Ethernet port in Thunderbolt Display connecting intermittently

Create a one-star review in the apple store. This got the attention of the Apple Support team for me.

I spoke with Apple Care. They are shipping me a new monitor. They said its a faulty Thunderbolt cable. I'm highly doubtful.

I would like to remind everyone of my findings in an earlier post:

I had this problem constantly, just like everyone else subscribed to this post. However, once I upgraded to Mountain Lion 10.8 preview, the issue went away permanently. I have never had the issue again since upgrading.

Based on this, I would guess it is a flaw in drivers or software within 10.7 that have not been updated for whatever reason in 10.7, but have been in 10.8.

Thanks Endurion,

That leads me to a question - is 10.8 stable enough to work with? I am in the prpgram, but was on the fence as to whether or not to try it. I would however if it will solve this pronblem (or might).

I had this problem constantly, just like everyone else subscribed to this post. However, once I upgraded to Mountain Lion 10.8 preview, the issue went away permanently. I have never had the issue again since upgrading.

You are violating your NDA by discussing a not yet publicly released OS; it also violates the ToU of these forums.

I disagree with your assessment babowa. Specifically: I am not discussing any particular features of Apple Pre-Released Materials, nor am I revealing anything that is defined Apple Confidential Information.

What I am doing is discussing the behavior of already released Apple hardware.

Stating that my hardware is not having the issues described by others, and that I happen to be running Mountain Lion 10.8, in no way violates the terms of the NDA. Especially when one considers that all I am stating is that already released Apple hardware is working properly on the particular system that I happen to be running.

As I understand it, what I am doing is perfectly legitimate.

"You agree not to use the Pre- Release Materials for any purpose other than testing and/or development by you of a product designed to operate in combination with the same operating system for which the Pre-Release Materials are designed. "

If you believe I am wrong about this, please explain to me specifically in what way, and in reference to what language, and I will be more than happy to reconsider my opinion of your assessment.

I sure hope i'm not going to jinx it... but AppleCare sent me a brand new monitor. I've been using it all week and haven't seen the problem once. I normally have it all day long every day.

I was also told to pull the cable from the MBP holding the plastic connector - and not pull on the cord.

Either way... so far so good.

BTW - i did a one-star review too. Got a call really fast.

@babowa: Gee, I hope you aren't representative of Apple Customer Care ... how are your comments even remotely helpful to those suffering from this problem? Let me guess: you wanted to be a lawyer but blew the LSAT?

Whether or not this problem may eventually be solved by migrating to Moutain Lion, I'm very disappointed that Apple isn't taking a more proactive stance. That everyone has to call repeatedly and endure half-assed remedies is unacceptable.

Next time, I won't be buying an Apple display.

@ddd-man: please let us know if your new TBD starts to act up. I guess I now have to push Apple for a replacement - I was really hoping they could simply provide a firmware update.

Sure. They said it is a hardware issue. So i don't know how they're going to handle this from a support issue.

Quick update on my side: Apple replaced my TBD after trying to repair it twice. The issue described here reappeared within 48h with the brand new display, as expected. It seems that Apple just can't resolve that issue.

I still believe it has the be a Software/Firmware issue and has nothing to do with the hardware.

So here I am, with a 1000$ display I can't really use! And I won't waste more time on the phone, it has proved to be useless.

Apple needs to resolve this issue ASAP. We all paid a premium for what we thought was a quality product. Apple's descision to sit on a pile of cash while devioting insufficient resources to ensuring that firmware is reliable is unconscionable.

Its been two weeks with a brand new TBD. So far it hasn't come back. And normally it does each and every day. I've also been very careful to not pull on the cord as they instructed.

I'm not claiming it's fixed for me (yet). But I'm a much happier person. I strongly suggest everyone have AppleCare send a new display if you can.

I'll report back in another week or two.

Besides providing low rating on the Apple Store, also rated low on CNet Reviews. The time an energy to resolve has been challenging.

Its been 6 weeks. After a new TBD, it hasn't come back once. I think I'm declaring victory for myself.