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.
If your iMac has an affected hard drive, please choose one of the options below to get it replaced:
• Apple Retail Store – Set up an appointment with a Genius.
• Apple Authorized Service Provider – Find one here.
• Apple Technical Support – Contact Apple for local service options.
Apple recommends replacing affected hard drives as soon as possible.
Apple is contacting affected iMac owners who provided a valid email address during the product registration process to let them know about this program. If you have not been contacted, but think you have a 1TB Seagate hard drive, you can enter your serial number on the web page below to see if it’s part of this program.
More info here.
Needs to be a 4th option… Send me a replacement drive and i’ll take the 15 minutes and replace it myself.
Do not want to carry a 27″ iMac downtown…
No DIY parts are available for iMacs under any warranty or AppleCare coverage, even assuming you have the Torx and suction cups at hand. Yes, if this affects you, you will need to bring it in for the fix. Alas.
They should recall all the Suckgate drives ever made. I’ve had nothing but failure with them. Why can’t Apple spec better drives? Would it kill them to offer Western Digital?
Checking System Information (the new System Profiler), I see I’ve got a Western Digital 1Tb in my iMac, whew.
So do I… but only because I replaced the OEM drive when it failed after 2 years.
I always prefer seagate but my mac pro came with a 320GB WD drive in my 2008 mac pro.
I’m one of the lucky ones, got a WD drive in my new 27″
I’ve never understood Apple’s drive selection choices.
http://blog.macsales.com/10206-further-explained-apples-imac-2011-model-hard-drive-restrictions
Apples one of 3 drives in the new iMacs
Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB 7200RPM Barracuda 7200.12 7200RPM 16MB SATA 3Gbp/s
Seagate ST31000428AS 1TB 7200RPM Barracuda 7200.12 7200RPM 32MB SATA 3Gbp/s
Western Digital WD1001FALS 1TB Caviar Black 7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3Gbp/s
So they do offer WD as factory options.
I just wished i got the WD… Cause there is no way i’ll tote the iMac downtown to the apple store, park 8 blocks away and walk down the street with my iMac under my arm…
and no way i’ll let Bestbuy touch it.
I’ll just grab a drive from OWC…
You could grow your armpits bigger to tote the iMac under there. Well, it is a solution.
Good to know. I’ll certainly spring for the WD when I replace my iMac. Seagate was the only option back in early 2007.
Great… I just clicked the link, the Apple Store is the only authorized Service Provider they list for me…
Bestbuy is only sales..
there is a local Mac sales store that is authorized for everything…. except Service. (although i am going to call them to make sure, they would be MUCH easier to use)
I’ve seen lots of criticism of Western Disaster drives on the net.
Everyone has their favorite. Just as the car makers buy tires from all the different tire makers, Apple buys drives from the drive makers.
Some Hitachi and Samsung HDDs get good ratings. The Samsung EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB had a great ratio of 4/5 stars to 1/2 stars, with only about 8% 1-star rating – much better than most HDDs that I researched. It is not the fastest drive, but it runs cool and is relatively quiet except when it spins up from sleep. I replaced my iMac internal HDD with it and installed a second one in an external quad-interface OWC enclosure for Time Machine. I use a third to periodically clone the internal HDD for off-site storage. I had a fourth to rotate clones, but I bought a second OWC enclosure and gave it to my relative for Time Machine backups on her new iMac 27″. So far, no problems with any of the four Samsung HDDs.
In my experience, the predominant OEM drive for Macs has been WDC. Seagate has been on a steep downward trend since they bought Maxtor, maybe even before then.
I haven’t trusted Seagate hard drives in quite some time…
I wish there was a way to say, I want a WD (or Hitachi) drive in my iMac, not a Seagate.
I have a 2TB Hitachi in mine, same time period.
I’m one of the “very small number”. Why couldn’t I win the Lottery instead? I guess this teaches me not to buy on the first day!!
went back and looked at my order, the WD drive is an upgrade… glad I did
Yeah i got the seagate crap. My idea was to just replace it with a 2TB drive from OWC for a hell of a lot cheaper than Apple wants…
Then after i get the iMac i find that Apple screwed the consumer and added a new “function” to the HD’s.
Any outside HD installed gives you high speed fans 24/7 and a AHT failure.
OWC “cured” the problem with HDD Fan Controller (which used to be $10… But they jacked up the price to $30 since the iMac’s release…)
or a German company is about to release a chip called cBreeze or something. Which does the same thing as Apple’s in house HD’s do.
