An Apple Store Report (of sorts)

[CaptRB]

Well, happy holidays and yesterday was so much fun!

One of my friends, who was over for dinner last night, works at the Apple Store (at the Grove) here in LA. She and I are often playfully at war because I much prefer Android over iPhones.

What's interesting is that she has heard virtually NOTHING about issues with the new tMBP. She's only seen a few returns and no one has complained about battery life. Nor has their been returns for glitches or keyboard defects. She did know about the CR article, but she's had no issues in-store over it. Few people even KNEW about it (which I found shocking).

She doesn't get overall sales figures, but at her store the new MacBooks are selling "like crazy." She says it's seeing (at her store) the highest level of multi-unit sales to individuals in the stores history.

Always interesting to see what's happening off-line. We tend to get a sense that people with issues or even loving a product is represented on the net, but it's really a rather small part of the picture.

I own two of the 13" tMBP units and I find them to be close to ideal (so far).




Robert

 

[dark_mark]

Well, happy holidays and yesterday was so much fun!

One of my friends, who was over for dinner last night, works at the Apple Store (at the Grove) here in LA. She and I are often playfully at war because I much prefer Android over iPhones.

What's interesting is that she has heard virtually NOTHING about issues with the new tMBP. She's only seen a few returns and no one has complained about battery life. Nor has their been returns for glitches or keyboard defects. She did know about the CR article, but she's had no issues in-store over it. Few people even KNEW about it (which I found shocking).

She doesn't get overall sales figures, but at her store the new MacBooks are selling "like crazy." She says it's seeing (at her store) the highest level of multi-unit sales to individuals in the stores history.

Always interesting to see what's happening off-line. We tend to get a sense that people with issues or even loving a product is represented on the net, but it's really a rather small part of the picture.

I own two of the 13" tMBP units and I find them to be close to ideal (so far).




Robert

I don't expect those minimum wage store employees to know anything about returns of MBP. Especially since most people ordered online anyway and will be returning online too. There are very few of them in stock at physical stores to return anyway. When you don't have them physically in stock, you won't have any returns. Common sense, no?

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

I don't expect those minimum wage store employees to know anything about returns of MBP.

Wow! Judge much? How do YOU know what training and more importantly what each "minimum wage store employee" knows and doesn't know about a certain product? And unless you have access to very inaccessible information about Apple Store employees, your evidence is at best anecdotal.

Especially since most people ordered online anyway and will be returning online too.

Source?

There are very few of them in stock at physical stores to return anyway.

What does this mean? How do you return a product that's already in store? Unless you meant that since there's little to no inventory, someone is reluctant to make a return. If that's the case, you're assuming quite a bit and likely just projecting your own preference.

Common sense, no?

Doesn't appear so.

 

[Rafterman]

I don't expect those minimum wage store employees to know anything about returns of MBP. Especially since most people ordered online anyway and will be returning online too. There are very few of them in stock at physical stores to return anyway. When you don't have them physically in stock, you won't have any returns. Common sense, no?

One, few will return them online if they have a store nearby. What go through the hassle of shipping it off?

Two, the two stock models were in stock in many stores for a good bit (though recently, things have been a bit tight). So a store would have a good indication of product satisfaction.

 

[CaptRB]

I don't expect those minimum wage store employees to know anything about returns of MBP. Especially since most people ordered online anyway and will be returning online too. There are very few of them in stock at physical stores to return anyway. When you don't have them physically in stock, you won't have any returns. Common sense, no?

Good lord, dude...seriously? She's been with Apple for 6 years and is on the Genius staff. She knows a LOT about what's going on with these machines.



R.
[doublepost=1482790742][/doublepost]

One, few will return them online if they have a store nearby. What go through the hassle of shipping it off?

Two, the two stock models were in stock in many stores for a good bit (though recently, things have been a bit tight). So a store would have a good indication of product satisfaction.

Exactly right. She says the most returned notebook has typically been the previous 15" rMBP, which surprises me as I find mine to be pretty bullet proof.


R.

 

[dark_mark]

Good lord, dude...seriously? She's been with Apple for 6 years and is on the Genius staff. She knows a LOT about what's going on with these machines.

