Chances of recieving an 'inferior' rMBP 15"?

[Antilogical]

I'm a university student and I've been looking for a new laptop for a while now, since my old 2007 Dell has become quite long in the tooth. I've owned a myriad of Apple products over the years and have been pretty much satisfied with the build quality and overall usability of their products, so I perhaps decided it was time to take the leap and sink some money into a good high quality MacBook (I'm not even going to bother trying to learn Windows 8, so that rules out nearly every new notebook manufactured).

My research has lead me to the conclusion that probably the best choice for me is a 15" rMBP, as I tend to do a bit of video editing and I want the extra processing power and speed on demand, if I need it.

With this whole IR issue that seems to be persistent with the LG displays, what do you think the probabilities are that I, after placing an order with Apple, would receive a MBP that displays IR? Is it quite low? All the information I'm seeing online gives me a feeling that good segment of them have this issue. However, out of the 129 Amazon reviews for the 15", 86% of them are 4/5 stars, and a sum total of 2 mention having actually experienced retention issues? Do the later-week LG displays tend to be better?

This is a big deal for me because such a purchase represents a substantial amount of my income; not only that, but I do need reliability, especially considering that the nearest Apple Store/Genius Bar is over 2,200km away (New Zealand is in the middle of nowhere).

I know this is a hard sort of question to quantify, and I know I can't get reassurance, but I'd like some sort of guesstimate. Thanks!

// Luke.

 

[leman]

Buy online - if there is any problem with your machine (and you will be able to determine that within a few days of use) you can return it free of charge within 14 days, Apple will even pick it up for free (check if they offer it in New Zealand as well first!). So its pretty much risk free.

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I know this is a hard sort of question to quantify, and I know I can't get reassurance, but I'd like some sort of guesstimate.

Its really hard to estimate. It is clear that LG displays are more prone to having the IR issue, but I would guess that only a few percent at most develop a severe IR. This could be also a problem with a particular early batch. My current rMBP is an LG and it has no issues (there is some IR, but only under artificial stress conditions), so is my colleague's.

 

[vpro]

relax and buy

buy apple care

that is all you can do

 

[Thunder82]

It's unfortunate that an Apple retail store is so far from you. The only way I stuck with the rMBP is due to the fact that I swapped it out many times in the first 14-day return window until I received a unit I was happy with.

I initially received several LG displays that had moderate to severe IR problems, eventually I received a Samsung screen that I've been very happy with.

All this said, my dad also has a top tier rMBP with an LG screen (has IR) that he doesn't even notice.

 

[MaxPower72]

Buy Apple care before the first year of manufacturer's warranty expires not at the moment of purchase....

 

[Brian Y]

Just buy and enjoy your machine. Don't be one of the people who go through like 10 replacements (I guess they just have nothing better to do). What you need to realise is that the majority on forums are moaners - people that have a problem. You wont get people coming on here very often and starting a thread saying "My LG is PERFECT!!"

And, for the record, many of us believe that if you get a good LG - it's actually a better panel.

 

[Krazy Bill]

but I'd like some sort of guesstimate. Thanks!

76.5% chance you will have some software/gpu glitches.

85.0% chance those glitches get fixed with each successive update until 10.9. Then it starts all over again.

99.9% chance you will be satisfied with the build quality and Apple's customer support (regardless of your distance from an Apple Store).

100% chance you'd go through 2 or 3 Dells before your MBP dies. (Speaking from experience).