Genius Bar | At Home with Tech

January 15, 2017

How to Make Your Old iPhone Act Like New

Is your iPhone having trouble holding a charge? If you’ve owned it for long enough, that’s inevitable. Now it’s time to take your phone on a little trip…

My iPhone was in big trouble. After not even two and a half years, the battery in my old iPhone 6 Plus was showing some serious wear.

It just couldn’t make it as long anymore without a little pick me up. And never for more than a day. Sometimes it couldn’t even get to lunch. And then there were the times the battery level would suddenly go from 30% to zero.
(What?!)

In the cold… forget it. My iPhone would shut down faster than you can say,
“I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me,” five times fast.

Time to Make the Doctor’s Appointment
So I brought my ailing companion to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store. The Genius ran the diagnostics on the battery and reported it was almost due for replacement… but not quite yet. I asked if it would last me until this fall.
(Yeah, I’m planning on pulling the trigger on the latest and greatest then.)

“Definitely not,” she said.

“How much for a new battery?”

“Eighty dollars.”

Huh.
So the way I saw it, I had a choice:

I could nurse my iPhone with a power drip and carry around an external battery or stay close to power outlets for as long as possible. And then rush back to the Apple Store for the operation when there was no longer an alternative…

Or I could electively do the battery swap out now.

Is that even a choice?

The Cost of Living in a Digital World
Look, no battery lasts forever.
It would have been nice for my iPhone to go a full three years on its original power cell, but it’s not like I didn’t get a lot of use out of it.

Is there any other device you depend more on every day?
Exactly.

Is $80 a lot of money for a silly battery? At one level… yes.
But considering the original cost of the iPhone, not at all.

Think of it as a simple maintenance cost…
(The thing doesn’t run on Pixie Dust.)

Tech Zen Restored
So my iPhone was whisked away to the back of the Apple Store for a ‘Battery Replaceadectamy.’
(No, you can’t do it yourself… or at least, you’re not supposed to.)

Now… my iPhone is back to its old self again.
And I’m a whole lot happier… not having to stress about all this.

Look at all of the time I’ve brought back into my life not having to always figure out how to feed my smartphone a little more juice.

I think it’s the best eighty bucks I’ve ever spent.

January 11, 2015

Five Rules to Follow When Your Computer Dies

How much should you pay to fix your computer when it stops working? Should you just buy a new one if the repair costs too much? I found myself smack in the middle of this decision tree as I contemplated the future of my broken digital companion…

My four year old ran into some unexpected trouble a couple of weeks back.
No, not my son. He’s fine.
I’m talking about my 27” iMac.
As you may have heard, its LCD screen stopped working.

The display didn’t entirely die… It just popped to black every so often.
Then, it remained that way until I forced the computer to sleep by pressing the power button in the back… and then reawakened it normally via the mouse.

Sometimes the screen would shine for another hour.
More often than not, the display would abruptly turn off again in a few seconds.

And that rendered my iMac rather useless.

How Many Apple Geniuses Does It Take to Fix a Computer?
So I took my ailing iMac to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store… three times.
Yes, it took three separate visits until one of the Geniuses finally determined that my precious computer needed to be formally admitted to the ‘iHospital.’

There were other Genius hunches and quick fixes, but eventually, the diagnosis shifted to something more serious.

Then, it took Apple almost a week to determine the display itself was the culprit.
The solution: replace the entire LCD.
(Originally, the Genius I saw on my third visit thought the two video cards were the problem.)

And this shift in repair diagnosis threatened to delay the fix beyond the
three-to-five business day promise I received.

But I got a happy Apple email on the fifth business day that said my machine was ready to go home.
(Apple really hustled!)

The Patient is Not Ready to Leave
I walked in to pick up the patient, carrying its original box with me. My iMac was whisked through the back door and placed onto the Genius Bar counter.

The Genius gleamed. I looked at the new LCD and spotted what looked like a horizontal two-inch scratch on the upper center part of the screen.

I pointed. “That wasn’t there before,” I said with concern.

