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Becoming very upset with the new MBPs.

MowingDevil said:
I'm getting the impression that "geniuses" are higher up on the pecking order than managers. ...or is this just the system they have in place (good cop/bad cop) to give you the impression of good customer service while at the same time rejecting your claim? ;)
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They really need to get that all sorted out. Right now, about the only reason I hate going into Apple stores is the asshat "geniuses".

I'm not going to wait in a queue to have some stuck-up geek talk down to me, and that's definitely my impression.
 
stevetim said:
They really aren't losing their edge. The "problem" with them is that they are selling more products than ever before. And they are actually trying to create a new "edge" by introducing more innovative and radically different products than the mainstream makers offer.

Any company that goes through the growth that Apple has in the last few years is also going to have any problems with it's products amplified by the fact that there are just more products in many more consumer's hands that are susceptible to defects and failures.
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Exactly, I've been a MacUser since Mac OS 8.5 and I've seen Apple's products come out year after year with the same quality as they offer today.

Point in question:
PowerMac Mirrored Drive Door (MDD). Noisiest fan in the history of computers. It was so bad Apple discontinued it.
Sunflower iMac. Screen wobbled and tilted, it drove a lot of customers crazy.
Aluminum PowerBook G4 (2003) Uneven gap when lid was closed, this carried all through the Macbook Pro line.
White iBook. Cheapest crappy keyboard in the history of notebooks, keys fell off all the time and hinge creaked.
23" Cinema Display. Turned pink after just months of use and had a dark vertical band down the left half of the screen.

Apple just has more customers now but quality hasn't changed. I've still seen a lot worse from other companies.
 
Back before the days of Steve's return their quality control and customer service was much worse than now. Of course they were nothing back then, now they can't fart without there being a news flash.
 
nick9191 said:
Back before the days of Steve's return their quality control and customer service was much worse than now. Of course they were nothing back then, now they can't fart without there being a news flash.
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Unless it's one of the silent farts. :D
 
Michael CM1 said:
Of course having the Chinese assemble most of it can't help.
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Oh piss off. Would you say that about African workers? The last generation of MBPs were also Chinese assembled, I didn't get any dead pixels or dust. These things have more to do with engineering processes than with the actual assembly labor.
 
johnsy said:
I feel that I love apple for more OSX and less for hardware. I would switch back easily to PC, but microsh*t just suck. Look at pc software sales most of it is antivirus and some kinda other protection. So that is the only thing stopping me from switching back.
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That's because most people don't usually pay money for any other type of Windows software except for something like Microsoft Office to go along with their PC. AV and Spyware software is just one of those essential pieces of software that everyone in the consumer world thinks they need when they have a PC. In reality most people rarely ever get a virus and when they do it's usually because of a lack for common sense. They open e-mail attachments that a more advanced user would never open and they download files from websites that are questionable in nature.

Viruses don't just jump onto your system from browsing the typical websites. Spyware is more of a problem than anything but there are several freeware spyware protectors that catch most of what's out there. I don't really like Windows Vista much myself due to the fact the apps always seem more prone to freeze up when running Vista. So I definitely prefer OS X in that regard but I still have plenty of issues I've found with OS X as well and apps freeze and crash there too.

OS X is more of an easy to use and simple OS that is graphically appealing. Vista has a lot more customizability but requires more brains to use. I'm a computer enthusiast and can get along with using either OS so my purchase of a MBP wasn't just to get OS X. It was primarily the looks and hardware features of the MBP. The chassis construction, the display, and the keyboard are the three most important things to me because those are the three things you as a computer user are going to come into contact with the most. Everything else is just trivial in comparison. I can't stand using the dimmer bland screens on like a ThinkPad or HP business notebook. I won't even buy a laptop now unless it has an LED-backlit bright and colorful screen. I also prefer the MBP keyboard over any other keyboard I've used on a laptop and I've had three recent ThinkPads. The feel and look of the aluminum MBP chassis is also far better than any other chassis used by any other laptop manufacturer.
 
