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All replies
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Helpful answers
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Sep 5, 2011 9:12 AM in response to DanRybby Tadas Ž.,i do not have Cinema Display, but i regulary get blackouts, as i noticed most of the time they happen when i move my MacBook a little. Sometimes i move my laptop so little and external display screen still blacksout, and sometimes i can almost shake it and nothing happens.
i'm using MacBook Pro 13" early 2011 with philips external display.
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Sep 7, 2011 6:32 AM in response to DanRybby Thorsten Geissler,Ok, here is the lastest scoop.... I emailed Apple's new CEO. Please contact me directly if you like a copy of my email. I previously posted my email to him in this forum, but my entry was deleted by "big brother" Apple. Anyhow, I am still having issued with my 24 Inch ACD when it is connected to my 2011 13 inch MBP. I told Tim that I find it unacceptable to having to wait more than 6 months for a fix. To my surprise, I was contacted by a Stuart McKenzie. He is with Apple's Corporate Executive Relations. He gave me the typical corporate blah blah, about Apple's committment to their customers, etc. I told him that I expected an immediate fix to my problem or my Display to be replaced due to breach of warranty. He told me that he would send me some sort of "miraculous" software update Apple has been working on. However, he would only sent it to me it I signed some sort of secrecy agreement that would bann me from talking about my negative experiences with Apple. I am not sure what to do to be honest. Come on guys, they think that some beta version will change my mind about how Apple has been treating me over the last 6 month? I have AppleCare on my MBP and on my ACD. I don't think I am getting my money out of it. Apple do the right thing and exchange your customer's 24 inch ACDs against the new 27 inch thunderbolt equipped ACDs. That's the only thing that could make me reconsider my rather negative opinion about Apple. I still consider filing a lawsuit against Apple.
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Sep 7, 2011 2:27 PM in response to Thorsten Geisslerby jordanfromgainesville,Well Thorsten, "big brother" is still listening. I say don't sign away any freedoms for a secret fix. Demand a replacement display. I sure want the blinking to just stop.
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Sep 7, 2011 2:39 PM in response to jordanfromgainesvilleby sdischer,I have spoken to several helpful people at Apple; it is a known software problem and they are working on a fix. they also said it is ALL cinema displays so a replacment unit solves nothing.
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Sep 7, 2011 4:51 PM in response to sdischerby Thorsten Geissler,Very helpful people from Apple? That sounds like an oxymoron to me. The problem exists ever since Apple rolled out MBPs equipped with thunderbolt connectivity. It would seem that they had plenty time to fix the issue. 6-7 months, don't you think is enough time. Do you happen to work for Apple by any chance? I haven't heard that anyone with a 27 inch thunderbolt equipped ACD is having issues. Am I wrong about that? Mini DVI port and thunderbolt connectivity just don't appear to be backwards compatible. In my opinion, not only was Apple ignoring this problem but they also don't care about their customers. I have spend a fortune on their products. How did Steve Jobs used to say at the keynote speeches? "It just works!" Dear Steve, you are wrong about that.
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Sep 7, 2011 5:01 PM in response to Thorsten Geisslerby sciencegal,Maybe sdischer meant to say that it affects all 24" CD, so replacing it with another 24" will not solve the issue . Clearly the 27" displays do not have this flicker/blackout issue.
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Sep 7, 2011 5:12 PM in response to sciencegalby Thorsten Geissler,He/she is probably an Apple employee. Apple is so cheap, they don't even consider an exchange against the new 27 inch ACDs.
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Sep 7, 2011 6:28 PM in response to Thorsten Geisslerby Tommytune72,I'm experiencing the same issue, every few seconds - the screen is virtually useless. I would love a solution. I have a new MacBook Pro, and am using it with and older 30" cinema display. It has been working flawlessly until today. I don't have AppleCare on anything, and so would love to hear about any success with software updates/tweaking fixes. As for those with AppleCare, must agree that Apple should do what it can to get its clients back up and running, either through software update or hardware replacement. As for what I'd do in your situation, Thorsten, I guess it would depend how much they really ticked you off. For me, I'd probably take the software beta, since it's kinda cool to have that before anyone else, and also Apple has saved me more time overall than they've wasted - I spend about 800x the effort on my wife's PC being the family IT guy than I do on my Mac, so I can't relate there. Either way you cut it, good luck to ya.
