Poll: does your 2016 MBP have cosmetic defects?

[ManuCH]

As there have been several threads popping up about cosmetic defects "out of the box" for the 2016 MacBook Pro, I thought it'd be interesting to start a poll on it.

Please leave a comment on whether your MBP had some scratch/dent/misaligned cover right out of the box and cast the appropriate vote.

It would be nice to have this as a sticky thread.

 

[chriscrowlee]

As there have been several threads popping up about cosmetic defects "out of the box" for the 2016 MacBook Pro, I thought it'd be interesting to start a poll on it.

Please leave a comment on whether your MBP had some scratch/dent/misaligned cover right out of the box and cast the appropriate vote.

It would be nice to have this as a sticky thread.

Seriously? I see two threads where people CLAIM the tbMBP had a scratch or dent out of the box. In all my years buying Apple products I've never gotten a product with a chip\scratch\dent. Now they have a laser\camera that scans the product when it's finished in the production line, and picks up on things so small you can't even see them with the human eye. I am skeptical about the 2-3 people out of the thousands here who report these issues. Maybe a grain of sand or something on the mac and the shipping caused it to rub away at the mac, but highly unlikely.

In any event, it's really silly to have a poll about this, as most people have never experienced a crack or scratch. Look at the threads with the thousands who have posted about their likes\dislikes with their mac. So if 2-3 posted about a crack and thousands didn't, well, do the math there.

 

[Reflexiste]

My 15" is perfect

 

[ManuCH]

Seriously? I see two threads where people CLAIM the tbMBP had a scratch or dent out of the box. In all my years buying Apple products I've never gotten a product with a chip\scratch\dent. Now they have a laser\camera that scans the product when it's finished in the production line, and picks up on things so small you can't even see them with the human eye. I am skeptical about the 2-3 people out of the thousands here who report these issues. Maybe a grain of sand or something on the mac and the shipping caused it to rub away at the mac, but highly unlikely.

In any event, it's really silly to have a poll about this, as most people have never experienced a crack or scratch. Look at the threads with the thousands who have posted about their likes\dislikes with their mac. So if 2-3 posted about a crack and thousands didn't, well, do the math there.

Thank you for your comment and for considering my poll silly. I appreciate it.

Actually, the point I wanted to make is exactly what you're pointing out: that most MBPs are fine. I wanted to do something about the negative vibe going on in this forum. If someone isn't familiar with it, they might think the product is inherently bad.

As statistically small and irrelevant this poll may be, it shows that most units are perfectly fine with no defects.

 

[goobot]

Seriously? I see two threads where people CLAIM the tbMBP had a scratch or dent out of the box. In all my years buying Apple products I've never gotten a product with a chip\scratch\dent. Now they have a laser\camera that scans the product when it's finished in the production line, and picks up on things so small you can't even see them with the human eye. I am skeptical about the 2-3 people out of the thousands here who report these issues. Maybe a grain of sand or something on the mac and the shipping caused it to rub away at the mac, but highly unlikely.

In any event, it's really silly to have a poll about this, as most people have never experienced a crack or scratch. Look at the threads with the thousands who have posted about their likes\dislikes with their mac. So if 2-3 posted about a crack and thousands didn't, well, do the math there.

I've bought a lot of apple products in the past 10 years but they have all been mostly perfect. The only one I've gotten out of the box with issues was the iPhone 5. Had a big red scratch going down the back right out of the box, though I remember a lot of people reporting the same thing. Luckily my MBP wasn't affected by this apparent problem.

 

[vatter69]

First 13 nTB had a deep scratch on the right side - was exchanged without issues. New one is perfect.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

So far the 'perfect' vote is way out in front. A small representation of my belief that the complaints on here are amplified by lengthy threads.

 

[vipergts2207]

Seriously? I see two threads where people CLAIM the tbMBP had a scratch or dent out of the box. In all my years buying Apple products I've never gotten a product with a chip\scratch\dent. Now they have a laser\camera that scans the product when it's finished in the production line, and picks up on things so small you can't even see them with the human eye. I am skeptical about the 2-3 people out of the thousands here who report these issues. Maybe a grain of sand or something on the mac and the shipping caused it to rub away at the mac, but highly unlikely.

In any event, it's really silly to have a poll about this, as most people have never experienced a crack or scratch. Look at the threads with the thousands who have posted about their likes\dislikes with their mac. So if 2-3 posted about a crack and thousands didn't, well, do the math there.

Other claims of out-of-the-box blemishes aside, the scratch beneath the speaker grill on some tMBP's has been well documented by a statistically significant number of people. That being said, mine came blemish free. Some other people with claims of knicks and chips elsewhere have included photographic evidence.

