Apple Takes Care of Us - Repair Story

[gigapocket1]

Sooooo.. Not going to make a long post....But, I sent my MacBook Pro (2018) 15inch for a keyboard key replacement.. Only 1 key was kinda sticky.. But I felt that I had a better chance of possibly getting them to do more since all the stores are closed.. The main reason was that on my Touch Bar, the right side of the display didnt work on it... Apple replaced the entire top case... Which includes... New Keyboard.. new Touch Bar.. New trackpad.. New Battery....
This was an out of warranty replacement.

 

[chrfr]

Sooooo.. Not going to make a long post....But, I sent my MacBook Pro (2018) 15inch for a keyboard key replacement.. Only 1 key was kinda sticky.. But I felt that I had a better chance of possibly getting them to do more since all the stores are closed.. The main reason was that on my Touch Bar, the right side of the display didnt work on it... Apple replaced the entire top case... Which includes... New Keyboard.. new Touch Bar.. New trackpad.. New Battery....
This was an out of warranty replacement.

If the keyboard was malfunctioning, what you got was a standard repair under the keyboard extended warranty which covers the keyboard for 4 years from date of purchase. Because Apple glues the battery into the top case, you get a complete top case replacement even if only one key is malfunctioning.

 

[Fishrrman]

Not "out of warranty", as chrfr mentions above...

 

[Christopher Kim]

Not "out of warranty", as chrfr mentions above...

FWIW, the keyboard replacement program that @chrfr is referring to is totally separate from the standard warranty. As he mentioned, if you have one of the MBP's covered in the program (I think most MBPs with the butterfly keyboard are, my late-2016 13" MBP definitely is), then you're covered for 4 years from date of purchase.

I had the same thing done about a year ago too. My keyboard was acting up, some keys getting sticky / not registering. They replaced it for free under the KB replacement program, and that involved replacing the entire topcase and battery.

So @gigapocket1, because you positioned the issue as your keyboard not working, which was covered under the replacement program, you benefitted by getting the touchbar replaced. I think if you had also mentioned to Apple that your touchbar wasn't working, they might have given you a hard time that you'd have to pay to replace the touchbar first, before they'd replace the keyboard (even though replacing the kb would replace the touchbar too). If the latter situation, you might get a good Apple rep / genius who would overlook the touchbar repacement, but if they want to be sticklers, there are quite a few stories of ppl having to pay first to fix something that would've been replaced for free.

 

[Natzoo]

Sooooo.. Not going to make a long post....But, I sent my MacBook Pro (2018) 15inch for a keyboard key replacement.. Only 1 key was kinda sticky.. But I felt that I had a better chance of possibly getting them to do more since all the stores are closed.. The main reason was that on my Touch Bar, the right side of the display didnt work on it... Apple replaced the entire top case... Which includes... New Keyboard.. new Touch Bar.. New trackpad.. New Battery....
This was an out of warranty replacement.

This is actually standard, the repair program covers devices 4 years after purchase. Apple doesn't really take care of us, since they are replacing the keyboards with the same defective design, had my 2018 replaced twice already. Going in for a third time during the next break. So yea, apple just trying to cheat us and majority of users take it as a nice gesture, all a result of the class action lawsuit.

 

[JustinRP37]

They are repairing a keyboard with known issues... I absolutely DETEST my 2016 MacBook Pro. Worst laptop I have ever purchased. I find myself using my wife's MacBook Air with the scissor keyboard more lately. Sending mine in once again for a repair. This is the third time and fourth overall repair. First one shipped with a defective battery, then the second one had a terrible keyboard (didn't work from day 1), then I got about 2 years before it needed another repair, and finally this week my T stopped working. So no Apple isn't taking care of us, they are protecting themselves because this is a big problem with many years of notebooks sold with a known defect.

 

[Natzoo]

They are repairing a keyboard with known issues... I absolutely DETEST my 2016 MacBook Pro. Worst laptop I have ever purchased. I find myself using my wife's MacBook Air with the scissor keyboard more lately. Sending mine in once again for a repair. This is the third time and fourth overall repair. First one shipped with a defective battery, then the second one had a terrible keyboard (didn't work from day 1), then I got about 2 years before it needed another repair, and finally this week my T stopped working. So no Apple isn't taking care of us, they are protecting themselves because this is a big problem with many years of notebooks sold with a known defect.

For mail in repair, do they reset the SSD? I really dont want them to do that but they said they would, but the first two times I sent it in, it was in person and they never did it. Also, I talked to them today and said I cant send it in and they said I should trade it in and buy a new one....

 

[ght56]

For mail in repair, do they reset the SSD? I really dont want them to do that but they said they would, but the first two times I sent it in, it was in person and they never did it. Also, I talked to them today and said I cant send it in and they said I should trade it in and buy a new one....

Are you in the US? I've done two mail in repairs over the last two months that involved keyboard replacements (one went spectacular and one was a nightmare) but neither involved doing anything with the SSD. In both cases they mailed a box to my house, I put it in a box, it was overnighted to them, they did the repair, and it was overnighted back. In terms of logistics, it was convenient and simple.

 

[Natzoo]

Are you in the US? I've done two mail in repairs over the last two months that involved keyboard replacements (one went spectacular and one was a nightmare) but neither involved doing anything with the SSD. In both cases they mailed a box to my house, I put it in a box, it was overnighted to them, they did the repair, and it was overnighted back. In terms of logistics, it was convenient and simple.

Yup in the US, I was just worried since they said they would have to update my OS to do the repair, but maybe they did not know. How long did it take them to replace your device?

 

[JustinRP37]

For mail in repair, do they reset the SSD? I really dont want them to do that but they said they would, but the first two times I sent it in, it was in person and they never did it. Also, I talked to them today and said I cant send it in and they said I should trade it in and buy a new one....

They have never reset my SSD or even reinstalled anything software related. Just replaced the hardware and ran their diagnostics and sent it back. Usually it takes 3-4 days for complete turnaround. Is yours over 4 years old now? The hardware repair for the awful keyboard is for 4 years. Don’t talk about running older macOS or anything and they will just do the top case swap.

 

[ght56]

Yup in the US, I was just worried since they said they would have to update my OS to do the repair, but maybe they did not know. How long did it take them to replace your device?

Literally 6 hours from between when it arrived and when it was shipped back out...and then add a day for shipping each way. It was fast. They did not need anything other than the admin account name...not even the password, and one of the systems was running a way older version of macOS.

 

[Natzoo]

They have never reset my SSD or even reinstalled anything software related. Just replaced the hardware and ran their diagnostics and sent it back. Usually it takes 3-4 days for complete turnaround. Is yours over 4 years old now? The hardware repair for the awful keyboard is for 4 years. Don’t talk about running older macOS or anything and they will just do the top case swap.

Thankfully it is a 2018, so I still have 2 more years of this "warranty". Last time, I did not mention that I was running Mojave, they just seemed to know. During the next break, I will send it in and make no mention of OS.