Apple's hard drive replacement program for 2011 iMacs has been expanded after discovering even more machines may be affected. The company has updated its support page about the program to note the 1TB Seagate hard drives could be faulty in iMacs sold as early as October 2009. Apple will offer free replacement hard drives to affected customers for three years after the first sale of the device, or until April 12, 2013, whichever is longer.
Apple first announced the program in July of 2011, saying that the 1TB drives in iMacs sold between May and July of that year could be subject to failure under "certain conditions." (Coincidentally at the time of that writing, I complained it was too bad the recall didn't seem to cover my 27" iMac purchased in October of 2009, which has experienced regular hard drive fan problems for years.) Now, it appears as if Apple discovered the Seagate hard drive problem goes far beyond just iMacs sold in 2011. The program now officially includes those sold between October 2009 and July 2011.
This replacement program was originally set to expire earlier this year but was extended, and has now been extended again. Unfortunately, my aforementioned 2009 iMac still appears to fall outside of the recall—but you may have better luck. In order to find out if your iMac qualifies, enter your serial number into Apple's support page. If it does, Apple will offer a replacement hard drive for free via one of Apple's retail stores or an authorized service provider.
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