MacBooks Top Consumer Reports Survey in Reliability and Customer Satisfaction

[Jago]

The current rmbpro and macbook are stupidly well-engineered machines, no surprise here.

 

[Just_My_Opinion]

I'm not picking sides, but this explains why I've gone through three Lenovos this semester.
All three suffered from different hardware failures.

My 8 year old Macbook still going and boots faster than the 2014 Lenovo! Please explain?

 

[vampyr]

Does anyone know how much Apple makes off of its AppleCare product? I find it odd that as an Apple consumer, we accept the fact that Apple will NOT stand behind their product for 3 years unless we pay more money.
And given that the price keeps going up (I paid $149 for my 2008 iMac AppleCare)... it must be pure profit for Apple.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Does anyone know how much Apple makes off of its AppleCare product? I find it odd that as an Apple consumer, we accept the fact that Apple will NOT stand behind their product for 3 years unless we pay more money.
And given that the price keeps going up (I paid $149 for my 2008 iMac AppleCare)... it must be pure profit for Apple.

I would say that it's not much at all.

Also, the price has been the same for over a decade. The price does change if you're buying with a student/EDU/GOV discount, or if you're buying different machines. I know that the most expensive is MBP AppleCare at $349.

At times, it is worth it and I know Apple may loose out. I've had to send back plenty of PowerMac G5s back in my day for the liquid cooling fiasco, and that repair without AppleCare was near $1000, and Mac Pro AppleCare is $249.

 

[Santabean2000]

I'm not forgetting the upfront cost. I agree the upfront cost is quite high, but it is mitigated by the fact the computer will last a long time.

If I were to buy a $1500 13" Macbook Pro today, I think it is reasonable to say it will last me at least 5 years, maybe more.

That Mac has a $25/month cost of ownership if it lasts 5 years. If a comparable PC cost $900, for example, then it needs to last me 3 years to match that $25/month cost of ownership. If it lasts less, and cheap PCs tend to not even remain adequate for 2 years, then it costs more.

That Mac has a $21/month cost of ownership if it lasts 6 years. If a comparable PC costs $900 again, then it would need to last me 3.6 years to match that cost of ownership. Again, not very likely for cheap PCs.

Those expectations aren't unrealistic. The Early/Mid 2011 Macbooks Pros and Airs, with the Sandy Bridge Intel CPUs, are still perfectly capable today almost 5 years later, and I expect they will remain pretty capable for at least a few more years. Indeed, my old 2011 13" Macbook Air which got me through law school and 2 bar exams is still the daily driver for my girlfriend, and it is as fast and capable today running OS X 10.11 as the day it was new.

You can survive on 256GB of space..? (which actually equates to about 200GB of usable space... over five years..?) And what about in 4 years time when 16GB of RAM is significantly cheaper, (in fact 32GB might be on offer).

Yes you might be able to squeeze it our, but I hate having to micro-manage things. I like my computer to grow with me.

 

[MacAddict1978]

How can you be satisfied about a computer that overheats like a madman when doing anything remotely CPU heavy with a 480p camera and just one connector?

If you compare it to other ultra portable machines, sure, aluminium beats plastic, but as a product on it's own it's a long way from being any good.

I'll give you the heat.... the automation behind cooling fans in macbooks sucks. Its my ONLY complaint. I have SMC FanControl so I can make my fans kick up (which makes it a bit noisey.) I can fry an egg on my macbook.

Thought I have an older model.... more than 1 connector and a DVD drive

Other aluminum ultrabooks have issues.... tons of issues. You cannot even compare. Consumer reports users apparently agree!

 

[MacAddict1978]

Possibly.

However, it is reported that Apple has more than 90% marketshare of the >$1000 PC market, so I doubt the other vendors ship enough of their high-end models to make much of a difference, statistically.

While I love my macbook, it's waaaaaaaaaay over priced, and your comment doesn't help the cause. There is a reason Apple has 90% marketshare of the >$1000 pc market.... because nearly all of their machines cost greater than $1000 except 2 models.

Other high end ultrabooks have better graphics, drives, ram, etc. I pay it for the hang in glove love of the mac and osx and the quality.... but we pay a premium for this. MOST people cannot afford a machine $1K and up. Which is partially why apples over all marketshare for computers sucks. THey are out of reach for most people.

 

[Digitalclips]

It makes sense when you think that the Mac laptops are essentially sealed systems with most everything soldered to a tiny motherboard. There are also fewer connectors than on a Windows machine. Fewer exposed parts and fewer connections makes for a more reliable system -- and naturally also raises the cost of repair.

Not to mention a far superior OS.

 

[Ramchi]

There is no doubt about that! I have Microsoft Bluetooth and peripheral devices (LG Widescreen monitors), My MacBook Pro works seamlessly with all the devices unlike my Microsoft laptop (Dell Inspiron). For me to connecting Dell Inspiron with LG WideScreen monitor without lifting my Laptop every time, it is a real circus; sometimes my original objective of doing my work with the Dell Laptop gets lost and I had to work towards making this simple process to work!

