Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
I think software integrity is a very valid point. Look at a MacBook. It gets 7-9 hours of battery on a single charge when it's running OS X. That same battery drops down to 3-4 hours when it's running Windows. Should Apple have to support people who choose to run Windows on their laptop?
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Who said anything about supporting? We're talking about warranty. Should Apple void the warranty on your MacBook because you run Linux on it? Because you run MS Office instead of their productivity software?
Yes? No? It's the exact same thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
If I blew the motherboard in my Dell laptop because I installed a hacked version of Mac OS and ran it for 6 months without realizing the fans weren't working... there's no way Dell would support that.
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Well no of course not, but the reason they refuse the warranty is because it overheated because of something you did.. just like they wouldn't warranty it if you stuck a pencil in the fan.
So why doesn't Dell refuse all warranty calls for people that run anything but the pre-loaded software, they could have been running a fan controller software that stopped all the fans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
Software has a huge impact on the performance of hardware. If I mod my Xbox, whether it's software or hardware, I don't expect Microsoft to fix it for free if it breaks down. What if the software mod I install does something to the fan speeds that I don't know about, and 3 months later the console red-rings from overheating. Is that MS's fault? Should it be covered by their warranty? I don't think so.
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It's not an all or nothing question, but usually the onus is on the warranty provider to demonstrate that the product has been abused, not assumed that it has been abused and refuse all warranty.
Why doesn't Apple refuse warranty to anyone that loads anything but Apple authored software on the MacBook?
Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
Same with the iPhone. If jailbreaking my iPhone and installing unsigned apps from Cydia causes the battery to become overworked, and 3 months later it stops holding a charge... should I expect Apple to replace my battery for free? It wasn't their software that screwed up the battery, nor was it even an app that they delivered to me through their App Store.
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Of course not, they could refuse warranty based on a specific case, just like Dell would refuse a warranty because you thought water helped, or you stuck a pencil in the fan, or whatever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
I think it would be pretty cut and dried, and not very interesting at all. I imagine there's a ton of existing precedence backing up companies whose customers messed around with their products and expected to get them fixed for free.
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There is existing law, I brought up a specific case with vehicles.. the law says the onus is on the company to prove that the modification caused the damage in order to refuse the warranty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sclitheroe
I can think of many cases where its reasonable - look at all the overclock utils for the Palm Pre and Android phones. Voltage tweaking utils for desktop/laptop processors. How about the engine management software on vehicles?
There are plenty of cases on modern hardware where firmware can damage or negatively impact hardware.
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That's true, and you are right in those cases it would be valid to deny warranty.