Current MBP Quality?

[gonnabuyamac]

Just got off the phone with Apple. They are sending me my THIRD MBP replacement. It will be my fourth MBP in less than two years. I like to call it a free upgrade plan. Obviously they've been having some quality issues...

Does anyone know if the current generation is having as many problems as previous ones? It would be awesome if they would come out with a new one Tuesday and somehow I would get a brand new model, but I'm perfectly content getting a newer, more powerful computer... especially one that works.

 

[Logos327]

Just got off the phone with Apple. They are sending me my THIRD MBP replacement. It will be my fourth MBP in less than two years. I like to call it a free upgrade plan. Obviously they've been having some quality issues...

Does anyone know if the current generation is having as many problems as previous ones? It would be awesome if they would come out with a new one Tuesday and somehow I would get a brand new model, but I'm perfectly content getting a newer, more powerful computer... especially one that works.

Other than the GPU problems there doesn't seem to be too many complaints.

In my experience, Macs seem to "break" much more often than PCs. I have never owned one personally, but almost every person I know with a mac has had some hardware problem. I have never had any hardware problems with my PCs (that I didn't cause that is), suggesting the build quality of Macs isn't up to par.

The difference is, when something goes wrong, you just call up Apple and things get fixed.

 

[AquaMethod]

I think that failures are just more obvious with Apple for a couple of reasons. the first is their much smaller product line—almost everyone knows the three types of Apple notebooks, but who hears about failures on the Dell XPS 43354 B56? And the second is the double-edge sword of Apple's media dominance: every little thing that Apple does, good or bad, gets reported on. So when the MacBook Pro has an issue, it's all over the news.

That said, the MacBook Pro does have quality control issues. I'm on my second, and it has the yellow lower-third problem. Not a big deal, but annoying. Although...I have a friend who has been through far worse with an HP laptop, and HP was a lot less committed to getting the problems fixed than Apple is—they left it with a dead fan and overheating issues, even after a "repair."

The MBPs do have some issues, but Apple spends a lot of time, money, and free batteries to fix a lot of it. It does tarnish the Apple reputation though, and I think they need to tighten up QC to maintain the illusion that they create "perfect" computers. Which is important to their brand.

 

[Logos327]

I think that failures are just more obvious with Apple for a couple of reasons. the first is their much smaller product line—almost everyone knows the three types of Apple notebooks, but who hears about failures on the Dell XPS 43354 B56? And the second is the double-edge sword of Apple's media dominance: every little thing that Apple does, good or bad, gets reported on. So when the MacBook Pro has an issue, it's all over the news.

That is an good point that I did not think about at all.

 

[gonnabuyamac]

Quality was one of the reasons I made the switch to Mac, so it's a bummer that quality control hasn't been top notch lately.

I will hand it to Apple though, their customer service is second to none. I should know - I've had to use it a lot.

 

[andrewisnot]

My MBP is perfect. Best computer I've ever owned by far. Never had a major issue with any of the macs I've owned (since 85). I haven't heard of any friends or colleagues with that have had major issues either. Actually one person I know did, but they complain about everything. Not to insult anyone out there who has real problems because I know they exist and I'm lucky I've received great computers over the years.

 

[alphaod]

Just got off the phone with Apple. They are sending me my THIRD MBP replacement. It will be my fourth MBP in less than two years. I like to call it a free upgrade plan. Obviously they've been having some quality issues...

Does anyone know if the current generation is having as many problems as previous ones? It would be awesome if they would come out with a new one Tuesday and somehow I would get a brand new model, but I'm perfectly content getting a newer, more powerful computer... especially one that works.

Why are they sending you these replacements?

 

[pdxflint]

Six-month old rev. D MBP - absolutely perfect so far. Only potential issue down the line is the wire on the power adapter where it attaches to the adapter. It has gotten twisted, and I have just wrapped it normally when storing it in my computer bag, nothing abusive. I've had a couple of IBM Thinkpads in the past, and the adapters were bulletproof and tough.

So far though, my experience with Apple build quality is that it's as good as anyone elses, and the machines are more elegantly designed.

 

[gonnabuyamac]

Why are they sending you these replacements?

I've just had a lot of bad luck. I'm not a person who complains much. I've had many PC's, and never once had to use the warranties on them.

This last replacement is because of random shut downs. It went into Apple twice and they couldn't reproduce the problem. The other night it randomly shut down and will not turn on at all. I called Apple, and right away the Product Specialist got a replacement transfer ready.

Previous replacements were due to the sheer number of repairs. Logic boards, optical drives, displays... all of them were replaced, some a few times.

My laptop is how I make my living (graphic design), so I treat it like a baby. I very rarely even let anyone else touch it. So each one has been very well taken care of - they've just had a string of hardware problems.

 

[Habusho]

Crazy, I've had 3 MBPs already and none of them had any problems. The first one had very light yellowing on the left side of the display but that was it.