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by plug
3965 days ago
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"Very disappointing for a machine which isn't 3 years old". This really resonates with me, sitting at a similarly aged iMac that frequently displays bafflingly poor performance, displaying what I like to call the "psychedelic jelly-tot of death". Sort of off-topic, but another thing that really frustrates me with Apple products is when something goes wrong with the hardware. I have a 3+ year old Macbook Air. The 't' key - specifically the little contact button under the key - stopped working consistently. Very frustrating when you start to realise just how much 't' shows up in the English language. Anyway, I made some calls enquiring about how much a repair would cost: around €300. They just replace the entire aluminium top plate because it's impossible to replace a single contact button, and unfeasible to replace the whole keyboard array - this involves complete disassembly, and a bunch of other delicate steps, which look incredibly daunting. I know that this is probably the trade-off for having such a small form factor, but between this, a defective SSD, a locked-in battery and periodically replacing chargers at €80 a pop, I am distinctly less enthusiastic about purchasing Apple products in the future. |
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The problem is (for anyone who's never opened a MBA) that if you look between each key on the keyboard, Apple decided for some crazy reason to put a teeny tiny screw there. So between the Q and W is a screw, and between the W and E is a screw...you get the picture.
This is a totally nutball design. It is a doable repair, but it takes forever, and be prepared for your hand/wrist to be quite sore after you're done.
If you can find someone or have a friend who does phone repairs, get them to do it and pay them for their time. I say phone repairs because the people who do phone repairs are used to dealing with teeny tiny Apple screws for a living.