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Apple: MacBooks Can't Handle GarageBand

consumerist.com — Two Apple customer service representatives told reader Mark that his MacBook's four hard drive crashes could be blamed on GarageBand, professional-grade software that his puny consumer-grade laptop 'couldn't handle.' Every MacBook comes with GarageBand pre-loaded as part of Apple's iLife suite.

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  • AvidPreatorian, on 09/13/2008, -10/+132While it's true that garage band can weigh heavy on system resources, the idea that Apple would tell their customers they supply their notebooks with software which can cause fatal failure is ridiculous. Anyone with a hard disk problem in these circumstances should fight for compensation and even cite this example in their claims. I have used macs for a long time now and this is definitely not what I've known Apple's customer service standard to be - they really take customer loyalty seriously and have fixed and exchanged my products without much explanation let alone argument.

    Also, make your case in their store where you're seen by other potential customers - seems to me that they are more willing to fix things that way.
    • ruddy, on 09/14/2008, -10/+5I use an apple computer for work, and they're great, but the hard drives are *always* the point of failure.
      • RiverBelow, on 09/14/2008, -7/+5my only Apple laptop (2006 Macbook) has never had a hard drive crash in its time and I assure you, I treat hard drives BADLY.
      • Altotus, on 09/14/2008, -0/+9The same is true of all the notebooks I've had (Apple, Dell, Compaq, and HP). The hard drive and the battery are basically the only two parts to fail. While nothing's failed on my MBP (yet), the Dell has gone through two hard drives and two batteries, the Compaq, a battery, and the HP, a drive and a battery.
      • DustinHill, on 09/14/2008, -3/+3It makes me sad to see that The Consumerist has essentially turned into the equivalent of a tabloid magazine. I used to love the site so much, but now they post some of the most unbelievable stories and people act like they're the gospel truth. I swear every time I see one of these stories I think of the Bat boy impregnating an alien created Elvis-Bigfoot hybrid (or something as equally inane).
    • superal1394, on 09/14/2008, -2/+11I wonder if that laptop has been abused, though. 4 hard drive crashes is ridiculous. I use and abuse my Macbook pro, but in two and a half years I've only killed one hard drive. The original drive lasted about 15 months, the one I have now I replaced myself, and is truckin along no problem. I went through hard drives every 10-12 months on my old notebook.

      Saying that Garageband killed the drive is insane, in my opinion. My brothers Macbook and my Macbook pro had identical drives. Same manufacturer, same capacity, same spindle speed. There is no real tiered quality in notebook drives like you see in 3.5" drives. I think the real problem here is Apple doesn't want to admit they gave the guy a lemon, or doesn't want to tell him dropping the machine isn't a good idea.
      • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -3/+5I treated it well. I kept it in a hard case when I traveled with it. Most of the time I left it at home on my desk. Every hard drive crash has occurred while I've been doing basic tasks. Last time I was watching the Mighty Boosh and surfing Digg.

        My last Apple was a 17" Powerbook G4, that lasted for 4 years with no problems before it's motherboard died. I was okay with that since It was 4 years old. This Macbook's hard drive couldn't make it through a couple of months without crashing.

        I'm just glad they're replacing the machine. Hopefully getting onto the front page of Digg and the Consumerist won't make them change their mind...
      • DyceFreak, on 09/14/2008, -4/+4what the hell is apple using for these hard drives, and do they care about them at all? All I know is Apple is supposed to be quality, and every machine they put out is supposed to handle it all. That said, a laptop hard drive, properly installed, should have no problem lasting for five years as long as they aren't running under any super extreme conditions (24/7 thrashing, or above 60C). Now if apple did not care to fix these problems, it makes me think they are just as ***** as the rest of the PC vendors, possibly even *****, as they obviously aren't designing their computers to handle these kind of situations, and for a customer service rep to throw out that bit of information so casually leaves me with a lot less respect for this company built on hype.

        its an expensive piece of *****, stupid branding and people who buy into it...
      • superal1394, on 09/14/2008, -4/+3@JudasConstant: I think you may have gotten a lemon. While I am speculating, if the first drive crashed due to a motor failure, it could have damaged the circuitry that delivers power to the drive, but not to the point of completely thrashing the circuit. The new hard drives you put it, if being delivered bad power, would fail regularly. Its good that Apple is replacing the machine, and this is probably only further incentive for them to do so. Using Garageband constantly to record could be associated with running through hard drives faster than the average user, but by no means 4 hard drives in 15 months. I would say maybe every year you would start having hard drive issues, errors and such, enough to warrant replacement, but not a hard crash.

        @DyceFreak: Laptop drives, just due to the nature of laptops, do NOT last as long as 3.5" drives. I have NEVER owned a 2.5" drive that lasted more than three years before failure, nor has any laptops I was responsible for. I've owned a Toshiba, an Asus, and two Apples, and my brother has owned an Asus, a Sony Viao, and an Apple. People who buy Apples are usually power users, my notebook is active for at least 6 hours of any given day, and is usually on 24x7. The HD temp is usually around 40° c. I consider a year of heavy use out of a notebook drive a good run. I've had better luck with my Apples than any other notebook I've ever owned, and when something did happen, Apple's support was always quick to respond.

