Starting out right.

Posted on October 21st, 2006 by phiber811, under John, Service Rants, main.

Of course, it would make sense that my first post from the west coast, a new home, job, etc, would be me ranting. I havent ranted enough in the last year, so I’m gonna make a point to vent at people more often. With that said, lets get to getting.

MacBook Random Shutdown Syndrome, or Why your MacBook isnt a blender. Alternate title, Quit whining, You Bastards.

Lets Get the facts out of the way right now, so there’s no confusing them later.

1) All macbooks should still be covered by their initial Limited Warranty.
2) There are both Apple Retail service providers and Apple Authorized service providers all over america.
3) There is an issue with the MacBook. Its the Heat Sink Assembly on the processors.
4) it takes about 15 minutes to fix.
5) If you can be bothered to complain about it, but cant be bothered to get it fixed, shut up.
6) If you didnt buy your AppleCare extended warranty, you’re an idiot.

With that out of the way, we can proceed on. Now, given that there is a documented problem with the MacBook series machines, I remind people that they’ve purchased a first rev machine, of a completely new architecture. Its small, its fast, and its inexpensive. In order to hit those marks, you may have to endure some of the realities of life with high end technology. One of those realities is that sometimes things dont work perfectly. Of course, I’m not saying that you should shut up and deal with it. You should do that for many other things. For this problem though, you should be proactive, and spend a total of a half hour to make the problem go away. Here is what you should do.

First, contact your local Apple Authorized Service Provider. I would choose an independent dealer, or an Apple Specialist (Here in Portland, its MacForce). I would call them, and talk to their service department. Tell them you have a MacBook, and its doing the whole shutdown thing. They’ll tell you that its a problem with the Heat Sink Assembly and that its covered by AppleCare. You should then be able to give them your info, and have them order the part for you. When the part comes in, they should be able to turn the unit around quick for you. Once that heat sink is replaced, the problem goes away.

Now, if you need a short term fix, in order to get work done, shut the damned thing down. Then, press and hold the power button till you hear a really long tone. Let go of the power button, and the unit will boot up. You’ve just reset your logic board, and you should be free of the shutdown problem for at least a day.

Now, to deal with the sabre rattling nitwits. Put your Class Action Lawsuits, and your pain and your suffering, as well as your emotional distress, in a bag, and choke on it. Your lives are not ruined, your purchase is not in vain, you have not suffered horrible emotional, professional, physical, existential, religious, or epicurean horrors or distress due to your unit shutting down randomly. If you’ve been saving your work or games, then you shouldnt be missing much of anything. As for the the smoking gun types that demand a new computer in this kind of instance, grow up, shut up and behave like the adult you’re supposed to be. If your car has a faulty battery, they do NOT give you a new car. They replace the battery. If your macbook has a bad heat sink, they do not replace the computer, they give you a new heat sink. This is the way the world works. You can accept it, or behave badly and have those of us who fix this stuff for a living, hate your soul. And dont think that you’re anonymous. All techs can recall the names of their worst customers, and can recite the story of having to deal with you, from memory.

So, with all of this in mind, if your MacBook is shutting down, call a service provider. Spend 30 minutes, get fixed, and move on. I’m sick of the damned Nerd Press making a mountain out of a molehill. Its damned pathetic.

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