Both me and my dad own the same imac bought within a month of each other and yesterday we both got the following email:

Dear iMac owner,
Apple has determined that certain 1TB Seagate hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.
Our records show that you have an iMac with an affected 1TB Seagate hard drive. Apple will replace your hard drive with a new one, free of charge, under the iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program.
Please choose one of the following options to get a replacement hard drive.
•

Apple Retail Store – set up an appointment with a Genius.

•

Apple Authorised Service Provider – find one here.
•

Apple Technical Support – contact us for local service options.

Apple recommends replacing your affected hard drive as soon as possible. Before you go in for service, please back up your data. Learn more about backup options.
Additional Information
You will need to have the original Mac OS installation discs that were supplied with your iMac in order to reinstall your operating system, other applications and any backed up data after your hard drive is replaced.

This worldwide Apple programme does not extend the standard warranty coverage of the iMac.
Apple will replace affected 1TB Seagate hard drives, free of charge, for three years from your iMac’s original date of purchase or until 12 April 2013, whichever provides longer coverage for you. Apple will continue to evaluate service data and provide extensions to this programme as needed.
We apologise for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Apple Inc.

So now we have to buy an external hdd each, take our macs off the island to the nearest apple store, a journey costing aprox £40 (including return) each and then spend a wek or 2 computer less! and once the swap has been done go back and collect it. Looking at roughly £200 each to rectify the problem, money I really cant afford to spend and my dad rely’s on his computer for work. Balls!

Firstly, have you contacted them to let them know your issue?

Secondly, you rely on them for work and you dont back-up!!!!!!! < mental!

my dad rely’s on his computer for work

and he doesn’t do backups already 😯

he’s dead lucky it’s not already failed on him really from the Apple email.

you could both share the same backup device and save some cash?

and do one jopurney to take them both in. They may be able to do it while you wait, too, which would save further money.

We’ll both have to go as one person carry 2 imacs though s town isnt very clever tbh!

and as per backing up, we will need individual drives as we wont be using time capsule due to its issues

Back up. And don’t buy the Apple Time Capsule thing, cos they die too. (I’ve had two die on me.)

Synology disk station.

hmm. i’d give ’em a shout. when i broke my dell laptop they sent a nice dhl man with his own box to collect it, and turned it around in under a week, FOC.

So now we have to buy an external hdd each,

But surely you can just back up to your existing back up drive. Or did you not actually realise that all hard drives fail at some point.

It’s always half-empty with you. I don’t imagine that any other manufacturer would offer the same service on a 2-3 year old computer.

Well, they’ve done all they need to do to rectify the fault. It’s not Apples fault you live on an island is it?

We’ll both have to go as one person carry 2 imacs though s town isnt very clever tbh!

what’s the real risk of it dying? All hard drives die at some point. Why don’t you back it up regularly and then just take it in when and if it dies?

what’s the real risk of it dying? All hard drives die at some point. Why don’t you back it up regularly and then just take it in when and if it dies?

This. Amazon will ship you either a backup hdd or a backup nas at a good price, probably by tomorrow. Get the imacs done next time you need to go to the bright lights.

of for goodness sake folks 🙄

Go to Google, type this in:

fourcrossjohn troll site:singletrackworld.com

money I really cant afford to spend

Yet you bought a Mac?
Ive recently had to repair our fridge freezer (£120), microwave (£110) and last weekend someone put two nice dents in my car wing which will probably cost £200 to fix. Stuff goes wrong all the time and you just have to get on and fix it.
Count yourself lucky there is a replacement program.

and then spend a wek or 2 computer less! and once the swap has been done go back and collect it.

Why? It’s just a hard drive swap which will prob take about 30 mins max. Book in with a Genius and I’d expect them to do it there and then.
First world issues… tut 😉

In case it’s not a troll, why do you need a hard drive to back up to? Just buy some blank DVDs and burn any data you want to keep. You’ll have to reinstall any software etc but hey ho.

What island do you live on? Check for local Apple authorised repair centres, doesn’t have to be an Apple store.

As above, at least they let you know. And yes, you should be backing up anyway – you can afford to spend £x000 on iMacs that you use for work, yet you don’t want to spend £100 on a drive to protect your data?

I think he lives on Tracey Island!

They will fail.

My chum has just had the same model repaired by apple. They also fitted a new screen because there was a dust cover fitting error. £500 repairs plus for free.

She was able to restore from time machine no bother from an external hard disc.

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy a new HDD each, clone the drive and pop it in yourselves?

I’m sure its not Apple’s fault you live on an Island, miles away from a main dealer, is it now.

[audio src="http://www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Thunderbirds/ThunderbirdsTitle.mp3" /]

There must be some sort of disc cloning software for Macs, surely? Get disc posted to you, clone to new disc, sorted. It’d take me about 2 minutes to set up on a Windows box (not counting the time it takes to copy all my pr0nz.)

And yes, full backups to seperate drives, unless you’re mental.

Hows the Carerra Banshee holding up?

I think he lives on [strike]Tracey[/strike] Craggy Island!

There must be some sort of disc cloning software for Macs, surely? Get disc posted to you, clone to new disc, sorted

Probably not allowed to open it up yourself otherwise you’ll void the warranty – seems to be standard fayre with Apple kit.

Ah diddums

Back up to the cloud

Live free

Just pop another drive in and backup oh wait you got a mac, well tough sh*t

tonyd – Member

Probably not allowed to open it up yourself otherwise you’ll void the warranty – seems to be standard fayre with Apple kit.

Really? Excellent.

How long’s the warranty? These machines much be between 1 and 3 years.

Probably not allowed to open it up yourself otherwise you’ll void the warranty – seems to be standard fayre with Apple kit.

That’s pretty much standard practice for all computer manufacturers, not just Apple. (And despite not being a fan of Apple, I have to say their behaviour here is exemplary, I’m not sure Acer or Asus would do the same with a 3yr old machine.)

Apple

….. will replace your hard drive with a new one, free of charge, under the iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program.

OP

So now we have to buy an external hdd each,

No you don’t.

No you don’t.

they do if they want to recover the data from the existing drives.

That’s pretty much standard practice for all computer manufacturers

Dell sent me a HDD to fit myself on a 2 month old box

Dell sent me a HDD to fit myself on a 2 month old box

Really? I take it back, then. I’m used to seeing the “void if broken” stickers on the back of machines I’ve owned, I assumed they were more or less standard practice.

Acer sent me a replacement screen to fit to a laptop. And yep Dell are happy for endusers to fit parts, have been for years

Really? I take it back, then. I’m used to seeing the “void if broken” stickers on the back of machines I’ve owned, I assumed they were more or less standard practice.

Not sure if it makes a difference but it was a company laptop, maybe they wouldn’t for desktops ??

.

No you don’t.

they do if they want to recover the data from the existing drives.

Additional Information

You will need to have the original OS installation discs that were shipped with your product in order to re-install your operating system, other applications and any backed up data after your hard drive is replaced.

As mentioned, backup should already be a routine.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/western-digital-elements-external-hard-drive-2tb-black-03781559-pdt.html?srcid=369&xtor=AL-1&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~&istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istItemId=qqpxmxaq&istBid=t

They will fail.

My chum has just had the same model repaired by apple. They also fitted a new screen because there was a dust cover fitting error. £500 repairs plus for free.

She was able to restore from time machine no bother from an external hard disc.