Macbook Air SSD failure?

I also received a new macbook I7 2013, and actually a bigger harddrive than I had before. All I did was call to check the status twice, and then received a call from the manager stating theres no way she would get a harddrive in the "near future", and Apple has authorized complete replacement.

Late to the game but my pristine, lightly used 2013 (purchased June 2014) SSD went out 4 months after Apple Care program expired, and Apple does not care and would like to charge me $500 to repair. Knowing full well they have had problems with SSD previously but “I just must have bad luck” was their advice. Very disappointed. Life long (former) customer.

all HD are prone to failure, both SSD and conventional HD, however it is an extremely rare case that anyone incurs the SSD failure on a Mac.

Your 2012 Air SSD is Toshiba's THNS series, made by Toshiba

Current 2013 models Samsung SSD and also SanDisk SSD, depending on model and GB size.

Hi, if you don't have Apple Care this may be an oportunity to protect your MBA for two more years.

The failure you describe is extremely rare; I know of only one other occurrence that was reported on ASC. It was also within the MBA's first few months and replaced under warranty.

The cost of the SSD, if were to have to pay for it, would have been just over half of what I paid for my MBA, including cost of warrant.

OWC sells replacement or upgraded SSDs for much less than you would have to pay Apple if it were out of warranty.

I suggest if you don't already have the Applecare extended warranty that you buy it before the one year standard warranty runs out. You can't buy it after that one year warranty runs out.

As you have found not only do Mac computers cost more then Windows system with the same hardware they are also extremely expensive to fix without a warranty.

LowLuster wrote:

As you have found not only do Mac computers cost more then Windows system with the same hardware they are also extremely expensive to fix without a warranty.

If you compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges this statement isn't inaccurate. It is only because Asus and other PC manufacturers sell computers at every price point and Apple sells to only a few price points at the top end that it looks as if PCs cost less than Macs. Again comparing similar computer models, PC notebooks and Mac notebooks cost about the same to repair. What you ignore completely is the large number of 3-6 year old Mac notebooks that are still running strong and selling on eBay while 3-6 year old PC notebooks tend to be landfill fodder.

Fanboy talk? Maybe, but consider too that my philanthropic organization refurbishes old computers for charity.

Right being that my statement Isn't Inaccurate makes it an Accurate statement.

The company I work for uses both Mac's and Win PCs notebooks. It is up to the individual to chose what type they want to use, most of the time.

When the IT department need to fix a Mac they have to take it to an Apple store and pay through the nose. With the PCs they order the parts and switch them out.

Since Apple solders the CPU and GPU, in models that have a discrete GPU, and with the Retina and Air models the RAM to the main board to replace a main board is way more expensive then replacing a main board in any other brand of PC. With all PC notebooks, not Netbooks, the CPU and on most of them the GPU is an add-on part that can be switched over to the new main board or those parts can be replaced by themselves if they are the part that has failed.

Not so with any Apple notebook. So the owner has to pony up the cost for parts that haven't failed just because they are soldered to the board.

dwb wrote:

If you compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges this statement isn't inaccurate.

Always an answer - inaccurate and incomplete as usual - but always an answer.

Sorry I have no response for the above.

All the best to you.

Awesome news. Luckily your had your files backed up as well 😊.

For the future however make sure very important things have at least 2 backups, even 'non important things' you hold dear and not easy to replace.

Here's another SSD failure occurance. The technician I used also mentioned that they took care of a second Apple SSD failure today. So perhaps this issue is not as rare as is suggested.

The SSD on our MacBook Air 13" 2012 failed last weekend while the computer was dorment overnight. The computer could no longer even locate the drive. Took it to a technician who confirmed that the drive could not be accessed and needed replacement. The computer was 1 year and 6 days old and we chose to spend our money on a time machine rather than apple care, so we were 6 days out of warranty but happily had all data backed up.

I took the computer to the Apple Store in San Francisco and spoke to a manager there. I understand I could have purchased Apple Care but my pitch was that most manufacturers will consider covering an unusal and major failure outside of warranty, and this was only 6 days... If I bought a high end appliance and the device suffered a catastrophic failure just outside of warranty I would expect them to work with me.

Not Apple. No luck. Not even a discount on repair service was offered. They tried to sell me on their repair service and asked what warranty I would get via the technician. I said I don't know but I felt better having them take care of it. I declined their repair and got the SSD replaced via the technician.

Good call. The replacement part comes with a 3 year warranty and was cheaper than the part at Apple and I took the chance to upgrade my storage capacity.

Contractually Apple had no obligation to me, but I think they were unreasonable and did not make the right decision for their brand reputation, particularly when I found out that a 3 year warranty is available on the replacement part. Where do you draw the line on making exceptions? I don't know, but I think our case warranted an exception.

The lesson I learned from this is not that I wish I had purchased Apple Care for $249 (the repair Apple offered was only $280) but rather than Apple's repair costs, warranty and extended warranty are uncompetitive with third party repair and part options. $350 plus labor got me a new 240Gb drive with 3 years warranty. That is still only what I would have paid if I'd sprung $249 for Apple Care plus $200 extra for a 13" with a 256Gb drive initially.