2012 Mac sold as new in 2014

[punt01234]

My daughter bought a MacBook Pro in September 2014 within 1 month the logic board failed. After some hassle with Apple they replaced it. 6 months later the hard drive failed in the new laptop and after sitting in the Apple Store all day they finally replaced the hard drive Apple had booked a 9.00 slot with the store which they said they had no knowledge of. 9 months down the lone DVDs disk drive failed. My daughter was at university so she did not tell me until she finished this summer. I took the laptop to a Apple Store to see if they would replace it, and as it was bought on student deal she was covered for 3 years
It was only at this point did I find out that the laptop was built in 2012, 2 and a half years before she purchased the Mac.
Apples only comment is we should have told them within one month of purchase and they said all they can do is repair if need be and no more. Has anyone else been sold out of date macs as new.

 

[keysofanxiety]

My daughter bought a MacBook Pro in September 2014 within 1 month the logic board failed. After some hassle with Apple they replaced it. 6 months later the hard drive failed in the new laptop and after sitting in the Apple Store all day they finally replaced the hard drive Apple had booked a 9.00 slot with the store which they said they had no knowledge of. 9 months down the lone DVDs disk drive failed. My daughter was at university so she did not tell me until she finished this summer. I took the laptop to a Apple Store to see if they would replace it, and as it was bought on student deal she was covered for 3 years
It was only at this point did I find out that the laptop was built in 2012, 2 and a half years before she purchased the Mac.
Apples only comment is we should have told them within one month of purchase and they said all they can do is repair if need be and no more. Has anyone else been sold out of date macs as new.

Yes, the non-Retina 13" MacBook Pro hasn't been updated since 2012. Apple still sell it.

You've come to the right forum in a way, because a lot of people aren't happy about this. Myself included. Consumers spend a lot of money on Apple machines, and often just think "well it's a brand new Mac, it must be good". Sadly you now need to know which model to buy, and which to avoid.

Unfortunately the onus is on the consumer to know what they are buying. I'm afraid I can't give any better advice than suggesting starting another thread here if you're looking to buy a Mac. Apple do make some great machines, but there are a lot of models that need to be avoided, as they have vastly outdated specifications to match a price point.

 

[tubeexperience]

Even right now in 2016, Apple still sells the 2012 MacBook Pro non-Retina.

It's ridiculous how 4 years later, Apple still sell a 2012 model at full price.

A lot of people still buys them because they're the cheapest MacBook Pro, not knowing that they are buying a 4 years old laptops.

 

[punt01234]

Yes, the non-Retina 13" MacBook Pro hasn't been updated since 2012. Apple still sell it.

You've come to the right forum in a way, because a lot of people aren't happy about this. Myself included. Consumers spend a lot of money on Apple machines, and often just think "well it's a brand new Mac, it must be good". Sadly you now need to know which model to buy, and which to avoid.

Unfortunately the onus is on the consumer to know what they are buying. I'm afraid I can't give any better advice than suggesting starting another thread here if you're looking to buy a Mac. Apple do make some great machines, but there are a lot of models that need to be avoided, as they have vastly outdated specifications to match a price point.

Thanks for your reply. It's interesting that customer services at Apple say they have never had a complaint like this before. You would not buy a new car knowing its 2 years old so why do Apple expect us to do it. If it's old stock they are offloading they should make it clear. I think I'm am going to have a battle on my hands to get this sorted out. It has cost me time and money to get to the bottom of this, and having been a Mac user for over 25 years I am very dissatisfied to say the least

 

[keysofanxiety]

Thanks for your reply. It's interesting that customer services at Apple say they have never had a complaint like this before. You would not buy a new car knowing its 2 years old so why do Apple expect us to do it. If it's old stock they are offloading they should make it clear. I think I'm am going to have a battle on my hands to get this sorted out. It has cost me time and money to get to the bottom of this, and having been a Mac user for over 25 years I am very dissatisfied to say the least

I'm afraid you won't get very far -- no real legal avenues if user research hadn't been appropriately undertaken for the purchase. The only chance is if Apple advertised it as 'new', which they 100% haven't since it was first released in 2012.

Not that it would do much good, but you might as well email Tim Cook. Hopefully he'll begin to see the real consequence for the end-user from penny pinching with this sort of thing, and the fallout of poor computer performance and damaged brand loyalty. But again, nothing will happen from it.

 

[punt01234]

When my daughter first put in the order the Mac instead of 2-7 working days it took 14 days because it was a " custom build" this in fact was just upgrading the ram but to joe public you would think your Mac was being built just for you

 

[treekram]

Mid-2012 MBP's have been manufactured after 2012. I bought an Apple refurb model last December that was manufactured in November. Apple may have stopped manufacturing them since then as there are signs that it will be discontinued soon.

You can check on the manufacture date by going to a website that does a serial number lookup. The one I use is:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

If you bought the MBP directly from Apple, the chances are that it was manufactured within a month or two before you bought it. The fact that it took longer to get the BTO Mac is good sign of that.

Apple does not make a point of saying when the model was first introduced except on their refurb site. But it's not a big secret either. At list price, the mid-2012 model is overpriced, even by Apple standards, but it's also the MBP model that's easiest to get substantial discounts on. Consumers need to do their homework.