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Sep 7, 2011 6:37 PM in response to Thorsten Geisslerby sdischer,I stand corrected, I was speaking of it affecting all 24" ACD's, thank you.
Thorsten: I understood forums were for sharing information, not creating a venue for angry people to vent. Obviously I don't work for Apple or I would have a brand new 27" ACD and listening to my iTunes or something instead of wasting my time posting here. I did take the time to post my experience with Apple to help others understand there is acknowledgement of the issue and hope for a software fix, not to simply infuriate you further. It seems that if people don’t post Apple hate, you twist off.
I have probably bought 15,000 dollars worth of Apple products over the last five years and this is the first real issue. It is an annoyance, not the end of the world that my 2008 model ACD has issues with my brand new MB Pro built three years later. I suspect Thunderbolt ports weren't even imagined when my monitor was designed, but I could be wrong. The fact that there is an interoperability issue is unfortunate, but computers and software are designed by people and people make mistakes. The same people will likely fix the problem.
If I were you, I would not let $2500 worth of hardware make me so unhappy. I'm just saying...
PS: Threatening litigation against Apple is like a mosquito threatening an elephant that he is going to kick his arse. Please don't waste the electrons typing that any more...
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Sep 7, 2011 6:59 PM in response to sciencegalby Dr Sly,sciencegal,
I have a 27" LED Apple Cinema Display and it flickers like **** if under half of its brightness (from lowest to halfway).
It never happened with my previous Macs, only since that dreadfully inadequate Thunderpants port came out.
So clearly it's not the ACD, and it's very unlikely it's the Macs on their own. Smells like a bad firmware or hardware issue for the Thunderpants port.
My ACD warranty expires in a month or two, should I wait until after this to ask for a replacement because Apple engineers couldn't think of properly testing their Thunderpants implementation before releasing it on iMacs and MBPs quite a few months ago, then on the newer Mac Minis and MBAs?
I was told by a 'Genius' that surely a fix would come in the form of a patch/firmware/whatever some time in the near future. NEAR FUTURE?!
I think not.
Imma wait until the last, very last day of my warranty, then hop in a cab with this bulky device an onward to the Apple Store, and I'm going to:
- have them read all 'em threads on the interweb, like this one, which clock at 50 pages + of complaints, and
- get them to shamefully replace it with a new Thunderpants-enhanced 27" ACD, to replace my mini-DisplayPort one.
... and IF they don't wanna, I'll tell them right away that I'm going to send them a registered letter from my favorite lawyer (me), and we'll have a Genius party like it's 1999 at the provincial Smalls Claims Court here in Montreal.
(FYI, success rate of 'unfrivolous' cases in Small Claims Court in Quebec province in close to something like 85% approx., that is, in favour of the plaintiffs...)
The morale of this story: you pay a premium, you ought to get the cream of the crop.
Happy times.
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Sep 7, 2011 7:06 PM in response to sdischerby Dr Sly,sdischer,
About litigation: well it depends where you live, doesn't it?
Apple is no better than a quickie mart, legally speaking, where I am from.
Socialism sometimes trump the sense of self-entitlement of large corporations. And I'm not even European! There are some places in North America where the laws favour the people.
FYI: the best way to build a case is to copy/paste or print thead pages as PDF, it does wonder at preventing censorship from Apple forum admins (who in their infinite wisdom, would rather gag you than actually address the issues at hand).
Peace out.
Dr Sly
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Sep 7, 2011 8:16 PM in response to sdischerby Thorsten Geissler,I thank the gods that I am not you sdischer. Because If was was you, I'd hide behind a garbage can and pout that nobody pays attention to me. Next time don't ask me for a copy of the letter I sent to Tim Cook. Besides, who really needs to know how much money you spend on crap over the last five years?
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Sep 7, 2011 8:41 PM in response to Thorsten Geisslerby BarrettF77,This thread has gotten off track guys. Everyone is frustrated, including myself as all solutions provided up to this point I feel have been a bandaid on a situation needing surgery.
The technology is obviously packet driven in that the display port on the ACDs is having difficulty communicating through the Thunderbolt which is a much more versatile port. The technologies are workable together, but the packets of information are getting lost or cluttered up. Which is what is creating the black outs because the ACDs see no signal momentarily or the data is becoming distorted which is why we are seeing the shifts.
