[Closed] An Apple sob story (from a fanboi)

Jesus Christ..... that's the longest post I've ever wrote on stw...........

As an aside I just posted the exact same message on the Apple forum and it was removed within 60seconds as apparently.....

Thanks for participating in the Apple Support Communities.

We’ve removed your post An Apple sob story (from an Apple fanboy) because it contained either feedback or a feature request that was not constructive.

Jesus Christ.....so you are not allowed to write an honest account of issues?,

If it IS a time machine issue, and the machine works OK with a fresh install, can you do that again and just copy the files you need off the TM backup? Re-download & re-install apps? Bit of a ballache but possibly less so than having a take it in for repair!

That's crap soma, hope you get it sorted.

Unfortunately online editing is just a fact of modern business. We weren't allowed a feedback of an utterly shocking holiday accommodation with Hoseasons as it portrayed them negatively - this on an 'independent feedback' site.

No, its not a time machine issue as I ran the Mac when I first received it without installing my back-up and the issue "this webpage was reloaded as a problem occurred" popped up on a few websites, the engineer on the phone said it appears to be a hardware issue and advised me to take it to an Apple service place.

so you are not allowed to write an honest account of issues?

Try a title that explains your issue, if seeking help on there... rather than "An Apple sob story"... it's not STW, it's a support community.

advised me to take it to an Apple service place.

That might be them offering the fastest and easiest why to get the issue resolved... it doesn't remove your rights to send it back to them, as you ordered it at distance.

have you tried a different browser?

Hmm, ok...sensible advice....damn you stw....where's the "wee in shoes"...."own with bombers" responses.

I'll try "New iMac issues, what could be wrong with it" as a title and try again.

https://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

Apple Limited Warranty : Included repair or replacement options : Carry-in or postal service

I presume that you should have the choice of either... I don't see how they can force a "carry-in" situation, if you ordered online and had it delivered. I'd go with taking it to a store to be sorted out though, if it was me.

Jesus Christ….. that’s the longest post I’ve ever wrote on stw

I’ll wait for the film.

It's a long shot, but have you tried removing the ram that was in it when you took delivery?

It's the one constant you can easily remove.

The issue was there before I installed the extra ram, I removed it to check and the problem still persisted unfortunately, as for trying a different browser that's something I've not tried, but I figure it should work with safari as is.

Drac, wanna throw your iPad at it to see if that helps?.

We'll see what the service centre says on Wednesday.

As an aside it's not had an issue for the last two hours....I did swear at it in Gaelic so perhaps that's helped.

Edit : nope its playing up again now, just opened the photo app and its lost all my photos........tried to open it again and get message "The photos app needs to quit, photos must quit because the photo library is being moved (first I've heard of it?, it was there 30 mins ago), is unavailable or its data is corrupt".

Hmmm.....fubar indeed.

somafunk
Free Member
as for trying a different browser that’s something I’ve not tried, but I figure it should work with safari as is.

Defo try it, could well just be a safari issue, install chrome or something see how you go, at least update safari to latest version. and make sure you've got everything updated in general.

Do the easy things before you start making journey's and up costing ye money. 😆

Everything software wise has been updated by the senior engineer who I was on the phone with for hours on Sunday and earlier today using remote access so I expect little computer illiterate me won't be able to fix it.....still love my apple products btw so I'm not soured against them - everything I've owned since early 2000's has always worked first time every time but its bloody annoying all the same.

I guess the 1tb fusion drive is knackered as its pretty noisy and whirs away whilst I'm doing nothing with the Mac - if it is that I wonder if the service centre would fit a 1tb ssd instead?.

Try running MS Edge 😉

Will someone please show TiRred the door..............😉

I’ll try a restart and see if my photos reappear

Well that was a bloody mistake.....wouldn’t shut down so I pressed the off button on rear to shut down, waited.....then switched back on and all I see is the apple logo and process bar then it shuts down and restarts to apple logo and process bar then it shuts down and restarts to process bar, it’s looping round n’ round.

Right....time to admit defeat....walk away and have a whisky.

The issue was there before I installed the extra ram, I removed it to check and the problem still persisted unfortunately,

Try removing the original RAM that came already installed ?
That’s the constant and is easy enough to try, on the off chance that that’s the issue it could be an easy win.