The Genius peered at the scratch, pulled out a soft cloth and cleaning solution and carefully rubbed.

Nothing happened.

Then, she carefully touched the scratch. Feeling nothing, she looked closer.

“It’s on the inside,” she said.
“We can buff that out right now.”

And my computer was quickly carried away.

The Price for Computing Continuity
Twenty minutes later, we did a redo.

The scratch was gone.
Another Genius proclaimed the LCD screen had been successfully stress tested.
Now, it was time to pay up…

How much was the repair?

$510.23 for the LCD
$39 for labor
Plus tax

The total: $584.11.

Did your heart just skip a beat?

Buy a New Computer Instead?
Yes, that’s a costly fix.
(Unfortunately, my machine is over a year past its AppleCare warrantee.)

I’m sure many of you are thinking that at this repair price point I should have put the money towards a new iMac.

That’s kind of what the Repair Genius suggested when I got the call confirming Apple wanted to replace the LCD and asking for my permission to proceed.

As I hemmed and hawed over the phone over whether I should invest this heavily on fixing my old iMac, she said, “You can get a brand new iMac for $1799.”

Hmmm…$600 to fix vs. $1,799 for a new one
That’s a tough choice, right?

But it’s not really going to be $1,799.
Not for me…

Sure, the cheapest 27” new iMac today costs a buck shy of $1,800 for a 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor.

But my old iMac has an i7 processor… so I would buy the new iMac with the i7 for $1,999.

Then, I would double the RAM from 8GB to 16GB for $200.
(8GB is fine for now, but I don’t want to have to worry about RAM in a couple of years.)

And I’d have to upgrade the 1TB hard drive to 3TB for $150.
(My old iMac has a 2TB drive.)

Or another $200 on top of that for a 3TB fusion drive.
(more speed)

So now, we’re looking at a realistic price tag of $2,349-$2,549.
Plus tax.
And don’t get me thinking about the Retina 5K display option!
(drool)

…Or less than $600 to get the old machine (which is otherwise in good shape) back up and running.

So that was my decision tree.

A Happy Ending?
And the million-dollar question… did the expensive LCD replacement fix my iMac’s problem?

It did.

I’m happily typing away as I write this post, and so far my screen is fi

(just kidding)

The Five Rules

So what did I learn from my little computer-repair adventure?
Here are five suggested rules it couldn’t hurt to follow…

Rule #1
Don’t Ignore Your Computer’s Inner Ghost
There’s always a ghost lurking in your computer. Or there will be. You’ve just got to be ready for it, when it eventually decides to come out and play. And when that day arrives, you should have additional technology available to manage your ongoing computing needs.
(I powered up my old MacBook Pro.)

Rule #2
Make Sure Your Hard Drive is Backed Up
Of course, your data should always be backed up. Then, when the emergency happens, you can stay calm enough to work the problem…
And if the patient dies, you can easily clone your content onto a new computer.
(It never hurts to repeat the obvious.)

Rule #3
Save the Box!
You should absolutely save the original box your iMac came in. Yes, it’s a huge empty carton that’s going to collect dust for a few years, but if you hold onto your iMac long enough, you’ll likely need it to safely pack up your giant 30-pound rectangle to schlep to the Genius Bar.

And just as importantly, save the Styrofoam inserts. You’ll want them to successfully bundle your computer as snugly as the day you first unboxed it.

Rule #4
Upgrade Your Computer After the Extended Warrantee Runs Out
This is my second iMac to need significant repair about a year after its three-year AppleCare warrantee ran out. No computer lasts forever…

You’ve got to decide if you’re willing to put some additional money into an aging machine when it needs a sleepover at the Genius Bar or whether you should buy a new one before your ‘classic’ goes bad.

To reiterate: Computers break.
It’s inevitable…

I don’t relish saying this, but if you want to give yourself the best chance of living trouble free with your computers, you should probably upgrade soon after the extended warrantee runs out.

That’s an expensive replacement program, and please note:
In the past decade, I have twice not followed my own advice.