At least one of Foxconn's MPB lines must need some serious maintenance if it's scratching the chassis below the speaker grill AND the laser/camera is missing it. Either that or Apple is telling them to be lax on the QC because of the high demand and backlog, figuring they'll just ship replacements to people unhappy with the scratch.

 

[Carilyn]

I was one of the unlucky people to get my BTO MBP with a scratch under the right speaker grill. Still shocked that so many have the exact scratch but I decided quickly that I wouldn't be exchanging. Mine is a silver model and it literally can't be seen unless I hold it a specific way in certain light and I probably would not have noticed had I not known to look for it. Glad I got silver though because the scratch seems more noticeable on space grey and I surely would have exchanged if it was a space grey model. I wish I was only "claiming" to have a scratch though. Lol. Irritating to see any blemish on your $3000 plus laptop upon unboxing and seems so un-Apple like to let so many slide through with the exact same blemish.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

I was one of the unlucky people to get my BTO MBP with a scratch under the right speaker grill. Still shocked that so many have the exact scratch but I decided quickly that I wouldn't be exchanging. Mine is a silver model and it literally can't be seen unless I hold it a specific way in certain light and I probably would not have noticed had I not known to look for it. Glad I got silver though because the scratch seems more noticeable on space grey and I surely would have exchanged if it was a space grey model. I wish I was only "claiming" to have a scratch though. Lol. Irritating to see any blemish on your $3000 plus laptop upon unboxing and seems so un-Apple like to let so many slide through with the exact same blemish.

Kudos to you for being so reasonable - I would have lost my mind with this kind of blemish out of the box!

 

[Carilyn]

Kudos to you for being so reasonable - I would have lost my mind with this kind of blemish out of the box!

I thought about losing my mind for a second. Lol. But when nobody else in the family could see the blemish without me basically doing yoga to make it show up, I decided it wasn't enough to warrant the headache of a return process and wait for a new build. Once I used the machine for an hour and fell in love, the blemish was forgotten and since I now have a palm gaurd on it I won't ever accidentally notice it so life in MBP land is glitter and gold for me. Love this laptop.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

I thought about losing my mind for a second. Lol. But when nobody else in the family could see the blemish without me basically doing yoga to make it show up, I decided it wasn't enough to warrant the headache of a return process and wait for a new build. Once I used the machine for an hour and fell in love, the blemish was forgotten and since I now have a palm gaurd on it I won't ever accidentally notice it so life in MBP land is glitter and gold for me. Love this laptop.

Awesome! Glad you're having a good experience. Mine has actually far surpassed my expectations; best laptop I have ever had and it will only improve with TB developments and software updates.

 

[chriscrowlee]

Other claims of out-of-the-box blemishes aside, the scratch beneath the speaker grill on some tMBP's has been well documented by a statistically significant number of people. That being said, mine came blemish free. Some other people with claims of knicks and chips elsewhere have included photographic evidence.

At least one of Foxconn's MPB lines must need some serious maintenance if it's scratching the chassis below the speaker grill AND the laser/camera is missing it. Either that or Apple is telling them to be lax on the QC because of the high demand and backlog, figuring they'll just ship replacements to people unhappy with the scratch.

"well documented by a statistically significant number of people" ... wait, was this done by the same pollsters that said "Hillary had a significant lead over Donald" ?!?!? There has been no statistically significant number. Even if you go into the thread that already discusses this (yeah, before this thread there were MANY replies in the thread about it. Almost everyone says they had no issue. If you consider a thread where one person claims it's scratched and 600 replies basically say swap it out, then yeah it's a major issue. But that's not what the threads are about. I did a little search and I can find 4 posts of people claiming to have a scratch or dent or chip. I find a thread with 11,000 replies from those who bought and are discussing the product with no mention of said scratch\dent. That's 4 in 11,000 ... or 0.0003% of units arrive defective. If you think that failure rate is "lax on the QC" (assuming these are production issues even and not user caused scratches) then it's a GREAT thing you're not in manufacturing. It seems like a career in Yellow Journalism, maybe Dateline NBC, or your local 10pm newscast second half would be a good fit. But then again, those who allow the 0.0003% "something under your bed might be out to kill you, tonight on the 10 oclock news" to affect them usually are on the viewer side of the TV.
[doublepost=1483200973][/doublepost]

I've bought a lot of apple products in the past 10 years but they have all been mostly perfect. The only one I've gotten out of the box with issues was the iPhone 5. Had a big red scratch going down the back right out of the box, though I remember a lot of people reporting the same thing. Luckily my MBP wasn't affected by this apparent problem.