        Apple is the brand they are because they made it so, not because they said so.
    • singularityv, on 09/14/2008, -1/+2Even though it's utter *****, saying "we knowingly load our computers with software that will destroy the hardware" can open them up to tons of lawsuits.
    • expert01, on 09/14/2008, -5/+8I saw this article on Consumerist just now, and was pissed I couldn't comment (they disabled my commenting... dammit). I was reading the comments and was so annoyed that no one mentioned the obvious. Glad it's on digg now!

      Hard drives have a limited number of writes before areas of the disk (or the entire disk itself) becomes unusable. After all, it's all magnet based - eventually, it can lose its ability to change polarity.

      The more writing you are doing (such as downloading files, using the swap/page file on the drive, recording streaming audio or video) the sooner you will have hard drive problems. Flash drives have the same problems, but it happens much sooner for them.

      So software definitely could cause a hard drive failure, especially if it managed to corrupt the partition table, which can cause programs that would otherwise be able to reformat it not to recognize it. However, as everyone points out, that is unlikely (but STILL quite possible).

      More likely there was a bad batch of drives and they kept giving him units from that batch (especially if that entire batch was specified as replacements for his model). Also possible is that there was a physical problem with the motherboard that fried the hard drive (which would explain why they replaced the DVD drive once).


      Bottom line, the most likely reason he's going through drives is that he abuses his equipment (by dropping it, most likely).
      • mikewill7seven, on 09/14/2008, -6/+2He doesn't have to drop it to abuse it. Using it like a desktop machine i.e. thrashing the hard drive repeatedly by using it to record and edit music is enough to kill the hard drive. Their not made for that type of use. Moderate use yes. Commercial use NO.
      • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -4/+6I didn't drop the Macbook. I used my G4 Powerbook the same way for 4 years without dilemma. It's most likely a defective machine. I usually like Apple products, this isn't some ideological attack. Don't get so defensive, don't be such an ass.
      • phosphodyson, on 09/14/2008, -2/+6export01, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Modern hard drives do not "wear out" due to excessive r/w, that's just ridiculous. Modern hard drives are much more likely to suffer some sort of head crash due to sudden power failure or mechanical failure of the heads than excessive r/w of the media. Excessive r/w will, however, expose already substandard media. Today's modern hard drives are engineered to have excessive MTBFs, but an MTBF is merely a statistical number (there's no way you can really test an MTBF). Therefore, out of any given sample of hard drives, you will get premature failures, and you will get batch failures (because it's statistically possible). Also, modern capacities of SSDs mean that R/W failures are on the order of 51 years. More likely, you'd have some sort of cap failure on your device before you'd catastrophic R/W failure on a SSD drive.
        Hard drives fail for a number of reasons. Just because you R/W less to your drive doesn't guarantee that it will fail sooner or faster than if you don't.
      • MacParrot, on 09/14/2008, -0/+3In the meantime, I used GarageBand (an earlier version to be fair) on a 500MHz G3 Pismo and other than some delays while saving or during playback (it would constantly give me a an error saying that it couldn't find some audio loop and then find it after playback had stopped), it was fine. For Apple to say that this caused a hard drive error is ridiculous.

        However, recording live instruments using a MacBook and expecting it to perform like a MBP or desktop machine is also ridiculous. While a MacBook will certainly run GB, you aren't going to get much in the way of performance out of it for this kind of work. I would suggest a MacBook Pro. They certainly are more expensive, but there are some real great deals in the refurb section. There are also plenty of PCs will similar software to GB for a bit less than a MBP. Can't give you any recommendations or tips as I never have used them myself.
    • coit, on 09/14/2008, -5/+5Don't believe everything you read on consumerist...
      • Clark, on 09/14/2008, -2/+2Exactly.
        I have a feeling people are going to take this a face value. This whole story could have been a fabrication.
      • punkcat, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2i don't think the whole story is made up, i think the guy with the macbook doesn't know anything and is confusing points. i am not sure "hard drive crash" is what is happening, hard to tell what average joe definition he is using.

        then the story goes from not being able to handle garage band, to get a bigger hard drive for the files you are creating.
    • zeeky, on 09/14/2008, -0/+4I run LOGIC on a MacBook Air which has an IPOD hard drive. And his MacBook, with a laptop hard drive doesn't run GarageBand without destroying it?

      Something doesn't add up.
    • drenader, on 09/14/2008, -1/+2But his macbook is black!
  • basye, on 09/13/2008, -6/+60Genius. Not.

    • omarqaz7, on 09/14/2008, -9/+5I don't think they were necessarily wrong... Anytime you use a hard drive a lot it fails. If this guy was a professional musician he probably used his hard drive a lot.

