Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is your MacBook Pro perfect?


  • Total voters
    259

Diversion

macrumors 6502a
Oct 5, 2007
773
142
Jacksonville, Florida
I voted that mine was perfect but then I booted up and held my ear to the bottom of the machine and I hear what sounds like a mechanical hdd.. Assuming this is coil whine.. Oh well.. Most laptops these days have it. Otherwise my unit is perfect.
 

macintoshmac

Suspended
May 13, 2010
6,089
6,991
OP should perhaps also include data from other sites on the internet, and then compare it to the number of units sold, to arrive at any meaningful figure as to how widespread any issue is with these new notebooks.

For one, I have a 2016 unit, keyboard replaced once, and that's about it. Everything else is just perfect.
 

sk8r1230

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 3, 2010
351
49
Indiana
OP should perhaps also include data from other sites on the internet, and then compare it to the number of units sold, to arrive at any meaningful figure as to how widespread any issue is with these new notebooks.

For one, I have a 2016 unit, keyboard replaced once, and that's about it. Everything else is just perfect.

Sorry man no way I’m searching the depths of the internet to find all problem MacBooks. This to me is the busiest place for Mac discussion so I just kept it here.

Also there would be no way to know which Mac issue is actually a duplicate post across multiple forums.
 

macintoshmac

Suspended
May 13, 2010
6,089
6,991
Sorry man no way I’m searching the depths of the internet to find all problem MacBooks. This to me is the busiest place for Mac discussion so I just kept it here.

Also there would be no way to know which Mac issue is actually a duplicate post across multiple forums.

The point I was hoping to make, is that no matter how busy this site itself is, and there are others as well, there is no way to know of anything widespread just yet. It is not even a full 30 days of release, if I am not wrong. And then, the people with problems are not always going to post either here or on reddit or anywhere else, most would just take it to the geniuses to check. Trying to gauge about a possible widespread problem, therefore, will mostly be limited to the people who actually take the trouble of posting on forums.
 

macintoshmac

Suspended
May 13, 2010
6,089
6,991
i know this isnt scientific but i find it very unnerving that nearly 50 percent of the reports show some type of defect.

What? What am I missing? I thought most people are actually very happy with their new MacBooks, I mean the normal users, not the ones pushing the limits on day 1 (though they should be happy now) and the youTubers who love to whine loud and louder with each iteration.
 

Painter2002

macrumors 65816
May 9, 2017
1,196
942
Austin, TX
I voted that mine was perfect but then I booted up and held my ear to the bottom of the machine and I hear what sounds like a mechanical hdd.. Assuming this is coil whine.. Oh well.. Most laptops these days have it. Otherwise my unit is perfect.
Well thankfully you shouldn’t have to hold your laptop to your ear while you use it! Or at least I know I don’t, thatd be a very uncomfortable position to hold and use your MBP at the same time. Lol.

I know coil whine can be an issue, but my rule of thumb is if you can’t hear it from a normal distance (I.e. on your desktop or lap), then it isn’t a serious deal. But that’s me.
[doublepost=1533229716][/doublepost]
What? What am I missing? I thought most people are actually very happy with their new MacBooks, I mean the normal users, not the ones pushing the limits on day 1 (though they should be happy now) and the youTubers who love to whine loud and louder with each iteration.
Ah, and that’s why I don’t watch YouTube reviews except for entertainment; just like news channels, YouTube reviews know that negative videos garner significantly greater viewership than those positive review videos (too boring I guess?). If I believe all the reviews and videos will then my 2017 MBP should have a dead keyboard, and should be insufficiently powered to do any kind of work.

As I was taught at an early age, always be cautious and consider your source. If you see people claiming a 50% failure rate on a YouTube channel or on a forum, look at their other content. If they are constantly bashing products (Apple or not) then odds are their commentary is biased.
 

macpcf

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2018
104
43
USA
Unfortunately, I decided not to buy the macbook pro because I plan to use it internationally (Leaving usa to sri lanka next year). Although I will get apple care, I won't be able to service it if I the service centers in my destination country don't have the parts. I check the local centers and they don't even have the new macbook pro's listed so if they refuse to service it, i am in trouble. Apple told me that I have to physically bring the machine to the country with the services available (Singapore in my case), which is expensive for me. It will be aero 15x for me through hidevolution, which provides international shipping for the machine if an issue arises. Sad to part with the apple eco system but I may purchase a i mac when I settle in by destination country next year.
 

sk8r1230

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 3, 2010
351
49
Indiana
What? What am I missing? I thought most people are actually very happy with their new MacBooks, I mean the normal users, not the ones pushing the limits on day 1 (though they should be happy now) and the youTubers who love to whine loud and louder with each iteration.

