Apple’s legendary products are only matched by the company’s insistence on providing legendary customer service, with the latest evidence revealing that the owner of an Intel-powered 2019 MacBook Pro received a massive upgrade to the company’s latest 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro, for free. Of course, it definitely helped that the customer was paying a monthly subscription for AppleCare+, so he would naturally get top priority for after-sales services. The problem is that even after receiving a monumental upgrade in terms of hardware, the customer still went on to criticize Apple and its ‘planned obsolescence’ business practices.
2019 Intel MacBook Pro owner was looking for a battery replacement; monthly AppleCare+ payments were not even close to the price of a brand new M5 MacBook Pro
On Reddit, a MacBook Pro owner who goes by the username ‘GeneralZilla,’ describes the story of how he became the lucky recipient of the M5 MacBook Pro. The Intel-powered portable Mac was due for a second battery service, but upon taking it to the nearest outlet, he was informed that the replacement was not possible. Naturally, the customer would be livid, and you would too if you were paying for an AppleCare+ monthly subscription.
Fortunately, the Redditor’s persistence paid off, and an Apple employee offered to replace his current unit with an ‘equal machinery.’ Who would have thought that a laptop-based Intel processor would be equivalent to the M5? Also, for those wondering about the monthly AppleCare+ payments that the customer was making, a monthly subscription means paying $9.99 for six years, which amounts to $719.94.
A brand new base 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro costs $1,599 if you purchase one from Apple’s website, or $1,480 if you purchase the Space Black version from Amazon. Whichever way you look at it, the customer saved money from this entire endeavor. Unfortunately, the disappointing aspect about his experience is that, despite receiving a far superior product as a replacement, he still calls out Apple for its planned obsolescence.
“Today I took my 2019 15' IMBP in due to a battery service warning. I've been paying the monthly subscription for apple care since the original warranty lapsed. This was going to be my second battery replacement so I was already familiar with the process but I was told that the store could not service my laptop and to call an apple care specialist about more information regarding the denial of service.
After about an hour of getting bounced around and eseclated, one of the representatives offered to replace my laptop with "equal machinery" but that the only options where what was currently available on the apple website. I just got lucky I guess with the timing and that equal machine is the new M5 14' base model.
Im happy for the free upgrade and not having to pay apple another $2000 for the hotest appliance you can buy thats non cooking related, but im not understanding why they would even warranty my device in the first place if they had no plans to repair it at all. I know this sounds like a "teacher you forgot to collect the hw" situation, but how does this benefit apple at all, or me in my specific case.
I have a windows partion I use daily for work that I cant use on the M5, and I wasnt necessarilly interested in spending a few hundred dollars at a 3rd party place on a laptop I supposedly have a warranty for. I expected to get a free battery replacement on a machine, from the warranty provider, as per the warranty. I plan to go through with the swap, and again am definitely greatful for this blessings of good customer service, but the planned obsolescence is such a horrible practice. Where tf is Steve Jobs.”
A lot of replies on the Reddit thread were rightfully pointed at the value the new M5 MacBook Pro owner has got from Apple, and we are confident that no other company will make the effort to provide this facility. In fact, from what we know, no laptop maker allows customers to pay a monthly subscription fee for years if they want a warranty to be eligible for that product. At the most, laptop makers will give a 2-year warranty, and that too if you pay extra. From what we can tell, the Intel MacBook Pro owner was one lucky soul.
News Source: Reddit
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