Typing from my iPad as I can’t get it to shut down, it seems to be stuck in a loop, I may just pull the power cord out the back or switch off at wall as what’s the worst that can happen?

No experience on Apple stuff mate but on a pc id probably let it continue over night and see if it's sorted in the morning.

Feel for you, amazing tech these days but it makes it all the more infuriating when it isn't working as expected.

That sounds like a broken machine.

I’ll not explore what you could have done at the start as you are where you are and it may have made no difference.

Based on what you’ve done and what’s been proposed why not just box it back up and get a courier pick up to send it in for repair? No travel, easier than going to Carlisle, and it gives the experts a chance to inspect and hopefully repair.

it seems to be stuck in a loop, I may just pull the power cord out the back or switch off at wall as what’s the worst that can happen?

well the fusion drive could become (further) corrupted.

by now I expect you have turned it off and on again. Have you tried opening it in recovery mode? Then try disk utility’s repair option. You could always try reinstalling MacOS again too. But you’ll likely be better off packing it up and sending it off.

the original ‘memory’ / website problem is one I’ve not seen on Macs, yet  [edit. I was mistaken, on re-reading I remembered I have seen that. And ignored it, it’s just a Safari moan rather than a problem]. But the answer to problems like that is rarely ‘add more memory’ as even 8GB should be enough for some much more demanding activities. Opening Activity Monitor could have provided some insight but I imagine the support folks used that or dissected the console logs.

all in all this is a shame. It does sound like the Apple folks tried long and hard with you to help but were unable to get things sorted remotely. That can happen. Sorry you had this bad luck and I hope your system is back up soon.

debit card? Always use a reputable credit card for expensive purchases.

By the way, Catalina broke more things than it fixed for me. Thankfully Big Sur looks and works like something good so far.

Haha, I was going to suggest pulling out the original memory stick, but nealglover beat me to it.

This latest realisation about the noisy hard drive, will the upgraded disk from the old one fit it as a test?

Sounds like it could be a hardware failure with the fusion drive. You could boot off an external SSD (if you have one) via usb-3. If that fixes the problem, you have an answer.

Back on the phone to the senior engineer/manager and I asked for a replacement machine as this one is fubard but there’s no chance as apparently I am out of the 30day window (Mac was bought on 20th August), despite my protestations regarding the issues I have been having from new. Apple will not even collect the machine for repair, it is now up to me to drive to Carlisle and hand the Mac in for repair at an authorised Mac repair store which I plan to do on Wednesday.

They've been shite like this for years. Just trading on the early days reputation of swapping stuff no questions asked.

Wife's iPhone developed very annoying battery fault 6 weeks inside warranty. Tech support were infuriating to deal with, basically dragged it out until outside warranty washed hands of it. I think going to store is best bet but it sounds a bit like us you live miles away from a store.

Contrast with my Samsung phone. It had a fault. One call, they send UPS to collect and a week later a new one turns up. No fannying about.

Sounds like it could be a hardware failure with the fusion drive.

This, same issue with our in the first 8 months then it died completely.  Fusion drive replaced at the nearest Apple store and all has been well for two years.

3rd what they've said about the drive. I've had 2 iMacs with fusion drives and they've both run almost silently. Never heard any whirring up noises.

Agree. The fact that it now won't boot, the fusion drive was whirring away whilst idle and your photos disappearing all indicate that the fusion drive is FUBAR. The latter two symptoms would specifically point to an issue with the drive/OS internally transferring data between the mechanical disk drive and the NAND memory. The first symptom would indicate that it's had enough and given up.

Sorry to hear of your woe's OP. If it makes you feel any better I got my daughter a windows laptop a couple of years ago when she started secondary school as I wasn't going to shell out on a Mac and it has been one of the worse consumer experiences I've had in recent times. It was as on 'on paper' half decent laptop - HP, decent amount of RAM, decent processor, £500 worth etc. Has been awful since day 1. Multiple fresh instals, tried everything in my amateur arsenal to improve its performance and maintain some level of acceptable performance but failed miserably. Should have taken it back to the shop early on but like you thought I'd persevere and fix it. Such a terrible experience it now sits gathering dust in my Daughters bedroom and she pinches my Mac to do her work on. Now my younger daughter has just started secondary school i'm looking to get a laptop for her and I'd rather by both a MacBook Air (can't buy one kid one and not the other) than waste another £500 on a POC. At least I know it'll last their whole school careers and beyond based on my Mac experience. Not sure how I'm going to fund it...will probably have to raid their bank accounts to partially fund.