nishishei said:
Oh piss off. Would you say that about African workers? The last generation of MBPs were also Chinese assembled, I didn't get any dead pixels or dust. These things have more to do with engineering processes than with the actual assembly labor.
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To be fair to him, if you do a search here the last generation of MBP had a couple of screen related issues as well like screen yellowing, led backlight problems, graphic cards dying and a bunch more.
 
nishishei said:
Oh piss off. Would you say that about African workers? The last generation of MBPs were also Chinese assembled, I didn't get any dead pixels or dust. These things have more to do with engineering processes than with the actual assembly labor.
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Hey relax, guy. It's not totally unfounded that the Chinese represent a less than stellar track record regarding construction of consumer products. While this issue may not necessarily translate to computer construction plants in China, though I'm inclined to believe it may, it's well known in the world of musical instrument production that the Chinese are notorious for pilfering underrated, horribly constructed copies with cheap parts and even cheaper materials.

Does any of this directly apply to Apple's manufacturing? Well of course not. But it does give some merit to the question of the reliability of a Chinese-produced item in a real world application and, having said that, I can understand questioning their reliability.
 
MowingDevil said:
Thanks for the info! So how do you find out if you have a dead pixel, check it out w/ a white background? Is there a test you can run?




I'm getting the impression that "geniuses" are higher up on the pecking order than managers. ...or is this just the system they have in place (good cop/bad cop) to give you the impression of good customer service while at the same time rejecting your claim? ;)
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Wow, a little bit of psychology here innit?
Apple should have this mentality. If the customer is not happy, change it for them. Premium price = premium service + premium goods
 
Son of Matrix said:
Is it me only who is feeling that Apply has lost a bit of their edge recently? With a premium that we are paying, surely they have to do better...
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I totally agree. I had to warranty my 1st Gen iPhone twice. One for wifi issue and other for yellow spots on the screen. I also had to warranty my iPhone 3G for cracked back plate and Classic iPod for issues with HDD continually running while it was off.

I hope my new MBP don't need a warranty replacement.. :(
 
If i order online and receive a defective one, I have to send it back and then they send another one?...

I m in the Uk...
 
brentsg said:
They really need to get that all sorted out. Right now, about the only reason I hate going into Apple stores is the asshat "geniuses".

I'm not going to wait in a queue to have some stuck-up geek talk down to me, and that's definitely my impression.
Click to expand...

I think what bites me even worse is having to make an APPOINTMENT ( sometimes not even the same day ) for this generous treatment by a genius.
 
If you don't notice a problem, don't go looking for one.

If you have one dark pixel and it isn't a problem, trading it in for a better machine can leave you with several stuck pixels.

---

Since these machines have glass panels, there is no more advice based on massaging the pixel.
 
Nate025 said:
Hey relax, guy. It's not totally unfounded that the Chinese represent a less than stellar track record regarding construction of consumer products. While this issue may not necessarily translate to computer construction plants in China, though I'm inclined to believe it may, it's well known in the world of musical instrument production that the Chinese are notorious for pilfering underrated, horribly constructed copies with cheap parts and even cheaper materials.

Does any of this directly apply to Apple's manufacturing? Well of course not. But it does give some merit to the question of the reliability of a Chinese-produced item in a real world application and, having said that, I can understand questioning their reliability.
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Absolutely not. China boasts some of the most high-tech manufacturing facilities in the world. If a company pays bugger-all it will get crap products, doesn't matter where they're made.

Apple use some of the best manufacturers in China to get their products made to very exacting standards at a fraction of the cost of getting them made anywhere else. You'd be looking at easily double the price to have these made to the same standards in the US or Europe.

I like my Chinese-made Macs, high quality and affordable.
 
This thread made me check for dead pixels and I found just one. Can't be bothered to take it back for just one though.

The trackpad is the only thing that irks me in Vista..in OSX it's flawless, which is where I spend most of my time anyway unless I'm playing eve online.
 
Chundles said:
Absolutely not. China boasts some of the most high-tech manufacturing facilities in the world. If a company pays bugger-all it will get crap products, doesn't matter where they're made.

Apple use some of the best manufacturers in China to get their products made to very exacting standards at a fraction of the cost of getting them made anywhere else. You'd be looking at easily double the price to have these made to the same standards in the US or Europe.

