Apple's opinion is that my computer is fully functional

I sent a screenshot to Apple where my CPU, GPU and Chipset is near and above 100°C (according to HWMonitor)
I was in a belief that all this "your computer is ok" crap is only because they do not believe that my computer really overheats. So I decided to try once more and show them yet another screenshot.

This is direct translation from email I got from Apple technical customer service.

"I apologize that you feel that there is a lack of faith. I'm am sorry to infortm that screenshots will not change Apple's opinion in this case. Apple's opinion is that your computer is fully functional. We have inspected your computer as much as possible and all possibly faulty parts have been replaced at least once and the situation have not changed. Unfortunately I must inform that from the technical point of view this case is finished.

I hope that the answer is clear enough. I'm sorry that we can't proceed any more."

How should I understand the "from the technical point of view" So there is still hope i.e. from legal view?

Someone from (non technical) customer service should have called me last friday. Still waiting that call. Good thing that I'm used to this waiting. Every time someone from Apple tells me that they will call me back tomorrow it means at least 5 days. Next week means 2-3 weeks.

Next Tuesday I have a meeting with a lawyer. He or she can clarify which laws Apple is now breaking.

One week without any message from Apple

I just wanted to tell that I'm REALLY disappointed of Apple and how they do their customer "service"

I've had broken computer for 18 months! That's right! one and a half year! And still Apple refuses to fix it or give me my money back.

They're still waiting answer from the engineers

I got a short mail from my customer service person. He told that he is still waiting answer from the engineers and he have sent a query to ask what is taking so long?

My laptop battery died few months a go. Apparently due to the extreme heat it have been exposed. Lets see what breaks next or will apple take this machine back before it will stop working completely?

New motherboard and new heatsink... no help.

Sorry for not writing for a while. I was on a vacation and meanwhile my computer was on a repair.

Before I left on a tour around Europe I dropped my computer to a service and this time Apple told that they will change motherboard and heat sink no matter what the service point will find.

When I came back I picked up my computer only to notice that my externally flawless computer have gotten a nasty bump and few scratches. Off course they denied all at the service point and I had to take my bruised computer to home.

I did not expect anything else than massive overheating and thermal shutdown when I started 3D games. My expectations were fully satisfied. 25minutes of gaming (of which 20 minutes CPU was underclocked to 1596 MHz) and then computer went to suspend.

I sent mail to Apple and asked "Now what?"

One week later I send another mail "Did you get my last mail? Now what?"

Then yesterday I called them and left a voice mail "Will you call me back?"

Today I got call from my second Apple representative. He was as abashed as the engineers. He asked if it is ok to me if he sends me weekly update by mail to tell me if there has been any progress in my case.

No I'm waiting first mail to arrive somewhere around next Wednesday .

I will not be satisfied anything else than money back. New MBP would be ok too as I can always sell it and then buy a decent real computer.

Not broken?!

Today I was told by Apple's help desk that my computer is not broken.

They do know that my computer overheats and the they even agree that there is design flaw because it gets too hot. But because it can not be fixed by replacing hardware parts therefore it is not broken.
Apple computers are not broken if there is design flaw. It's just the customer who is not pleased with the computer.

I don't anymore know what is the current situation. My computer is now at the service. I don't know whether I should get it back because Apple may ask me to bring it back to service some time soon.

I told the Apple help desk that this is really bad customer service if I as a customer have to do all the work. I've spent about 10-15 hours on phone and at least 10 hours running pointless tests which Apple asked me to do.

Almost forgot the sad part. Service did not find anything wrong with my computer. They are not allowed to use any other method than the test programs provided by Apple.

Don't waste your money on Apple.
If there is even slightest need of service... Then you're screwed.

Apple! Where's your spine?

I was told to take my laptop to a service.
Apple now suspects that the motherboard might be faulty. I gave them the error code I received some time a go when i ran the hardware test. "4SNS/1/40000000: TNOP-76.375"
The "TNOP" part here means that it has something to do with the temperature sensor.

Too bad that it has nothing to do with the ineffective cooling. Seems more like a excuse rather than a solution.

1. If it would be faulty temperature sensor why the computer would shut down due to overheating even the fans spinning full speed? (ok... this one is possible with wild imagination)
   
2. Why would the computer run constantly at lower clock speed if it would not be too hot?
3. Why would my computers broken temperature sensor affect EVERY UNIBODY LAPTOP IN THE WORLD!?

