2017 MBP 15" sent in for repair TWICE

[Leon88]

Can't believe my luck with my MacBook Pro 15" and am especially disappointed given how much this thing costs (Config: i7 2.9 Ghz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Radeon 560). I purchased my MBP in Dec last year. About a month ago, I noticed that my display was showing some large yellow blotches that were especially noticeable on a white background. I bring it into the Apple Store to have it looked at and they replaced the display. This took 1 week to fix.

After picking up my MBP from repair, the left speaker abruptly stops working after a couple days. I take it back to the Apple Store and this time they quoted me a repair ETA of 7-10 working days because they don't have the required replacement parts and have to order them in.

So once again, I’m without my daily driver and it’s very debilitating. It’s hard to believe how unreliable a $3k MacBook can be. I take extremely good care of it and its always kept in a case when not in use. So to have it just fall apart like this is surprising. Thank goodness it was still covered under the 1 year purchase warranty otherwise the total repair cost would have racked up to $1600! Still, its upsetting that Apple offered no form of compensation whatsoever for the amount of time and work lost as a result of this (2 week downtime). I was contemplating to upgrade to the Vega 20 MBP’s but with this experience I’m thinking twice. Anyone else had such bad luck with their machines?

 

[zblomstrom]

I had the left speaker fail twice on my 2017 15" MBP both times it was covered under the 1 year warranty and was usually back to me within 2-3 business days. After those two repairs my right speaker failed and I was offered a 2018 as a replacement because they didn't have any more new 2017 machines available.

 

[deadworlds]

[QUOTE="Still, its upsetting that Apple offered no form of compensation whatsoever for the amount of time and work lost as a result of this (2 week downtime).[/QUOTE]

Sorry to hear about your luck with your computer. I do have to ask though, what kind of compensation do you think apple should have provided? When have you heard of any other PC manufacturer providing compensation for repairs?

 

[Queen6]

Welcome to the new Apple where profits & margins by far surpass the user experience. Once Apple produced the very best it could, realising what other OEM's were incapable of imagining. Today Apple only produces what turns the most coin...

What a waste, seriously so...

Q-6

 

[Martius]

It's not a bad luck, it's the current state of Apple QA. For the money they charge for the devices they could really make 1 hour quality check of every single device, but the quality is worse than it was years ago. And it's not just about the quality, but also about design flaws they are not able to fix.

That display issue you had on your laptop was because the display was badly glued to the back (on of my collegues had that on his 2017), speakers stop working quite often.

But I'm sorry for everybody who spends so much money just to wait what will happen next.

 

[unglued]

It happens in Shenzhen, China and gets carried out to the rest of the world like a disease.

 

[Leon88]

I had the left speaker fail twice on my 2017 15" MBP both times it was covered under the 1 year warranty and was usually back to me within 2-3 business days. After those two repairs my right speaker failed and I was offered a 2018 as a replacement because they didn't have any more new 2017 machines available.

That's great that they offered you a replacement to the 2018 model. I think that's fair given the amount of trouble you had to go through.
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Sorry to hear about your luck with your computer. I do have to ask though, what kind of compensation do you think apple should have provided? When have you heard of any other PC manufacturer providing compensation for repairs?

As zblomstrom experienced, I think what would be fair is for Apple to offer a total replacement of my MBP after the second incident. I do understand that if I were on a Windows PC, I'd very likely receive little to no support from the manufacturer. However, it still doesn't justify how a $3k laptop can be this unreliable. I love Mac OS and have been using MacBooks since 2007. I have owned a lot of different MacBooks and its ironic that their most expensive offering seems to be the most unreliable too.

 

[Tom2D2]

I had a 2017 MBP. First, the left Command key started to fail where you had to press hard and kind of gyrate it around a bit to make sure it was engaged…slight annoyance.

Then, the spacebar started to double space randomly (but frequently)…VERY annoying.

I took it into the Apple Store where they offered to send it in for repair under the extended 4 year warranty on the keyboards. I had heard from a number of folks that already did so, the problem comes back, in some cases very quickly. So…send it off for a week only to get it back and have the same issues (or similar) didn't sound real appealing to me.

I decided to go with a new 2018 (base model with upgraded capacity SSD…customized configuration). A couple of weeks later, it shows-up.

I spent the better part of a full day getting my data transferred onto the new one and everything configured, licenses transferred/activated, etc, etc.

Two days later, the thing shuts down on me out of the clear blue sky. Started it back up and it worked fine for a couple of hours, then did it again. The 3rd time, it would NOT reboot.

Took it into the Apple Store and they did all of the bench top tests/resets…dead.

They told me that they didn't have the needed parts to repair it, nor did the depot that they would send it to…until MID JANUARY!! Since it was within 14 days, they offered to take it back as a return so I could buy another one (either going with the base model with the 256GB SSD and getting a refund of the difference, or going with the upgraded model with the 512GB SSD, faster processor, etc and paying the difference). I went with the upgraded one…and ended-up spending the better part of the day (for the second time in a week) getting my data transferred, programs activated, licenses transferred, etc, etc. Since I had JUST installed my older version of MS Office, the automated license activation did NOT work the second time, so I had to spend about 1/2 hour on the phone with a MS CSA to get it taken care of. LOTS of time and hassle, all thanks to questionable quality and/or quality assurance practices.

I haven't given up on Apple yet, but I won't tolerate much more of this poor quality and high prices for much longer!

 

[Pangalactic]

do understand that if I were on a Windows PC, I'd very likely receive little to no support from the manufacturer.

That is completely not true. Microsoft has the same service as Apple at its stores. Other laptops covered by warranty get the same level of service and even on-site repairs. Oh and don't forget that you can replace a keyboard on a Dell XPS yourself in around 10 minutes if you buy a new one from eBay for $20. Meanwhile an Apple HQ - $400 please and we'll have your laptop ready in a week.