Tag Archives: AppleCare

Ghosting Retina MacBook Pro is a Known Unknown

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Just yesterday I noticed while editing some Illustrator and Photoshop documents that there was significant ghosting on my August 2012 Retina MacBook Pro screen. You know, the screen known for its brilliant resolution and eye-popping color. And also for this particular flaw.

Ghosting MacBook Pro with Retina Screen

I absolutely love my Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Screen (rMBP). It is the most powerful computer I have ever owned, the thinnest computer I have ever owned and has the longest battery life of any computer I have ever owned. It is so amazing that I plan on putting my iMac out to pasture, replacing it with this computer and a 27″ screen.

But there is this issue with the ghosting. When I went to my Apple Genius appointment today the tech told me something I couldn’t believe and reminded me of this famous Rumsfeldism…

Secretary of Defense Donald RumsfeldThere are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.

Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

Oh those were the days… Here is an approximation of how it went down.

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The Perfect Hackintosh Mac Pro

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When Apple announced the new Retina MacBook Pro I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Thin, light and powerful plus there’s that amazing “Retina” screen. What more could someone ask for at $2,799?

Apple Retina MacBook ProWell in my case, I ask for twice the RAM (16GB) for an additional $200. Then there’s the processor which is fabulous at 2.6GHz but I’d always wonder how much faster my video would render with that extra 100MHz so another $250. The stock hard drive is a hefty 512GB SSD, which was enough for me since once my video/photo is edited, it all goes back onto my Drobo. Since it is 100% non-user repairable, I have to add AppleCare, $350.

The total, after tax, is now $3,911.83. Luckily I have a situation where I can get it for about $700-1,000 less, especially if I drop the CPU to 2.6GHz. That’s still a lot of cash and in the end, is the Retina MacBook Pro the best option? Continue reading →

The New, New iMac

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You remember my old iMac right?  The nearly out of AppleCare warranty guy who had all that trouble?

In short, here’s what we did, well what these two guys did…

The MacXperts...

The MacXperts...

  1. Replace the LCD panel (there were bugs crawling in it!)
  2. Replace the Video Card (couldn’t use Photoshop CS4)
  3. Replace the RAM (still couldn’t use Photoshop CS4)
  4. Replace the Motherboard (still still couldn’t use Photoshop CS4)
  5. Replace the Hard drive (still still still couldn’t use Photoshop CS4)
  6. Uncheck a box in Photoshop preferences (fixed Photoshop CS4!!!)
  7. FireWire 800 port doesn’t work… For real?!?!?!?!?!

My poor iMac, so pretty yet so used…

My Beloved iMac

My Beloved iMac

I made a call to Apple, only to request some sort of compensation.  Turns out, I haven’t had my computer for over five months!  All I wanted was a 5 month, asked for a four month, extension to my AppleCare, seeing as for the last five months I didn’t even have a working computer.

The response from the Apple representative, after reading my blog post here about the situation, went as follows…

Oh wow, do you mind if I put you on hold for three to five minutes?…

Unfortunately we cannot extend the AppleCare for another four months, however, do you mind holding while I research another option?…

How about we send you a brand new, equivalent iMac instead?

Well, obviously I said, YES!

Apple then, overnighted me, a new iMac, top of the line sorta thing, for real, this thing totally murders the iMac it is replacing.  The next day, or so, my new iMac arrives.

My New, Beautiful iMac

My New, Beautiful iMac

I got her all set up, it was a beautiful thing actually.  Between SugarSync, MobileMe and TimeMachine, this guy was up and running in MINUTES!  I was so excited and ready for all the new power when… all of a sudden… Things got a little…. foggy?

Foggy iMac?

Foggy iMac?

I thought, maybe my Lasik is going bad, maybe I have something in my eyes… no, actually, it was the screen, literally getting fogged up!

Fogged up iMac

Fogged up iMac

For real?  My brand new, from Apple, overnighted iMac was essentially dead on arrival?

Luckily, I was still dealing with the AMAZING AppleCare customer support.  They overnighted me, AGAIN, another iMac.  So far, so good.  This iMac is beautiful, fast and just about as perfect as anything I’ve ever owned has come to be.

@clettenberg is not giving me even a HARDER time about having an iMac, ie) such n amazing computer. 😛

Let’s hope THIS iMac will last.  I sure did LOVE my old iMac and the truth is, it was only a check box in Photoshop that was causing all the trouble.  The fact that Apple replaced my computer after the other trouble, read my blog and actually followed up with me?  Absolutely incredible.  It’s why I will continue to buy Apple products, even when Dell, HP, etc are cheaper.  The end result?  Apple is an impossibly measurable value.

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