You and 99.999% of the people on macrumors have reported no issues. I wish my internet was that reliable. Or the weather forecast. Or any vaccine. Or any product from any other company. Don't let the yellow journalism get you down. Most issues you see on the news or the screamers here affect a tiny tiny portion of units. People love to blow insignificant things out of proportion. My guess is the people making an issue out of it are doing so from deep within their psyche to reassure themselves that not being able to purchase it isn't for financial reasons, but for common sense, using words like "doomed product" and "widespread issues" and "statistical probable defects" and "bad design"... In fact, most people on macrumors report they love their macbook pro. I got the tbMBP about a month ago. I got the "ultimate" config. I love it. The most talked about issue (battery) which wasn't even talked about until Grandma's Consumer Reports made an issue of it, isn't even an issue. If you make a smaller battery with a processor that'll consume as much power as last year's model, why would you not expect less battery? If Toyota remakes the corolla this year with the same engine, but a 2 gallon smaller gas tank, why would you call it a defect when it's by design?

Bottom line, people are loving the new tbMBP, and if they don't, then they're not buying it. But I will say I fly a lot and in the last week flying I've seen more new tbMBP than I ever would have imagined.

 

[vipergts2207]

"well documented by a statistically significant number of people" ... wait, was this done by the same pollsters that said "Hillary had a significant lead over Donald" ?!?!?

Don't know what you're on about here, but I'll leave the politics in PRSI.

There has been no statistically significant number. Even if you go into the thread that already discusses this (yeah, before this thread there were MANY replies in the thread about it. Almost everyone says they had no issue. If you consider a thread where one person claims it's scratched and 600 replies basically say swap it out, then yeah it's a major issue. But that's not what the threads are about. I did a little search and I can find 4 posts of people claiming to have a scratch or dent or chip. I find a thread with 11,000 replies from those who bought and are discussing the product with no mention of said scratch\dent. That's 4 in 11,000 ... or 0.0003% of units arrive defective. If you think that failure rate is "lax on the QC" (assuming these are production issues even and not user caused scratches) then it's a GREAT thing you're not in manufacturing.

The methodology you used to come up with 0.0003% is frought with critical errors and is not even close to a proper statistical analysis. First of all, you're counting every post as one consumer with one computer, which completely ignores the many individuals with multiple posts. Second, not everyone with a scratch on their MBP would have posted about it in that specific thread. Third, and I could be wrong here, but I believe the below-the-speaker-grill scratch is only present on the 15" tMBP models. The thread I believe you're referencing is dedicated to both tMBP sizes and the ntMBP as well. In statistics, garbage in/garbage out and you used a lot of garbage for your input.

To be fair, the poll in this thread is also a very poor way to suss out the number of MBP's coming with these scratches as well, due to self-report bias among other things. The basis though is certainly better than the method you employed.

If you think that failure rate is "lax on the QC" (assuming these are production issues even and not user caused scratches) then it's a GREAT thing you're not in manufacturing.

Yes, consumers are all scratching their brand new MBP's in the same place and they all happen to be roughly the same size and shape as well. You figured it out, bravo.

It seems like a career in Yellow Journalism, maybe Dateline NBC, or your local 10pm newscast second half would be a good fit. But then again, those who allow the 0.0003% "something under your bed might be out to kill you, tonight on the 10 oclock news" to affect them usually are on the viewer side of the TV.

Ad-hominems, very nice. I have a job that pays well, that I enjoy and that I am good at, so no need to worry about that. By the way, I am actually in the manufacturing industry in a technical position. But while we're making career suggestions, do not get a job involving statistics, or possibly even numbers and math.

 

[chriscrowlee]

not everyone with a scratch on their MBP would have posted about it in that specific thread.

It's been proven time and time again that negative feelings prompt far more people to post their reviews online than those with positive feelings... be it products, hotels, restaurants, etc.

But it's neither here nor there. Bottom line, it's NOT a widespread issue or you'd see more than a couple posts buried in thousands of posts discussing the product.

 

[vipergts2207]

It's been proven time and time again that negative feelings prompt far more people to post their reviews online than those with positive feelings... be it products, hotels, restaurants, etc.

We're in agreement here.

But it's neither here nor there. Bottom line, it's NOT a widespread issue or you'd see more than a couple posts buried in thousands of posts discussing the product.

I never said it was a widespread issue, it is however, a real and recurring issue. What defines widespread for something like this is subjective anyway. It's not some anti-Apple conspiracy theory like you seem to think. If I was making a wild ass guess on the number of affected MBP's I'd put the number between 0.5-6.0%.