 

[punt01234]

Even right now in 2016, Apple still sells the 2012 MacBook Pro non-Retina.

It's ridiculous how 4 years later, Apple still sell a 2012 model at full price.

A lot of people still buys them because they're the cheapest MacBook Pro, not knowing that they are buying a 4 years old laptops.

Still waiting from a reply from Tim Cook
Ha ha
Although he has not crossed swords with my wife yet. When British telecom upset her she got the personnel email of the chairman and had the home number of the area manager which soon got things moving
[doublepost=1467224394][/doublepost]

Mid-2012 MBP's have been manufactured after 2012. I bought an Apple refurb model last December that was manufactured in November. Apple may have stopped manufacturing them since then as there are signs that it will be discontinued soon.

You can check on the manufacture date by going to a website that does a serial number lookup. The one I use is:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

If you bought the MBP directly from Apple, the chances are that it was manufactured within a month or two before you bought it. The fact that it took longer to get the BTO Mac is good sign of that.

Apple does not make a point of saying when the model was first introduced except on their refurb site. But it's not a big secret either. At list price, the mid-2012 model is overpriced, even by Apple standards, but it's also the MBP model that's easiest to get substantial discounts on. Consumers need to do their homework.

If they were still manufacturing Mbps in 2014 why was it we were given a machine from early 2012?
I could understand if the Mac was built in the same year but 2 years early is just not acceptable

 

[treekram]

Still waiting from a reply from Tim Cook
Ha ha
Although he has not crossed swords with my wife yet. When British telecom upset her she got the personnel email of the chairman and had the home number of the area manager which soon got things moving
[doublepost=1467224394][/doublepost]
If they were still manufacturing Mbps in 2014 why was it we were given a machine from early 2012?
I could understand if the Mac was built in the same year but 2 years early is just not acceptable

If you have done the serial number lookup and indeed the computer was manufactured in 2012 and you bought it from Apple, you have a legitimate gripe, but two years after you bought it is a bit late. To be clear, Apple computers have a model year and and a manufacture date. There were two 2012 models (with variations for screen size, CPU, etc.), early-2013, late-2013, 2014, early 2015 and late 2015 models. The mid-2012 model has been sold concurrently with the late 2012, 2013 (early and late), 2014 and 2015 (early and late) models.

You or your daughter at the time selected the mid-2012 model instead of the 2014 model. I would guess that the 2014 model wasn't selected because of price, but I obviously don't know. If you have the receipt and it says you bought the 2014 model but instead got the 2012 model then you have a legitimate gripe, perhaps one that can be remedied via consumer laws. Look for your receipt.

EDIT: Thinking about it, the mid-2012 model was the last model MBP with the internal DVD drive. If whoever bought the computer wanted the internal DVD drive, that's probably why the mid-2012 model was chosen.

 

[punt01234]

the original Mac that was bought died in under a month so I did not get to check when it was built but the replacement was a 2012 build which has never lived up to my expectations runs slow hard drive died DVD drive died. So this not one Mac we are talking about. And is it down to the consumer to micro manage a purchase just to get a fair deal?

 

[jerryk]

How does one know when their Mac was manufactured?

For example my rMBP shows under "about mac" Mid-2015. But I know that is the model, like a vehicle model year, and is not the date of manufacturer.

Also, wasn't 2012 the last year of the non-retina MBP 13? If so, wouldn't everything manufactured since then show a 2012 date in "About Mac"?

UPDATE

Never mind. I went to the site in the netherlands. My unit was manufactured in May 2016. I just got it last week.

 

[punt01234]

There was no reference to the build year on anything from Apple. We took it for granted the machine would be a current build
[doublepost=1467227875][/doublepost]If you put in your serial number on a website the one I use is the book yard it tells you the exact date the machine was built. Ours was built on the 11 April 2012

 

[treekram]

I looked at the www.thebookyard.com site and for my MBP, the manufacture date matches what I get from the Netherlands site.

There are people more familiar with the issue of serial numbers of replaced logic boards. I'm not sure if the replacement logic board gets the original serial number of the machine or not. You can check to see if the serial number on the case matches that of what you get from the "About This Mac". An April 11, 2012 manufacture date pre-dates the introduction date (June 2012) so that would be old, indeed.

 

[MacInTO]

It is still a current model. I have a 2012 15" MBP and it was manufactured in the fall of 2013, shortly before the model was discontinued.

Malfunction can happen to a newly manufactured machine also. I don't think if it sat on a shelf for a year it would affect the performance. It could just be bad luck.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thanks for your reply. It's interesting that customer services at Apple say they have never had a complaint like this before. You would not buy a new car knowing its 2 years old so why do Apple expect us to do it. If it's old stock they are offloading they should make it clear. I think I'm am going to have a battle on my hands to get this sorted out. It has cost me time and money to get to the bottom of this, and having been a Mac user for over 25 years I am very dissatisfied to say the least

It is the design that is 2012, not the machine it is a naming system for distinguishing models. The computer was new when bought or within a few months of normal stick rotation, it's just using parts from 2012,this is made quite clear on apples website and is common knowledge online, if spending a fortune on a computer you could do the search first.