This is new – we can’t fix your computer because you smoke

Apple refuses to repair computers when users smoke

MacPro no smoking 320 This is new – we can’t fix your computer because you smoke photo

illustration – Erictric

From CrunchGear

File under another reason to avoid Apple

It seems that a few Apple warranties have been deemed void when the owner was a smoker, and their Macs were contaminated by second-hand smoke. 

The Applecare contract says nothing about this, and the list of toxic materials includes other such dangerous household items as talcum powder and isopropyl alcohol. There’s a long discussion of consumer rights and nanny laws and all that sort of thing just waiting to be pulled out of this story, but let’s not and say we did.

Instant Savings with No Mail-In Rebates!

I’m really more interested in whether any of these ostensibly dangerous materials actually do have an effect on your computer’s hardware. In my experience, the most lethal thing in the house is just the dust and fluff that gets sucked into your fan intakes. That or coffee.

  • Charles

    I guess Apple will have to change their Laptop Commercials to say that their computers aren’t as convenient to take everywhere to use as they advertise. Any one in the world that uses Coffee houses and internet cafe’s to go online that still allow smoking can’t go in any more.

    And I suppose if you use a computer outside waiting at a busstop and the auto pollution gets in, that will void it too.

    What a joke. I wont be buying an Apple ever again. Except the ones you eat.

  • joe

    This is crazy. People can’t smoke anywhere here in Madison but outside and their houses. Now, if you own an Apple and value your warranty, your house is out too. It’s getting cold outside Mac owners, good luck with that.

    And if it does not say anything about smoking around the computer in the warranty i think Apple is shit out of luck and will need to replace those computers. Though smoke is real bad for electronics, especially the 360.

  • Harrison

    Smoke in general isn’t bad for computers, it’s tobacco smoke that’s bad. It gets everything sticky and then collects dust until it clogs the fans and heatsinks and causes the computer to overheat. It’s really hard to clean off, too. Just blowing it away with canned air or a vacuum doesn’t work.

  • James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil

    As a former IBM Customer Engineer (repairman) I can testify to the effects of smoking on electronic equipment. In the days when smoking was permitted almost everywhere, main frame computer rooms were always non-smoking.

    Apple is correct in doing this, but wrong in not making it explicit in their warranty.

    Charles, you probably are too stupid to use even an Apple anyway. Smokers are really not the brightest lights on the string, are they?

  • joe

    So someone isnt smart because they smoke? what a stupid thing to say. Think of how many people in history have smoked, most of the smartests people in the world have. Dont say stupid things james smith.

    And you dont have to be smart to use an Apple. That is why people buy Apple computers so they dont have to think about using their computer, apple does all their thinking for them.

    Just ignorant.

  • Metalheadzaid

    i smoek n i am dum but i can use apple fine.

  • Kevin

    Joe: Yes, someone is dumb if they, knowing all the risks we now know, smoke. It IS highly addictive and it WILL kill you. Additionally it costs you tons of money and ruins your clothes, teeth, skin, and, I guess, computers. How is that anything BUT stupid?

  • Aaron

    “I could live to be a hundred if I gave up everything that made me want to live to be a hundred.” Some people ENJOY smoking. Yes, it’s a health risk. But so is getting in your car every day, more so in fact. Besides, you inhale more nasty chemicals walking down a busy street than you do from a cigarette.

    But that isn’t the issue here, is it? The issue is a computer company denying warranties to people that had no reasonable warning that they were voiding them. It’s dishonest and cheap and says a lot about the company that practices it.

  • Stephen Pate

    Smoking may or may not cause cancer; however, smoking will not materially change the life expectancy of the human population. Winston Churchill lived 91 years. longer than most people, while smoking several cigars and drinking copious amounts of whiskey every day.

    Longevity is determined in the genetic imprint we get on conception. We might shorten our lives through carelessness or abuse of the body and mind. However, we all generally live about the same amount of time. People die from cancer who never smoked or breathed second hand smoke in their lives.

    That being said, Apple is a dick of a company on customer service and attempt to ignore their responsibilities and have for decades.

  • Tisi

    I’ve had to fix computers and other electronics from heavy smokers’ homes. Its about the most effective way to make circuitry impossibly filthy and impossible to repair. After two or three years, its like somebody has combined dust with molasses and superglue, and poured 1/4 to 1/2 an inch over all the delicate components. These are the same ESD sensitive components that could be irreparably damaged by a shock from your finger on a dry day. Most stores don’t fix computers that have had roofs leak on them, or that have not been connected to a surge bar. I think this is a pretty reasonable policy, depending on the extent of the damage.

  • Loralie

    Just another reason to bash smokers. What next? Can’t repair my computer because I have sex?

