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This is not surprising at all, the retina screen is one of the most expensive parts of the laptop. Lots of household appliances are similar to this too. If you

This is not surprising at all, the retina screen is one of the most expensive parts of the laptop. Lots of household appliances are similar to this too. If you have to repair one of the main parts of a washing machine or a dishwasher a new one will be a cheaper option. Same for a car, a friend of mine flooded his engine by driving through water that was higher than expected. His insurance company just wrote the car off as it was much more expensive to replace an engine than to get a new car.

vbezhenar 6y ago
Does your country have unofficial repairs? I can't imagine destroying a car just because of failed engine. In my country I would spend around $1k to repair engine if it's still possible and around few thousands dollars to buy used engine and replace it. Actually I would repair it myself for a few hundreds of dollars, but if someone does not want to spend time, those are the options.
- owenmarshall 6y ago
  > I can't imagine destroying a car just because of failed engine They didn't: they wrote the car off because it was flooded. That can ruin electrical systems, motors, pumps, engines, the body, and everything else the water touches. In the US, when you contact your insurance company and say "I damaged my car driving it through water" and their appraisers agree, they're going to contact the state DMV and let them know. The DMV will mark your vehicle as flood damaged/impaired/salvaged. It's now worth the cost of scrap until you rebuild it to the satisfaction of your state laws to get a clean title.
cbmuser 6y ago
You normally get a rebuilt engine as a replacement, not a new one. So, it’s normally not that expensive.
phonon 6y ago
How do you figure? The screen costs Apple roughly $200. So they don't have to hire skilled technicians, they replace the whole top of the laptop, so some backlight, cover, wiring, case...still well under $500. The actual reason is they don't want Macbook components floating around on the grey market, so they make the pricing for significant repairs impossible to justify.
- imglorp 6y ago
  I wonder if the actual mission of their "repair" shops is to boost purchases from pigeons who have self-identified as maybe needing a new one. Repair is not at all in Apple's interest. It's certainly not for customer goodwill.
- jonwinstanley 6y ago
  I bet it's closer to $400, plus tax and labour. But yes, I suppose it should be under $2,000. But then, I don't know the specifics of this case.
madshiva 6y ago
The retina screen is a technology from 2010.. A quick search show 500$. Sorry but this is wrong. About the car, it also totally wrong. A new engine don't cost more that the car. Insurance will put the car off for other reason. Flooded car mean almost everythings is broken not only the engine. Repair don't cost more than new, is also about how many hours should be charged. BTW, Apple sucks, I don't know why people still buy their crap and then complain afterward. It's always a loop in HN. Complain X from Apple => still buying Apple product.
jsiepkes 6y ago
Disclaimer: I for a company that does consumer electronics after sales. > This is not surprising at all, the retina screen is one of the most expensive parts of the laptop. There is no way it costs them 2K to replace a retina screen in a 2K mac book. Besides if Apple really wanted to they could create a more efficient and cheaper repair process for heavily damaged units. For example send them all to a central point, strip the working components and create refurbished units from those parts. For things on the outside (cover, plastics, etc.) you can use new ones because those will be scratched etc. And then give the customer the option to buy such a refurbished unit instead of a 2K screen replacement. As a bonus It's also better for the environment.
tssva 6y ago
Usually auto insurance doesn't cover the cost of getting a replacement car. The repair only needs to exceed the current market value of the existing car or if the policy includes gap insurance the higher between the market value and payoff amount of the auto loan.
fyfy18 6y ago
In terms of car repairs, the quotes that insurance companies obtain are almost always for official stealership repairs or their "trusted" repair centers. A third party mechanic can almost always repair it just as well for much less, but of course you may be out of the warranty if that's important to you. If you car is already out of warranty though, instead of scrapping it and taking whatever low ball value figure they give and buying another car, it may be cheaper to pay for the repair out of pocket elsewhere.
mauvehaus 6y ago
As a point of order: flooding an engine refers to having so much fuel in the cylinders that it cannot be ignited because there isn't enough air to support combustion. Filling the cylinders with water results in hydro locking an engine because the liquid cannot be compressed on the compression stroke. This can result in damaging the internal parts of the engine. Bent connecting rods are a common issue. If you've gotten in deep enough to get water in through the intake manifold, it's quite likely that a great many other things that shouldn't be gotten wet have (wiring, interior, etc.) and it's not just the engine that will need to be replaced.
plow-tycoon 6y ago
I've updated the post with a screenshot of a previous in-warranty repair bill that indicates the screen cost around ~$500 CAD. Even the logic board and screen came out to around ~$1100, which is largely the basis for the surprising numbers.