      While a normal consumer's use of Garage Band will definitely not fry a MacBook, if you're a professional musician using it all day, you probably need a more reliable hard drive.
      • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -3/+1Maybe so, but it would be nice if they notified you Garageband was so demanding in some way. Including it with every computer made me think it wasn't some sort of hard drive destroying casual usage only application.

        And, as I've said, I used to do the same thing with my G4 Powerbook with no issue.
      • combatchuck, on 09/14/2008, -0/+5It doesn't matter. It should be impossible for software to damage hardware. Saying "your software did it" is a cop-out used by incompetent techs. If software IS damaging the hardware, then the hardware is defective.
      • umbolo, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2If you're professional musician you'd probably use something better than Garageband.
      • dn11, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1so how would a Macbook pro be any different? They put magical "professional" laptop hard drives in the Pro?
      • ghostie, on 09/15/2008, -0/+1Any program that puts a high amount of strain on a drive can screw up your hard drive. That's why it's always recommended that you record music / video onto a separate, external hard drive. I use Logic Pro 8 regularly on my MacBook, and have never had problems because I record onto a firewire Glyph drive.

        The problem is that Apple doesn't make this info readily available. They need to put a clear disclaimer on their audio and video apps strongly recommending that you do not use your primary drive for recording.
    • dn11, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1The truth is Apple was probably using a defective HD model. The guy should have just bought his own drive and been done with it.
  • guicapanema, on 09/13/2008, -5/+14Tell us how your new Macbook works!
    • JudasConstant, on 09/16/2008, -0/+1Arrived today, so far it works great. They overnighted it to me which was especially nice.
  • JonLatane, on 09/13/2008, -4/+131Sounds like the Genius Bar guy was just being a dick - I wouldn't attribute that to Apple. Also, it's odd that they're calling GarageBand a "professional" application. I was under the impression that Logic and its application suite were the "professional" setup, while GarageBand was the cheap (Photoshop Elements-type) alternative for consumers.

    I can't attest to GarageBand much, but I have used Logic and MainStage for years on a Macbook, for both recording and performances. I've never had any trouble with either, aside from having to make sure all my applications are quit when I'm actually performing with MainStage since the instrument simulators tend to take up a lot of memory.
    • jermm, on 09/14/2008, -0/+14I've used Garageband on a 800Mhz PowerBook G4. Sure, I wouldn't go over 4-5 tracks, but it recored/edited podcasts just fine.
    • SadMartigan, on 11/25/2008, -3/+5When an employee acts a certain way, while carrying out their duties, you should most certainly attribute it to the company that hired them.
      However, this guy was being paid to NOT make statements like this, so I kind of see what you mean.

      As far as Garageband; I have used it quite intensively in all its versions and on several types of Macs, mostly with the factory internal drives, but also with an external drive, recently with an Intel Mac Mini. I haven't had the app crash, nor any hard drives crash, ever.

      I would bet that it's not even software related, and it probably isn't the drive itself with the problem, but another piece of hardware that is affecting the drives. And, I mean anything, especially some failure that causes heat buildup in the case, that cooks the drives enough that they cause other problems.
    • deadbaby, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Logic is a fantastic app but I still use GB a fair amount. The simplicity of the UI definitely has its advantages at times. I open the project files GB creates into Logic and I've never felt they sounded worse than something natively recorded in Logic.
    • IllBeBack, on 09/14/2008, -6/+11"Sounds like the Genius Bar guy was just being a dick - I wouldn't attribute that to Apple."

      I would bet that if this was a Microsoft employee, you'd be completely crucifying Microsoft the company. But when your precious Apple is the one involved, you really don't think it's their fault. Give 'em a pass, right?
      • combatchuck, on 09/14/2008, -1/+1Sometimes people are just assholes.
      • JonLatane, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Or, um, maybe I just understand that corporate structure makes these kinds of things happen and I don't really give a damn who your favorite big computer company is? Hell, I've frequently been the guy defending MS in conversations about the Red Ring of Death. Maybe I just like to give people (and companies) the benefit of the doubt. We all make mistakes, it's what we do to correct them that matters. And Apple did pretty well here. So stop being so ***** petty.

        I apologize in advance for failing to fulfill your idiot assumptions about Mac users.
    • foshizol, on 09/14/2008, -1/+1This is *****... I use Ableton on my Macbook with Line Six Guitar Port, and some software synths and I don't have any problems. If GarageBand crashes your Mac then mine should have caught on fire by now. I will admit that I do use an external drive to back up my files. Because I don't want to write big file to my MacBook drive and slow it down. Not because I'm worried it's going to kill the drive.

      Also in the comments of the story this dude makes my supports my point.

      "I would love for anyone to explain to me, someone who has been a computer tech since 1989 that how writting very large files to a HDD is going to kill it. Yes, hard drives can fail at anytime and just because you had one hard drive last for four years doesn't mean the next five you own will but what they said makes me laugh."
    • ghostie, on 09/15/2008, -0/+1Guys, seriously, it's not the app, it's the hard drive. Audio programs are very demanding on hard drives, especially if you record onto your primary, OS harddrive. Use a firewire external for recording ALL of your music, and you should be okay. It's that simple.
  • itsswanny, on 09/13/2008, -10/+32I know many people who would beg to differ. Some professional artists use MacBooks to pre-mix in GarageBand. (Yes, I know most use Pro's.)