I am moving forward as it's now reached the point where apple will be shorty shipping the thunderbolt displays and I also have written Tim Cook. Voice your concerns, handle the matter in whatever way you deem neccessary, or be patient. But can we please stop the bickering as I'm interested in this thread but am about to unsubscribe because it's Apple we should be focusing our frustratins at. Not one another.
We spend our hard earned money on these products and this was an oversight on Apple's part. Apple has now had approximately 7 months to figure out a fix for this issue. I don't expect Apple to give us something for free here. However, a incredibly steep discount of around half off or more to bring this thunderbolt display down to cost should be quietly offered to those of us affected.
I have two 24" ACDs affected and I'm not dropping this issue until I feel satisfactory with the outcome. Everyone else should also channel their energy towards a resolution rather than tearing each other down. No one here is asking for a handout, but Apple should take initiative to reach each of us. I have had thread moderators contact me before as our personal info is visable to them. So Apple, please take notice of this and make this right. Apple staff and the sites still maintain that ACDs are compatible with thunderbolt macs. I've been a longtime customer and would love to continue to be.
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Sep 7, 2011 8:52 PM in response to Thorsten Geisslerby Mike95,Everything is being blown out of proportion and patience is all that is needed. The words cheap, lawsuit, careless, etc. are a full waste of time and I regret have to type them just to emphasize the point. We've all spent plenty of money with Apple and we will continue to do so because of the amazing products they produce and otherwise they retain awesome resale value when compared to other technology products.
Apple is simply following a defined & standard procedure and process. As a business, replacing each and every 24" with a 27" wouldn't make financial sense if the problem is addressable with an update. Yes, granted the update may have taken some time to arrive for some, however the first time I heard of it was specifically with the new MacMini. There is a claim it doesn't happen with 27" yet we have a recent post that says otherwise. Clearly as the scope of the issue increases, particularly with the latest batch of thunderbolt products, the importance for a resolution will also increase and this is what we are all looking forward to. To be honest, I'm still waiting to make a purchase decision on either the new Thunderbolt display or the 27" cinema display for home use as the later can be more useful for other non-thunderbolt devices I have or may have in the future -- but am paused and monitoring this forum to get better feel.
To be quite honest, and no personal attack to anyone of course, instead of calling a company cheap for not replacing a handful or hundres, perhaps thousands, of 24" ACD try instead and take things into your own hands in search of happiness. Each case is different, but one example is to resell it to someone on ebay who can make better use of it (they are going for an awesome resell value of $600 on average) and equip yourself with a 27" if that's what you strongly desire. It may sound outrageous, but some do this product after product and I unfortunately fell into this group of people with my MacBookAir 11" (2010) model. My office bought 27" iMacs with thunderbolts and I wanted to have the flexibility to connect it up to leverage the dispaly from time to time with my MacBookAir -- selling and rebuying was my only option as it was 5 months old. To make sure the buyer was also happy, I had him name the price and after we agreed I threw in a leather bag for him I had extra too. I'm happy, he's happy, and everyone is happy -- sometimes for a price.
I say this in a humble way becuase this is a price I paid to be happy with such convenience. And I've been angered in the past for buying something to either have it be outdated, problematic, doesn't fit the new desk I bought, etc. Ultimately happiness is directly equated to how much effort one puts into the solution -- be it money, sweat, or simply virtue. Explore all the possible options, decide on what makes the best sense for your particular situation and go through with it as ultimate your own personal happiness is at stake.
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Sep 7, 2011 9:07 PM in response to DanRybby Humanfly,I think I speak for a lot of the people with the same issue here. We need to things:
1. A software fix. A lot of people say 'be patient'. We have. For 7 MONTHS. I understand Apple has a procedure, but it doesn't work when you leave pro customers (incl. the ones with AppleCare) waiting all this time. 7 MONTHS is unacceptable. Even more so because:
2. Apple hasn't officialy acknowledge this or give a timeframe for a solution. It doesn't matter what the Geniuses say or what they say over the phone. You can't use that against them if you were to sue them, so it's not an official response from Apple. Unless someone here has an email from Apple acknowledging this and giving a timeframe for a solution?
I don't need a new screen, I just want the one I paid a premium price for (plus AppleCare) to work as it should. Who's going to compensate me for not being able to use it for my work all these months?
We've tried letters, visits to Apple stores, phone calls and yet 7 MONTHS later we have nothing but promises. How can guarantee us this will be fixed and when? We deserve an aswer now. We've waited enough.