Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

"Customers who bought a faulty Time Capsule in 2008 may be entitled to a free repair or replacement of their hardware, and those who previously paid for a fix could receive a refund, according to a recently updated Apple support document."

Relating to issues regarding units not powering on, or shutting down unexpectedly soon after turning the unit on, Apple is now prepared to offer free repairs or free units per this support document [link]. If your Time Capsule has a serial number falling within the range of XX807XXXXXX - XX814XXXXXX then you are one of the lucky (or unlucky I supposed if you have been having problems) ones.

"Apple's perverse obsession with miniaturizing the iPod Shuffle doesn't seem likely to stop until they bring it down to the size of a nanoangstrom, but one of the biggest drawbacks of making a music player smaller than the controls needed to use it is that the user interface needs to be offloaded to a peripheral: in the third generation iPod Shuffle's case, the stock ear buds."

It appears they have run into some problems, as Apple has started a replacement program for the ear buds that stop working, free of charge, for up to two years from date of purchase. These were made during the period from February 2009 to February 2010.

"Mea culpa. If you bought a MacBook between 2006 and 2007 and your hard drive sounds like an unoiled rock tumbler trying to work its way through a belly full of rusty bolts, you could be eligible for a free replacement, courtesy of Apple."

According to Apple, a "very small percentage of plastic MacBooks may fail under certain conditions." So they are offering to replace the hard drive if you bring it in to a Genius Bar. The MacBooks in question are both the black and the white ones that were sold between May 2006 and December 2007. According to this page at Apple, the diagnosis is fairly simple: your computer stops working and at boot up, it displays a folder icon with a question mark on it. If you have already paid for a repair for this, you might be able to get a refund, and they are extending the eligibility to three years from purchase or August 15, 2010, whichever is longer.

"Careless iPhone owners who have flipped their handset into a swimming pool-or glass of beer-can now reportedly save themselves the expense of purchasing a new handset under a new Apple store policy allowing the replacement of a liquid-damaged handset for $199."

Photo Credit: Ubergizmo.com

In keeping with the damaged iPhone theme of my posts today, Apple now has a policy that applies to "out of warranty incidents" so you don't have to worry about a costly replacement if you drop your iPhone into the toilet. Normal procedure has been that the fumble-fingered customer had to purchase a new iPhone, which also extended the AT&T two-year contract extension. They must have experienced a rash of these incidents because now you simply pay $199.00 USD for a refurbished iPhone and you are good to go. Or is it another method to clear out the inventory in advance of a new iPhone announcement? We can only hope.

"Yesterday Apple began approving third party Web browsers for distribution via the iTunes App Store reports MacRumors. Previously to this sudden about-face iPhone Web browsers wanting to compete with Mobile Safari, Apple's bundled and pre-docked Web browser, were considered off limits because they "duplicated functionality" already on the iPhone."

Shown above is a new replacement browser called Incognito, which is designed to not keep history of any kind. Browse what you want, close the app, and adios history! Great for browsing "those site," if you know what I mean (wink wink). Pretty interesting that Apple's changed their stance on this one, seeing as browsers interpret code and duplicate functionality, both of which are reasons other apps have been rejected from the iTunes Store.