    I have a few friends who have never had a problem.
    • borez, on 09/14/2008, -3/+7I'm a pro, and I don't know one artist that uses GarageBand. Period.

      Kinda like I don't know any painters who use paint by numbers kits.
      • IllBeBack, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1ZING!!!
      • EllimistX, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Wasn't oasis doing something with Garageband?
      • outofthemadness, on 09/14/2008, -0/+0http://www.prefixmag.com/news/ushers-love-in-the-c ...
      • borez, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1@EllimistX

        Noel: ere Liam, for *****'s sake we need to record this vocal sometime this year ya *****

        Liam: ***** off our kid, am listening to the way this ***** banjo loop fits in with that vibraphone an it's ***** wicked.

        /I'm thinking not
      • mateo60, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2I'm in live production and have toured with several major acts, and I personally know of several of them who use it as something to jot ideas down on. Garageband is perfect for that, especially on a tour. A guy often would go into the back of the bus for a bit with an instrument and their Macbook and put some ideas down on Garageband.

        Is Garageband used in a real studio? Of course not. But it does serve a purpose in the real world and is widely used by "pros".
    • m4xn00b, on 09/14/2008, -1/+4Since when is GrageBand "professional-grade"? All the audio freaks I know use Pro Tools or Digital Performer. I'm sorry, but GarageBand is for amateur "audiophiles".
      • borez, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Digital Performer, do they still make that?
    • yourfavweapn, on 09/14/2008, -1/+2http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/

      A good number of music artists utilize GarageBand. Whether or not you like their music is besides the point, people that get paid to make music, use GarageBand for a lot of different reasons. It's IMO lighter than Logic Pro in terms of memory usage, and is handy for writing and quick recordings on the road with a MacBook.

    • dn11, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1I don't use GarageBand, but I do use my Macbook with FCP and Shake occationally - works just fine. I guess I have to upgrade now though, because Apple just told me I have a consumer piece of crap that can't handle pro apps.
  • Vazelos, on 09/13/2008, -4/+15It also makes a difference if you are running Garageband only or running other programs as well at the same time. And what resources these programs consume as well.

    I am a little tech-savvy, not in IT but this is the first time I heard about hard drives crashing from resources-intensive programs.
  • ncapone, on 09/13/2008, -9/+77Bull *****! I've almost finished an entire album on my regular MacBook with no problems.
    • killerstache, on 09/14/2008, -0/+19good to hear. i use garageband almost everyday, and this story almost made me ***** my pants.
    • gotacalc, on 09/14/2008, -2/+12Me too, I'm a musician who's about to buy a MacBook.
    • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -1/+6Yeah I thought it was ***** too. I have been recording a lot this year, but two of the hard drives crashed in 2007. Obviously a machine problem. Good to hear it's not epidemic on Macbooks as they're sending me a replacement.
    • itsthebrod, on 09/14/2008, -3/+10Anecdotal evidence FTL!
      • punkcat, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2the consumerist is anecdotal itself
      • bradleyland, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1There is nothing magical about GarageBand that would make it eat hard drives any more than, say, iPhoto or iMovie. Any time you're moving a lot of data around, you're going to give your hard drive a workout, but that's what they're made for. They store data and move it around.
    • Klisk, on 09/14/2008, -0/+5Aye, aye.

      I've mixed many albums on my regular Macbook, that's why I bought the thing.

      It works perfect. I have to purposely push it to get a slow down. The regular Macbook, in terms of performance, isn't much different than the Macbook Pro when it comes to audio mixing/recording. The GPU power is somewhat moot, otherwise the specs are quite close. The Pro is more for people working in visual fields, not audio.. Although I'm sure the pro 'could' be nice when you have a lot of meters running. But I haven't had a problem with my macbook, even with a fully mic'd drum kit in Logic Pro.

      Sounds like this Apple employee was being a classic douche.
    • dualboy24, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2 Still using my PB 1.5G4 and no issues. I do make backups though as I had a drive failure about 3 years in... on a side note, unscrewing 30 screws to install a new drive aint fun.
    • Narfmaster, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2Man, I've used Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack on a MacBook, and they're far more memory intensive.
  • victor22, on 09/14/2008, -30/+19But can it run Crysis? Oh, wait...
  • suckaPU, on 09/14/2008, -60/+23apple computers = ***** trash
    • roxgod666, on 09/14/2008, -13/+6your comment=***** true
      • Karmavs, on 09/14/2008, -6/+5both of the parent comments=***** trash.
    • tim710, on 09/14/2008, -3/+1He came to this conclusion after a session of PU sucking.
      Also good win against Oregon today...
      Oh, wait, he didn't make the field goal?

