Apple

matthew · May 9, 2015

Laptop has a wifi hardware problem and I've been told it will cost £500 to fix!

As I can still use it with an ethernet cabel there's no way I'm paying that, is there anyway I can get it fixed cheaper or just sell it?

TomandJerry · May 9, 2015

Just to cover all basics, have you tried turning it on and off?

jon12345 · May 9, 2015

I had the same problem with my imac. It was the airport card.

From the model of your mac and google you should be able to find the one you need. I got mine on ebay for £15 and it was pretty easy to fix.

There are loads of videos on youtube with instructions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSMOTU5YYOg#t=180

Good luck

Beach Hut · May 9, 2015

matthew said:
Laptop has a wifi hardware problem and I've been told it will cost £500 to fix!

As I can still use it with an ethernet cabel there's no way I'm paying that, is there anyway I can get it fixed cheaper or just sell it?

My elder son had a WiFi hardware problem and it was a known error they fixed for free however he had to wait 6 months as he was in middle of nowhere in the USA to get it fixed when he came home.

beorhthelm · May 9, 2015

id sell it. problem with laptop faults is they often need the whole mainboard changing and Apple cost a lot.

matthew · May 9, 2015

jon12345 said:
I had the same problem with my imac. It was the airport card.

From the model of your mac and google you should be able to find the one you need. I got mine on ebay for £15 and it was pretty easy to fix.

There are loads of videos on youtube with instructions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSMOTU5YYOg#t=180

Good luck

If it is just the airport card that's the problem and they want to replace the whole motherboard that must be fraud?

Beach Hut · May 9, 2015

matthew said:
If it is just the airport card that's the problem and they want to replace the whole motherboard that must be fraud?

Possibly however I doubt you would win in court given their legal powers besides how do you think Apple became the richest company they are ?

Have you tried an independent PC repair shop as it might be cheaper.

matthew · May 17, 2015

Wifi has suddenly started working again, no idea what happened but I'll probably sell it before it breaks down again...

Apple were going to charge me £500, I honestly think there's some sort of fraud going on here.

Vegas Seagull · May 17, 2015

matthew said:
Wifi has suddenly started working again, no idea what happened but I'll probably sell it before it breaks down again...

Apple were going to charge me £500, I honestly think there's some sort of fraud going on here.

They don't want the work unless it's a monster earner?

Bold Seagull · May 18, 2015

matthew said:
Laptop has a wifi hardware problem and I've been told it will cost £500 to fix!

As I can still use it with an ethernet cabel there's no way I'm paying that, is there anyway I can get it fixed cheaper or just sell it?

Did you take it into a store and they told you that, or did they just give you a price for replacing the airport card? Surprising if it's started working again if they'd done their diagnostics check you get at the store.

RandyWanger · May 18, 2015

I've got one of those boring IT jobs and spend most of my day trying to fix and support Apple products for clients in London.

I had to swap a motherboard recently on a MBP and that was £329.96 for the part. I'd assume that's what they're quoting you for in a worse case scenario?

How technical are you? https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac

Step by step guides and they can sell you all the tools and parts to fix it yourself. If not, I'd recommend http://www.amsys.co.uk/ I push work their way when too busy to do it myself. Easier and quicker than using Apple, no need for an appointment, walk in, diagnosed there and then and quoted for an out of warranty fix. Obviously with you're in the deans and them in London it might not be ideal, but if you're up that way pop in.

Assuming you've reset the SMC? Sometimes fixes random hardware errors.

Shut down your MacBook.
Connect the MagSafe power adapter into your MacBook. ...
Press Shift + Control + Option + Power keys at the same time.
Release all the keys from the keyboard.

Sometimes a PRAM reset can help too.

Shut down your laptop(not sleep or logging out)
Press the power button and then press command + option + p + r (Hold them down until your Mac reboots again and you here the startup chime, should chime twice in total)
Let go of the keys and let your Mac reboot normally

Failing all that and it is a failed part that you can't or don't want to fix, you can get a USB wifi dongle cheap enough.

matthew · May 18, 2015

Bold Seagull said:
Did you take it into a store and they told you that, or did they just give you a price for replacing the airport card? Surprising if it's started working again if they'd done their diagnostics check you get at the store.

Took it to the store and they and left it with them and then they said they would have to replace the main body

TWOCHOICEStom · May 18, 2015

matthew said:
Took it to the store and they and left it with them and then they said they would have to replace the main body

Try giving Robert Harding a call. Based on Sackville Road, he's been doing mac servicing for years and years. Will likely be much cheaper than getting Apple to repair it.

http://www.rh-computers.com/

Bold Seagull · May 18, 2015

matthew said:
Took it to the store and they and left it with them and then they said they would have to replace the main body

Bloody idiots. I don't think it's fraud but shows how difficult it is to isolate hardware/software issues. Amazing it started working again. Any similar stories on the Apple Communities forums or anything? Could the wifi just overheated, stopped working, then over a period cooled down and voila all cured? I know I've read issues with MBP's and iMac's getting too hot, stopping working, but returning to functioning properly once everything cools down. I ended up with a laptop stand with external fans mounted within it to keep the bottom of my Mac cool and ventilated.

Official Old Man · May 18, 2015

So it may be that someone in Ovingdean will be selling a macbook shortly. Perfect working order (?).

matthew · May 18, 2015

Bold Seagull said:
Bloody idiots. I don't think it's fraud but shows how difficult it is to isolate hardware/software issues. Amazing it started working again. Any similar stories on the Apple Communities forums or anything? Could the wifi just overheated, stopped working, then over a period cooled down and voila all cured? I know I've read issues with MBP's and iMac's getting too hot, stopping working, but returning to functioning properly once everything cools down. I ended up with a laptop stand with external fans mounted within it to keep the bottom of my Mac cool and ventilated.

Actually that's very likely as I have one of those hard shell cases which probably makes it overheat, will be leaving it off now...

Bold Seagull · May 18, 2015

matthew said:
Actually that's very likely as I have one of those hard shell cases which probably makes it overheat, will be leaving it off now...

You might want to consider one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Laptop-Notebook-Cooler-Cooling/dp/B00EVA83JU/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t/280-8124959-4991461

They're pretty cheap plastic things, but actually they raise your laptop above the desk and the fans create air movement underneath. Certainly don't do any harm.

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