Rule #5
Embrace Apple Genius Group Think
Finally, you should always take advantage of multiple Apple Geniuses offering you their own expertise on any number of Apple topics. That said, they’ll often provide different perspectives.

I typically appreciate this organic Genius ‘Group Think.’ Polling as many Apple Geniuses as possible can often get you to the finish line more quickly.
But not always…

I went through six different Apple Geniuses on the road to my iMac’s recovery. Each offered valuable feedback.
But I could have done without the three trips to the Genius Bar.
(Four, if you count the pick up)

Still, I’m not really sure I would have done anything differently if I knew the dance I would have to go through.
(I needed a working computer again…)

Even though a multi-day experience at the Genius Bar might suggest otherwise, I still endorse Genius Group Think as a powerful diagnostic tool even if it doesn’t seem like the fastest way to get your computer back up and running…

Find Your Tech Zen
If it wasn’t clear to me before… It’s now obvious that fixing a computer can be as much an art as science.

So in summary…

My iMac broke.
Apple took a long time to figure out the problem.
I was frustrated.

But Apple didn’t give up.

Apple’s repair process concluded with a strong sprint.
Now, my iMac is fixed.
And my wallet is thinner.

But the experience could have been worse.
Much worse.

Life goes on…

All you can do is be as prepared as possible when a digital ghost decides to come out and wreak havoc in your computer.

Pop quiz:
How prepared are you?

January 4, 2015

The Frisky Ghost in Your Computer

I’ve got a ghost in my iMac. This little digital demon likes to make my screen go black, especially when I’m writing this blog. It’s making my life feel a tad jaggy. Time for a trip to the Genius Bar…

If you’re reading this, your computer or mobile device powered up today.

It’s healthy.
I hope you’re healthy.
(Friends and family too.)
Happy New Year.

What more is there, really?

That said, you shouldn’t take note of such cheerful matters only once a year. Especially when it comes to your precious technology…

Tech goes bad. Sometimes you can fix it. Often it’s down for the count. The important thing is to always keep an open mind throughout the stress of any repair process.

My Mac Fell Asleep… and Wouldn’t Wake Up.
So my iMac went ‘black’ a little over a week ago.
It didn’t exactly die… the screen just popped off. I heard the computer’s guts still whirring in the background. It was like the iMac prematurely began its sleep process, but got stuck.

However, I couldn’t shake this near slumber via my Apple wireless keyboard. Nor with my Magic Trackpad. All I could do was tap the power button in the back to fully settle my computer into sleep mode. And then when I clicked it back to life, the screen popped on as if nothing had happened.

But then the ghost in my machine acted up again five minutes later.
And again… one minute later.

Houston, we have a problem!

It’s Not the Computer
So I brought my iMac to the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store.
(You may recall from my last post, I had also brought it there in search of more RAM.)

The Genius plugged in her power cable and USB keyboard and started running a bunch of diagnostics.
Thirty minutes later, my computer was issued a clean bill of health.

It wasn’t misbehaving in the slightest. The screen shone bright and constant.

The Genius hypothesized that one of my peripheral connections (USB hub) was causing the problem and suggested I connect one at a time to identify the culprit.

Uh huh.

The Cinderella Syndrome
So I brought my iMac home, put it back on my desk, plugged in the power cord, and powered it up. Nothing else was connected.

The screen began to glow.
And thirty seconds letter, my screen transitioned immediately back to its Cinderella mode!

Somehow, I was not surprised.

Sleep-Deprived Ghost
So I boxed up my inscrutable monolith and drove it back to the Genius Bar.

The next Apple Genius immediately acknowledged the problem. In fact, it had happened to him on his own iMac!
(What luck!)

He explained it was a ‘corrupt sleep image,’ which had developed in the OS software. And this bad sleep image simply needed to be deleted.
(He told me it was a ‘known’ problem since Mountain Lion, but Apple has never officially acknowledged it.)

He talked about how they are not quite sure why this particular digital elixir works. It just does.
(How comforting.)

