PCWorld reliability survey: Apple 'smoked the competition'

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
PCWorld this week released the results of its annual Reliability and Service Survey, and Apple won handily in the desktop, notebook and smartphone categories.



Apple earned high marks almost entirely across the board for its line of Macs and iPhones. In fact, the only "average" scores earned by Apple were related to replacing failed notebook components, as well as the iPhone 4 antenna issue.



"Can Apple do no wrong?" the publication said. "Indeed, 2010 was a remarkable year for the world's highest-valued tech company."



PCWorld's reader poll found that Apple was far and away the best company, leading the publication to state that the Cupertino, Calif., company was "smoking the competition." Credited were Apple's stylish hardware, easy-to-use software, and the "warm, fuzzy feeling" given through Genius Bar support at the company's retail stores.



In the survey, just under 8 percent of Apple laptop users said they had a problem that could not be resolved by the company's technical support. That was "significantly lower" than the industry average from rivals like HP and Dell.



Apple earned the highest marks in every category for desktop PCs, notebooks and smartphones. As has been found in previous surveys, iPhone customers in the U.S. indicated they are happy with Apple's handset, but do not like the AT&T wireless service.



The iPhone also earned "average" marks in two out of four categories for smartphone reliability. In that ranking, Apple placed second to Motorola, which earned top marks in three out of four reliability categories.



But in terms of ease of use, the iPhone was the clear winner, earning perfect "better than average" scores across the board. Users said the iPhone was easy to set up, allowed for simple Web browsing, and satisfied customers with media playback.







AT&T customers, however, ranked the speed and reliability of its 3G network "worse than average," and also expressed dissatisfaction with sound quality and reliability of voice calls. That was worse than competitors Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, all of which earned a "better than average" ranking in at least one category.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    But in terms of ease of use, the iPhone was the clear winner, earning perfect "better than average" scores across the board. Users said the iPhone was easy to set up, allowed for simple Web browsing, and satisfied customers with media playback.







    That is Apple's genius. They make products that pretty much anybody can use. My toddler can touch an icon on my iPad and watch Spongebob. On a computer, not even my teenager can figure out how to play a video!



    The iPad is perfect for my family.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jabiko View Post


    That is Apple's genius. They make products that pretty much anybody can use. My toddler can touch an icon on my iPad and watch Spongebob. On a computer, not even my teenager can figure out how to play a video!



    The iPad is perfect for my family.



    Be careful! some people here who are less secure about themselves might make fun of you for using a toddler's toy!



    I agree, though. Apple is not usually at the forefront of new markets, but they wait until the timing is perfect and release a high-end, extremely polished, and yes, good-looking device that the world's largest idiot can pick up and use and the power user can dig into and have fun with too. It really is quite remarkable they've been able to do it over and over again.
  • Reply 3 of 47
    Halo effect.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member
    what's ironic is that dell and HP do this to themselves with all the crap ware they preload and keep on the recovery disk. it wouldn't be a big deal if it was some trial apps, but these things are running in the background and always flashing on screen to enter your CC number to buy something
  • Reply 5 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jabiko View Post


    That is Apple's genius. They make products that pretty much anybody can use. My toddler can touch an icon on my iPad and watch Spongebob. On a computer, not even my teenager can figure out how to play a video!



    The iPad is perfect for my family.



    I agree. I have the iPad and it's so damn easy to use I'm left speechless.

    Also , at my Job in the hotel I can make a spread sheet with numbers on iPad in seconds!!

    No one in the tablet game has got it like that.

    I'm going to be getting the camera connection kit for iPad and photo copying the entire text for electromagnetism 2 into the iPad so I can leave the book at home for next semester.

    Screw the pc.

    Also I'll be getting the 21.5 inch iMac in January.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    While waiting for my wife at dentist office, I was watching a movie on my ipad and kept having to blow dust off of the screen, when I found a spot that would not go away,,, aaarrghh,, a dead pixel I thought.

    I made a appointment with the local apple store genius, long story short, 11 minutes after entering store I was walking out with a new ipad, no hassle, no questions, just excellent service.



    BTW I was told it was a speck of dust behind the glass by genius, got home, plugged new unit into mac and about an hour later ipad was fully restored,, try that with a PC.
  • Reply 7 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    In the survey, just under 8 percent of Apple laptop users said they had a problem that could not be resolved by the company's technical support. That was "significantly lower" than the industry average from rivals like HP and Dell.



    Okay, is it just me or does anyone find this a bit weird. In this survey, 8 out of 100 people had a problem that "could not be resolved". It's not worded as took a while, took several tries, etc.



    What the heck are people's experiences with HP and Dell? 10%, 15% unresolvable issues? It can be argued that Apple quality and support over the world has come under a lot of pressure with their rapid growth. But really what are these other manufacturers doing? Have they kind of given up? Man PC support must be one entirely dysfunctional ecosystem where everyone from Microsoft to hardware makers to support staff all depend on everything being broken, but people just not having "any other choice". It's like an apothecary that sells you poison and remedies all in the same bag, leaving you to figure out which is which... It's really insane, the more I think about it.



    Tech has gotten out of control in some ways. It has improved in others. But for the average (not necessarily "stupid") user, geez, it's obvious why Apple is a good bet.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Okay, is it just me or does anyone find this a bit weird. In this survey, 8 out of 100 people had a problem that "could not be resolved". It's not worded as took a while, took several tries, etc.



