Apple issues recall for mid-2011 iMac's

[Arthur]

Apple are recalling Seagate 1TB hard drives sold within 21.5" and 27" iMac's made between May and July of this year because the drives "may fail under certain conditions".

 

To find out if your system is affected, click the link below and enter your serial number.

 

Link: http://www.apple.com/uk/support/imac-harddrive/

 

Apple has determined that a very small number of Seagate 1TB hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems, may fail under certain conditions. These systems were sold between May 2011 and July 2011.

 

Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will replace affected hard drives free of charge.

 

Apple recommends replacing affected hard drives as soon as possible. Before you go in for service, please back up your data.

 

http://i.imgur.com/AgUnG.png

Edited July 24, 2011 by Arthur

[synaesthesia]

nnngh, what a surprise, another Seagate drive failure. What's gotten wrong with them - oh, Maxtor.

[SYNACK]

Yea, problem is there are no good options anymore, WD last 2.5 years max, as far as I can tell samsung last a week, seagates are fine if you get the right batch of the right model(which is getting harder all the time.

 

Its a good thing that SSDs are taking off as HDs are in a race to the bottom where they'll be as reliable as the end of run batches of floppy disks from their last days of mass usage.

[mac_shinobi]

Yea, problem is there are no good options anymore, WD last 2.5 years max, as far as I can tell samsung last a week, seagates are fine if you get the right batch of the right model(which is getting harder all the time.

 

Its a good thing that SSDs are taking off as HDs are in a race to the bottom where they'll be as reliable as the end of run batches of floppy disks from their last days of mass usage.

 

Now just need 2tb plus SSD's that are not mega expensive ?

[Blue_Cookeh]

Yea, problem is there are no good options anymore, WD last 2.5 years max, as far as I can tell samsung last a week, seagates are fine if you get the right batch of the right model(which is getting harder all the time.

 

Its a good thing that SSDs are taking off as HDs are in a race to the bottom where they'll be as reliable as the end of run batches of floppy disks from their last days of mass usage.

 

I've not had any problems with WD or Samsung... Maxtor were always rubbish and Seagate have been rubbish in the past 4 years or so in my experience.

[gshaw]

Maxtor = rubbish

 

Seagate buy Maxtor = Seagate rubbish

 

Always used Samsung personally with WD 2nd, but now Seagate to buy Samsung and WD to get Hitachi means you've only got two choices in the not too distant future. Will probably make it difficult to tell the heritage of the drives i.e. is it a Samsung-based Seagate or a Maxtor one? Either way the SSD manufacturers are the ones who are laughing, if they can get capacity cheaper then the market is all theirs...

[SYNACK]

I've not had any problems with WD or Samsung... Maxtor were always rubbish and Seagate have been rubbish in the past 4 years or so in my experience.

 

Even with their purchase of Maxtor I still find the Seagate drives more reliable, WD and Samsung for me have been shockingly bad reliablility wise. As above though, SSDs get the capacity and drop the cost which they should be able to do easily thanks to the speed of change with semiconductors and they have the market won. I think the manufacturers of HDs know this and are pushing capacity as fast as they can to distance themselves from SSDs and keep their market as long as they can.

Edited July 25, 2011 by SYNACK

[Michael]

Yea, problem is there are no good options anymore, WD last 2.5 years max, as far as I can tell samsung last a week, seagates are fine if you get the right batch of the right model(which is getting harder all the time.

 

Its a good thing that SSDs are taking off as HDs are in a race to the bottom where they'll be as reliable as the end of run batches of floppy disks from their last days of mass usage.

 

I totally agree with you here. Especially the Seagate good/bad batch!

[localzuk]

Even with their purchase of Maxtor I still find the Seagate drives more reliable, WD and Samsung for me have been shockingly bad reliablility wise. As above though, SSDs get the capacity and drop the cost which they should be able to do easily thanks to the speed of change with semiconductors and they have the market won.

 

Nearly all of the disks that have died here in the last year have been Seagate, not had to replace a WD disk in a long time.

[vikpaw]

I've always gone for seagate, and never had an issue, plus their disk tools are pretty awesome.

Just ordered a portable 1TB for £55 - i sure hope it's not a dud

[SYNACK]

Nearly all of the disks that have died here in the last year have been Seagate, not had to replace a WD disk in a long time.

 

It's NZ we probably have 5 year old stock anyway or stock manufactured from different facilities. At any rate all of our WDs (from several batches) die in 2.5 years plus or minus a month or two, the samsungs die after a couple of weeks (admittedly we only have a very small sample). The Seagates last around the seven year mark before they flake which in our case I define as better. It all comes back to the point that HDs themselves are inherently unreliable and apear to be getting worse on all fronts lately.

 

The faults I have had with Seagates have been due to dirty Thai firmware with the 1GB ones.

[AWicher]

Just received an email from apple today, my work iMac on "A" list

 

Dear iMac owner,

Apple has determined that certain 1TB Seagate hard drives used in 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems may fail. These systems were sold between October 2009 and July 2011.

Our records show that you have an iMac with an affected 1TB Seagate hard drive. Apple will replace your hard drive with a new one, free of charge, under the iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program.

Please choose one of the following options to get a replacement hard drive.

• Apple Retail Store - set up an appointment with a Genius.

 

 

• Apple Authorised Service Provider - find one here.

• Apple Technical Support - contact us for local service options.

 

 

Apple recommends replacing your affected hard drive as soon as possible. Before you go in for service, please back up your data. Learn more about backup options.

Additional Information

You will need to have the original Mac OS installation discs that were supplied with your iMac in order to reinstall your operating system, other applications and any backed up data after your hard drive is replaced.

This worldwide Apple programme does not extend the standard warranty coverage of the iMac.

Apple will replace affected 1TB Seagate hard drives, free of charge, for three years from your iMac's original date of purchase or until 12 April 2013, whichever provides longer coverage for you. Apple will continue to evaluate service data and provide extensions to this programme as needed.

 

We apologise for any inconvenience.

 

Sincerely,

Apple Inc.