Got a Time Capsule and you bought it between February and June 2008 and it’s having power issues? Turns out, you’re not alone. Flip it over, and look at the serial number If it’s between XX807XXXXXX – XX814XXXXXX, Apple has a fix for you:
If your Time Capsule falls within serial number range above and it does not power on or shuts down unexpectedly after starting up, it may be eligible for repair or replacement.
Contact the Apple representative most convenient for you:
- Apple Authorized Service Provider. Find one here.
- Apple Retail Store. Set up an appointment with a Genius (available in some countries only).
- Apple Contact Center. Find the phone number for your region.
If Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider confirms that your Time Capsule is affected, Apple will repair or replace it free of charge.
See? There you go. A fix for your problem. Unless you’re me, that is. Long-time readers may recall that I was having problems with my Time Capsule a few months back, and I ended up buying an Airport Extreme to fix my problem. One day, I decided that I should take apart my Time Capsule so that I could keep the drive, then I could toss the rest. I did that, and instead of tossing the rest, I hung onto the case on the off chance that I may want to use it again for one project or another.
I read the info above and instantly my palm hit my forehead. I’m not sure if I audibly called myself stupid, but I sure did think it. Then I went out and checked the case, wondering if I was within the warranty. As it turns out, I wasn’t. Serial number: XX815XXXXXX, just out of the available numbers. Now that doesn’t mean it’s not going to change in the future, and maybe my Time Capsule will fall into the fix range later, but for now it means that I was OK with taking apart the Time Capsule to scavenge for parts.
If you’re one of the few unlucky souls with a malfunctioning Time Capsule with a serial number in the range above, go make a Genius Bar appointment. You might walk out with a new Time Capsule.
One thought on “Apple Fixing Broken Time Capsules”
Hi, Kevin. Like you, I also have a dead Time Capsule (1T). I decided to try to salvage the hard drive to use as extremely expensive ext drive but after installing it in the case, I can’t access the whole HD capacity. The drive is divided into 3 sectors of 2 1 GB and 1 39GB drives and I couldn’t locate the rest of the drive. I can’t even reformat it to make it whole. Would you happen to know how to do it?
Thanks!