Apple’s awful hardware

Computing

To be avoided.

As I value reliability over looks, stability over price, I have been an Apple OS X devotee for a decade now. Windows drove me to OS X. But it would be hard to be unhappier with the reliability record of Apple’s hardware which I have experienced. Here, more or less in chronological order, is the list of that company’s hardware I have used over the past decade and what happened to each.

  • iMac 17″ PPC, 1.25gHz – still working great if a bit slow by modern standards. 10 years old. Good for web surfing.
  • Airport Extreme ‘UFO’ style’ router. Nothing but stability problems. Given to a friend.
  • Airport Express ‘G’ model. Impossible to program and totally unstable. Returned for refund.
  • iBook #1 – DVD drive failed after 30 months. Replaced (awful job) and sold.
  • iBook #2 – DVD drive failed after 27 months. Replaced and given to a friend.
  • iBook #3 – HDD failed. Battery failed after 27 months. In surgery now.
  • iMac G5 20″ PPC, 1.8gHz – started to overheat after 2 years’ use. DVD drive errratic. Sold before it could blow.
  • Airport Express ‘N’ model. Refused to extend network despite much telephone time with Apple. Returned for refund.
  • iMac 20″ Intel C2D, white model. Graphics processor failed after 2 years. Not economical to repair. Recycled.
  • iMac 24″ Intel C2D, white model. DVD drive erratic and failing. Graphics processor started to fail after 2 years. GPU board replaced and additional cooling (fans and holes) added. Failed three months later. Recycled.
  • Airport Extreme router ‘N’ model. Unstable out of the box. Replaced under warranty. Replacement continues to work fine.
  • MacBook #1 12″, Intel C2D. Repaired twice under warranty for a wireless problem – Apple replaced the wifi card twice. No use. Complete computer replaced under warranty after 9 months of use. This one broke me, I confess and started my Hackintosh quest.
  • MacBook #2 12″ Intel C2D. Warranty replacement for the above. Sold as quickly as possible before new problems could arise. Replaced with a $300 hacked netbook which is perfect after 15 months’ heavy use, not to mention that it runs 40F cooler.
  • Mighty Mouse – three models – all died from faulty scroll wheels just outside the warranty period. Replaced with a Microsoft RF wireless mouse.
  • White wireless keyboard. Refuses to pair with the iMac 24″. Recycled.
  • Aluminum wireless keyboard. Has refused to pair with anything over the past week. Must be a solidarity thing with the white variant, above.
  • Mac Mini – too new to fail. May reluctantly buy AppleCare at the two year warranty point to get at least one more year out of it.

My current ‘work’ computer where I do all my Lightroom and Photoshop work is the best of both worlds, based on the above experiences. Assembled from off-the-shelf inexpensive PC parts it has mechanical reliability and low repair costs if anything fails. By far the costliest component, the Intel C2Q CPU, ran $230. The twin 22″ Dell IPS monitors I use have nice matte screens, the pair costing in aggregate about half of the amount Apple is asking for their cheapest external monitor with its awful glossy screen. Everything is easily upgraded if the need arises, right down to the CPU.

As Windows is to operating systems what Apple is to hardware (meaning I refuse to use either) the PC is hacked to run OS Snow Leopard, is equal in performance to Apple’s costliest hardware and has been rock stable in the six months since construction. And it runs 40-50F cooler than any Apple Mac I have used.

Doubtless someone will write pointing out that Apple’s EULA claims to prohibit installation of OS X on non-Apple hardware in the US (it’s not legal in Europe so have at it, those of you across the pond) but frankly, given my experiences with Apple’s hardware, what choice do I have? And I paid for the software. It is the height of arrogance to tell me I cannot use it on a machine of my choice.

So our household is down to an absolute minimum of Apple hardware – one 10 year old iMac, one Mac Mini, no mice, no keyboards, one Apple Airport Extreme router and one iPhone. The latter has been a model of reliability, just like the Hackintosh I assembled in desperation.

Amazing – or admirable, depending on your point of view – how almost all the Apple hardware failures I have experienced have occurred just after expiration of the warranty period.

So if I pause and wait when the iPad debuts, you will understand why. For the most part I propose to avoid Apple’s awful hardware as much as I try to avoid politicians. Both are equally trustworthy.

iMac G4. The only reliable Mac I have ever owned.