    What the heck are people's experiences with HP and Dell? 10%, 15% unresolvable issues? It can be argued that Apple quality and support over the world has come under a lot of pressure with their rapid growth. But really what are these other manufacturers doing? Have they kind of given up? Man PC support must be one entirely dysfunctional ecosystem where everyone from Microsoft to hardware makers to support staff all depend on everything being broken, but people just not having "any other choice". It's like an apothecary that sells you poison and remedies all in the same bag, leaving you to figure out which is which... It's really insane, the more I think about it.



    Tech has gotten out of control in some ways. It has improved in others. But for the average (not necessarily "stupid") user, geez, it's obvious why Apple is a good bet.



    This looks like a Smartphone only survey. So companies like HP and Dell wouldn't be involved.
  • Reply 9 of 47
    So exactly how does a person with (presumably) one cell phone have ANY idea how their provider's network speed compares to the "average"? All they have to go on is the opinions they read, and the myths self-perpetuate. Certainly geographic 3G coverage is less for AT&T, but every comparison I have seen that included actual measurements (what a concept!!!) showed AT&T's speed to be superior.



    Polling about subjective matters (ease of use) makes sense. Polling for facts does not.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    This looks like a Smartphone only survey. So companies like HP and Dell wouldn't be involved.



    If you read the article you'd see that it does cover desktops and laptops, as well as smartphones.



    But I can accept your point that Dell and HP aren't "involved"
  • Reply 11 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    This looks like a Smartphone only survey. So companies like HP and Dell wouldn't be involved.



    It's not smartphone only (emphasis mine):



    Quote:

    In the survey, just under 8 percent of Apple laptop users said they had a problem that could not be resolved by the company's technical support. That was "significantly lower" than the industry average from rivals like HP and Dell.



  • Reply 13 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by plovell View Post


    If you read the article you'd see that it does cover desktops and laptops, as well as smartphones.



    But I can accept your point that Dell and HP aren't "involved"



    Fair enough, I only had time to go over it quickly at first. My guess is while HTC and Moto did fairly well in the smartphone survey, companies like HP and Dell would do poorly to say the least.



    But HP still seems to sell alot of desktop and notebook systems.



    What I would find interesting is the article sayd that while Apple did better then average, ATT ranked worse then average. I wonder what a catagory would look like if you added the carrier into the mix. Kind of like how would the HTC Evo rank on Sprint or the HTC Incredible rank on Verizon compared to the iPhone on ATT.



    I live in ATL to I have no issues with ATT but I guess some do.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    It's not smartphone only (emphasis mine):



    Right I went back and fully read the article. But they don't give any real data on the numbers.



    Also while the iPhone did a bit better then HTC and MOTO I wouldn't say they 'smoked" them. Also seeing the ATT ranked lower then average then how would the overall experience rank for the iPHone considering ATT. Something the survey didn't take into consideration.
  • Reply 15 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Okay, is it just me or does anyone find this a bit weird. In this survey, 8 out of 100 people had a problem that "could not be resolved". It's not worded as took a while, took several tries, etc.



    I would always expect that there would be some non-zero percentage who have a problem that "can't be resolved". There's always the "working as designed" problems, which, as a user unhappy with the "design", one might consider unresolved. There are the times when people just don't follow through on the resolution, but may report it as unresolved. The user may have done something stupid which can't be "resolved" favorably. The problem may be with factors external to the computer, but still reported as an unresolved problem with the computer. And there are probably any number of other sources of "unresolved" issues. A rate of 8% seems a bit high, and it is alarming that this is the low number in the industry, but maybe it's an indication that, for some number of people, computers are still too complex. Still, better to be at the bottom for this stat.
  • Reply 16 of 47
    Competition to Apple...



    "What you been smoke'n?!"



    Apple to Competition...



    "You!"





    Love that survey at the bottom regarding AT&T. While I am sure there are deficiencies in some areas, there are other areas where users are quite satisfied. But to say "a poll..." and use that as Gospel?... Eh, not so sure about that...



    Heck, just watch the news and you see a politician on the right say a poll of the majority of Americans want Heath Care Reform bill repealed and then you have a politician on the left saying they have a poll that shows Americans want Health Care Reform... So what's really right?



    Can a poll be configured with regards to its questioning that puts AT&T in a favorable light and ahead in the results over the competition? Maybe. Just sayin', is all... \
  • Reply 17 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    Right I went back and fully read the article. But they don't give any real data on the numbers.



    Also while the iPhone did a bit better then HTC and MOTO I wouldn't say they 'smoked" them. Also seeing the ATT ranked lower then average then how would the overall experience rank for the iPHone considering ATT. Something the survey didn't take into consideration.



    The smoked quote comes from the overview article, meaning that, overall, and in general, they were much better than the competition, in laptops, desktops and smartphones, combined -- i.e., the clear leader in user satisfaction and reliability across the board.
  • Reply 18 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    The smoked quote comes from the overview article, meaning that, overall, and in general, they were much better than the competition, in laptops, desktops and smartphones. combined -- i.e., the clear leader in user satisfaction and reliability across the board.



    Well nothing new there. However Apple has increased its sales and products by a wide range and they are still holding the top spot. Something to be said about that.
  • Reply 19 of 47
    onhkaonhka Posts: 1,025member
    There is a saying that if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question.



    No matter how they ask the question about Apple products service, support and customer satisfaction usually if not always come on top.



    However, the most important survey to me is the one that tells me that in nearly 30 years of switching hundreds of friends, colleagues, students and clients to Apple, none ever went back. Unlike the handful that I have read about here and about that switched to or were forced to work on a PC.
  • Reply 20 of 47
    I find the most interesting thing about all of these surveys is just how horribly bad Dell and HP did, especially with "home" products, which were at or near the bottom of every survey.



    Also interesting that Panasonic did so well in both cameras and HDTVs (where they are probably the most significant plasma manufacturer).
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