Apple may have had a good week last week when it came to their stocks and also an extensive product release, but that was marred by an impending recall of their 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac. The reason for the concern was due to a fault with some Seagate 1TB hard drives. Apple has now issued a replacement program for the iMac, and has now provided a serial number checker.
The replacement will be free and affects certain models from May 2011 and July 2011. Apple will contact those of you who registered your iMac via email, but for those who have yet to register theirs then you can use this serial number checker. There are two ways in which you locate your serial number, the first is by checking your receipt or you just go to the Apple logo at the top left select about this Mac and then more info.
Just enter that serial number in and then press submit; after entering mine I was glad to see the message “Our records show that this iMac has a Seagate hard drive, but it’s not affected. No further action on your part is needed at this time.” This has now saved hours of hassle; one because I do not need to backup and second is because I do not have to drive over an hour away to the closest Apple Store.
There are other options available to you, but taking it back yourself has to be the easiest, just remember to set up a Genius Bar appointment first, as you do not want a wasted journey. You are advised get to get your hard drive replaced as soon as possible, but please remember to back up your data before you take it back to Apple.
The replacement program will run from now until July 23, 2011. Even if you have Max OS X Lion installed you will still need to re-install your original OS from the install disc that was provided when you purchased your iMac. Once you have re-installed Leopard you can then proceed to update to Lion once again.
Apple has also said that if need be they might extend the replacement program, it all depends if it will be needed or not. There have been issues with Seagate hard drives in the past, so you have to wonder why Apple keeps supplying them. We also find it confusing why Apple use other brands as well, although if they did not then this recall would have been much more serious?
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