I understand if this would be an single case and only my computer acting this weird. Then it would make sense that faulty temperature sensor would make the fans spin 2000 rpm even at full load. But this is not a single case! This is a fault that every Apple laptop released since late 2008 is affected. I just tested my fiancees 13" MBP and hardware test did not show anything wrong and yet her computer acts exactly the same. When under excessive load fan (only one fan in 13" model) does not speed up not until it is too late.

Pay attention to number 3. Maybe somewhere next Wednesday magically every Apple laptop might start working when they fix my possibly faulty temperature sensor.

Sleep Notification occurred.

I was told to run "Capture Data.app" when I have reproduced the shutdown due to overheating -issue. I've been told to run this app once before and then I did not pay any attention what data the program collected.

Today I've finally found time to play along with Apple and it did not took long for the machine to overheat and suspend. Then I run the Capture Data application and this time I checked every little file the application collected and was suggesting me to send to Apple.
Here are just few things I've found:

• All users passwords hash, account creation dates, user images. Also the deleted accounts were included.

• All files I've opened since last week. (file names and full file path) Including every movie I've watched, work files written and school projects opened.

• Nearly all programs I've started during last 5 days

• Every file which I've downloaded since last week. (With Firefox, transmission, wget... you name it)

I've now spend about one hour on these files and there is still much to discover. Some of the files are so messy that I have to write little program to parse those files for me.

This is only what Apple would have needed:
2010-05-05 11:54:43 EEST - T[0x00007FFF70C30BE0] - Sleep Notification occurred.

Too bad I was again too hasty and send the whole thing to Apple before thinking. During last hour I have also changed all my passwords.

60 minutes of free music from Apple

Today I called the consumer disputer board to check what's the situation with my case.
I was quickly forwarded to a guy who apologized for this has took so long. He said that he have had problems contacting Apple. We discussed a while and he said that they have several other cases with faulty Apple products and Apple refusing to do anything.
He gave me a number where I could call to contact Apple and he also promised to do his best to conclude this case as soon as possible.

I called the number I was given and was soon answered only to be put on hold for 10 minutes (to check things and ask more info - they said). Then I was forwarded to another department. I had to wait another 10 or 15 minutes before "another department" answered. I was told that they stand behind their previous judgment from last December where this overheating is not a fault at all.

"It is a feature"
Now I have to admit that I lost my temper for a second and quickly replied "How not-working could be a feature?" The help desk stood in his script and said only that my computer is not broken. He reminded me of Apple engineers statement how this type of behavior is normal and within the specs. "Computer is not overheating unless it crashes or shuts itself down"

I demanded money back from my computer and I was told to wait "few minutes" so he checks Apple Store department what they have to say. 20 minutes later I heard briefly that I should have returned my machine within 2 weeks from purchase, money back is no option any more unless I want to wait little more so he calls the legal department. 10 minutes of waiting music did not help the situation and I was given only one option. To take my computer to a service point and if they finds a clear fault in this I am justified to a repair. BUT! if they don't find anything I'm obligated to pay for the service visit as the warranty had ended 2 weeks a go.

Customer service - a big joke!

More direct approach

This time I've had enough. Exactly one year a go I fought with my previous MBP and Apple needed 3 service visits before they accepted to change my computer to a new one.

Now when I called Apple I knew already that by swapping this machine to a new one might not help at all. All I want is to them to realize that I have now in my hands a faulty computer and they should do whatever is to be done to fix it.

First calls was like teaching quantum physics to a dog. It was so hard to Apple people (okay, people whom I speak with who worked at Apple phone service) to understand that it could no possibly be a software fault. Once I made mistake and mentioned that even running 2 virtual machines simultaneously is enough to overheat CPU to 100+°C. Then I had to answer next five minutes to questions "have you updated your VMWare?" "some software consume more CPU time when not updated"

I bet these people would rather open windows on a car when cold than turn down the AC.

Then I found the secret words "can you put trough to the different department" then I was able to talk with people who have more logical approach to this problem. After serious of consideration of this problem I was stunned. I thought that the joke of "it is not a defect it is a feature" was only a joke... Big news it's true... not the part "it is a feature" but the part where it is not anymore a funny joke. When I've told for the 10th time that this overheating issue occurs every single time and not only on OS X but also with Windows I was told to visit the authorized service point once more.