    • MrKite, on 09/14/2008, -7/+4What do you mean? They use the same hardware that PCs use. The only difference is that the Mac OS is more stable and accessible than Windows.
      • MattBD, on 09/14/2008, -1/+2Yeah, but so's Linux (well, beginner-oriented distros like Ubuntu are more accessible in general, something like Gentoo or Slackware isn't), and that's free.
    • Hincapie, on 09/14/2008, -1/+8how to get dugg down on digg, example 1
      • baseballdude, on 09/14/2008, -2/+3Example 2: post something intelligent.
    • vin200, on 09/14/2008, -2/+3agreed.
  • Yankees368, on 09/14/2008, -23/+14Since when has any software like garage band killed hardware
    • MikeyTwit, on 09/14/2008, -15/+1It's a MacBook in the article, NOT a MacBook Pro.
  • pwnzj00, on 09/14/2008, -35/+23Mac products are extremely overrated. That's right, I said it.
    • roxgod666, on 09/14/2008, -7/+8i don't know why people have a hard time saying it because its completely true. They only think its so good because of its little OS so they think its "worth it" but the hardware is so overpriced I don't know if i could ever go through with buying one of them.
      • MattBD, on 09/14/2008, -0/+3I think a lot of people don't understand the difference between the hardware and the OS. Many people will throw away a perfectly good PC because it's riddled with viruses, when simply doing a fresh install of Windows (or better yet, replacing it with a decent Linux distro) would make it useful again.
  • DjOverEZ, on 09/14/2008, -8/+117Am I the only one who thinks Apple is a bit too cavalier with the use of the word "genius?"

    "I cracked the theory of relativity. I'm a genius."

    "I fix computers at the Apple Store. I'm a genius."

    One of these just doesn't sit right with me.
    • Zap2, on 09/14/2008, -23/+5The term Genius here is tallking about genius at fixing Apple Computer.


      Not science genius.
    • skyshard, on 09/14/2008, -1/+41and now we also have...
      "I make automatic recommendations from the itunes store. I'm a genius."
    • nycmac247, on 09/14/2008, -3/+11you are not the target market
      • doctordbx, on 09/14/2008, -0/+7It would appear the target market is people who think a 20 year old high school dropout who just happens to know a bit more than the average bear is a genius.

        I hope not, because I own a couple of Macs.
    • crazzy88ss, on 09/14/2008, -4/+10It's called marketing...
      • TraumaPony, on 09/14/2008, -0/+3Very ***** arrogant marketing, if you ask me.
      • SeaICIubber, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1You're a Genius for working this out...
      • dudefaceguyman, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2@ Trauma

        Believe it or not, your local diner? It doesn't have the greatest coffee in the world. We should crucify those lying *****, huh?!
    • 5xSTUN, on 09/14/2008, -1/+20Me, personally, I post sarcastic replies on Digg. I'm definitely a genius.
    • gotacalc, on 09/14/2008, -10/+2Being a genius doesn't have to refer to excessive mental competence. It can also denote a superior understanding of a subject, which Apple Geniuses are assumed to have.
    • ZombieSociety, on 09/14/2008, -1/+10"Dammit, Otto, you're an alcoholic!"

      "Dammit, Otto, you have lupus!"
    • ExSlashdotter, on 09/14/2008, -1/+20Apple "geniuses" are mainly guys who can't get a real job in IT.

      //apple developer
    • borez, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2Agreed 100%
    • Iwantawii, on 09/14/2008, -1/+3It's marketing. They're trying to be clever. Who really gives a bloody flying *****?
    • weiran, on 09/14/2008, -1/+3Same with the media's use of the word "hero".
    • MattBD, on 09/14/2008, -1/+1I bet they aren't geniuses with the command line. Maybe if you go in and tell them you're having trouble compiling from source, that'd fox them. I bet hardly any of them have any idea what "make install" will do.
  • iamALobstersMoo, on 09/14/2008, -11/+2that stuff should always be run on a desktop station rather then a laptop anyways, but its still great that it comes with the computer
    • Spire3660, on 09/14/2008, -0/+5Why? while disk throughput may be somewhat slower, my laptop is a full on mobile workstation (2.4 GHZ x2 512 MB Vid card [256 discrete/256 shared]) 3.5 GB RAM(chipset limitation). No reason it cant handle a little audio encoding. Pop in a firewire/USB portable hard drive to give your disks some breathing room.
      • iamALobstersMoo, on 09/14/2008, -1/+0just preference didn't need to know what you have, and i never said it didn't work either moo?
  • Zap2, on 09/14/2008, -6/+47Really? Because I run that on an iBook, PPC 1.42Ghz, 512MB RAM


    Apple genius was wrong here
    • Joeymarshmallow, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2Runs fine on my powerbook PPC 1.33 Ghz too...
    • zeddie2001, on 09/14/2008, -2/+2Of course it can handle it, but it's very likely that frequently recording to the internal HD, which is a bad idea anyway, COULD damage the little 5400rpm drive in there. It's not that the computer couldn't handle it, it's that the hard drive wasn't designed for that sort of use for extended, repeated periods of time!

