damaged upon arrival

[G8DS]

Just had it delivered, everything going well until removing the tape from the i/o and there is a chip in the unibody,

spoke to apple support and after going through about 6 different people, they are launching a shipping investigation with the view to replace it, no visual damage to outside of packaging so definitely a internal quality issue

Part of me is ok with it since its small and will be out of sight vs the whole it cost a lot of money and it should be pristine, just taken a bit of the enthusiasm out of the day and a little bit ruined the whole experience of finally getting a new mini since I've been stuck on the 2012 i5 model until now!

Anyone else noticed issues with the unibody?

 

[marc_b]

Ok, why exactly are you telling us?

This can happen with any product, really.

 

[PJivan]

Just had it delivered, everything going well until removing the tape from the i/o and there is a chip in the unibody,

spoke to apple support and after going through about 6 different people, they are launching a shipping investigation with the view to replace it, no visual damage to outside of packaging so definitely a internal quality issue

Part of me is ok with it since its small and will be out of sight vs the whole it cost a lot of money and it should be pristine, just taken a bit of the enthusiasm out of the day and a little bit ruined the whole experience of finally getting a new mini since I've been stuck on the 2012 i5 model until now!

Anyone else noticed issues with the unibody?

I think that if you push nicely you will have a replacement, don't be a dick with the support or they may not do the extra mile for you, so yeah, push it nicely and if you feel the current support guy is clueless or not willing to help you try with another one or go to an Apple store. my first job was at support level and I always moved mountains with nice customers.

 

[mgscheue]

Ok, why exactly are you telling us?

This can happen with any product, really.

Presumably for the reasons he outlined in his post.

 

[Fishrrman]

That looks to be a pretty bad gouge.

I'd want it replaced.

 

[harriska2]

Aren’t they using recycled aluminum and other materials? Isn’t a composite body?

 

[Dr. Stealth]

That's pretty interesting. It looks like an actual chip. If it was quality aluminum it would never "chip", maybe dent or deform but never chip. Like harrisk2 brought up, it looks like some type of composite. Like maybe Pot Metal.

I believe they used to be machined from a solid billet of aluminum, that looks more like a lower quality die-casting.

 

[F-Train]

Hmm. AppleCare+ is starting to look attractive. Covers two incidents of accidental damage to the enclosure with a US$99 deductible.

 

[Royksöpp]

Don't mess with the hassle. Just return it. It's damaged and apple has a 14 day return policy. QC has taken a hit in recent years so this shouldn't come as a suprise.

 

[D.T.]

Hmm. AppleCare+ is starting to look attractive. Covers two incidents of accidental damage to the enclosure with a US$99 deductible.

I'd say in the OP's case, they should throw in some free AC for their hassle!

 

[F-Train]

I'd say in the OP's case, they should throw in some free AC for their hassle!

I was planning on getting AppleCare+ anyway, partly because I'll be moving my mini around, and this thread pretty much settles it. If the owner is paying the bill, I wonder what it costs to replace that enclosure.

 

[kaibob]

I'd always wonder what caused that sort of damage and if it damaged anything else. I'd return it.

 

[PJivan]

That's pretty interesting. It looks like an actual chip. If it was quality aluminum it would never "chip", maybe dent or deform but never chip. Like harrisk2 brought up, it looks like some type of composite. Like maybe Pot Metal.

I believe they used to be machined from a solid billet of aluminum, that looks more like a lower quality die-casting.

Aluminium means nothing, there is no pure alluminium but only several type of alloy with different mechanical characteristics, some base on magnesium very light, sone with zinc, silicon, etcc. Etcc. it really depends if you want high tensile strength, flexibility, stiffness, lightness and so on, generally magnesium one is very light and stiff but it chip 5000 series, same for 4000 series with silicon.

 

[ElectronGuru]

That's pretty interesting. It looks like an actual chip. If it was quality aluminum it would never "chip", maybe dent or deform but never chip.

I make a variety of products out of 6061, 2024, and 7075 aluminum. Anodize is preferred because its harder than the base metal. But harder materials are also more fragile. So anodize is not impervious and will show the color of the underlying material when broken off (chipped).

The main question though is the color of the anodize. Silver anodize (especially the bright ano apple uses) is the same color as the aluminum underneath. Broken away, it appears not to chip, even when it has. Black anodize apple is switching to (and uses on the new mini) is trickier. Now the colors don't match and the bright silver material underneath will contrast when the black shell above is dented or removed.