The risk of buying apple pro hardware

[Scott Sherman]

While it is true that Apple is finally beginning to appreciate pro and prosumer customers on one hand it is showing disdain on the other. There are many examples but what motivated me to write this is the unfortunate timing of the 2018 MacBook Pro 560x gpu and 3 short months later, the option to upgrade to Vega GPUs. Apple is so good at keeping secrets. Just long enough to prevent 560x customers from exchanging or upgrading. I believe it was purposefully done to sell more Blackmagic egpu's which popped up almost simultaneously at double the price of Vega 20's. Then those who felt they needed (or wanted) a better graphics card and are early adopters who purchased the Blackmagic eGPU which by almost all accounts was poorly configured and overpriced but the only egpu that would work with thunderbolt 3 throughput to a monitor may be stuck with an already obsolete hardware egpu. Now the BM-pro Vega 56 eGPU is being released despite a delay (probably to move past the exchange period of the "old" BM egpu to prevent returns and exchanges) and it is already one step behind most competition egpu's (Vega 64 eGPU) which are upgradable (another subject for another post). I suspect they will be coming out with a new Blackmagic Vega 64 or similar egpu in about three months or even an upgradeable housing at some point as the competition begins to install through input/output thunderbolt 3 functionality.

So get the shiny new toy and pay the admission and pay a penalty of frustration and sadness that you missed the opportunity to buy the next best shiny object before your "old" shiny toy is still being paid for.

I should mention that despite this rant, I am an avid Apple fanboy and will remain so. As I write this I am smiling at my own bad luck at being an early adopter and know that I am echoing others frustration so go ahead and pile on if it will help. I guess I should feel lucky that I am able to give apple another $1200 (plus tax) to get in on the new improved pro Mac hardware. GOOD TIMES!!!

 

[FrostyF]

July 12 to November 14 = 4 months and many people have successfully exchanged. Most companies won't even talk to you beyond a standard 14-day return policy. I think this topic has been beaten to death across several threads now. You've posted 3 other threads about it yourself already.

 

[smirking]

There are many examples but what motivated me to write this is the unfortunate timing of the 2018 MacBook Pro 560x gpu and 3 short months later, the option to upgrade to Vega GPUs. Apple is so good at keeping secrets. Just long enough to prevent 560x customers from exchanging or upgrading... As I write this I am smiling at my own bad luck at being an early adopter and know that I am echoing others frustration so go ahead and pile on if it will help.

I understand your frustration, but I seriously doubt that there's some secret plan to screw people, grab their cash, and stuff it in a vault before anyone catches on. It's just such a terrible long term business strategy because much as you might like their ecosystem, you still have other options. You might not prefer those options, but if you're livid about being robbed, I'm sure you can get over any hang ups you have about switching to Android and Windows real fast.

I'd find it more likely that they wanted to release the Vega 20 GPUs as an option 3 months ago, but couldn't hit the production window to get that product ready in time and decided to release it as soon as its available.

I suppose they could have announced that they'll have a Vega option soon, but it's always risky to promise something that you're not 100% sure you can deliver on. It's also not always on Apple if a product can come out in time or not. It could very well have been supplier issues roadblocking a release of a Vega MBP. If your supplier tells you they don't have the parts and don't even know when they will, you're stuck in limbo.

 

[Scott Sherman]

July 12 to November 14 = 4 months and many people have successfully exchanged. Most companies won't even talk to you beyond a standard 14-day return policy. I think this topic has been beaten to death across several threads now. You've posted 3 other threads about it yourself already.

July 12 to November 14 = 4 months and many people have successfully exchanged. Most companies won't even talk to you beyond a standard 14-day return policy. I think this topic has been beaten to death across several threads now. You've posted 3 other threads about it yourself already.

[doublepost=1543905762][/doublepost]Thanks I feel much better now.

 

[_Kiki_]

July 12 to November 14 = 4 months and many people have successfully exchanged. Most companies won't even talk to you beyond a standard 14-day return policy. I think this topic has been beaten to death across several threads now. You've posted 3 other threads about it yourself already.

many people? where are your statistics ?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

It’s the risk you take buying any tech product new features, innovations and upgrades are released constantly.
You can be sure apple released vega when they could and would have done earlier to boost sales and margin if they could have done. Thats the game they are in, they lost sales to PC’s over the summer due to anemic GPU configurations and that’s not good for them as it’s another customer out of the ecosystem

 

[mreg376]

As I write this I am smiling at my own bad luck at being an early adopter and know that I am echoing others frustration so go ahead and pile on if it will help. I guess I should feel lucky that I am able to give apple another $1200 (plus tax) to get in on the new improved pro Mac hardware. GOOD TIMES!!!

Sorry, I don't buy your rant. This is the nature of computer technology today, a constantly changing landscape. And Apple has never publicly speculated about what it may be releasing in the future. Just because you are not privy to Apple's plans doesn't mean that there is a grand conspiracy of deception. And you don't even say whether the hardware you purchased was sufficient for your purposes, so apparently your only complaint is that you don't have the latest and greatest. You should well know by now that in order to always have Apple's latest and greatest you have to be constantly buying Apple's latest releases. If you have the money to do that, go for it. But your complaint has no basis and is of no significance.

 

[SDColorado]

Most companies won't even talk to you beyond a standard 14-day return policy.

I get the point about 4 months being well outside of anyone's return policy, but what standard 14-day return policy?

As far as I know, only Apple and Razer have a 14-day policy. Huawei is actually worse I think at 3 days return/7 days exchange. Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Asus have 30-day return periods. There may be others at 14-day, 30-day, and in-between intervals, I don't know every company return policy, but there doesn't appear to be a standard return policy.