I’m betting that someday OWC or someone else will be able to resale the “special” HD’s Apple uses… Or at least I hope…
They should pay me for the taxi rides (I live in NY City), which will be fairly substantial, and my time. Lugging this 27″ machine around a city is not a trivial thing.
This is email I got:
Dear iMac owner,
Apple has determined that a very small number of 1TB Seagate 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.
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 Authorized 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 shipped 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 program does not extend the standard warranty coverage of the iMac.
Apple will replace affected 1TB Seagate hard drives, free of charge, until July 23, 2012. Apple will continue to evaluate service data and provide extensions to this program as needed.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Apple Inc.
My stuff is backed up. This is effectively as inconvenient as an actual failure. It means I’d have to back everything up, take it in, let them swap the drive, then restore everything. I can’t decide if it’s more worthwhile to just gamble or not.
I would not take that gamble. Better to restore to a new drive when you are prepared to do so with a current clone and other backups. Otherwise, Murphy says that it will end up failing at the most inconvenient time, resulting in the loss of critical data. Take advantage of the replacement program.
I think if I’m going to do this, I’m going to purchase a larger drive, have that installed and take my replacement drive back home and use it for backups.
I bet you will have to surrender the drive.
Before i do this… i will wipe the drive and securely erase it.
Apple will get a bare drive.
I soured on the iMac as a desktop machine after a friend’s G5 iMac suffered an apparent motherboard failure out of warranty (and didn’t qualify for the extended replacement program). She had some important stuff not yet backed up (pre-Time Machine OSX), but extracting the HDD was an exercise in frustration. Even my 2nd-generation Macbook, you can easily replace the HDD.
IMHO the RAM and hard drive (or equivalent) should be things that somewhat technical people should be able to replace on their own, without paying Apple to do so. And Apple’s attempt to punish people for using non-OEM drives, by running the fans at a noisy and battery-draning 100% since it’s missing some sensor data from non-OEM drives, is nonsense.
I tend to agree. I was able to replace the HDD on my 2007 intel iMac 24″, but it was a pain. Just a few modifications to the design would have greatly simplified the experience. A panel on the back of the iMac would have been the best.
Apple does many things quite well. But functionality is sometimes sacrificed for form. That is one reason why I loved my Mac Pro – being able to remove the side cover in less than 5 seconds was awesome, and it doesn’t take much longer to add or replace a HDD.
Note to Apple” Computers do not have to be seamless in order to be beautiful.
I wish they had a way for enterprise customers to check multiple numbers at a time. That said, I just pasted in 65 serials of what should of been prime candidates for the recall but didn’t have a single one eligible. When they say a small number I guess they mean it.
My appointment with the Apple Store is set for tomorrow afternoon. Has anyone been through this replacement process yet? I’m wondering what I’m going to walk out of the Apple Store with? My iMac with a new blank 1Tb HDD in it? Will it have have OS X loaded? Snow Leopard? Lion?
I am an avid user of Time Machine so everything is backed up – except the OS.
My guess is – I get a blank HDD, then I will have to load Snow Leopard via the install DVD, then go through the Mac APP Store Lion DL / Install process, then restore from Time Machine.
I’ve used 3 of my 5 Lion DLs so far, will this count as #4?
Seagate is going to owe me for 90 miles of travel, and several hours of my life. If there’s ever a class action suit against these pricks, I want in!
since they ask you to bring your install DVD… I’d assume they reload Snow leopard on it and update to 10.6.8
Installing Lion if you purchased it maybe.
But I would call the Apple store and make sure you have everything they need with you. (and ask the Lion question)
And hope it’s not “come back tomorrow and your iMac will be done”
Since i’m also infected… I’ll be checking this article frequently. so please update us so we know what the deal is.
Was a little upset yesterday when I took the iMac into the Apple Store. At that time they told me they needed the machine for 24 – 48 hours as the swap out was not done on site. They then told me it would be loaded with 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) and when I took the machine home I would have to first reload Lion, then do a migrate from my Time Machine backup. I questioned why they wouldn’t do a full copy of my disk via Thunderbolt, and was told “that isn’t the procedure”. Again, left the Apple Store not very happy yesterday afternoon.
This afternoon I was called and told the machine was back at the store and ready for pickup. Just got home and fired it up – they did a complete copy of the bad Seagate drive onto a new WD Drive. When I turned it on, I was greeted with my login page and customized photo. Everything loaded up just like it did 36 hours ago.
NICE job Apple!