Heads up! I have a barely used 13" base 2016 MacBook Pro and the "control" key stopped working last night. This pained me, as I use "CTRL TAB" often to switch tasks in Safari. I did some research and found a few threads folks got brand new MacBook Pro replacements due to keyboard issues.
They ran a test and determined the key was bad, then they took it away and said I'd get it back in 5-7 days. I inquired about a replacement and they told me that the Touch Bar model keyboards are too complex to repair, thus, they replace those computers outright. Mine can be fixed, but it has to be shipped out. As an AppleCare customer who relies heavily on his computer, I'm a little disappointed that I'll have to go without my brand new $1500 machine for the better part of a week.
Mine (15 inch Touch Bar model, 500 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM) began misbehaving yesterday morning. First clue was that my password was rejected, activating my conspiracy theorist gene ("I've been hacked by Donald Trump's minions!"). However, my Apple watch logged me in without problems, and then I noticed my laptop had become an existentialist, asking Hamlet's query, "to b or not to b." In other words, the "b" key had failed.
As others have reported, if I pounded the b key in an exaggerated fashion it would respond. And, if I opened a text editor and mashed the b key repetitively, it would transiently become more responsive, but the improvement wouldn't last.
Living within 100 miles of Cupertino, I'm blessed with dozens of Apple Retail stores within that same radius, but at my local store here in Santa Rosa, Genius Bar appointments were full for the next 3 days. So, I just walked into the store and told the check-in blue-shirt the same vapid "computer as existentialist" joke (my opposite triumph was walking into the Manhattan fast food legend (BRGR) just up the street from the Flat Iron Building and when asked what I wanted, replied "I'd like to buy a vowel."
After an hour wait once granted a Genius Bar stool, a very helpful staffer ran the same hardware electronics tests they always run, even though we both agreed it simply HAD to be a mechanical issue, not an electronic one), after which she ran the key-testing routine, then offered me the same "ship it in for repair by replacing the top assembly" route you were given. My wife accompanied me and made some firm pitches for on-the-spot replacement with a new machine, which they did not accede to. Their speculated turn-around was 3-5 days rather than 5-7. We'll see. The person waiting next to me suggested "they have a two week return for any reason policy; just buy another and return it when yours comes back." I didn't do that for several reasons:
- I still have a 15 inch 2013 Retina Display version that works
- If I "bought" (borrowed) a new machine with the intent of returning it, I'd need to spend hours on whole-disk encryption, loading enterprise software, etc., and if I did something unintentionally to the new machine I'd get stuck with the >$2K bill.
- When I returned it, legally I'd be obligated to wipe it before returning it (HIPAA).
At my wife's insistence, the store manager was recruited to talk with us. He reiterated Apple's policies regarding instantaneous replacement laptops (only if returned within 2 weeks of purchase; my problem didn't appear until more than 2 months of use).
It seems similar problems with this new keyboard mechanism are being reported by others. I hope my repaired machine will be more reliable.
I did learn that, as a business account customer, I could pay a $500 annual fee for access to "loaner" equipment any time Apple needs to send something away for repair. I passed on that for the same reasons as above, but yesterday's experience with my laptop will change my behavior as far as what to do when I replace something for reasons other than product failure - I'll keep the older generation machine myself as a backup!
I actually agree with the post currently at the end of this thread that states it's not fair to expect a new car if you get a flat tire, and in fact the comparison is apt in my own experience, because my "ultimate driving machine" brand favors those horrible "run flat tires" that are ridiculously expensive, often very rare in tire shops' inventories (I've had to have a Pirelli flown in from Italy!). On the other hand, Apple has extraordinarily liberal on-the-spot replacement policies for their iOS mega-success iPhone (while I waited, two people bracketing me transiently at the Genius repair were given their choice of a refurbished free replacement for their out-of-warranty last generation iPhone or a deep discount on an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus!). One of them had pretty impressive evidence of case-abuse. However, the Genius could just turn around and open one of several drawers, each packed with hundreds of refurbished iPhones i minimalist packaging, whereas I'd wager that their inventory of laptops is no where near as deep.