I’m not sure what you’re missing either. I’m referring to my poll results. Almost 50 percent of the small sample size has something they aren’t happy with. I’m not a YouTuber or hater. Just someone who can read poll results submitted by macrumors forum users.
 
  • Like
Reactions: macintoshmac

Painter2002

macrumors 65816
May 9, 2017
1,196
942
Austin, TX
I’m not sure what you’re missing either. I’m referring to my poll results. Almost 50 percent of the small sample size has something they aren’t happy with. I’m not a YouTuber or hater. Just someone who can read poll results submitted by macrumors forum users.
I would (cautiously) say to be careful using any poll data you get from the forums. Not saying they aren’t accurate or the people who answering them aren’t honest, but the truth is individuals who have had issues or negativity towards the product in general are much more likely to voice their opinion in a poll than those who have had positive experiences with the new machine. It can be really hard to accurately assess the true percentage of problematic MacBook Pros based on a poll on any forum site.

From all the comments I’ve been seeing (after the CPU throttling patch was released), the overall consensus is most people like the new 2018 MacBook Pros and most people aren’t experiencing issues.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 88Keys

macpcf

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2018
104
43
USA
I would (cautiously) say to be careful using any poll data you get from the forums. Not saying they aren’t accurate or the people who answering them aren’t honest, but the truth is individuals who have had issues or negativity towards the product in general are much more likely to voice their opinion in a poll than those who have had positive experiences with the new machine. It can be really hard to accurately assess the true percentage of problematic MacBook Pros based on a poll on any forum site.

From all the comments I’ve been seeing (after the CPU throttling patch was released), the overall consensus is most people like the new 2018 MacBook Pros and most people aren’t experiencing issues.
I have been looking in other notebook forums as well (dell xps, aero) and partially agree with your statement. Usually people who are posting in the forums have issues with their laptops and want solutions. However, macrumors seems to be somewhat general userbase. But the sampling error plays a huge role.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Painter2002

dwfaust

macrumors G3
Jul 3, 2011
9,449
22,466
i know this isnt scientific but i find it very unnerving that nearly 50 percent of the reports show some type of defect.

Currently 81-41 no problems... so that's more like 33% with defects...still pretty high, but it's NOT 50%.
 

iMacDragon

macrumors 68020
Oct 18, 2008
2,284
613
UK
Currently 81-41 no problems... so that's more like 33% with defects...still pretty high, but it's NOT 50%.

Also inevitably more people will be looking in forums, and even more so, likely to reply in a poll, that do have problems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira

Marketh

macrumors regular
Jul 21, 2018
134
122
Manchester, UK
Also inevitably more people will be looking in forums, and even more so, likely to reply in a poll, that do have problems.
This. Only a very few people post online how happy they are with their puchase, the vast majority of people only raise something online if they have an issue.

There will be many more problem-free MBPs out there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira

ascender

macrumors 601
Dec 8, 2005
4,884
2,766
I’m not sure what you’re missing either. I’m referring to my poll results. Almost 50 percent of the small sample size has something they aren’t happy with. I’m not a YouTuber or hater. Just someone who can read poll results submitted by macrumors forum users.

Its always going to be skewed though because people often find forums like this and post in forums like this because they have an issue of some sort.

If there was something catastrophically wrong with these, or something affecting a significant percentage of machines, the tech press would find it and report on it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Petetastic

Ma2k5

macrumors 68030
Dec 21, 2012
2,550
2,520
London
Its always going to be skewed though because people often find forums like this and post in forums like this because they have an issue of some sort.

If there was something catastrophically wrong with these, or something affecting a significant percentage of machines, the tech press would find it and report on it.

