Mini DisplayPort adaptor woes
I have already written about the delay and the price hike and now it seems other customers are finding out that Apple have pulled a fast one (or rather a slow one). The adaptor is now available and although I was going to pick one up here in Boston (which has the largest Apple Store in the States) I might just wait because of the reviews appearing on Apple's own website.
It may just be dodgy batches but nevertheless, it is now overpriced, on the whole, faulty and late. Disgraceful.
If true…
The Steve Jobs really is a knob-end. It seems after some pretty thorough investigation the latest Macbook Pro which uses the NVIDIA chipset and GPU contains the same faulty soldering (lead based) which caused so many problems for so many manufacturers earlier this year. More info is available here.
I was curious as to why Apple trusted NVIDIA so soon after such a thing. Also quite frankly, NVIDIA isn't known for their mobile chipsets whereas Intel are pretty much the defacto standard. I understand this Hybrid SLI thang is cool but you know what's cooler? Something that actually works.
M’mac part 2
Today I had my appointment with a "Genius" and it all went as I thought it would. The guy took it off around the back and decided it was the "logic board" that was at fault (motherboard to real computer types). It's off for repair and should be back in 7-10 days. However I doubt this will be the case as I have the 2.8GHz "built to order" option and I'll be surprised if it comes back in the same time as the standard 2.5GHz board.
The interesting thing was that the Genius said if the unit was purchased from the store rather than off the Website I would have got a completely new notebook as the fault was within four weeks of purchase. Maybe something for others to be aware of. Personally I don't care too much as the motherboard is the main thing and as long as the screen and case come back without damage I'm happy. Others I know would prefer a new Mac though.
Now it's just a matter of waiting and using my Macbook Air in the meantime.
M’mac
After one month of proper use (that is to say standard use for a notebook computer and not babying around a machine like some Mac Morons like to do) yesterday evening my Macbook Pro went to sleep and never awoke.
It cycles between being asleep and trying to wake up and going to sleep automatically. Interestingly there seems to be a well documented and fairly old "deep sleep" mode in Macs (since 2005) but this doesn't seem to be it. After trying to reset the SMU (holding down the power button for 10 seconds after battery and A/C power have been disconnected) still getting the same result (i.e. back to the start) tomorrow I'll have to see what the "geniuses" say at the local Mac Store.
In truth many of my colleagues have had issues with Macs and all have said that Apple has treated them well. So for a couple of weeks (if it is indeed something serious) I'll be going back to my Macbook Air.
Still, it's very disappointing but I'll refrain from slamming the Macbook Pro until I know exactly what's wrong. Update soon...
Mini displayport -> Dual Link DVI adaptor price hike
In typical Crapple fashion the Dual Link DVI adaptor that Macbook users need but wasn't included is still not available, well over a month after Macbooks started shipping. Not only that but the Apple Store website in the UK has now increased the cost of the adaptor to £68 from £60. And yet they still say "3-4 weeks" shipping time. Honestly any other retailer, and this crap would have sent them out of business.
Frankly such an adaptor should have been included, certainly in the more expensive Macbook Pros. But oh no. Crapple need to make their money by peddling their own standards.
Mac sack
As I found out, the new MacBook Pro is a bit too wide for a lot of 15" bags/sleeves out there. The other day I found a Knomo bag on sale direct from the manufacturer which stated support for 15" laptops. Now, Knomo bags are sold in Apple stores among other places so you would have thought they would fit in their latest and greatest. But no.
Infact a brisk walk down to the Regents Street store and I tried a few of the sleeves on display and again no joy. So make sure you check out whether your MacBook Pro will fit. Luckily my old Incase sleeve from five years ago still cuts it (even though the zips fell off some years back).
Just for the record, the nice people at Knomo gave me a full refund, no questions asked.
Mac touchpad update
Yesterday Apple released a software patch for the dodgy trackpads that plague the recently released MacBook and MacBook Pro.
I've been having to endure the insanely annoying trackpad on my otherwise very nice MacBook Pro and welcome this update with open arms. Quite why Apple couldn't have found this in their quality control is beyond me. Actually no, it's well within my reach. Revision 1 Apple product users are their quality control.
Anyhow, the update doesn't require a restart but my Mac decided to crash mid-way through it. So, save everything up and be ready. (Yes fanbois, Macs do crash, wake up and smell my medium roast Illy).
Those of you that have the latest MacBooks and haven't already, hit the software update key 