No computer is perfect and the hardware is largely the same quality on equivalent machines across platforms. So anything can fail and cause weird issues.

But Macs can have software issues too. I've got two in this house from work and they both have started waiting for 2 mins before letting me log in after being asleep.

it now sits gathering dust in my Daughters bedroom

That's just silly. Either take it to someone who can fix it or pass it on. Windows does actually work despite what Mac fans would have you believe.

Jesus Christ…..so you are not allowed to write an honest account of issues?

You basically sent up a flare for the moderation system with 'Apple Fanboy'.

Morning all, update : now stuck at apple logo startup process bar screen,

Pretty green parrot: Based on what you’ve done and what’s been proposed why not just box it back up and get a courier pick up to send it in for repair?, debit card? Always use a reputable credit card for expensive purchases.

Why should I be the one who pays a courier and insurance to get a working mac, never owned a credit card, couldn’t get one if I tried due to years on benefits.

This latest realisation about the noisy hard drive, will the upgraded disk from the old one fit it as a test?

it’s an iMac, you can’t open them and I don’t have an ssd. All the usual diagnostic stuff has previously been tried, all immaterial as it won’t turn on anymore, still.....it does look good as a £1500 paperweight on my desk.

Back on the phone to the senior engineer/manager and I asked for a replacement machine as this one is fubard but there’s no chance as apparently I am out of the 30day window (Mac was bought on 20th August), despite my protestations regarding the issues I have been having from new.

This is covered in the Consumer Rights Act. You are still entitled to a refund as the issues started within the 30 days. Talk to your bank about a charge back (still applies to debit cards)

Contrast with my Samsung phone. It had a fault. One call, they send UPS to collect and a week later a new one turns up. No fannying about.

That sounds like atrocious service to me - they seriously left you without a phone for a week?

Whenever I've had to deal with Apple exchanges, it either been a) instant swap in store, b) they send the new item out straight away and I've returned the faulty at my leisure (taking my credit card details obviously!) or c) the courier that brings the replacement and takes the faulty one away.

Torsoinalake : You basically sent up a flare for the moderation system with ‘Apple Fanboy

but I am a fanboy, still am a fanboy despite this issue, I fully expect complicated electronic gadgets to fail for no accord, what should then happen is the support and after sales service should kick in and deal with the issue at no further personal inconvenience.

“This website is using significant memory and closing it may improve the responsiveness of your Mac”

My 2009 iMac started doing this with FaceBook.
Then Singletrack wouldn't open (and some other sites).

I figured seeing as nothing had changed on the computer other than updates from Apple, it had to be Safari and some scripts or the way they were handled.

I installed Brave which gives more control over what's coming in, and it is what I use for FaceBook and Singletrack now. I'm gradually shifting all my regular sites over to it.

epicyclo - a brand new iMac should handle it with ease though.

Epicyclo: I had that issue earlier on in the year with Stw being the only website in my bookmarks folder not opening in safari on my 2008 MacBook running El Capitan (but no similar memory issues as you mention) , I also downloaded brave browser onto the MacBook and that worked.

Try Computeractive magazine. They have a consumer rights section. It’s amazing how often them getting involved makes large companies see the error of their ways.

I agree with above post that this looks like a Consumer Rights Act case. The fact that they fobbed you off so you are now out of the 30 day period should help.

Back in late August I sold my mk2 golf gti 16v

I know zero about computers but I do like a MK2. Do you have photos of the car? Or is that worse than asking for pictures of an ex-girlfriend?

never owned a credit card

The protections also apply to stuff bought with a debit card, don't they?

Back on the phone to the senior engineer/manager and I asked for a replacement machine as this one is fubard but there’s no chance as apparently I am out of the 30day window (Mac was bought on 20th August), despite my protestations regarding the issues I have been having from new. Apple will not even collect the machine for repair, it is now up to me to drive to Carlisle and hand the Mac in for repair at an authorised Mac repair store which I plan to do on Wednesday.