  • Connor

    @Stephen: Smoking is directly linked to cancer. It isn’t a “possibility”. And you can’t say it doesn’t effect your life expectancy because of ONE person.

  • jake

    I have been repairing computers for 12 years now and I have to actually say bravo to Apple for this, though it should not be against smokers, but against machines that fail due to over heating caused by smokers. I have nothing against people who smoke, but one of the biggest killers of computers is emphysema. The tar in cigarettes will actually build up inside the system as it does on everything in the house. People forget that computers have to breathe to live, and that the tar in the smoke will actually kill electronic components because it will trap in heat and block ventilation when it mixes with dust. It is virtually impossible to blow out because it is sticky like syrup. Not to mention it can cause electronics to fail by shorting circuits.

  • Peter

    most diseases are the outcome of smoking.

  • Stephen Pate

    What’s the evidence of that? Disease has many causes like virus, bacteria, genetic predisposition including congenital conditions etc. If smoking was the cause of most diseases, the drop in smoking to 22% of adult Americans should mean that disease is dropping as well.

  • beamer67ca

    Why do people buy Mac or Dell or H.P? I went to a local and reputable computer store and had them build me a comp. I got a more power full computer for way less than those brand named companies could offer. I didn’t get all the crapware they like to load up and the parts came with a 3 yr warranty and if the parts are out of warranty all I have to pay for is the part. Labor free!
    I got to pick the components, so I knew the quality I was actually getting. If there was was an issue I got a phone call. They did not deviate without my knowledge. I get to use what ever apps I want and I don’t have to pay extra so they can advertise their brand on my comp constantly.

  • Dave

    As a computer repair engineer, and a smoker, I can see both sides of the argument.

    A customer brought a high-spec gaming machine back into the shop for a warranty repair. He and his wife smoked heavily, all day in the same room as the PC. The machine was less than 12 months old. The inside of the case was as brown as an old teapot’s innards. I’d guess all the components would have a thin film of tar over them too. The northbridge chip was overheating coz the heatsink had turned brown too. It stunk. Luckily, the system was fixed with an optional cooling fan. And the advice that if the MoBo had to go for warranty repair, the manufacturers would tell you, tough luck. As the only (remaining, full-time) smoker at our small business, I told the user not to smoke around their machine.

    Let’s for a moment dispense with the health discussions. We know the health implications and we choose to smoke. End. Of.

    But computers do suffer passive smoking. Apple are right to refuse warranty, not if you smoke, but if it is demonstrable that the smoking caused the fault. Or, for that matter, a PC used in a mechanics workshop where oil or metal filings might coat the innards of a PC without any direct spillage.

  • someguy

    Just another reason to bask smokers…
    or maybe it’s genuine concern for the health of their employees.

  • Master Alchemist

    Einstein was a smoker, Carl Sagen was a smoker, Robert Openheimer was smoker, Thomas Alva Edison was a smoker….Robert Nash is a smoker. Morons, all, at least according to James Smith João Pessoa. I love it when those of a lesser mental capacity open their mouths. The resulting sounds are most Humorous.

    I would have used Obama as another example. But that, simply supports his statement.

  • Twisteddman

    Master alchemist you are incorrect in your assumption that because those brilliant men smoked, doing it now is smart and therefor not a stupid thing to do. As has been pointed out already. Those people were lacking the information that we have today. Its like saying that its good to handle mercury and even drink it because Sir Isaac Newton and Leibniz did it. Both brilliant men and both lacking the proper information as it wasn’t available at the time.
    As for computers. If something you did messed up the inside of the computer and now it doesn’t work. Uh , yeah, no question your warranty is void. You should smoke outside or another well ventilated area anyway.

  • Buttons

    You shouldn’t have to take your MAC in because they are advertised as perfect. Oh wait, I guess not.

  • Fembot

    Yup, if you smoke you are stupid for doing so. People in the past smoked because it was the social norm and the medical studies we have today showing that smoking will kill you did not exist. When smokers whine about nanny laws, I just laugh. Straw man fallacy much? Your second hand smoke makes my clothes stink and invades my lungs. It also makes you stink. I am going to go out and buy more Mac computers now. Thanks Apple.

  • Gary

    @Master Alchemist: Speaking of fallacies, tu quoque much? (Look it up.)

  • meh

    Smoking gives your computer cancer!!

  • electric cigarrete

    How i can follow your blog?Do you have RSS feeds that i can use on my site? Thanks –

  • marvin nubwaxer

    fuck ‘em. get an intel notebook and install mac osx. a hackintosh is a much better bargain and probably fully warranted.

  • Jon

    When I smoke weed around my computer, the dust inside turns green.