 

[SSDGUY]

Wrong and false.
CR classified as highly recommendable both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S series. They even put down the ridiculous #bendgate issue. Last time CR didn't recommend an iPhone was in 2010 (iPhone 4), like 5 years ago.

You are acting like a blind Apple basher lately, I personally think it's a pity ....


with the existing repair program regarding 2011 MBP, you could request for a total replacement after the third repair.
There are a few users here that received a 2015 MBP after multiple repairs... Try it.

Looks like they are going to cover it. Sure wish they had covered this the first time it happened. As I recall they did not originally extend the warranty, so I had a 3rd party do the work. Apple says they won't reimburse $'s for 3rd party repairs. Oh well, at least I'll have a laptop for a backup, or I might just sell it.

 

[macbook_21]

Well, I've done my very best to max out my 2008 macbook and it's still not quite up to everyday use standards. I have 6 gigs of RAM, a new battery, and a 1 tb 7200 rpm drive. I'm not about to sink $300 to $500 in an SSD upgrade, however.

The main issue this computer can't handle is when double digit tabs are open in chrome. It seems this single program can max out system RAM all by it's lonesome. Will try out macbook air and pro in apple store to see if I can avoid this issue with the newer computers.

 

[macbook_21]

The current rmbpro and macbook are stupidly well-engineered machines, no surprise here.

I just wish user upgrades were possible. I've been able to get nearly 8 years of everyday use from a 2008 macbook with steady HD upgrades, and a couple of battery replacements and RAM upgrade recently.

Before that, there was the powerbook, with DUAL hot swappable bays and user serviceable RAM and hard drive upgrades.

 

[Jago]

I just wish user upgrades were possible. I've been able to get nearly 8 years of everyday use from a 2008 macbook with steady HD upgrades, and a couple of battery replacements and RAM upgrade recently.

Well, I see 8GB of RAM lasting me a very very long time and the battery can still be replaced at a service center.

 

[macbook_21]

Well, I see 8GB of RAM lasting me a very very long time and the battery can still be replaced at a service center.

True, but there's no word on whether SSD upgrades will be possible with the latest round of macbook air/pro releases. An apple employee told me all I had to do was open up the case to swap out the drive for 2015 mba's, but that turned out to be completely erroneous.

 

[cylack]

Macbooks also hold great resale value. I purchase a 13” rMBP for $1700 (from one of Macmall’s nice sales) and AppleCare for $250 (from an Ebay reseller). So roughly $2k paid in June 2014. I loved it, the SSD was so nice because the laptop never heated up because of it. However, I found that I rarely took the MacBook out of my apartment, so a larger screen outweighed weight. So I just bought a 15” fully loaded MBP from again MacMall during its recent black friday sale. Saved $350 compared to buying it direct from Apple. The upgrade to 16GB of RAM and the 1TB SSD have been sweet. I also use my iPad Air 2 as a second display using an app called Duet.

I just sold my old 13” rMBP for $1000 on Craigslist (avoid Ebay like the plague for selling ever since they jacked up the final value fee to 10% along with Paypal’s 3% = 13% fees without shipping costs!). The AppleCare that expires only in June 2017 was a huge selling point. So, I figured I paid $1000 to use the rMBP for 1.5 years. That comes out to $55 a month. I pay more for my internet service than that. What a bargain. OS X integration with iOS, no viruses to worry about, a dream experience. I would like to see anyone out there sell any highend PC laptop for $1000 after a year and half of use.

 

[cylack]

In a way it is good that they are out of reach for most people. You’d have tons of viruses written for it if it became the machine that most people used. Also, its far easier to resell to the secondary market becasue of the high prices once you get tired of using your MacBook a few years later.

While I love my macbook, it's waaaaaaaaaay over priced, and your comment doesn't help the cause. There is a reason Apple has 90% marketshare of the >$1000 pc market.... because nearly all of their machines cost greater than $1000 except 2 models.

Other high end ultrabooks have better graphics, drives, ram, etc. I pay it for the hang in glove love of the mac and osx and the quality.... but we pay a premium for this. MOST people cannot afford a machine $1K and up. Which is partially why apples over all marketshare for computers sucks. THey are out of reach for most people.

 

[SSDGUY]

Wrong and false.
CR classified as highly recommendable both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S series. They even put down the ridiculous #bendgate issue. Last time CR didn't recommend an iPhone was in 2010 (iPhone 4), like 5 years ago.

You are acting like a blind Apple basher lately, I personally think it's a pity ....


with the existing repair program regarding 2011 MBP, you could request for a total replacement after the third repair.
There are a few users here that received a 2015 MBP after multiple repairs... Try it.

Since I had a third party do it, they won't replace it but they are going to fix it. Yay! Just got a 27" iMac Retina to replace it anyway, so looks like I might sell the mbp before it breaks again. (BTW even though she's tired, I'm gonna miss my 30" ACD. Wish Apple would make those again, but w/ retina!)