If your problems started within the 30 day window are you not covered? I would argue, that the machine since the start hasn't been working how it was advertised.

On the safari issue, I never use it, it was shit and google chrome worked much better imho.

@Mister-P - Maybe the ex-girlfriend in the Golf 🙂

Safari does that a lot so possible red-herring. clearing the cache usually fixes it temporarily or using another browser (e.g for most google stuff).

Random shutdowns does tend to point to a hardware problem. I'd be looking at the system logs to see if any errors were reported at the timestamp before it shut down. Or if it just hard failed you might see random chars in there which is almost certainly a hardware failure (as it's a mac so a closed system and not a kernel issue with a component).

This is covered in the Consumer Rights Act. You are still entitled to a refund as the issues started within the 30 days. Talk to your bank about a charge back (still applies to debit cards)

This. Have a chat with your bank.

Although, having thought about it, I think it's not a question of reporting the fault within 30, you actually have to return it within 30.

Which leaves you the six month threshold - during which they need to be given a chance to repair.

@somapunk

Have you actually tried removing the memory that came with it yet?

the_muffin-man
epicyclo – a brand new iMac should handle it with ease though.

About the only reason I want a Mac now is for BBEdit.

Everything else is basically internet and photos.

LibreOffice opens old Mac files that I can't open with current Mac software, eg where the original programme has been obsoleted by Mac. I've been caught out a few times too often by Mac ditching perfectly good software. It's a real bummer when you need to look at a very old document to discover you can't see it as it looked originally.

I'll probably be on Linux soon after 30 years on the Apple ecosystem.

That's not a complaint. Mac computers were stand outs in their time for ease of use, and when you ran a business with staff as I did, the value of a system that did not need gurus, network experts or extensive training to use was well worth the Apple hipster tax. That's commonplace now though.

These days I grudge spending what I willingly paid 30 years ago for a specced up SE/30 for something a zillion times more capable.

I suspect the next version of the Raspberry Pi will handle my current needs. 🙂

I think there are two things: The Consumer Rights Act 30 day thing, and Apple's no quibble return within (I think) 14 days. Your tech guy might have been talking about the latter without realising that the consumer rights act also applies. AIUI, if you have reported the problem within 30 days, the Consumer Rights Act still applies.

At the moment, I'm sure Apple thinks this is a resolvable software issue. If you can prove there's a hardware problem then it'll be far easier for you to get it replaced (even if only under a standard 12/24 month warranty).

If you haven't already done so, run the hard drive health check in the Disk Utility app to see if that throws any errors.

If that comes back clean, you may wish to delve a bit deeper E.g. http://www.rawinfopages.com/mac/content/access-hidden-disk-utility-commands-using-terminal-macos

I'm sure if you tell Apple you're going to do a charge-back they'll take notice...

Can’t do much with it as it’s stuck on apple log in screen with process bar, no matter what I do will not boot up in safe mode either.

https://flic.kr/p/2jPZrdu

first thing is to make a backup of anything important if you have not done so.
then keep the backup far away from your mac for the time being.

My advice wold be to get the fusion drive swapped with a SSD.
the later MacOS uses a new APFS file system instead HFS+
it is optimised for SSD/flash drives and does all sorts of encription and other background tasks as well as completely altering the way changes to files are handled.

Buggy and unreliable in weird and wonderful ways... bu some people have no issues?

high sierra on an old cheesegrater MacPro is a cheap and high performing if you want to geek out a little bit. You can run any OS you want in a virtual machine which covers you for compatability forwards and back.

PS macrumours has a helpful forum.

try command+r for recovery mode?

or Option-Command-R
Shift-Option-Command-R

for internet based recovery

I suspect the next version of the Raspberry Pi will handle my current needs. 🙂

Well that's all fine and dandy!

Some of us just like nice things - and a 27" 5k iMac is a nice thing to use. And my experience of Apple is they last for years. My 2010 MacBook Pro is still being used by my daughter for her sixth form work (even gets other pupils looking at it wondering how it's still going!). My 2009 iMac is still be used by my parents for all their internet/email/banking needs.

