How irked are Geniuses with a customised Mac?

By mattrobs
in Apple (macOS)

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mattrobs

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I'm popping down to the Sydney Apple Store's Genius Bar with a software problem. But I've customised my Mac ? the Dock, the default wallpaper, the menu highlights, and the system icons. You know, the usual.

So if present them my MBP how it is, is the Genius going to look at me with that "you smartass" look and give me flack for it? The whole "you're not supposed to touch the System folder; you've brought this on yourself" lecture? Or should I just un-CandyBar everything before I go?

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+Nik Louch Subscriber²

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They are trained to look at Mac's that are setup 99% default.

I do agree that by messing with the system folder, you take responsibility for anything unforseen.

However, I do not agree with their attitude towards a customer.

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+jamesyfx Subscriber²

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In retail stores, you are trained to understand that 80% of computer problems are down to the user - and if they hear you've been messing with the system folder, this will come to mind automatically.

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Cara Veteran

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I'm popping down to the Sydney Apple Store's Genius Bar with a software problem. But I've customised my Mac ? the Dock, the default wallpaper, the menu highlights, and the system icons. You know, the usual.

So if present them my MBP how it is, is the Genius going to look at me with that "you smartass" look and give me flack for it? The whole "you're not supposed to touch the System folder; you've brought this on yourself" lecture? Or should I just un-CandyBar everything before I go?

Just so you know, there is no policy against it as long as you haven't modified anything system related, and if you do have system files changed the worst they will do is require a reinstall of the OS:):)

I've never had any problems with that in the past, normally they want to know where I got the icons I was using;);)

  • 4 weeks later...
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Blackice

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In my experience, they don't care. I've changed most of the icons, and when I took my MacBook to the store, they didn't even mention it.

It was for a display problem (very bad colours. Couldn't see the blue strips in lists), which could be software (colour profile) or hardware (bad display). Never went there for a purely software problem. I'd just use Time Machine.

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Fred Derf Veteran

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I would strip all customizations before you take it in. Chances are that will be the first thing they blame.

If it is a really obvious hardware problem then it may not matter. If it looks like a software issue then it may.

  • 1 month later...
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Binary

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When I took my iMac in for repair the tech questioned my customized dock. He said changing the files could cause the graphical artifacts I was seeing.

I told him he was full of @#$% and that changing a couple pngs wouldn't harm anything.

He then moved on to other causes. ;)

It was the GPU. Obviously.

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Binary

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Did you literally say that? :p

Yes. He was trying to blame an obvious GPU defect on a little bit of customization (Which meant he wouldn't have ok'd the repair).

Luckily both the artifacts and sudden black screen showed up while he was using it.

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Quillz

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They aren't exactly geniuses if they believe actual system errors are caused by modifying the Dock and application/system icons, which are just .png images for the most part. Nearly everyone is using Candybar or a similar app these days, so unless people are just randomly going into the System folder and deleting icons, a customized Mac shouldn't cause any issues.

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mbtx__

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They aren't exactly geniuses if they believe actual system errors are caused by modifying the Dock and application/system icons, which are just .png images for the most part. Nearly everyone is using Candybar or a similar app these days, so unless people are just randomly going into the System folder and deleting icons, a customized Mac shouldn't cause any issues.

Exactly. I don't see what the whole issue is. A .PNG file that has worked fine for a while after modifying it, won't suddenly bring down the whole system.

Conversly, if you find the system stops working just after you've made a change, that's usually a good indication that something is wrong!

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