iMac hard disk failure after 18 months - not amused

harryb2448 said:

Things could always be worse I guess. Remember the old Maxtor hard drives, and not to mention the IBM DeathStar. They were drives with high failure rates!

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Yep! Two of my external HDs that failed were Maxtor - fortunately all of my stuff was still on the attached computers - guess the computer was 'backing up' the Maxtors!

harryb2448 said:

Things could always be worse I guess. Remember the old Maxtor hard drives, and not to mention the IBM DeathStar. They were drives with high failure rates!

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Maxtor was caught at least once using very cheep parts. Plastic where other drives were metal.

To me one of the worst drives ever made were the Original IBM DeskStar (Nicknamed Deathstar). Every one I knew of failed way early. Some the first month and most I had connection with a year. Horrible design. Hitachi bought the drive division and fixed the issues with that line.

I was going to say I'm safe because I've gone down the LaCie route because they are Cheap and actually look good sitting on the desktop near my new iMac, BUT they had a take over by Seagate last Q of 2012 . . . The Porsche Designed one I have @4TB has had really good reviews and can't find stories of this particular model croaking it.
Ive never ever had anything other that WD until this LaCie, but I do admit, part decision was made for the look of it, because I didn't want to have to look at something ugly all the time ;P (it has got a good track record though, its not just for its looks)

I would be no more furious at Apple for a (not made by them) hard drive that failed in a "$1700 machine" than I would be if the ceiling light in my $50,000 car blew. Some things have variable lifespans and *could* go at any time -- humans, pets, cars, electronics -- come to think of it, lots of things!

What I would be FURIOUS about would be if I had been so arrogant as to ignore Apple's own advice and not make any backups using their built-in Time Machine software at the very least, since I actually understand what a hard drive is and how it works and why it is more prone to failure than, say, a toaster.*

[Making this clear: not saying the OP didn't do this, or was arrogant. Not referring to him in any manner in the above sentence.]

*I've had toasters die on me too.

Don't know where in the world the OP is situated, but if in Europe, it's possible that you could be covered by a weird European warranty rule which covers up to six years (I think).
Never tried it myself, but I bet they don't make it easy to claim!
I also remember something written on previous Apple receipts which quoted this European directive.
I would give it a go if I were the OPs position.

In 25+ years of using computers (and starting 19 years ago, I was building my own PCs from scratch), I've had exactly 2 hard drives crash on me: an external Seagate GoFlex drive, and the internal Seagate on my iMac, both in the past 2 years. Even before this, I was under the impression that Seagate was off their game in recent years, and between my own experience and that of BackBlaze, that impression seems to be confirmed.

That all said, it's perfectly reasonable to expect these nearly-unservicable iMacs to last more than a year. I shouldn't have to buy an extended warranty to help ensure I maximize the value of my purchase. If Seagate's drives truly are as unreliable as the data suggests, Apple needs to ditch them completely and do right by their customers instead of just shrugging their shoulders and saying "shoulda bought AppleCare".

PeterMac said:

PeterMac said:

What surprises me the most is that none of the people reporting the issue are not absolutey FURIOUS that this has occurred. Is this just something to be expected - from a £1700 machine? Is it unrealistic to expect more than one year's trouble-free computing with an iMac? My previous PC was a self-built Windows machine, and gave us over 6 years, trouble-free use. And it was built at a fraction of the cost of this iMac.

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PM:

First of all, I am sorry that you have a HD that is dying. Seeing that this is a replacement machine, you now have two legitimate reasons to be a little upset.

That being said, some very high ranking gurus here have rung in with the failures they've had over the years and surprisingly, it hasn't been that many, considering how many Apple products these guys have experience with.

I came from the dark side (sarc) four years ago and would never go back, even if my 4 year old iMac 27" blew out today or my little 11" MBA melted down after sending this to you.

The advantages of these two machines along with a couple of iPhones and my wife's new iPad Air so far outweigh what else is out there, (connectivity, compatibility, overall ease of use, etc) I just cannot imagine heading back to the dark side.

One other great advantage is this forum. I have had several small issues with a few of my machines but they have all been solved right here....most were just my unfamiliarity with the myriad of things these machines do without us, the users,being knowledgeable enough about them.

Just try this (if you haven't already). Put on your best diplomatic hat on, call ahead to your Apple store and set up an appointment. Explain to them the first and now the most recent problem you are having. Depending on your attitude they may just handle it for you. If they can't, or won't, I'd still suggest getting it repaired, having the knowledge that almost any HD, no matter the manufacturer, can (or will) fail eventually.

One other thing....something I never experienced when 'living deep' in the PC world. At least your Mac told you something was wrong ahead of time. None of the PC's I had ever told me about an eventual or impending failure...I'd just get greeted with the "Blue Screen of Death" and if you didn't have backups (sometimes a shoe box filled with floppies) then you were just, well, just screwed.

Let us know how things go for you.

Cheers!

Pat

PS- And never forget what chscag suggested... backup, backup,backup. With Time Machine (built in) and a very inexpensive external hard drive (less than fifty bucks) you are covered for when (not if) this problem hits you again. Hopefully that will be so many years down the road you will need to upgrade instead of repair/replacing. ;D

neilf said:

Don't know where in the world the OP is situated

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Hasn't been back, me thinks we got TROLLED !!!

Not a troll Brent, just someone who was upset with Apple and wanted to let as many folks know of his situation as he could. We sometimes get those one time complaint posts.They read our title "Mac Forums" and assume we're affiliated with Apple.

chscag said:

...just someone who was upset with Apple and wanted to let as many folks know of his situation as he could.

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I'm surprised it's wasn't one of those folks looking to start a class-action lawsuit…and call in a whole team of lawyers. "We're gonna nail Apple's balls to the wall for this one!!!!"

Come on…it's just a dead hard drive…do backups…and get over it!

- Nick

neilf said:

Don't know where in the world the OP is situated, but if in Europe, it's possible that you could be covered by a weird European warranty rule which covers up to six years (I think).
Never tried it myself, but I bet they don't make it easy to claim!
I also remember something written on previous Apple receipts which quoted this European directive.
I would give it a go if I were the OPs position.

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To make a European Consumer Law Claim the owner has to live within the EC, and the Mac has to have been bought within the EC. Additionally, the claimant has to be a consumer, not a business, so the receipt or invoice has to be made out to them and not a business. They also have to present their receipt or invoice, even if bought from Apple. If this isn't available the claim can't go ahead. The AASP then enters the repair marking it for review by Apple if the Mac is over 2 years old. The AASP has to upload pdf's of the signed and dated claim form, the POP and one other internal form. The review process usually adds a day to the typical repair time. All I've dealt with where the correct POP has been supplied went through OK.