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>The quality can be highly questionable. One shop first put an old battery in my MacBook, and after I complained they put in a new one from a bad manufacturer w

>The quality can be highly questionable. One shop first put an old battery in my MacBook, and after I complained they put in a new one from a bad manufacturer which ended up breaking touchpad and keyboard. On my iMac a different store installed the wrong screen (from the previous model that had ghosting issues and wasn’t as bright) - I ended up changing it myself for around EUR250 instead of 700 the store charged or 1100 Apple wanted. Also the screws were loose on the MacBook and the camera and microphone weren’t aligned on the iMac. I obviously went to different stores and checked the reviews before, but it didn’t help. Is this not due entirely to how hard Apple makes it to get OEM parts?

Scoundreller 4y ago
The current state means you deal with “refurbishers” that mass sell used components (possibly fixing common issues at a micro-level), buy “broken” units yourself to harvest for parts or grab them off eBay et al. Sometimes the manufacturers do run extra production runs so you get new OEM parts. Or there is cross compatibility. I’ve covered a fair bit of the expense of my new Mac units by parting out my old ones.
harha 4y ago
For the iMac panel: I did some research because I wasn’t sure if it actually had a problem (I just had a hunch on the brightness and the monitor symbol had changed) - then I found one that worked as expected on alibaba, but dealing with all the glued on panel etc. Was a real pain. For the battery: probably. I didn’t bother searching replacing that one though and gave away the laptop. I would have changed it myself but at that time my government was subsidizing small shops with half price coupons so it was actually cheaper to go to a store than to change it myself (looking back I should have just registered as a repair shop and taken the subsidy myself)
- zamalek 4y ago
  > alibaba Note that importing these items might work out for an individual, but Apple has a very recent history of seizing "counterfeit parts" at the border: https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3ppvj/dhs-seized-aftermarket-apple-laptop-batteries-from-independent-repair-expert-louis-rossman https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3ppvj/dhs-seized-aftermarke...
  - harha 4y ago
    Wow this is evil. Talking of a company that claims being super green by not adding a charger or using different boxes for refurbished devices, but then makes sure you have to replace your otherwise functional electronics every few years. Or also as a side note: causing a major annoyance with the non standard cable. The panel I bought doesn’t have any apple references, just the LG part number. Funnily enough, the previous model panel from the store falsely had the same part number after I opened it.

Scoundreller 4y ago

The current state means you deal with “refurbishers” that mass sell used components (possibly fixing common issues at a micro-level), buy “broken” units yourself to harvest for parts or grab them off eBay et al. Sometimes the manufacturers do run extra production runs so you get new OEM parts. Or there is cross compatibility. I’ve covered a fair bit of the expense of my new Mac units by parting out my old ones.

harha 4y ago

For the iMac panel: I did some research because I wasn’t sure if it actually had a problem (I just had a hunch on the brightness and the monitor symbol had changed) - then I found one that worked as expected on alibaba, but dealing with all the glued on panel etc. Was a real pain. For the battery: probably. I didn’t bother searching replacing that one though and gave away the laptop. I would have changed it myself but at that time my government was subsidizing small shops with half price coupons so it was actually cheaper to go to a store than to change it myself (looking back I should have just registered as a repair shop and taken the subsidy myself)

zamalek 4y ago
> alibaba Note that importing these items might work out for an individual, but Apple has a very recent history of seizing "counterfeit parts" at the border: https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3ppvj/dhs-seized-aftermarket-apple-laptop-batteries-from-independent-repair-expert-louis-rossman https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3ppvj/dhs-seized-aftermarke...
- harha 4y ago
  Wow this is evil. Talking of a company that claims being super green by not adding a charger or using different boxes for refurbished devices, but then makes sure you have to replace your otherwise functional electronics every few years. Or also as a side note: causing a major annoyance with the non standard cable. The panel I bought doesn’t have any apple references, just the LG part number. Funnily enough, the previous model panel from the store falsely had the same part number after I opened it.