      I think it's likely that rather than explain this to the customer, the 'genius' took the easy way out and said that the computer wasn't suited for it, and the Customer Relations person probably didn't have the technical expertise to explain it. Or, I would consider it equally if not more likely that the customer happened to leave out that detail, and preferred to generalise the problem in order to exaggerate the issue.
      • phosphodyson, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1You do realize that you are constantly reading and writing to your hard drive, don't you? Modern operating systems utilize a swap partition, as well as modern software (especially in a multitasking environment) constantly do read/writes to your primary partition.
      • combatchuck, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2BAAAAAA. Wrong. Not that frequently, and not over so many drives. It takes years for a hard drive to fail from large amounts of use, not weeks or months, over multiple drives. There was defective hardware in the laptop, plain and simple.
  • ZephyrNinety, on 09/14/2008, -11/+3Yeah, okay. ***** *****.
  • cynicalbrit94, on 09/14/2008, -10/+19I run Firefox with about 10 tabs open, itunes, adium, my e-mail and have never had a problem when using Garageband or imovie at the same time. I use a Macbook from Christmas 07.
    • AppleMacStud, on 09/14/2008, -9/+1I think the low life idiots that are digging you down are incredibly envious of your Mac and wish they too could afford one. 
      • mentallyimprd, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Whoa...................................... never mind, saw your avatar. Aching for a fight there, hey? :)
  • sandaboy, on 09/14/2008, -3/+45Garageband....Professional?
    • PabloMac, on 09/14/2008, -0/+10I agree, but I hear GarageBand Apple Loops all the time on commercials and radio shows.
      • SadMartigan, on 11/25/2008, -1/+6I started making a list every time I recognized one...
        but I got lazy.

        There are a lot, though.
      • punkcat, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2likely arent hearing garage band loops so much as stock loops, which apple also bought.
      • PabloMac, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Not for their Jam Packs.
    • m4xn00b, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2agreed.
  • kinseyincanada, on 09/14/2008, -10/+66once again the consumerist makes one ***** who works for a company = the entire company
    • AppleMacStud, on 09/14/2008, -4/+3Me sentiments exactly. My Logic board and HD were recently replaced by Apple. However, it only took 3 days for Apple to ship my MacBook to their Houston location and have it back in my hands running like new in just 3 days!

      Everyone I spoke with was very helpful and polite. That experience made me even more of a die hard Apple fanboy. 

      A bad experience isn't the whole company even thought this particular Mac Genius was a bit rude.
  • fakeXsound, on 09/14/2008, -3/+16Are you kidding? I can run Logic Express in my 1.8 GHz, 1Gig of Ram Macbook from 2006 almost flawlessly.
  • rezist, on 09/14/2008, -18/+12People use garage band?
    • AppleMacStud, on 09/14/2008, -5/+1rezist is still breathing air unnecessarily?
      • rezist, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Apple mac stud, I've been using apple products since the Apple IIe, and currently have 6 apple products in my home right now... I'm an apple stock holder, and yet I still realize that garage band is fairly useless when compared to the alternative apps.
    • deadbaby, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2Sure why not? GB is basic but it works very well. I use both Logic and GB depending on what I want to do. If I just want to quickly pull out my guitar and record something I prefer GB. If I'm working on a complex multi-track project I use Logic.
    • MattBD, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Yeah, I know what you mean. Looks fine for messing around with, but something like Ardour would probably be better for more serious stuff.
  • seastobble, on 09/14/2008, -3/+13The Secret Handshake.

    http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/ ...

    His entire album was made using a macbook.
  • mattfugitive, on 09/14/2008, -3/+21I cry foul at this. GarageBand runs great on my MacBook. I work using GarageBand everyday and I haven't had any issues. Sounds like the Genius was trying to up-sell the customer, or just being a total dick.
    • svensksvamp, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1"Wait! This is my chance to be a total dick without any own winnings!"
  • pstroll, on 09/14/2008, -2/+16Obviously the Apple customer service tech mishandled the situation. What the tech should have done was tell the customer that his music sucks and that he'll never make it as an artist. Then delete the garage band DMG file and associated tracks.
  • in8600, on 09/14/2008, -3/+5So does apple just use cheap hardrives in the consumer laptops? Because a slow laptop harddrive would just be a bottleneck in a system, But a harddrive that breaks under to much use, that just sounds like cheap ass hardware. Almost like Apple was deciding to cut corners here with the consumer laptops. I guess with the mac book pro they use a more robust harddrive that doesn't wear down.
    • combatchuck, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2No, that particular computer had defective hardware elsewhere in the computer that was killing hard drives.
  • Mahoney07, on 09/14/2008, -12/+5Macbooks suck. They don't even have dedicated graphics.
    • AppleMacStud, on 09/14/2008, -4/+1The only notebook in the world greater than a MacBook is a MacBook Pro. So get over yourself Mahphoney07. 
      • miket, on 09/14/2008, -1/+1or just about any other consumer grade laptop. Get over your mac addiction, use what you need to get what you want done, no more, no less!
  • swordphish, on 09/14/2008, -1/+3Been using GarageBand on my MacBook for at least a year without issue.
  • michaeal, on 09/14/2008, -5/+32blame palin
  • bigmuffpi, on 09/14/2008, -1/+6Any software will crash your comp depending on how you're using it. GarageBand's memory usage really jumps with every track you add (ie: every new instrument). So while you might just have ONE project open, within that project you could easily be working with gigs and gigs worth of audio files, and you're asking the computer to playback, record and alter these files in real time. Think of the RAM you'd need for that!

