I'm sure there are some Mac users here. If your Mac ever fails and Apple 'repairs' it, you should know something about what they do.

I bought a late 2011 model Macbook Pro six years ago. It was a good machine, and it served me well even to this day. In 2015 though, four years after I got it, the GPU died. Apparently this was a known issue; Apple fixed it for free and sent it back. All good! Great customer service right?

Well, Back in October the GPU failed again. I took it back to the Apple store, and after a hardware test confirmed it failed the same way. I was expecting another free repair; after all, they supposedly fixed the issue 2 years ago right? Wrong. The warranty program ended in January, so I would be on the hook for the repair. I asked why they wouldn’t fix it for free, seeing as how the repair they did two years ago didn’t work. They suggested I jus get a new one, as it wouldn’t be worth it to repair.

Now, after asking Apple themselves, and some third party repair stores, I realized something shocking: Apple didn’t actually fix my Mac back in 2015. All Apple does is swap the logic board out and replace it. Of course, this means that I am getting back the same faulty GPU, but one which simply hasn’t failed yet. They didn’t actually fix the root problem.

I was pretty pissed. Imagine if you had a car with a bad transmission because of a known issue. The company issues a recall, and instead of installing a new transmission with that issue fixed, they just install a different faulty one which hasn’t failed yet. Would you not be pissed? So paying for the repair would be worthless since they literally wouldn’t be repairing it. The GPU coming back would likely fail again, since it’s the same faulty model.

Now, the reason why this is an issue and I don’t just get a new one is that I love the matte screen. All new Mac laptops are glossy, and I hate that shit. I can’t see anything under lights and it’s awful.

One of the repair guys at a third party shop helped me hatch a plan. A plan for me to get a free computer.

The first thing I did, was buy a 2012 Macbook Pro off of craigslist for 600 bucks. An actor was moving back home and selling his stuff (I guess it didn’t work out for him), and his 2012 model had it all and was as fully loaded as possible: Max RAM, fastest GPU and processor, and a MATTE SCREEN. As a bonus, the GPU in this model was actually good and wouldn’t fail. So now I have the same computer but better, but I’m still pissed at Apple and down 600 bucks. So phase two.

I take the failed 2011 model back in, and I request the repair. I tell them I’m doing it because of the matte screen, and I can’t just buy a glossy one because I can’t see it under studio lights. Basically I need this machine right now. They send it off, and 3 days later it comes back working.

Here’s where the fun begins: I take it home, fire it up, and start a GPU Test benchmark at max settings. I simply leave the thing running, working the GPU full blast. Remember: all Apple did was replace the GPU with the same faulty model. It’s only a matter of time before it would fail again. The repairman had experience with my model Macbook - he said the repairs never work, and he's even seen a replacement chip fail within hours. So, his suggestion was to force it to fail.

After 8 non stop days of running the benchmark, the GPU crapped out. I returned it to the Apple store, and said that their repair didn’t work. They test it, and sure enough the GPU is dead. There’s a 60 day warranty on repairs, so they take it back and give me another GPU. 3 days later I get it back.

Take it home, repeat the process. This time it took 2 weeks of solid benchmark running, but the GPU failed yet again. I return to the store again.

This time, I tell them it failed again. I calmly explain how I paid for a working computer, and still don’t have it. That I’m disappointed their repairs keep failing. I tell them I just need a machine that works. They explain that they will take extra care with this one, and fix it again. Comes back 3 days later. After 19 days of the benchmark, this GPU craps out. Maybe they did take more care.

On returning to the Apple store, I tell them their repair has failed 3 times, and that all I want is a computer that works. Seeing as how they’ve wasted 2 grand on my machine already, they determine that the best course of action is to simply give me a new Macbook Pro. Now here’s where the last part of the plan comes in. I explain that that’s very generous, but the new Macbook Pro has a glossy screen. I explain that it’s simply unsuitable for my job, and I won’t really be able to do it properly. After all, the reason I wanted this machine repaired was because of the nice matte screen. I'm often under studio lights and need to be able to see. i paid for a matte screen with these repairs, and I still don't have it.

After hearing this, they offer to refund the cost of the repair in addition to giving me the new Macbook Pro. Score!

I sold the brand new Macbook Pro on craigslist within 3 hours for 2 grand. $2000-$600 = $1400. I now have a kick ass 2012 Macbook Pro even better than my old one, and $1400 extra in my pocket.

The moral is: if you have a Mac that has a known issue, Apple is likely not going to actually ‘fix’ it if you have it repaired under warranty. It will fail again, so plan accordingly.