This time I did not left my computer there as I hear the magic words (this could be second magic phrase already?) "Our hand are tied we can only do what we're told to do" So there were no point of swapping the motherboard any more. I had opportunity to show the people at the service how bad the situation is and quickly we booted my MacBook Pro from external clean OS X 10.6.x install and I was able to get CPU to 105°C. I was only told that these machines are not meant to be used like that. No joke here either.

I called Apple again and tell them that this overheating thing is real and asked if they are planning to do anything to fix it. I was told to run certain app that collects data while I reproduce the fault. Yes the app collected data alright. Data from sending fax, file system usage and last but not least it collected network usage. I was not amused.
I was questioned (by mail) for the seventh time whether this overheating occurs only when using certain programs (like I have not told that to them clearly enough six times before?) and being suggested that maybe upgrading to Snow Leopard could help. (I should pay more to be able to use my computer? And I've already proven that Snow Leopard does not fix this issue and. Even if it would fix overheating temporarily I would not settle with that. Permanent fix should be updated firmware which would follow along to Windows too)

Today 18.12.2009 I got final call from Apple and message was this:

"This "flaw" you described is normal thing and we've discussed with engineers and they've came to a decision that by swapping your computer to a new one would not help in this manner."

I'm speechless.

Please Apple fix this lazy fan issue so I can use every megahertz that I've paid for.

Delays and a show of goodwill

Why I was not so happy to hear when I was promised brand new Unibody Macbook Pro?
I had little conflicting feelings about my 1st MacBook Pro to be changed to new Unibody MacBook Pro.
Main reasons here, quick and shortly:
Pros:
Faster CPU
Bigger HDD
More Memory
Faster GPU
Tough Unibody design.

Cons:
Glossy display!
Loose lid hinges (by then I've read of loose hinges from many sources)
1st generation of new hardware design. (I newer purchase anything at the 1st wave. I tend to wait until most of childhood diseases have been polished away)

But this time I had no choice. I accepted the transfer and was given instructions to pack my laptop and all that came with it to it's original package and send it by courier company X to Apple.

I soon received message telling me that my new computer have been shipped. I also received a tracking number. Within the following days it came clear to my that the tracking number does not exist in this particular courier company's database. I quickly contacted Apple again asking where actually my computer was? I received answer shortly telling that the computer have been accidentally sent to a completely wrong country. Before I even had time to understand what the message said I got second mail telling me that they've now sent me another computer and as a show of goodwill some of the components have been upgraded. CPU from 2,53GHz to 2,8GHz and HDD to 320GB 5400rpm to equal size but 72oorpm.

I was quite happy.
All those cons mentioned in this post have vanished from my mind.
Actually I was really happy.

Untill the MacBook Pro arrived...

Situation after the first service

When I got my laptop back they said me that the motherboard (or Logic Board in Apple language) have been replaced. I was happy to hear that as I knew all the essential parts was located in motherboard and I thought that by replacing that to a new one all the defects must have been vanished.

Boy how wrong I was.

Internal sound card made still that awful high noise. I then thought that I could probably live with that.
It was the next day after the service visit when keyboard and mouse stopped working again.


I had to take the computer to a service again. This time it took almost 2 weeks to finally get the MBP back.
This time the guy at the service desk was self confident. "now we've replaced the whole top cover including the keyboard mouse and IO board". I had no idea what the IO-board meant but my spirit grew when the last possible reason for faulty keyboard and touchpad seem to been fixed.

This time it was the same day when keyboard and mouse fault occurred again. I was a bit frustrated but had no other choice than take this MacBook Pro to a service for the third time.

I do not remember any more how long repair took this 3rd time but one thing was sure: I was no longer confident that the fault have been fixed. At least the repair guy was yet again very self confident when he explained me how he applied some yellow tape to protect the thin cable connecting touchpad and keyboard to the motherboard.
You can see the cable here in this picture (ifixit.com visit! excellent repair guides and teardown articles)

About one week later it came no surprise to me when the keyboard and mouse have stopped working again. This time I called directly to Apple and explained the situation to them.

From Apple I was instructed to email them all service reports so they can value what to do.

Because of Christmas and new year (yes, it have took nearly six months to make it trough here... and less than 20 days with fully working laptop) the answer from Apple was delayed to January 2009. I was told that they would replace my computer to a new one with new 12 months warranty.

Now is a good point of taking a little pause and calm my anger towards Apple for a while. I'll continue this story soon with my 2nd MacBook Pro.