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Macbook Air M2 CTO - bad build quality (2023)

N

ns93

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 5, 2024
8
5
Hello, I bought 2 weeks ago new sealed Macbook Air M2 13,6 inch, base model with one adjustment 16G RAM. Everything looks fine, but the build quality looks really bad. I compare it witj 2018 Air and M1 Air. In the new model I see the screen ins squeezing once the mac is closed. There is a small gap on the one side and I see flexing, it makes also sound when I touch this side with the gap.

I saw a lot of bad comments, and I am wondering why Apple does not fix this issue, on Pro models I do not see this issue.

Is there anybody with MBA M2 without this issue?

Or should I wait for M3 Air and they will fix this quality issue?

Thank you in advance,
 
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I can confirm the bad quality build issues, although I don't have yours. The issue with mine is the bottom case, not perfectly fitting, so on 2 of the 3 sides you can feel a slightly sharp edge. Even though I could return it, it is just a minor cosmetic issue for me, you also risk to get other issues that are much worse, such as screen issues (grey lines), battery not at 100% health, etc... Live with the fact that Apple is cutting costs here and there, decreasing overall quality. It will get even worse over the next decade, so nothing we can do, except switching to PC, but that's not an option for me.
 
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ngel22 said:
I can confirm the bad quality build issues, although I don't have yours. The issue with mine is the bottom case, not perfectly fitting, so on 2 of the 3 sides you can feel a slightly sharp edge. Even though I could return it, it is just a minor cosmetic issue for me, you also risk to get other issues that are much worse, such as screen issues (grey lines), battery not at 100% health, etc... Live with the fact that Apple is cutting costs here and there, decreasing overall quality. It will get even worse over the next decade, so nothing we can do, except switching to PC, but that's not an option for me.
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I have this exact same issue with my 15” M2 MBA. Left and right bottom has sharp edges as bottom isn’t completely flush.
 
helloapple1 said:
I have this exact same issue with my 15” M2 MBA. Left and right bottom has sharp edges as bottom isn’t completely flush.
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It's a shame Apple went from high quality premium to low quality premium in the past 10 years. Apparently they gained so much monopoly nowadays so that they can afford doing that. Leaving us with only one choice, to switch to PC which is much worse. But that is with all products, food, clothing, etc..everything went down, our world is going down.
 
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ngel22 said:
It's a shame Apple went from high quality premium to low quality premium in the past 10 years. Apparently they gained so much monopoly nowadays so that they can afford doing that. Leaving us with only one choice, to switch to PC which is much worse. But that is with all products, food, clothing, etc..everything went down, our world is going down.
Click to expand...
I’m glad you mentioned your issue because I thought I was the only one.
 
Thank you guys, lets hope, that M3 Air will be near perfect :) I hope it will be released soon.
 
ns93 said:
Thank you guys, lets hope, that M3 Air will be near perfect :) I hope it will be released soon.
Click to expand...
Don't expect any changes regarding build quality with the M3. The design will still be exactly the same, with the M3 Chip being the only difference. I doubt Apple will increase quality control as it would increase costs.
 
ngel22 said:
It's a shame Apple went from high quality premium to low quality premium in the past 10 years. Apparently they gained so much monopoly nowadays so that they can afford doing that. Leaving us with only one choice, to switch to PC which is much worse. But that is with all products, food, clothing, etc..everything went down, our world is going down.
Click to expand...
I think the downgrade in quality is a direct result of a change in the production assembly in China. Apple has been using Chinese manufacturing for a long time so something must have changed at the factories. Chinese production is some of the most advanced and best in the world. Maybe they make them in a cheaper way than before. I am sure Apple was offered a choice. Higher quality, lower production and lower profits or lower quality, higher production, higher profits.

Apple has simply decided to put profit ahead of quality. If Tim Cook called up his Chinese OEM partners and said quality was most important feature in building our products you would see the exact same product with no defects and better quality components and it would be done very quickly.

If you are upset with the quality you are paying for them you should voice your concerns directly to Apple and start voting with your dollars. Otherwise nothing is ever going to change.
 
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yea, lid gap are pretty normal now, had this on two MBA M1. Maybe it's for extra space for display so it can less contact with keyboard
 
Hello, I think the same issue remained on M3 MBA, what do you think? Is happening to your M3 MBA as well?



 
ns93 said:
Hello, I bought 2 weeks ago new sealed Macbook Air M2 13,6 inch, base model with one adjustment 16G RAM. Everything looks fine, but the build quality looks really bad. I compare it witj 2018 Air and M1 Air. In the new model I see the screen ins squeezing once the mac is closed. There is a small gap on the one side and I see flexing, it makes also sound when I touch this side with the gap.

I saw a lot of bad comments, and I am wondering why Apple does not fix this issue, on Pro models I do not see this issue.

Is there anybody with MBA M2 without this issue?

Or should I wait for M3 Air and they will fix this quality issue?

Thank you in advance,
Click to expand...

The macbooks are so THIN now, it’s easy to flex them. Perhaps you accidentially bent it while opening/closing it, putting it in carry case ect…. I find the 15 Air SEEMS fragile regarding potential flexing. There is zero tolerance. If a small speck of sand got stuck in just the right place, I’m sure it would crack the screen. Everything must fit exactly. :D

My ancient 2015 Air was built like a tank.
 