vbezhenar 6y ago

Does your country have unofficial repairs? I can't imagine destroying a car just because of failed engine. In my country I would spend around $1k to repair engine if it's still possible and around few thousands dollars to buy used engine and replace it. Actually I would repair it myself for a few hundreds of dollars, but if someone does not want to spend time, those are the options.

owenmarshall 6y ago
> I can't imagine destroying a car just because of failed engine They didn't: they wrote the car off because it was flooded. That can ruin electrical systems, motors, pumps, engines, the body, and everything else the water touches. In the US, when you contact your insurance company and say "I damaged my car driving it through water" and their appraisers agree, they're going to contact the state DMV and let them know. The DMV will mark your vehicle as flood damaged/impaired/salvaged. It's now worth the cost of scrap until you rebuild it to the satisfaction of your state laws to get a clean title.

cbmuser 6y ago

You normally get a rebuilt engine as a replacement, not a new one. So, it’s normally not that expensive.

phonon 6y ago

How do you figure? The screen costs Apple roughly $200. So they don't have to hire skilled technicians, they replace the whole top of the laptop, so some backlight, cover, wiring, case...still well under $500. The actual reason is they don't want Macbook components floating around on the grey market, so they make the pricing for significant repairs impossible to justify.

imglorp 6y ago
I wonder if the actual mission of their "repair" shops is to boost purchases from pigeons who have self-identified as maybe needing a new one. Repair is not at all in Apple's interest. It's certainly not for customer goodwill.
jonwinstanley 6y ago
I bet it's closer to $400, plus tax and labour. But yes, I suppose it should be under $2,000. But then, I don't know the specifics of this case.

madshiva 6y ago

The retina screen is a technology from 2010.. A quick search show 500$. Sorry but this is wrong. About the car, it also totally wrong. A new engine don't cost more that the car. Insurance will put the car off for other reason. Flooded car mean almost everythings is broken not only the engine. Repair don't cost more than new, is also about how many hours should be charged. BTW, Apple sucks, I don't know why people still buy their crap and then complain afterward. It's always a loop in HN. Complain X from Apple => still buying Apple product.

jsiepkes 6y ago

Disclaimer: I for a company that does consumer electronics after sales. > This is not surprising at all, the retina screen is one of the most expensive parts of the laptop. There is no way it costs them 2K to replace a retina screen in a 2K mac book. Besides if Apple really wanted to they could create a more efficient and cheaper repair process for heavily damaged units. For example send them all to a central point, strip the working components and create refurbished units from those parts. For things on the outside (cover, plastics, etc.) you can use new ones because those will be scratched etc. And then give the customer the option to buy such a refurbished unit instead of a 2K screen replacement. As a bonus It's also better for the environment.

tssva 6y ago

Usually auto insurance doesn't cover the cost of getting a replacement car. The repair only needs to exceed the current market value of the existing car or if the policy includes gap insurance the higher between the market value and payoff amount of the auto loan.

fyfy18 6y ago

In terms of car repairs, the quotes that insurance companies obtain are almost always for official stealership repairs or their "trusted" repair centers. A third party mechanic can almost always repair it just as well for much less, but of course you may be out of the warranty if that's important to you. If you car is already out of warranty though, instead of scrapping it and taking whatever low ball value figure they give and buying another car, it may be cheaper to pay for the repair out of pocket elsewhere.

mauvehaus 6y ago

As a point of order: flooding an engine refers to having so much fuel in the cylinders that it cannot be ignited because there isn't enough air to support combustion. Filling the cylinders with water results in hydro locking an engine because the liquid cannot be compressed on the compression stroke. This can result in damaging the internal parts of the engine. Bent connecting rods are a common issue. If you've gotten in deep enough to get water in through the intake manifold, it's quite likely that a great many other things that shouldn't be gotten wet have (wiring, interior, etc.) and it's not just the engine that will need to be replaced.

plow-tycoon 6y ago

I've updated the post with a screenshot of a previous in-warranty repair bill that indicates the screen cost around ~$500 CAD. Even the logic board and screen came out to around ~$1100, which is largely the basis for the surprising numbers.