    Saying MacBooks can't handle GarageBand is bull. I could do simple 10-15 track demos with GarageBand on my old iBook G4 without too much chugging. That said, MacBooks running GB have a limit to how much they can run at once!

    /captain obv
    • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -1/+2I don't think I've used more than 5 tracks at any one time. Usually just 1 - 3. Most of the songs I make are around 3 minutes long.
    • phosphodyson, on 09/14/2008, -1/+0Uhm, no captain stupid. The POINT of a modern OS is to prevent any software from completely crashing your computer. Just because a program utilizes large number of gigs of memory shouldn't mean your computer will instantly crash or cause your computer to blow up. It may slow your computer down to an unusable state, it may crash due to malloc failing to return any more memory, but no, it shouldn't cause hard drive failures or cause the OS to crash. If it did, then your OS is unstable. The OS in modern computers will assume a program can be unstable and prevent it from screwing up the rest of the programs.
  • sjm20k, on 09/14/2008, -1/+5I ran logic pro 8 on my old white core duo 2.2 macbook - there's no reason it shouldn't be able to run garage band.
  • DeFex, on 09/14/2008, -0/+3Real professionals do not use canned loops.
    oh wait i hear them in advertisements and cop shows all the time.
  • setrusko, on 09/14/2008, -0/+6To bad that the HD in the MacBook is the same damn thing in the MBP. As a matter of fact . . . they are almost the same computers except for the fact that the MBP has dedicated graphics, a bigger screen, and a different enclosure.
  • whatwhatwhoa, on 09/14/2008, -0/+6I wouldn't call Garageband professional grade though... It's what its name suggests for, garage bands. Once you move up from your garage, you ditch Garageband for something like Logic, Cubase or Sonar.
  • mentor972, on 09/14/2008, -7/+3Problem #1 - He calls himself a professional musician and uses Garage Band. Any real musician records with Pro Tools or Logic Pro.
    Problem #2 - To run such professional software as a professional musician, you should be using a high end machine like a Macbook Pro.
    • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -3/+1Problem #3- I never called myself a professional musician.
  • shawnanigans, on 09/14/2008, -2/+2Why did the hard drive die though? It's not like there would be any extra reading or writing than on a MacBook Pro for the hard drive. It may tax the CPU but not the HDD.
    • punkcat, on 09/14/2008, -1/+1you are hearing about computer problems from a dude who has no idea whats going on. keep that in mind.

      i wouldn't be shocked if the genius guy was trying to get him to stop using garage band so he wouldnt come in anymore.
  • peestandingup, on 09/14/2008, -2/+3Can almost guarantee that the "genius" he spoke with wasn't a certified Genius at all.

    A lot of times consumers who write this stuff don't tell the whole story. The Apple Store in question probably knew of the guy & he could have been one of those "somethings wrong with my computer, but in reality its really something I'm doing to it or something I dont quite understand but its your fault" consumers. The store probably just put some mac specialist on the phone to get rid of him.

    Im not defending Apple & dont know if thats was really what happened. But that kinda stuff does happen A LOT.

    Oh, and "high end" & "MacBook" doesn't belong in the same sentence but he thought they did. Pretty much a dead giveaway.
    • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -1/+3Good point, when I called the apple store and asked to speak to a Genius, they must have put a marmot on the phone instead.

      Also, at the apple store I'm known as "The Bad Seed" because I lurk around their store and try to break all the hard drives I can find.

      PS: It was a Macbook with maxed out ram, the biggest hard drive they offered at the time and the fastest Macbook-level processor. I guess a better term would be "a not-bottom-of-the-barrel Macbook" but It doesn't quite roll off the tongue.
  • gplpark92, on 09/14/2008, -3/+2while i'm not an apple person, i do believe they are the IDEAL audio production machines. why? because they get the job done. How is it that with each new release of Cakewalk SONAR pro and Adobe Audition and Sony ACID, doing the same ***** job gets heavier and heavier? and all of a sudden my computer can't mix/edit multiple tracks for *****. even though it could back in 2004. Fail.
  • Macintoshreader, on 09/14/2008, -0/+3*****. GarageBand runs smoothly on my 1.83GHz Mac mini with 1GB of RAM.
  • blacklilyninja, on 09/14/2008, -0/+6people are dumb
  • Subtonic, on 09/14/2008, -0/+7Folks, a professional musician, or anyone ambitious enough to complete a whole music project, is going to use whatever gets the job done, whether its Garageband, Pro Tools, or a 4-Track. I know someone who did her album using Cool Edit Pro - the sound doesn't blow you away, but she worked within her means and made something.