I've lost count of how many Macs I've had in business (print) and personally, but I know only 2 of them gave me trouble and that was when they were brand new (motherboard failure and HD failure).

Do you still have the original laptop and a 16GB USB drive?

It will take a bit of doing but download a copy of the Catalina software from a torrent site of your choice and use the laptop to make a USB install disk.

Fire up iMac via this USB install disk. Safari is normally part of the bare-bones OS you get in this set up (or was).

Run the hardware check from the USB stick and let us know what it says!

If the fusion drive is dead the disk utility should let you know.

Armed with this knowledge head back to Apple and insist on your CRA rights (polite assertion recommended). If denied try getting them to confirm in the confirmation that they are denying your CRA rights.

Iffoverload : my time machine backup hd is unplugged and moved to a drawer, I’ll ask the apple service center at Carlisle if they’ll fit a 1tb ssd in place of the fusion drive as I’ve since found out the many issues folk have been having with them on iMacs, dunno if/how that would possibly affect any further warranty issues if they arrive in the future.

Tried the command d option last night but no joy so I’ll leave it alone.

download a copy of the Catalina software from a torrent site of your choice

Why on earth would you risk doing that?

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201372

cmd-d is the diagnostics test, will likely not start if the drive is on the blink

the alt-cmd-r will attemt to start you mac from a recovery disk over the internet

if the problem is the drive and your internet connection is ok it should start up

Yeah I concluded about 10 years back that Apple basically don't GAS about Mac users.

I had very poor treatment from the 'geniuses' a few times with Mac problems. I remember once I was in there begging for a serious problem with my macbook pro to be fixed, and while i was in there they replaced a girl's smashed iphone screen for free.
Pretty annoying considering mine was a well known and commonly occurring fault with the product, and hers was 100% user error. But it shows Apple's attitude at the time.

Sad for me as a (now ex-) fanboy but it makes good business sense really, as they make most of their money on iphones and ipads.

I've always bought from Jigsaw 24 or KRCS - independent dealers so good service matters to them.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201372/a >

This can sometimes not to work if your computer doesn't support the software.

Mister P : for you,

https://flic.kr/p/cZTqYy

https://flic.kr/p/cZTwtu

https://flic.kr/p/bGKDDr

https://flic.kr/p/bGKGp8

16v conversion with built ABT engine from a guy at ABT sports line in (Germany) I got talking to when I went with a mate to collect his new B4 RS4 ABT, got talking bout my mk2 gti and he mentioned about the engine he built for his track car and I eventually managed to convince him to sell it to me.

192bhp at 7500rpm-revved freely up to 8500rpm, custom profiled cams, balanced/profiled crank, bored and larger forged pistons/conrods, uprated oil pump/oil cooler/custom baffled sump. stand alone ignition/engine management, fettled gearbox with selected ratios for acceleration rather than top speed and quaife lsd, quick shift gear linkage, twin Webber’s with uprated fuel pump, custom stainless miltek 4 branch manifold and exhaust, all ports matched for flow, fully polybushed and camber adjustment top mounts with bilstein b12 shocks, eichbach springs and anti roll bars. Vibratechnics engine/gearbox mounts, custom quick rack steering rack/ upgraded brakes/discs. Basically if it was possible, this car had it and it would easily see off a modern golf

Was a bit thirsty though, I would regularly see sub 18 mpg but didn’t mind as it was a hoot to drive and the throttle response/overrun pops were addictive, if you drove carefully you’d get mid 20mpg which was fine

No longer mine though as I’ve been unable to drive it for the last 4years so decided to sell it, I needed the cash as disability benefits don’t amount to much, no point in hanging on to the past as it’s the type of car that deserves to used n’ abused (within reason).

I got bored with Apple chat TBH, but I'm glad I persevered for the Golf pics. That's lush.

Second trying Command+R to go into recovery mode and run disk utility. Also as previously mentioned remove the original RAM (not the extra RAM you installed) or all RAM and try one stick at a time.

I don't know if it has been suggested, but holding down P, R, command & option & while it reboot twice saved my old iBook from becoming a paper weight.
I'm using 2012 iMac here which complains about facebook, but still runs fine. My late 08 MacBook won't load Singletrack the same as epicyclo mentioned.