This poll has nothing to do with "catastrophically wrong" defects, just defects in general, including very minor ones.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,262
43,040
I have been looking in other notebook forums as well (dell xps, aero) and partially agree with your statement. Usually people who are posting in the forums have issues with their laptops and want solutions. However, macrumors seems to be somewhat general userbase. But the sampling error plays a huge role.
I bought a Razer before getting the MBP, and I agree. Their forums were more about needing technical support/help for problems. There were of course a number of threads praising the laptop, but the majority were asking for help, clarification or technical support on a defect. I will say overall, the Razer 15" was very Mac like in its design, and build quality. If it weren't for my missing the macOS experience, I'd not return it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: macintoshmac

Petetastic

macrumors member
Jan 2, 2018
57
89
To basically repeat what everyone said: polls are self-selecting.

Even though I had an issue that essentially bricked my MBP, the problem was completely new to the guy at the Genius Bar and he didn’t know what to do other than send it back. Given how much traffic they handle and that the MBP has been out a few weeks, I think it’s safe to say that my problem was quite unusual.

I’ll reiterate: if you’re concerned about reliability, wait a month or two for the kinks to work out or problems to surface. Overall this is a good product, and delivers impressive performance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Painter2002

FFTHX

macrumors newbie
Jul 19, 2018
17
0
Mine has serious issue running software like safari and iMessage, reset everything and reinstall the Mac OS fail to solve the problem. Contacted APPLE three days ago, and Apple is building a replacement for me right now(order is still processing at this time)
 

darkmatter343

macrumors 6502
Sep 18, 2017
339
229
Toronto, Canada
Absolutely perfect. Even monitor without tint, no wiggle on the TouchID, firm hinge, no issues with keyboard, speakers are wonderful, USB ports are nice and firm, great performance, no kernel panics, no whine, nothing.

I'm super satisfied with it.

Now that you mention it, my Touch ID wiggles on my 2018 15” like it’s loose but it works ok so I didn’t really think twice.
 

Painter2002

macrumors 65816
May 9, 2017
1,196
942
Austin, TX
Now that you mention it, my Touch ID wiggles on my 2018 15” like it’s loose but it works ok so I didn’t really think twice.
It's funny how there are certain things on your machine that were non-issue until you read about someone else finding it on MR. Lol. If I didn't know better, most people couldn't get out of bed because the world is spinning...

In all seriousness though, this is one of those things I think it depends on the user, and how bad it irritates them. If you can live with it, it may be simpler and a much smaller issue than trying to swap it out and end up with a different worse issue.
 

darkmatter343

macrumors 6502
Sep 18, 2017
339
229
Toronto, Canada
It's funny how there are certain things on your machine that were non-issue until you read about someone else finding it on MR. Lol. If I didn't know better, most people couldn't get out of bed because the world is spinning...

In all seriousness though, this is one of those things I think it depends on the user, and how bad it irritates them. If you can live with it, it may be simpler and a much smaller issue than trying to swap it out and end up with a different worse issue.

Oh, for sure it bothered me, but I wouldn’t exchange it just for that. What bothers me far more is if both hinges are not aligned the same so when you close the lid, one side hangs over slight more then the other. I see that frequently on laptops.
The most expensive computer equipment is being built by the lowest bidder... so there will always be some build quality discrepancies with the macs. Most people probably don’t care to look for them, and some issues aren’t worth exchanging over.
I only noticed the Touch ID since my fathers 2017 doesn’t move.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Painter2002

Painter2002

macrumors 65816
May 9, 2017
1,196
942
Austin, TX
Oh, for sure it bothered me, but I wouldn’t exchange it just for that. What bothers me far more is if both hinges are not aligned the same so when you close the lid, one side hangs over slight more then the other. I see that frequently on laptops.
The most expensive computer equipment is being built by the lowest bidder... so there will always be some build quality discrepancies with the macs. Most people probably don’t care to look for them, and some issues aren’t worth exchanging over.
I only noticed the Touch ID since my fathers 2017 doesn’t move.
Ah, and see, that is something that would bug me too. It might seem trivial, but it's so much more noticeable on an Apple product because the design constraints are so limited and its built out of metal. If it was a plastic bodied Lenovo with round plastic edges everywhere, it wouldn't bug me.

I actually had a replacement 2017 MacBook Pro which had the Apple logo miss-aligned on the top case and looked like it had some weird glue or heat around one-half the logo. I ended up getting a replacement as part of a different issue, but I likely would have taken it back anyways as that obvious of a manufacturing flaw would bug me.

Loose button, I don't know, I'm probably more lenient because it is a moving part, so some wiggle can be expected. Body part alignment or other major defects to me are somewhat different. But it just depends on the user.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.