Bulge Above 2016 - 2018 MBP Touch Bar.

[Coder007]

Hello,


I have recently aquired a 2018 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, and I have noticed a slight bulge just above the touch bar in the aluminum, right in the middle. I've had 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro's and they have all had it. Using a precision straight edge, the bulge is only around >0.5mm high, however it is immediately noticeable when looking for it.

I have assumed that it was normal since all of my MBP's have had it, but I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed it?

 

[maflynn]

I have no bulge on my laptop, and the only time I've heard of the MBPs having a bulge is because of the battery swelling. Since this is not in the location of the battery, its not that, but its still not normal.

 

[jerryk]

I agree with Mike. This is not normal. I would take it in to an Apple store and compare it to their display models.

 

[Coder007]

Thanks for the replies. I plan on going to an Apple Store and checking out the display models.

However, I an pretty sure all MBP's have this bulge. As I mentioned, it is VERY small, but noticeable to a perceptive eye.

Check out this picture that I've downloaded from the web. Have a look right below where it says "MacBook Pro" on the screen. It's got the bulge as well.

 

[Coder007]

I should also mention that this "defect" is much more noticeable on 13" models.

 

[shoppy]

I have looked at my base 13" it looks like a bulge but is not an optical illusion on mine.

 

[jerryk]

Just laid a ruler on my 15" 2018 MBP pro and it is flat all the way across. No wobble when rocking the ends of the ruler. Maybe it's a 13" thing?

 

[Coder007]

So I have just returned from the Apple store. They had 4 13" TB MacBook Pro's there and they didn't mind me laying my straight edge on them. 50% of them had this "defect" and the other half were perfectly flat.

I then came home and decided to figure out exactly how big the "hump" was on my MBP, however my feeler gauges were at work, so I used different thicknesses of paper to determine the height.

It turns out that the bump on my MBP is approximately 0.1mm. Truly tiny. It must have felt bigger as I was rocking the straight edge in my hands.

Since my 2016 and 2017 MBP's had this bump, my 2018 has it, and half of the machines on display have it, I'm going to conclude that this is not a defect. My machine has been perfect so far (no BridgeOS KP's or other crashes), therefore I see no reason to return it.

Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[fooyork]

Yep, I have noticed this on my 2018 13" MBP... I noticed it immediately out of the box. I have also noticed it on display models in the Apple Store.

 

[sjinsjca]

You're humping it wrong.

 

[Coder007]

Yep, I have noticed this on my 2018 13" MBP... I noticed it immediately out of the box. I have also noticed it on display models in the Apple Store.

You know, it shows this bump on all 13" MBP's, but it is often an optical illusion. I looked at a machine at the Apple store yesterday that had a very evident bump, but when I put my straight edge on it, it was perfectly straight. On my machine, the bump is there but it is very slight. It's strange.

And no, I do not hump anything incorrectly. My humps are all straight as an arrow.

 

[SBruv]

Yep, taking a ruler to mine reveals the same. Of course it's normal – it's just a very slight manufacturing variance of absolutely no consequence.

 

[navaira]

I did my absolute best to detect the bulge (this could be misinterpreted), but mine is perfectly straight (this also could be misinterpreted).