Macbook Random Shutdown

Here’s a copy of the letter I sent to as many executives at Apple that I could.
I did get a response and the one I got surprised me very much.  That answer is at the end.

Here’s the letter:

I wanted to share my feelings with you regarding your MacBook product.

To begin with, I’d like to let you know that I have been an avid Mac user for several years.  I started using a Mac because I was so frustrated with using Window’s based PC’s.   My first Mac was a Power PC G3.  Eventually I bought an eMac, then a mirrored drive door G4 Power Mac in 2003.  (Which I am using to write this letter to you today.)  My G4 works flawlessly, as it always has.  My last purchase was an Intel based MacBook in 2006 for around $1600.00.

I still have all of my Mac’s.  They all work just fine, with the exception of the MacBook.  Having become accustomed to superior products such as the G3’s and G4’s, I expected the same quality product in the MacBook, which is why I purchased it.

All of this has come into question recently when I started experiencing problems with my MacBook.  To begin with, the keyboard had to be replaced shortly after I purchased it.  Secondly, earlier this year, the keyboard and the cover case holding the keyboard in place, had to be replaced.  Last week my MacBook started randomly shutting itself down.

After running Disk Utility to repair any permissions and the hard drive, once I was able to start the computer, I thought that this corrected the problem.  It did not.  Throughout the week the computer continued to shutdown automatically.  Sometimes even shutting down and restarting itself continuously, over and over until the computer would not start up at all.  Now when I power it up the snooze light comes on and the CD Rom runs but that’s it.  

Long story short, I called tech-support to find out if they could help me.  After following their instruction to try to get the computer to start up again proved futile, they informed me that I would need to take the MacBook to an authorized Apple repair center and that the Logic board probably needed to be repaired.   Which will cost me around $500.

Of course I did complain about this to his supervisor.  I explained to him that I had come to expect more from Apple products.  That all of the Apple products I have ever owned, including my iPhone (which I failed to mention earlier) worked better than expected.  He agreed that Apple would pay for the labor incurred while repairing my MacBook, if I agreed to pay for parts.

That agreement was fine until I started to do research.  Research which has alarmed me greatly.

I have learned that there have been problems with MacBooks suddenly shutting down since the first Intel based MacBooks were made.  It is called RSS.  (Rapid Shut Down Syndrome).  The cause of which I have learned in the following excerpt.

“Since isolating the heatsink as the cause of the MacBook’s Rapid Sudden Shutdown (RSS), readers have isolated the specific part of the heatsink that is causing the problem, is actually the CPU thermometer itself. Essentially, the heatsink can expand during use, and comes into contact with the lead from the thermometer’s sensor cable. A short circuit results, and the SMC pulls the plug. Once the system cools down, the heatsink resides and the contact is broken. This also explains why sometimes you cannot immediately power the MacBook back on. The heatsink is still in contact with the metal lead.

Apple’s solution to this is to realign the location of the thermometer and cabling on the heatsink so that it does not short circuit. That is why the new heatsink is necessary. In the view of this writer, it warrants a public recall. Any user can produce easily the scenario that causes the MacBook to crash, even with pre-installed applications such as iLife.

This also explains Apple’s recent SMC Update for the MacBook. In short, the ramped up fan is a response to Apple knowing the heatsink is going to expand, and attempts to proactively cool it down to prevent the short circuit.”

The source of this is http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-MacBook-owners-disappointed-38109.shtml.

Apple was aware of this information when this article was written back in October of 2006.  I was never made aware of this.  Nor did technical support make me aware of this, nor was there ever a recall when there should have been.  I have friends that have had the very same problem with their MacBook also.

My question is why should I invest another $500 in repairing my MacBook which has been riddled with problems from the day I bought it;  when I could spend $500 to buy a  laptop running Windows.  Yes, I admit, I hate Windows based products, but at least I can expect to get my money’s worth of $500.  I know very well that it’s only going to last a couple of years anyway.

That’s why I purchased the MacBook in the first place, I thought I was buying a quality product and I thought I would get my money’s worth.   I thought that it would, like my other Mac’s, work perfectly for years without ever requiring maintenance.  Now I sincerely question that.  I question the quality of all of your laptops given my experience.  

I’d really like for my MacBook to be replaced with a new one.  The one I have is inferior and it shames the Apple brand.  It’s not what I expected when I purchased it for $1600.  Had I known what I would have encountered the past two years, I would have lowered my standards and purchased a PC

LATEST NEWS:

After mailing the above letter to Apple, an assistant to Steve Jobs contacted me regarding my problem.  He said that Apple still would pay for labor for any repair but that I had to pay for parts.  I tool the computer back to the Authorized repair center (not the apple store) where I had my top-case repaired.  The first time I took it they re-seated the top-case.  I picked it up, still didnt’ work.  Second time I took it they re-seated the RAM.  Picked it up, it would come on, but whenever I moved the computer it would turn off.  I

I had had enough.  I called Apple again, told them what was going on, and I took it to the Apple Store.  The guy at the Apple store looked inside the computer, said that it was missing several screws and that the frame of the laptop was bent.  All of this was caused by the repair center I had taken it too.  He said since the original repair was under warranty, that HE WOULD send it to the factory, and have them completely refurbish the laptop for me for free.  So, it turns out that the cause of me RSS was a faulty repair.

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