I like my Chinese-made Macs, high quality and affordable.
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Dude, I'm in the optics business and let me tell you that while the Chinese are making amazing headway in terms of capabilities, they are definitely not up to par with European, American, or other SE Asian countries in terms of quality.

Cases in point: Tainted milk, toxic chemicals in kids toys, etc. All of which were initially covered up by the govt (although now they have admitted it).

I don't intend any offense to any Chinese people on this forum. Hopefully the latest safety scandals will encourage large campaigns aimed at improving quality.
 
Mac4Obama said:
Dude, I'm in the optics business and let me tell you that while the Chinese are making amazing headway in terms of capabilities, they are definitely not up to par with European, American, or other SE Asian countries in terms of quality.

Cases in point: Tainted milk, toxic chemicals in kids toys, etc. All of which were initially covered up by the govt (although now they have admitted it).

I don't intend any offense to any Chinese people on this forum. Hopefully the latest safety scandals will encourage large campaigns aimed at improving quality.
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Umm your examples are mostly reflective of the lack of regulations, enforcement, and greed, not quality of work. Two different matters.
 
The factories in China build to whatever spec they are told to build things at. You can get very high quality goods from China if you're willing to pay for it. Most of the bad/harmful products that you read about in the media are due to shoddy engineering, not the incompetence of factory workers. Blame lies on both sides, but guess what story a company like Mattel is going to tell?

I'd be interested if Apple offered a premium service that was essentially another QC check. Getting a replacement iPhone 3G was absolute hell for me. How much more would you be willing to pay for a guaranteed perfect unit?
 
stevetim said:
They really aren't losing their edge.
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Agreed - they're not losing it. They lost it a long time ago. Just think back to the first generation of MBPs. Total catastrophe - defective batteries, overheating, that freaking buzzing / hissing noise, defective superdrives, unevenly installed keyboards etc. Took them 3/4 of a year to get their act together.

I had expected that they learned something from that and made adjustments to their QC process so that stuff like that would never happen again. Reading all these reports now, I guess I was wrong.

Amongst (too many other things) I'm in charge of evaluating and ordering computers at work. No other computer has been causing more trouble here than the previous gen Macbook Pro. Other Apple products are fine (the white iMacs, for example). Strangely, Apple is also number one on the list of panels with bad / stuck / hot pixels - I've never had a notebook with a bad pixel from HP or FSC but 2 out of 5 MBPs we got in the last half year had bad pixels. Probably just bad luck.

kis
 
kis said:
Agreed - they're not losing it. They lost it a long time ago. Just think back to the first generation of MBPs. Total catastrophy - defective batteries, overheating, that freaking buzzing / hissing noise, defective superdrives, unevenly installed keyboards etc. Took them 3/4 of a year to get their act together.

I had expected that they learned something from that and made adjustments to their QC process so that stuff like that would never happen again. Reading all these reports now, I guess I was wrong.

Amongst (too many other things) I'm in charge of evaluating and ordering computers at work. No other computer has been causing more trouble here than the previous gen Macbook Pro. Other Apple products are fine (the white iMacs, for example). Strangely, Apple is also number one on the list of panels with bad / stuck / hot pixels - I've never had a notebook with a bad pixel from HP or FSC but 2 out of 5 MBPs we got in the last half year had bad pixels. Probably just bad luck.

kis
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Thanks for sharing this. :)
 
i find it " amusing" everytime i hear people in the states blaming CHINA for all the mess encountered in our products..
WHY not blame the company ( US company) that decided to shift the production line there, and did not do a GOOD JOB in quality control?

i totally disagree that US made products are BETTER.. it all depends on the COMPANY and not where the production line is..

think of cars and electronics made in Japan.
 
I ordered my MPB off of the Apple website. Do you know if similar QC defects occur when you build your MPB custom to order (CTO)? I am asking only because most of this thread focuses on finding your new unit at the store as opposed to ordering online. I am equally as nervous about defects. I have had a terrible history of terrible hardware with Apple and I am hoping and praying that I have some good fortune this time around.

Please! NO bad pixels OR DUST FOR ME!
 
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