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Potential buyers of Apple's new (June 2009) MacBook Pro should be cautious about specifying a configure-to-order faster and larger hard drive 'upgrade'. The drive supplied by Apple, a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 (model number ST9500420ASG) appears to be operating improperly, with some users experiencing random pauses in disk activity associated with disturbing clicks and beeps. Apple are telling some of us that their top-of-the-line laptop is supposed to lock up frequently, and that the beep is normal too (so I guess my previous Macs were all defective as they lacked such 'features').

Here is the content of my letter of complaint to Apple:

14 July 2009

Customer Relations
Apple Operations Europe
Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill
Cork
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re:

AppleCare no: supplied
MacBook Pro serial: supplied
Case reference: supplied
Issue: Unacceptable performance of ST9500420ASG (Momentus 7200.4)

On 30 June 2009 I reported to AppleCare a loud random beeping that I suspected was related to the hard drive in my MacBook Pro, with a configure-to-order 7200rpm 500GB drive 'upgrade' as above. As advised I took it to my nearest Apple Service Centre, who heard the beep and thought it was possibly related to drive calibration and of no concern so long as it was infrequent.

Subsequently the beeping became more frequent (ranging from several times a minute to several times an hour) and more evidently associated with complete system pauses. This is demonstrated in a video posted to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsg84yqzvhs. Multiple users with the same drive are reporting this same issue at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2049659.

Tier 2 Support then sent me an Apple app called Data Capture 8.1 to collate data for Engineering. The above thread ID and the YouTube video were also provided. Today I am informed the engineers have closed the case, saying that:

• The loud random beeping and intermittent pausing are 'expected behaviour' for this drive, and are indicative of the heads parking/ unparking;
• I am not to be offered a replacement hard drive (not the same 7200rpm drive nor a 5400rpm alternative).

My position is that a computer that locks up mid-operation is not 'normal' or tolerable at any price, let alone at £1400. Likewise, a computer that makes beeping noises so loud that you can't use it without disturbing other people is annoying at best, if not unacceptable.

This is not a satisfactory resolution. Please note that my case reference was generated within the 14 day 'remorse' period. I look forward to your positive response. This is my 7th Mac; I'd hate it to be my last.

Yours sincerely,

Various potential solutions have been posted to the busy Apple Discussions thread—all of them from disgruntled users, since Apple choose to remain silent. The effect of the interventions is not nearly as uniform as the description of the problem users are reporting with this drive. What is striking is how varied the experience of Apple's handling of complaints has been, with some people being offered replacement drives or replacement machines, and others (such as myself) being given the corporate finger.

Whilst I wait for Apple's reply to my letter I haven't lost hope that Apple will wake up to the fact that this issue is making loyal customers unhappy, and issue a statement to the effect that they are taking it seriously and looking into the likely cause and potential solution. Meantime I have 're-engineered' Apple's own promo video for this model, in fair use, to demonstrate the real-world ownership experience of having one of the affected machines. The pauses are simulated but representative (see actual video from my machine here), and the 'click-beep' is an audio recording made on my very own MacBeep Pause:

This YouTube video requires Adobe Flash Player.

Normal? Yeah, right.

Further discussion

• Apple Discussions
• Seagate Community Forums
• TUAW
• AppleInsider
• MacRumors
• TheAppleBlog

A lot of discussion for a problem that doesn't exist.

Update 19.08.09: Apple released a firmware update (to 0007APM2) for a non-problem (I have frequent noises and pauses):

MacBook Pro Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0 reduces certain infrequent noises made by 7200-rpm drives that shipped with the June 2009 MacBook Pro.

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