Apple's Achilles Heel (or Hell, depending)
I’ve commented (okay, bitched!) about Apple’s lack of quality control ever since I became a switcher. You would think by now that the company would understand that quality control is its Achilles heel and the one thing, more than any other, that will keep it from acquiring significantly more market share.
Apple’s latest debauches center around its 23 inch Cinema Displays and, to a much lesser degree, its 17 inch G5 iMac. Many owners of the new, aluminum 23 inch Cinema Display are reporting color distortions within weeks after taking ownership. Most complaints describe the display turning pink, though some have talked about seeing yellow edges as well. Not the kind of thing one expects when he or she pays $1999 for a display that Apple is bragging can be professionally color calibrated. I saw a note from one owner who had already gone through two displays and both had the same problem. If you had spent all that money to switch over from Windows and then encountered that, would you stay with the platform? I think not! Some 20 inch owners are reporting the same problems as well, though the number seems to be significantly less than the 23 inchers.
Likewise, the new 17 inch G5 iMacs are suffering from two sets of problems as well. Fan noise often has been a problem solved by having the customers replace the machine’s “midplane assembly” (motherboard for you PC folks). Screen dimness is a second, and replacing a power inverter in most cases solves that problem. Still, these are things Apple needs to jump on at the factory during manufacture as soon as it becomes aware of them. Instead, Apple tends to deny the problems until they become so widespread and in the news that denying them is futile. (As I write this, Apple has been pulling discussions about these problems off its forums.) Once it goes after a solution, it tends to find one and then does a pretty good job of getting it out to its customers. As I’ve said before, Apple’s Customer Service, as a rule, tends to be superb, which is the only thing it has going for it that mitigates their quality control gaffs. It is, ultimately, the only reason why I’m still comfortable ordering Apple machines. Even so, I’m always nervous when I recommend for a friend or relative to switch since I never know what their first experience with a Mac is going to be.
I ordered a “new” G5 17 inch iMac for my wife, and it is due to arrive in a day or so. I’ve tried to hedge against the real possibility of something being wrong with her machine by informing her about the generic problems with the machines. The possibility of a problem is one argument against buying a machine via mail order, even straight from Apple itself, which is what I have done. This machine is refurbished, and one would hope that the quality control on a refurb would be especially tight.
I guess we’ll find out.
Apple’s latest debauches center around its 23 inch Cinema Displays and, to a much lesser degree, its 17 inch G5 iMac. Many owners of the new, aluminum 23 inch Cinema Display are reporting color distortions within weeks after taking ownership. Most complaints describe the display turning pink, though some have talked about seeing yellow edges as well. Not the kind of thing one expects when he or she pays $1999 for a display that Apple is bragging can be professionally color calibrated. I saw a note from one owner who had already gone through two displays and both had the same problem. If you had spent all that money to switch over from Windows and then encountered that, would you stay with the platform? I think not! Some 20 inch owners are reporting the same problems as well, though the number seems to be significantly less than the 23 inchers.
Likewise, the new 17 inch G5 iMacs are suffering from two sets of problems as well. Fan noise often has been a problem solved by having the customers replace the machine’s “midplane assembly” (motherboard for you PC folks). Screen dimness is a second, and replacing a power inverter in most cases solves that problem. Still, these are things Apple needs to jump on at the factory during manufacture as soon as it becomes aware of them. Instead, Apple tends to deny the problems until they become so widespread and in the news that denying them is futile. (As I write this, Apple has been pulling discussions about these problems off its forums.) Once it goes after a solution, it tends to find one and then does a pretty good job of getting it out to its customers. As I’ve said before, Apple’s Customer Service, as a rule, tends to be superb, which is the only thing it has going for it that mitigates their quality control gaffs. It is, ultimately, the only reason why I’m still comfortable ordering Apple machines. Even so, I’m always nervous when I recommend for a friend or relative to switch since I never know what their first experience with a Mac is going to be.
I ordered a “new” G5 17 inch iMac for my wife, and it is due to arrive in a day or so. I’ve tried to hedge against the real possibility of something being wrong with her machine by informing her about the generic problems with the machines. The possibility of a problem is one argument against buying a machine via mail order, even straight from Apple itself, which is what I have done. This machine is refurbished, and one would hope that the quality control on a refurb would be especially tight.
I guess we’ll find out.
posted by Andy Foster at
2:56 PM
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