This fix required typing in some ‘dangerous’ commands like ‘sudo’ that can destroy your computer if you don’t know what you’re doing.
(Apparently, ‘sudo’ renders your computer helpless to protect itself against any request… amateur, evil, or otherwise.)

The only safe way to use ‘sudo’ for someone like me is to mention the word in conversation at a party.
(Anyone who works in IT will immediately react and assume you’re one of them… if that’s what you want.)

You’re also not supposed to activate a program called ‘Terminal.’ My Genius looked at me when I asked him about it, and he said with a serious look, “Stay away from Terminal.”
(As he kept staring, I nodded and said, “This is not the droid I’m looking for.”)

And speaking of “Star Wars,” this ‘simple’ correction was so complicated, my Genius had to call over the Obi-Wan Genius to execute it properly.

Click.

Roll the Credits?
And the bad sleep image was terminated.

Next, my Genius asked me to do ten minutes of work on my iMac to demonstrate a clean bill of health, and then he sent me on my way.

As I boxed up my machine, he explained my computer would rebuild a new sleep image as I kept using it. All will be good again…

Well, that seemed easy.

At Home without Tech
Too easy…

I settled my ‘sleepless’ iMac back in at home and began working on it.
One hour passed. Then two…
As the third hour approached, I turned away from the screen… for just a moment.
When my gaze came back…. All I saw was black.

My frisky ghost was back.

D’OH!!

Trip #3 to the Genius Bar
The next Genius listened to my frustrated tale of woe as we powered up my machine. As I explained the past two ‘fixes,’ apparently my phantom menace got bored playing its little game.
My screen went black in front of everyone at the Apple Store.

I raised my hands high and did a little hop as if the home team had scored the winning touchdown. I looked around for some kind of affirmation from the crowd. All I got was a bunch of confused stares.

I turned back and saw that this Genius also did not share my enthusiasm.

He said, “I think it could be a bad graphics card. We’re going to have to take it in and see.”

I asked him how long the fix would take.

“Three to five business days.”

I was okay with that. I had prepared myself for this possibility and would use my old MacBook Pro laptop as my back-up computer.
(It’s good to have access to another computer for times like these.)

And how much would the repair be?
“We’ll call you when we confirm what the problem is…”

And then I went home.
Sans iMac.

That was last Monday…

The Cliffhanger Continues
Tuesday, I waited for the phone to ring. At 4pm, I gave Apple a call to see how the fix was going. The repair shop hadn’t gotten to it yet, but the Genius I spoke with confirmed Apple would mend my iMac in the three to five business days…
(assuming I approved the cost)

His subtext was clear.
(Don’t call us. We’ll call you…)

Wednesday passed.

And the next day.
(That was New Year’s… so I guess I can’t count it as a business day.)

Friday evaporated.
(though not without an amazing experience watching my four year old son learn how to ice skate)

And the weekend, of course doesn’t qualify as a business interval.

Time to Make a Hard Decision
But on Saturday, the call came.

It wasn’t good news…
The graphics card wasn’t the problem… It was the LCD display.
It had to be replaced!
(D’oh!!)

So I had a choice to make, and it wasn’t an easy one…
The new screen install vs. a completely new iMac

You can make a good argument for either choice.
Which means there’s pain to each one…
(Fixing an older machine at an expensive price point or dropping a pretty penny on the latest and greatest)

After some soul searching, I went with the fix, hoping to get a little more life out of my current iMac.
(and also considering I had just spent $$$ putting more RAM into it!)

The Genius then said she needed to order the replacement LCD. I asked if the repair would still be completed in the promised three to five business days.

She answered it wouldn’t be.

I paused.

Finally she admitted the delay existed because Apple had been counting on the graphics card fix… they had even ordered and received the part.
(But I think too many days had passed before the Genius doctors finally got to the patient and then realized they needed to change their diagnosis.)

So the repair won’t be done till sometime next week.
(I’ll survive.)

Stay Tuned…
And you know what that means?
Yep….
This story is now officially a cliffhanger.
(I hope there’s a happy ending.)

We’ll see how my little tech adventure concludes next week!

Tag: Genius Bar

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