No apparent flexing on my M2 15” MBA.

Then, again, I’m not going to press down very hard! The opening in the front may be smaller on mine, too.

OTOH, I see little flexing in the first video; some in the 2nd.

We could view this situation differently. The hinge mechanism may have been redesigned to provide a slightly bigger gap to protect the screen. So, naturally, if one applies pressure, the opening would get smaller. It could well be a feature, not a bug!
 
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ngel22 said:
It's a shame Apple went from high quality premium to low quality premium in the past 10 years. Apparently they gained so much monopoly nowadays so that they can afford doing that. Leaving us with only one choice, to switch to PC which is much worse. But that is with all products, food, clothing, etc..everything went down, our world is going down.
Click to expand...
I'm getting very close to abandoning my Mac ecosystem obsession since 1992! The last two out of the three products that I bought, one phone overheated and bent and my new MacBook Air, I say relatively new, it's two years old has had a camera failure after an upgrade having only used it for maybe 10 hours! That I'm told is a hardware failure and now recently my screen is having major issues with horizontal lines and flickering absolutely unacceptable for $1000 computer in my opinion! My last MacBook Air lasted almost 8 years. I am getting very concerned about paying high prices for equipment that doesn't last now. And I don't see the value in spending an additional 30% to guarantee it works properly for 3 more years!
 
JudahLyons said:
I'm getting very close to abandoning my Mac ecosystem obsession since 1992! The last two out of the three products that I bought, one phone overheated and bent and my new MacBook Air, I say relatively new, it's two years old has had a camera failure after an upgrade having only used it for maybe 10 hours! That I'm told is a hardware failure and now recently my screen is having major issues with horizontal lines and flickering absolutely unacceptable for $1000 computer in my opinion! My last MacBook Air lasted almost 8 years. I am getting very concerned about paying high prices for equipment that doesn't last now. And I don't see the value in spending an additional 30% to guarantee it works properly for 3 more years!
Click to expand...

Wait, so you knowingly didn't extend the warranty, the warranty ran out, and now you're expecting that it gets fixed within the warranty?

Things break, unfortunately. If you don't get Apple Care then you take the risk of paying for this stuff out of pocket. I get the frustration to some extent, but you had the choice, and you chose not to.
 
Howard2k said:
Wait, so you knowingly didn't extend the warranty, the warranty ran out, and now you're expecting that it gets fixed within the warranty?

Things break, unfortunately. If you don't get Apple Care then you take the risk of paying for this stuff out of pocket. I get the frustration to some extent, but you had the choice, and you chose not to.
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Nope, sorry if that was confusing at some level. No I didn't buy an extended warranty, as I said I don't see the value in spending that much for apple care. And I didn't say that I had any expectations for Apple to do anything at all. I only said I am getting close to abandoning the ecosystems as 2 of the last 3 products have failed too early on for me to be willing to continue pay the premium price for Apple products. I understand machines break. I also said my last Mac book Air lasted 8 years! Both issues happened immediately after upgrades, and I did notice many mac air users and pro users had issue with the camera after 15.1. Anyhow I also said I have been exclusively a mac user since 1992. But, will now migrate to the other side and see how I feel about laptops that are 1/2 the price and phones about 1/3 the price. Who knows, I might coming screaming back to apple, but I doubt it.
 
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JudahLyons said:
Nope, sorry if that was confusing at some level. No I didn't buy an extended warranty, as I said I don't see the value in spending that much for apple care. And I didn't say that I had any expectations for Apple to do anything at all. I only said I am getting close to abandoning the ecosystems as 2 of the last 3 products have failed too early on for me to be willing to continue pay the premium price for Apple products. I understand machines break. I also said my last Mac book Air lasted 8 years! Both issues happened immediately after upgrades, and I did notice many mac air users and pro users had issue with the camera after 15.1. Anyhow I also said I have been exclusively a mac user since 1992. But, will now migrate to the other side and see how I feel about laptops that are 1/2 the price and phones about 1/3 the price. Who knows, I might coming screaming back to apple, but I doubt it.
Click to expand...


That's the risk you take. I bought AC+ on my last two notebooks and didn't use it. Not buying it on my next, but that's the risk that I'm taking.

Apple is known for having higher reliability than many.
 
Howard2k said:
That's the risk you take. I bought AC+ on my last two notebooks and didn't use it. Not buying it on my next, but that's the risk that I'm taking.

Apple is known for having higher reliability than many.
Click to expand...
Howard, I get it about risks and reliability. For the extended warranty I can get a cheap PC. My uses for the Mac are very simple and limited. It might just be the luck of the draw, but when one phone essentially ovreheats in less then a years usage and another product fails in less then two years. I feel like jumping ship, especially when the functionality I need from both products is very simple and they both failed in such a brief period of time. Anyhow, just wanted to alert others to the problems I have experienced recently. I will see what the fix costs on the M2 Air. And if it's reasonable, I will fix it. If not, I think I will give the Lenovo a whirl, just not looking forward to migrating to another ecosystem to deal with the learning curve.The macs have been so reliable that after having an extended warranty on all of them, I decided to opt out of the warranties.Oh well, you win some and yo lose some. Hopefully, win more than lose.
 
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