 

[chriscrowlee]

I never said it was a widespread issue, it is however, a real and recurring issue. What defines widespread for something like this is subjective anyway. It's not some anti-Apple conspiracy theory like you seem to think. If I was making a wild ass guess on the number of affected MBP's I'd put the number between 0.5-6.0%.

If the issue were anywhere near 6% (That's 1 in 16 with a manufacturing defect) this would be the leading story on the nightly news. LOL. I'd guess it's more like 1 in 1000, which would put it at 0.1%, which is in line with typical manufacturing defects, maybe a bit lower than average actually.

If you were really in manufacturing, you'd be fired for walking in and suggesting that 1 in 16 defect rate wasn't "widespread" ... heck, even 1 in 100 defective would destroy a brand's reputation.

Read: http://www.xmultiple.com/xwebsite-forum120.htm

 

[vipergts2207]

If the issue were anywhere near 6% (That's 1 in 16 with a manufacturing defect) this would be the leading story on the nightly news. LOL. I'd guess it's more like 1 in 1000, which would put it at 0.1%, which is in line with typical manufacturing defects, maybe a bit lower than average actually.

Like I said, it's a wild ass guess, as there's very little real data on this issue. The upper bound of 6% came from the result of this thread at the time of posting, which I believe would be the absolute ceiling, due to the point upon which I agreed with you. The reason this particular defect may be relatively high compared to others, is because the consistency of the scratch suggests it may come from one or perhaps two particular manufacturing lines. The recent article here on MR about Foxconn's iPhone plant said that in 2014, there were 94 production lines for the iPhone 6 and 5s. Due to the numbers of each product that are sold by Apple, it's almost a certainty that Apple has fewer lines making the MBP than the iPhone, but even if you are conservative with your defect estimate and say that they have 94 lines making MBP's and only one of them has this particular malfunction, that means roughly 1.1% of MBP's will have this issue. This issue also isn't as big of a deal as others could be because it's only cosmetic, not functional, and also relatively small. Not like it's a bunch of broken trackpads or something

If you were really in manufacturing, you'd be fired for walking in and suggesting that 1 in 16 defect rate wasn't "widespread" ... heck, even 1 in 100 defective would destroy a brand's reputation.

Ahhh you got me, you're right, I'm not really in manufacturing.

 

[chriscrowlee]

Like I said, it's a wild ass guess, as there's very little real data on this issue. The upper bound of 6% came from the result of this thread at the time of posting, which I believe would be the absolute ceiling, due to the point upon which I agreed with you. The reason this particular defect may be relatively high compared to others, is because the consistency of the scratch suggests it may come from one or perhaps two particular manufacturing lines. The recent article here on MR about Foxconn's iPhone plant said that in 2014, there were 94 production lines for the iPhone 6 and 5s. Due to the numbers of each product that are sold by Apple, it's almost a certainty that Apple has fewer lines making the MBP than the iPhone, but even if you are conservative with your defect estimate and say that they have 94 lines making MBP's and only one of them has this particular malfunction, that means roughly 1.1% of MBP's will have this issue. This issue also isn't as big of a deal as others could be because it's only cosmetic, not functional, and also relatively small. Not like it's a bunch of broken trackpads or something

I'm baffled by the methodology you use. You speculate that the repetition is because it's from a specific 1 in 94 line? So by that deduction, you are suggesting that every (or most every) MBP that comes off the single line is defective, and nobody at the facility in QC has caught onto this after likely thousands or tens of thousands have come from that single line with defects on nearly every one? Sorry, it doesn't work that way. If that logic held true, let's say the line has been operating for two months and turns out 500 laptops per day. That would mean one line has spit out 30k defective laptops with noticeable physical blemishes. Nope.

Guess we're going to agree to disagree on this one. I just did a really thorough scrub of the forum and can only find a total of 6 unique situations where blemishes were noticed on either model. The math just doesn't support your estimate of the numbers affected. I'd say the defect rate is in line with any iPhone or Apple Watch... a fraction of a percent. Doesn't diminish the fact that if I got one I'd be first in line at the Apple store when they open to return it, but to suggest that the statistical probability of getting a defective unit is anything more than minute\extremely unlikely would be irresponsible as selling a scratcher lottery ticket and telling someone they most likely will win $500 or more.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

I'm baffled by the methodology you use. You speculate that the repetition is because it's from a specific 1 in 94 line? So by that deduction, you are suggesting that every (or most every) MBP that comes off the single line is defective, and nobody at the facility in QC has caught onto this after likely thousands or tens of thousands have come from that single line with defects on nearly every one? Sorry, it doesn't work that way. If that logic held true, let's say the line has been operating for two months and turns out 500 laptops per day. That would mean one line has spit out 30k defective laptops with noticeable physical blemishes. Nope.