    This idea that this guy was asking for it because he's using Garageband on a MacBook is ridiculous. That's like saying you need to have Microsoft Word to write a book.
    • VyRuZ, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2You NEED to HAVE Microsoft Word to WRITE a BOOK!

      That's DRAMA for you!
  • nostraboris, on 09/14/2008, -0/+6you don't need a mac pro to be a professional musician.
    I used a G4 laptop for 5 years for pro tools without issues.
    a year ago I bought a $599.00 mac mini to run pro tools and it works great.

    install as much Ram as you can, and use an external drive, mac will not let you down.

    double whammy with bad apples.. both Mac and Genius bar have been great to me in the past
  • digiguy, on 09/14/2008, -4/+9My MacPro can't handle Safari
    • max1018, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1No *****! I have the same problem!
    • Dalhectar, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1My Safari can't handle the internet.
  • exxodius, on 09/14/2008, -1/+5This is BS... i work at an apple reseller, this sounds like the typical crap apple corporate employees come out with. They were probably too lazy to REALLY address the problem, hence giving a BS answer- and replacing the hard drive. (They ALWAYS replace the hard drive, and never ask you if you want them to.)
  • PPCG4, on 09/14/2008, -2/+1Another symptom of Apple's growing pains.
  • rickremixx, on 09/14/2008, -0/+3i got a mac mini with logic pro and garage band and never had a problem
    • mattmollysdad, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1do u really use garage band? I got my mac mini just for the garage band but always have it basically say that I have recorded too many tracks... even when I just do two... so I bought a MacBook but was told by the Apple Care people when I was discussing what to get to upgrade the ram to 3 gigs. I picked up 3 of the other instrument packs and now am very happy..
  • xtraa, on 09/14/2008, -6/+3Hmm, not good. On the other side... my girlfriends Dell can't handle Vista, how funny is that.
    • HoratioHellpop, on 09/15/2008, -1/+0If that's the case, then either:

      1.) she's dumb
      2.) she bought a Dell lappy with less than 2 GB RAM (see point #1)
      3.) you're dumb
  • electrolemon, on 09/14/2008, -1/+1That's complete *****. My MacBook handles Garageband perfectly, and even runs Final Cut Pro/After Effects without issue.
  • Stucarius, on 09/14/2008, -1/+2I am a huge fan of Aple's support and the Apple Care support level 1 through 3 and their suppervisors are great. However I had recent experience while not what was recounted here led me to believe Apple is starting to experience some serious problems with the quality of their Genius Bar Techs and the Quality of their Store Managers for that matter.

    I have a theory that the pressure caused by the problems being caused via the iPhone and terrible AT&T situation is putting severe stress on what was a great support system at Apple Stores.

    I have some doubts about the story as it was told. It is hard to tell just what kind of attitude this guy went into the store with. Even a poor tech should know that crashing hard drives are not the result of Garage Band, a consumer product, and no Genius that is worth a a black shirt would call Garage Band a Professional Product. Garage Band has a lot of resource issues and if this guy was running only a gig of ram it was no doubt paging the drive hard. He should not have been using a Mac Book for as much music audio work as he was obviously doing. It is disingenuous on his part to consider a Mac Book ( The lowest end product Apple makes) sufficient. He needs at least a Mac Book Pro or even just an iMac.

    Lets keep in mind Apple has the highest customer satisfaction and support rating of any company around right now and I believe the highest rating any company has ever had.

    -STUCARIUS-
    • JudasConstant, on 09/14/2008, -0/+2I was polite to the Genius.

      I was running 2 gigs of ram.

      I made very frequent recordings, but almost all were 2 to 3 tracks and under 3 minutes. Didn't have this problem with my last Mac. It crashed when I was surfing the web.

      As you suggested, I will keep in mind Apple has the highest customer satisfaction and support rating of any company around right now and [you] believe the highest rating any company has ever had.
  • sfacets, on 09/14/2008, -0/+1Yeah that's rubbish, I use many CPU-intensive as well as memory and sound-intensive applications such as (to name a few) Reason, Handbrake and yes, Garageband occasionally. (I also use FinalCut, Logic, After Effects, Maya) I have never had any problems on my older version MacBook.
  • bassfanatik, on 09/14/2008, -0/+3What a crock...I think he was unlucky and had a series of bad hard drives, or the controller on the motherboard was causing the hard drives to go out. Using an entry level product like garage band will not cause a hard drive to crash. Sorry. That "genius" isn't so smart...
  • beautifulleper, on 09/14/2008, -2/+2My Ibook handles garageband just fine, whatever, this is bull, some guy is just being a jerk face.
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