Genius staff especially have no idea about returns since they don't handle any retail returns whatsoever.
But good try though

 

[Mxbzz]

I had the pleasure of dropping into the Genius Bar today-- I figured I would see what the technicians would say, and get some insight on how many new MBPs they have seen
I was apparently the first one in her eyes to bring in one of the 2016 MBP for repair-- the tech kept saying how beautiful the machine was (she's not wrong!), and was very apologetic about all the issues I was encountering. I already had my Console open and let her know:
- 1 in every 4 times when I'm connected to an external display, upon waking I get a black screen and have to force shut down the MBP
- I had a kernel panic a few days ago which reset my TouchID
- Just yesterday, only the top portion of my screen would turn on and it was extremely glitchy (she took a photo of my photo)
- I have yet to go two days without having to reboot or have the MBP crash on me

She ran the diagnostics which of course found nothing, but had already started the process to have the laptop looked at. Since this wasn't my only computer (I'm typing this up on my trusty XPS 13), I opted to leave the MBP for repairs. She said it would take a few days.

Side note: Make sure you review what the tech puts in in terms of condition of your MBP. She had mistakenly put that there were scratches on my MBP, when in fact it was flawless. This might not be an issue, but I certainly don't want my machine returned with scratches and not be able to fight it. She was able to add a comment that it was actually pristine and had no scratches.
Also, after typing this up on the XPS 13 (2015), I MUCH prefer the keyboard on this than the MBP.

 

[agaskew]

I had the pleasure of dropping into the Genius Bar today-- I figured I would see what the technicians would say, and get some insight on how many new MBPs they have seen
I was apparently the first one in her eyes to bring in one of the 2016 MBP for repair-- the tech kept saying how beautiful the machine was (she's not wrong!), and was very apologetic about all the issues I was encountering. I already had my Console open and let her know:
- 1 in every 4 times when I'm connected to an external display, upon waking I get a black screen and have to force shut down the MBP
- I had a kernel panic a few days ago which reset my TouchID
- Just yesterday, only the top portion of my screen would turn on and it was extremely glitchy (she took a photo of my photo)
- I have yet to go two days without having to reboot or have the MBP crash on me

She ran the diagnostics which of course found nothing, but had already started the process to have the laptop looked at. Since this wasn't my only computer (I'm typing this up on my trusty XPS 13), I opted to leave the MBP for repairs. She said it would take a few days.

Side note: Make sure you review what the tech puts in in terms of condition of your MBP. She had mistakenly put that there were scratches on my MBP, when in fact it was flawless. This might not be an issue, but I certainly don't want my machine returned with scratches and not be able to fight it. She was able to add a comment that it was actually pristine and had no scratches.
Also, after typing this up on the XPS 13 (2015), I MUCH prefer the keyboard on this than the MBP.

Repairs? How old is this machine? I'm shocked.

 

[CaptRB]

I had the pleasure of dropping into the Genius Bar today-- I figured I would see what the technicians would say, and get some insight on how many new MBPs they have seen
I was apparently the first one in her eyes to bring in one of the 2016 MBP for repair-- the tech kept saying how beautiful the machine was (she's not wrong!), and was very apologetic about all the issues I was encountering. I already had my Console open and let her know:
- 1 in every 4 times when I'm connected to an external display, upon waking I get a black screen and have to force shut down the MBP
- I had a kernel panic a few days ago which reset my TouchID
- Just yesterday, only the top portion of my screen would turn on and it was extremely glitchy (she took a photo of my photo)
- I have yet to go two days without having to reboot or have the MBP crash on me

She ran the diagnostics which of course found nothing, but had already started the process to have the laptop looked at. Since this wasn't my only computer (I'm typing this up on my trusty XPS 13), I opted to leave the MBP for repairs. She said it would take a few days.

Side note: Make sure you review what the tech puts in in terms of condition of your MBP. She had mistakenly put that there were scratches on my MBP, when in fact it was flawless. This might not be an issue, but I certainly don't want my machine returned with scratches and not be able to fight it. She was able to add a comment that it was actually pristine and had no scratches.
Also, after typing this up on the XPS 13 (2015), I MUCH prefer the keyboard on this than the MBP.

Since most folks are not having your issues, why didn't you ask for a replacement?

R.

 

[Salaryman Ryan]

Thanks for sharing. Despite of all the drama the latest update of the MBP generated online I'm glad that anecdotes such as yours give us hints that it still sold well. Hopefully this will show Apple that there is still a strong demand for the Mac and encourages them to release good updates for their desktop lines.

 

[dark_mark]

Thanks for sharing. Despite of all the drama the latest update of the MBP generated on internet I'm glad it still sold well. This will reassure Apple that there is still a strong demand for the Mac. Here is to hoping that this encourages Apple to release good updates for their desktop lines.