 

[Queen6]

I get the point about 4 months being well outside of anyone's return policy, but what standard 14-day return policy?

As far as I know, only Apple and Razer have a 14-day policy. Huawei is actually worse I think at 3 days return/7 days exchange. Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Asus have 30-day return periods. There may be others at 14-day, 30-day, and in-between intervals, I don't know every company return policy, but there doesn't appear to be a standard return policy.

Nor will Apple in some countries as there is no return policy. Same applies with warranty 12 months with Apple or pay more, last two notebook I purchased had 2 and 3 years warranty. In my experience most just offer the minimum they can get away with a minority really standing behind their product.

Q-6

 

[SDColorado]

Nor will Apple in some countries as there is no return policy. Same applies with warranty 12 months with Apple or pay more, last two notebook I purchased had 2 and 3 years warranty. In my experience most just offer the minimum they can get away with a minority really standing behind their product.

Q-6

So anything but standard huh? Did the notebooks come with 2 and 3-year warranty standard? Or are those extended warranties?

 

[Queen6]

So anything but standard huh? Did the notebooks come with 2 and 3-year warranty standard? Or are those extended warranties?

Both standard and international, nor any legislation that I'm aware of. Very clear on the box and once registered viewable in the system. At Apple's pricing AppleCare + should be complementary, equally we all know why it's not...

Q-6

 

[SDColorado]

Both standard and international, nor any legislation that I'm aware of. Very clear on the box and once registered viewable in the system. At Apple's pricing AppleCare + should be complementary, equally we all know why it's not...

Q-6

Even if not complimentary, the “co-pays” are ridiculous for what they charge for the initial AC+ warranty and device.

 

[Scott Sherman]

Sorry, I don't buy your rant. This is the nature of computer technology today, a constantly changing landscape. And Apple has never publicly speculated about what it may be releasing in the future. Just because you are not privy to Apple's plans doesn't mean that there is a grand conspiracy of deception. And you don't even say whether the hardware you purchased was sufficient for your purposes, so apparently your only complaint is that you don't have the latest and greatest. You should well know by now that in order to always have Apple's latest and greatest you have to be constantly buying Apple's latest releases. If you have the money to do that, go for it. But your complaint has no basis and is of no significance.

I am not as upset as the words I write may portray, since it is hard to convey sarcasim in a post. However, at the core, there is a bit of "hmmmm, this could have been handled better". As has been mentioned elsewhere, what might have been the reaction if the iPhone XS had come out in August and in September or November they update it to the iPhone XS Plus (or what ever, with added features, speed, etc.). Not so sure folks would not have been storming the gate after spending over a thousand on a new phone to be told in three months that had they just waited and not bought it on release that they could have bought a better phone for the same or slightly higher. Your right, I do want to stay ahead of the curve and expect that when the seldom upgraded "pro" hardware is released that it will be at least a good value for a reasonable time, say, 6 months or more.

I always expect computer hardware to bet better, faster, stronger (more expensive), and that's okay, even desirable, but at least let me get used to the idea that what I have was a good purchase and not "you should know not to buy new stuff cause it will not be new next month".

Oh well, got that off my chest, now I will just go back to enjoying what I have and wait for the next big upgrade.

Oh, by the way, Apple was very firm that they would not allow an exchange after 45 days. And I was as nice as pie when I spoke to them, even after being told no.

 

[FrostyF]

many people? where are your statistics ?

I didn't provide statistics, I've read several comments on reddit, youtube and this forum about people successfully returning theirs. I've also read others that said they tried and failed.
[doublepost=1543945798][/doublepost]

I get the point about 4 months being well outside of anyone's return policy, but what standard 14-day return policy?

As far as I know, only Apple and Razer have a 14-day policy. Huawei is actually worse I think at 3 days return/7 days exchange. Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Asus have 30-day return periods. There may be others at 14-day, 30-day, and in-between intervals, I don't know every company return policy, but there doesn't appear to be a standard return policy.

I should have wrote, "beyond THEIR standard return policy" whether that be 14 or 30 days or whatever.

 

[Pangalactic]

Of all the complaints I have about Apple (and I have many), this is definitely not one.

Stuff gets upgraded all the time. If you buy ANY laptop now, it will get an upgraded version sooner or later. Maybe 1 month later, maybe 6 months. I would actually be very happy if Apple upgraded all their hardware every 4 months.

And it's pretty ridiculous to expect them to replace your old hardware for new free of charge. Why should they do that?

 

[PROFESS0R]

Just out of curiosity, did you follow the steps I outlined in my thread on this topic?

Oh, by the way, Apple was very firm that they would not allow an exchange after 45 days. And I was as nice as pie when I spoke to them, even after being told no.

 

[inmnbob]

They gave me a return 40 days after my purchase which I am greatful since they didn’t need to. I think that announcing the Vega ahead of time by a few weeks also helped minimize the exposure as did pre announcing the eGPU Pro a month in advance. I do however believe that providing a pretty important update 90 days after a major update is a miss. They should have announced the 2018 update with available shipping options and mentioned the Vega would be available 90 days out. Those that didn’t care would still buy the 2018 on launch. Those of us dedicated pro users could have made a better informed decision to wait or not. The way this happened was the worst for Apple because they pissed off more users than they needed to. Some execs at Apple are missing pretty obvious easy decisions.

 

[SDColorado]

They should have announced the 2018 update with available shipping options and mentioned the Vega would be available 90 days out

Even if they didn't know it would be 90 days at the time the 2018 models were released, you would think they could have announced "Available Late 2018" or something along those lines and let people make up their own minds to buy now or wait.