Doesn’t make any difference what I do with the ram, I’ve tried my additional two 8gb of ram in slots 1 & 3/2 & 4, made no difference and I’m not wasting anymore of my time buggering about with it, left the original two 4gb ram in original placement of slots 1 & 3 and the service centre can deal with it tmorn.

I'd put money on it being an issue with the mechanical disc half of the fusion drive.

My 2013 iMac was behaving in a very similar way last year and that's what it turned out to be.

If the fusion drive is dead the disk utility should let you know.

No, strangely it didn't - all the disk checks I could access reported OK. When I took it into the apple store they ran their own diagnostic on it which immediately showed up the spinning disc as the issue (so have to wonder why the consumer disk utility isn't as good).

The fusion drive appears to be a standard spinning disc and an SSD linked together (in software/hardware) by Apple rather than a single plug in unit as I expected.

Spinning discs fail - 5 years or so is typical but sometimes the odd one is going to die in a few months.

My money is on on the fusion drive as it kept mysteriously filling right up despite having only 500gb ish stuff on it, disc utility showed no issues.

I'm with b33k34, I too had similar issues when a fusion drive failed. Interestingly they can replace just the failed part so not so much 'fusion' as '2 stuck together'

So many helpful posts. Have you tried swearing at it, hitting it or launching it across the room in a blind rage? Hammer frozen artisan sausages made from pigs that were hand reared by only the finest farmers (this is apple after all) in to the USB ports?

Small bumpers and quarter light windows. Oh yes!

UPDATE : received my iMac back from service yesterday, they did sod-all apart from a fresh reinstall of Catalina (which was previously attempted and did not work) and it has not sorted the issues, it still has the same problems as mentioned in my first post so I've contacted the bank and they are going to open a section 75 investigation which could take 45days.

Ho-hum.........

Go back to the retailer and ask for your money back. If they've attempted a repair and it hasn't worked, you're entitled to ask for a refund.

It was bought online from the apple store, not making that mistake again

Am I reading this right that it works after a fresh install but plays up after restoring a backup from a 2009 unibody?

I've got a couple of those and they don't work under MacOS, can't put a recent enough version on them to use the browser. They do work fine with a Linux install but that's immaterial.

No, it does not work with a completely fresh Catalina install by apple service, It has no time machine backup installed, there is 992gb spare capacity in the 1tb hard drive

Fubar for sure.

whats it doing now?

whats it doing now?

Almost every time I open a new website from my favourites/bookmarks or a new tab it constantly reloads the page given the same error messages over and over again as before/two weeks ago "this page was reloaded because a problem occurred", then the activity monitor shows max cpu load (100%), the fans kick in and the hard drive whirs and clicks away like a dodgy ac unit and the iMac shuts down/restarts.

video playback issues - I downloaded a 4k movie from appletv/iTunes last night and there are artefacts all over the screen and audio is mismatched.

Lost all my iCloud photos again and will not reload them, just shows greyed out boxes.

Its going back in the box, i'll continue to use my iPad Pro.

you could try to let all the updates run if you have not done it yet

but I would ask them to remove the fusion drive and fit a standard SSD

You might have a hardware fault otherwise

if you go to the store in person ask them to test it with you present.

good luck!

It has all the latest updates, as it comes fresh from an apple service center and still buggers up then I’ve no faith in keeping the iMac, I’ll wait till I get a full refund and buy the 2020 27” iMac with a 1tb ssd from a decent retail store

This info may be useful with regards to repairs / refund / replacement as it would appear your legal rights supercede the warranty from Apple. I think you're in Scotland so have attached the Scottish version - English version also available. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/return-faulty-goods/

Cheers for that Philby, makes my rights clear, Ive gave them one chance to repair the Mac but the problem still persists so I'm within my rights to ask for a refund (or replacement).

Here’s a quick 20sec video highlighting one of the issues I have, the page repeatedly reloads and cpu load is 270% whilst I can hear the fans kick in like a dodgy ac unit, after 30 seconds or so the iMac shuts down and restarts.

Quite annoying as it is totally random as to when or why it happens