Good sales of laptops with poor battery life will only encourage designing more laptops with poor battery life.

 

[Salaryman Ryan]

Good sales of laptops with poor battery life will only encourage designing more laptops with poor battery life.

I commiserate with those who experience short battery life with their very expensive Macs. They should have it checked and return if they are not satisfied with the product. Good thing Apple has a good return policy. However I'm looking at the brisk sales at a half glass full point of view. High Mac sales is a good sign that the public still want Macs and Apple cannot help but take notice.

 

[kepler20b]

People need to realize that the vast majority of people buying MBPs arent "pro" users. They never will be.

Apple no longer designs PCs for Pro users.

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

People need to realize that the vast majority of people buying MBPs arent "pro" users. They never will be.

Apple no longer designs PCs for Pro users.

Define "pro" user please.

 

[MrGuder]

Apple retail is just like any other retail business...those in charge tell the retail employees we are to focus on the positives not the negatives especially with dealing with customer's. I'm sorry but this is just how retail works.

 

[Salaryman Ryan]

It would be interesting to see the actual sales numbers but I suspect Apple sold a ton of them.

 

[dark_mark]

It would be interesting to see the actual sales numbers but I suspect Apple sold a ton of them.

If the sale numbers were great, we would hear the numbers by now. They release the numbers all the time, when the sales numbers are actually great. They have done this with iPhones, iPads and etc.

There's a reason when they don't release the numbers. Like they don't release the apple watch numbers. They just say, apple watches are selling great, we had the best quarter for watches ever, we have the best Apple watch release ever and yada yada.

 

[Mxbzz]

Since most folks are not having your issues, why didn't you ask for a replacement?

R.

It was a combination of things-- she wanted to straight up replace the machine but there was no stock in the store. I also inquired about changing the color from Silver to SG but the MBP was originally purchased at a Best Buy. Lastly, she wanted the engineers to look at my Console logs so if any of that helps them with more stable software, I'm all for it.

It's hard to tell whether or not your issues are common, especially if MR is your only community source of people who own a new MBP. I'm glad I sent mine in instead of waiting for a software update, though.

 

[kepler20b]

Define "pro" user please.

no sd card slot for photography professional is a complete non starter. its a complete joke.

 

[ixxx69]

no sd card slot for photography professional is a complete non starter. its a complete joke.

Why? The SD reader has to be built into the computer for a professional to be able to use it?

They can carry a tiny dongle if they need it... fits in a pocket along with all their camera gear... since they're a "professional" and all.

There are tons of professional photographers buying and using the 2016 MBP... they seem to be getting along just fine. Haven't heard of any photographers going out of business because they accidentally bought one and can't figure out how to transfer their photos to their MBP.

 

[rklinkhammer]

rofl -- as I mentioned before, when I hear the term "pro user" around here, its an exclusionary and elitist term for "creative professional" where "creative" is strictly defined as manipulating audiovisual content. Obviously, there is a performance requirement for this type of work. However, I could care less about SD or legacy ports. I have always been annoyed with the plethora of different ports and not enough of the ones that you need. Personally, I am impressed that Apple had the courage to move to all the same port type. A single port type is the logical future.

 

[garyleecn]

really for everything, you can't judge the 'faulty ratio' based on forums. people come to the forums because they have/had issue, if there is no issue, everything is working smoothly, many won't even think about coming here.

 

[aristobrat]

Genius staff especially have no idea about returns since they don't handle any retail returns whatsoever.
But good try though

At the Apple Store I worked at, every portable device return got "eyes on" by a Genius to verify that it would power up and that there was no water damage.

 

[mrex]

One of my friends, who was over for dinner last night, works at the Apple Store (at the Grove) ...


She doesn't get overall sales figures, but at her store the new MacBooks are selling "like crazy."

It, for sure, would be funny to see Zenbooks selling crazy at the Apple Store.

 

[DaveOP]

I don't expect those minimum wage store employees to know anything about returns of MBP. Especially since most people ordered online anyway and will be returning online too. There are very few of them in stock at physical stores to return anyway. When you don't have them physically in stock, you won't have any returns. Common sense, no?

This is not entirely true. First off, Geniuses can make 60-70k a year, so certainly not minimum wage. Also, Geniuses often check these early returns for EFFA captures and are asked to wipe prior to return. Lastly, most of us (used to be one) were very connected to BOH, and the return buckets are right by where breaks were taken. It's extremely easy to gauge returns.