it into the apple store, and just because the moisture strip had tripped, they said they won’t do anything to his phone! it hasn’t even been a year, and I know he hasn’t dropped his iphone in water! I recon it was snow or condensation.
TwiRp March 28, 2009 at 8:53 am lost-whisper.com: I have the apple care protection plan for my macBook, but my brother doesn’t. I’ve only had to get a couple things replaced so far, and my brother luckily has had no problems. I’m kindof worried because of how much apple says they would have charged me if I hadn’t had the extended warrenty ($100 for replacing the black border around the screen [$15 parts, $85 labor], $217 for replacing a 160GB hard drive [$132 for parts, $85 for labor]), since my brother’s warrenty ended last july and anything that goes wrong with his mac would cost a lot,

I’m shocked at how much they charge for labor… The guy was able to see that my hard drive was faulty by taking it out in under 5 minutes. Then he brought out a new hard drive from the back and put it in in under 5 minutes. Then he said they had to keep it for a week for reinstalling the OS and more hardware testing… Happy with the service I get with the protection plan, but scared of what’ll happen when it ends.
Azeem March 28, 2009 at 11:43 am: My MacBook too is under AppleCare Protection Plan and it was put to good use when my Hard drive crashed and Magsafe power adapter chocked. Both were replaced with new ones, in fact for my HDD, I took my crashed HDD and told my MacBook SN and it was replaced with a new HDD in a weeks time, same goes for my charger. I was not asked to bring my MacBook at all.
Yes APP is costly but it saved my ass … atleast twice as of now!!
Milind Alvares March 28, 2009 at 4:06 pm goobimama.blogspot.com: I think mine’s the best. After replacing the SuperDrive twice (no questions asked), they even replaced my keyboard ‘because they keys were getting a little hard’.

I think it’s time to call Apple Support again
bhatnaturally March 28, 2009 at 4:07 pm lbhat.com: Got a new LCD screen from Powerbookmedics.com. Engineer at Apple re-seller tells me that it doesn’t have an iSight connector. I nearly collapsed. I had bought this on the net checking with them if it pertains to the Apple parts. I was told yes. Anyway, I have been promised that it will be set right. Fingers crossed.
JJ March 29, 2009 at 12:05 pm: I’ve always buy APP, I do grumble about the price. I’ve used it several times with no questions asked—ever. My current MBP, early 2007, has been wonderful except the battery and the power button. The power button took a sideways dive into the case, dropped it off at my local Apple store (not an official store) and they took care of the rest. No questions asked, they even gave me a loaner, an iBook, to get me by! The battery has been replaced two times. I was down to about 15 minutes of use each time. Called Apple, new battery was sent overnight, FedEx. It was at my door the next day by 9:12 a.m. The first time the battery was replaced I was directed to Level 2 support where we BSed on the phone for almost an hour about Apple. He phoned me two times after, and emailed to make sure the battery was working fine and making sure everything was tip top with my MBP. My personal health insurance never makes follow up calls, I have to call them. The third battery, the one in now, has worked perfectly. I do “exercise” it much more often by leaving the machine on with iTunes running, and maybe Photoshop, and let the battery run totally empty, so that the Mac goes to sleep by itself. I leave it over night, around six hours, get up the next morning, plug it in, completely shut down to fully charge the battery and it has worked wonderfully. I do that once a month, on the first. I have a white iMac (and a few dinosaurs in the basement) that I use if I need to do work.
I guess I would not even consider purchasing any Mac without APP. When it expires time to buy a new Mac. And man-o-man are those unibody MBP stunning to feast your eyes on. Simply beautiful.
Deb March 30, 2009 at 1:39 am: I have APP on 1 iMac, 1 MBP and 2 MacBooks. Am glad I have it and have used it on the iMac extensively - no questions asked, no downtime, three onsite visits by tech, all parts replaced. OK, it might be expensive but I have owned desktop pcs all having way more problems that needed more money. I did own two Toshiba laptops 5 or so years ago and they were great - but again, they were expensive compared to other brands.

I still think the big picture is that you get what you pay for but the small picture is that sometimes you get problems and APP is the way around it for me.
beertje March 30, 2009 at 1:58 am: Where do you all live? In the EU there is an act that says that you can expect that a computer will work for at least 2 years. In Belgium Apple gives the people 2 years warrenty because the law says so. In the Netherlands Apple will need to give as long as you expect that a computer should be working fine. Knowing that need to get it is something else then getting it!
I hope the EU or in the countries itselve better explain what the act / law is. Make it clear for all.