Apple gave me a new iMac Pro... I'm still mad.
The morning after I published my first video about the iMac Pro VESA mount woes I have been experiencing
Which you should definitely watch by clicking here if you haven't seen them already
I decided to head back to the Apple Store
Why?
Well, this might serve as a refresher
Not only did the Genius Bar absolutely destroy the back of my iMac and its stand during the repair,
but the brand new VESA kit they had installed, the Apple Store mind you
Broke... Again...
Primarily because unbeknownst to me, they used blue thread locker
Which should not have been used anyway
It's not necessary and was not included in the kit
And makes screws very difficult to remove
But regardless here I was again, with a broken iMac again.
Only this time it was in much worse cosmetic condition
Thanks, Apple
So I went back to the store, and when I got to the store, I asked to see
the managers, and here is the conversation we had.
(Laughs)...Too late.
So I did walk out of the store with a brand new iMac,
but I asked myself the question-
Would they have done this for anyone?
Now look. I'm a nobody, but my video had picked up
a fair amount of traction
already when I went into the store
and one of the Apple Store employees mentioned to me
that he had already seen the video.
Now I'd like to think Apple would have given-
a brand new computer to anyone
But given the fact that they tried to send me out of the store,
with a busted stand and iMac in the first place
Hoping that I wouldn't notice even after the manager told the Geniuses that quote:
"I looked at this foot, and I said you guys, this is never going to work"
I'm not so sure.
The story isn't yet over however because,
the next day I got a call from a liaison at Apple executive relations;
Who admitted to me that he was calling me because Apple's social media team had seen my video,
And the multiple articles written on various websites about the incident,
and the information had gotten sent up the chain.
He asked me first and foremost if the store had replaced my entire computer with a new one,
because anything short of that would have been unacceptable.
After I'd confirmed that yes indeed they had
He asked me if I still had my Vesa mount and it's screws...
Yep. (laughs)
I've since been emailed a shipping label,
so I can send the Vesa kit back to Apple's engineering team in Cupertino to examine,
Because according to him:
"Anything less than perfect performance by the Vesa kit is unacceptable
Now look,
I'm rational enough to recognize that most of this nightmare has been caused by MY Apple store,
and that in theory that's an isolated incident.
However.
Apple corporate is at minimum partially responsible.
Why?
Well for one: the vesa kit is terribly designed.
I've seen some forum posts claiming that I don't know how to work a screwdriver.
Now as someone that did computer, and smartphone repairs for a number of years, I'd disagree.
But even if that were true,
how is that my fault?
If something that claims to be a user installable,
but is designed in a manner where the average user installing it has a high risk of breaking it,
that's not the user's fault, that's Apple's, that's bad design.
And for the record,
I'm not the only idiot that's had issues removing this thing.
I got an interesting email, that reads the following:
Five! That's sixty percent, by the way
Now there a major game developer
with trained I.T. specialists, and the still have the same issue.
Now whether or not you think Apple is good, or bad at design and engineering.
Its impossible to believe that apple didn't catch this in their testing.
Its my guess that Apple's supplier,
Who manufactures the mount, either decided to cheap out
Save a couple pennys and increase margins without Apple Q.C.ing the delivered product.
Which would be Apple's fault.
Or that Apple knowingly shipped these defective Vesa Units, because their cost benefit analysis
Determined that re-tooling and re-designing for this seldom used Vesa mount
On an even more seldom sold iMac Pro.
Would be more expensive than just fixing defective units as they came in.
Also Apple's Fault.
In Either scenario, it doesn't make apple look good.
This embarrassment is amplified further
By the fact that Apple is very clearly ill equipt
to provide enterprise level support for their Pro products
Dell, HP, and other PC companys provide immediate and often times on site support.
For even low end products.
Meanwhile, Apple fails to provide special support for anything short of enterprise partners
Now even if you consider this Five- thousand plus, Pro computer to be a consumer machine
Which I very clearly disagree with
They still haven't trained their phone nor in store representatives
to handle their newest machine in their line up