Guess we're going to agree to disagree on this one. I just did a really thorough scrub of the forum and can only find a total of 6 unique situations where blemishes were noticed on either model. The math just doesn't support your estimate of the numbers affected. I'd say the defect rate is in line with any iPhone or Apple Watch... a fraction of a percent. Doesn't diminish the fact that if I got one I'd be first in line at the Apple store when they open to return it, but to suggest that the statistical probability of getting a defective unit is anything more than minute\extremely unlikely would be irresponsible as selling a scratcher lottery ticket and telling someone they most likely will win $500 or more.

That's sound reasoning.

 

[vipergts2207]

I'm baffled by the methodology you use. You speculate that the repetition is because it's from a specific 1 in 94 line? So by that deduction, you are suggesting that every (or most every) MBP that comes off the single line is defective, and nobody at the facility in QC has caught onto this after likely thousands or tens of thousands have come from that single line with defects on nearly every one? Sorry, it doesn't work that way. If that logic held true, let's say the line has been operating for two months and turns out 500 laptops per day. That would mean one line has spit out 30k defective laptops with noticeable physical blemishes. Nope.

Guess we're going to agree to disagree on this one. I just did a really thorough scrub of the forum and can only find a total of 6 unique situations where blemishes were noticed on either model. The math just doesn't support your estimate of the numbers affected. I'd say the defect rate is in line with any iPhone or Apple Watch... a fraction of a percent. Doesn't diminish the fact that if I got one I'd be first in line at the Apple store when they open to return it, but to suggest that the statistical probability of getting a defective unit is anything more than minute\extremely unlikely would be irresponsible as selling a scratcher lottery ticket and telling someone they most likely will win $500 or more.

It's funny that you're baffled by MY methodology. Nobody knows how these scratches are coming to be, though I'd like to hear your explanation for the cause of this specific issue and the scratch's relative uniformity and placement. We're not talking about one MBP with a scratch on the palm rest, another with one on the back, another with a chip near the keyboard, etc.

Anyway, my original point was less about the number and more about the fact that you indicated by your language that it was some kind of conspiracy ("people CLAIM" and "they have a laser/camera that scans the product") and that these people were just lying about it, even though there were multiple instances of photographic evidence. Then you followed up with truely absurd reasoning based on the number of posts in a thread that included (I believe), unaffected models. I don't really care what the real number on this issue is, and as I indicated, is likely a low number anyway. Good to see that you've actually moved on to believing that it's an actual manufacturing defect now though.

 

[chriscrowlee]

It's funny that you're baffled by MY methodology. Nobody knows how these scratches are coming to be, though I'd like to hear your explanation for the cause of this specific issue and the scratch's relative uniformity and placement. We're not talking about one MBP with a scratch on the palm rest, another with one on the back, another with a chip near the keyboard, etc.

Anyway, my original point was less about the number and more about the fact that you indicated by your language that it was some kind of conspiracy ("people CLAIM" and "they have a laser/camera that scans the product") and that these people were just lying about it, even though there were multiple instances of photographic evidence. Then you followed up with truely absurd reasoning based on the number of posts in a thread that included (I believe), unaffected models. I don't really care what the real number on this issue is, and as I indicated, is likely a low number anyway.

Sorry I'm done here. As soon as you acted like camera\laser was the boogie man, you lost any credibility knowing anything about manufacturing. Good day, happy new year.

 

[vipergts2207]

Sorry I'm done here. As soon as you acted like camera\laser was the boogie man, you lost any credibility knowing anything about manufacturing. Good day, happy new year.

I in no way acted like it's a "boogie man" (whatever that means in this context). I did however point out that you used it as poor justification on why these people could not have POSSIBLY recieved a product with a manufacturing defect, when clearly they did. It's obvious you're out of your depth here. Thanks for playing though.

 

[KAMB]

Well opened the box today and my fear became reality.

I found two scratches below the left speaker grill along with a small blemish on the bottom of the top case (shown in attached photo).

Very disappointed in the quality and that this has happened before any use.

Needless to say I will be testing this out for the next week or so just to see how I like it overall but this one in particular will be going back to the store.

 

[ManuCH]

Well opened the box today and my fear became reality.

I found two scratches below the left speaker grill along with a small blemish on the bottom of the top case (shown in attached photo).

Very disappointed in the quality and that this has happened before any use.

Needless to say I will be testing this out for the next week or so just to see how I like it overall but this one in particular will be going back to the store.

Can all the scratches always be easily seen, or do you need to tilt the MBP at an angle or shine a light on it to see it?

Just curious.