Props to people still giving Apple their money for the 2016-2018 MacBooks

[agaskew]

The OP did.. by implying that all of these machines are "faulty".

Go back and read what the OP wrote.. instead of what you wanted to see.

Did you read the linked Reddit post from the AASP though? You may pick holes in the OP's tone, fair enough, but the implication is a bit more than that - the linked AASP post states that there are inherent hardware flaws in these machines.

• "2015 12" + all 2016-2018 Pro models experience issues with display cables failing after normal use."
• "12" 2015 + all 2016-2018 Pro models will develop keyboard issues eventually, its a matter of time."
• "In both scenarios above, replacing the part will not permanently fix it since they only replace it with identical parts, meaning theyre bound to fail again."

 

[Stephen.R]

disposable unrepairable devices

Given that they've started offering service for machines of the age that they previously wouldn't even supply parts for, this is patently false. Just because you can't repair it, doesn't make it unrepairable.

I have not replaced my iPhone 5s and have no intention of doing so until it ceases functioning

And Apple clearly support your use, as they still provide major iOS updates for the 5S.

Phil Schiller thinks users of 5 year old computers are "sad".

Got a quote for that?

macOS Mojave is the first major OS update that I couldn't install on my late 2011 MBP - 7 years after it was released. Mac Pros back to 2010 are supported if you have/get a supported video card.

So, how is it exactly that Apple is trying force people to upgrade every 3 years?

 

[weckart]

Can't provide any personal experience in terms of quality, but my uncle has the 2016 Touch Bar model and he's on his second keyboard and just recently had to change the entire display ($500) due to the flex cable breaking. Not very comforting...

...The new MacBook Air is a fantastic machine. Does everything I've thrown at it, while remaining silent and cool to the touch. Battery life is fantastic and Touch ID is a nice benefit.

But the new MBA has ostensibly the same keyboard with a bit of membrane, which seems only to delay the inevitable.

Question for those with the new laptops, is it not possible to just pop up the keycap to clean the gunge underneath? I understand the new keys might be a bit more fragile by being thinner than before but surely it would be cheaper to just replace the keycap and butterfly movement below if they break on removal than replace the whole top lid or is that not possible (sealed butterfly movement etc)?

 

[revmacian]

Did you read the linked Reddit post from the AASP though?

No, I didn't read any of the links. I found the word "faulty" in the first sentence of the OP and that word was used to describe 2016-2018 MacBooks. I own one of the devices referenced by the OP and it is not faulty.. so the OP was incorrect in the very first sentence of his post. I felt there was little chance that the OP would link articles that would contradict his statement, given the tone of his post, so the articles weren't worth my time. If the OP is incorrect, why would I waste time on articles that were linked for the purpose of supporting the OP's statement?

 

[lnikj]

Given that they've started offering service for machines of the age that they previously wouldn't even supply parts for, this is patently false. Just because you can't repair it, doesn't make it unrepairable.

Can you give me a pricelist for out of warranty repairs on 2016-18 machines?

And Apple clearly support your use, as they still provide major iOS updates for the 5S.

I think they would rather sell me a new phone though. Sales are levelling off or falling around the world.

Got a quote for that?

Sure: https://www.geek.com/apple/phil-sch...that-people-use-5-year-old-computers-1650316/

macOS Mojave is the first major OS update that I couldn't install on my late 2011 MBP - 7 years after it was released. Mac Pros back to 2010 are supported if you have/get a supported video card.

So, how is it exactly that Apple is trying force people to upgrade every 3 years?

They're not forcing you to upgrade every 3 years. But if your 2016-18 MBP fails after 3 years you may find there is no sensible economic choice open to you other than replacing it.

Don't confuse 'still supported in software' with 'hardware is economically repairable'. If none of my devices or computers could be updated to the latest version of the OS I really couldn't care very much. My 2011 MBP was never upgraded beyond El Capitan, I doubt if I will upgrade by 2015 iMac beyond High Sierra, and if my iPhone or iPads couldn't use the latest IOS it would make very little difference to me.

 

[agaskew]

No, I didn't read any of the links. I found the word "faulty" in the first sentence of the OP and that word was used to describe 2016-2018 MacBooks. I own one of the devices referenced by the OP and it is not faulty.. so the OP was incorrect in the very first sentence of his post. I felt there was little chance that the OP would link articles that would contradict his statement, given the tone of his post, so the articles weren't worth my time. If the OP is incorrect, why would I waste time on articles that were linked for the purpose of supporting the OP's statement?

You don't see that your assertion that they are not faulty, because yours is fine today, is more preposterous than the OP's assertion that they are faulty? Because the OP assertion is at least based on detailed information from an Apple Authorised Service Provider. That you refuse to read. Yet, you have the time to post here. Ok, got it...

 

[revmacian]

You don't see that your assertion that they are not faulty, because yours is fine today, is more preposterous than the OP's assertion that they are faulty? Because the OP assertion is at least based on detailed information from an Apple Authorised Service Provider. That you refuse to read. Yet, you have the time to post here. Ok, got it...

My assertion, that my device is not faulty, is based on the fact that my device is working perfectly for my needs right now.. and that is all that matters to me. You can allow someone else's chaos to ruin your day if you want, but I refuse to do so.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

Did you read the linked Reddit post from the AASP though? You may pick holes in the OP's tone, fair enough, but the implication is a bit more than that - the linked AASP post states that there are inherent hardware flaws in these machines.

• "2015 12" + all 2016-2018 Pro models experience issues with display cables failing after normal use."
• "12" 2015 + all 2016-2018 Pro models will develop keyboard issues eventually, its a matter of time."
• "In both scenarios above, replacing the part will not permanently fix it since they only replace it with identical parts, meaning theyre bound to fail again."

It's an AASP with anecdotal """"evidence"""", if you're willing to even call it that.

I'm quite surprised that this AASP has the engineering background to determine this is a design fault. Impressive.

 

[Ries]

My assertion, that my device is not faulty, is based on the fact that my device is working perfectly for my needs right now. And that is all that matters to me.

2011 models with dGPU also worked perfectly for a 1-3 years. When they started failing, people claimed no issues, apple claimed no issues and wanted money for a new logic board to fix it with a board that had the same inherent flaw. Turns out that everyone has the issue, it is only a matter of time before it fails.

Lets see if your device isn't faulty in a year.

 

[revmacian]

2011 models with dGPU also worked perfectly for a 1-3 years. When they started failing, people claimed no issues, apple claimed no issues and wanted money for a new logic board to fix it with a board that had the same inherent flaw. Turns out that everyone has the issue, it is only a matter of time before it fails.

When mine fails, then I will take steps to remedy the situation. But, unlike many other people here, I refuse to allow it to rob me of my happiness today.

 

[lnikj]

2011 models with dGPU also worked perfectly for a 1-3 years. When they started failing, people claimed no issues, apple claimed no issues and wanted money for a new logic board to fix it with a board that had the same inherent flaw. Turns out that everyone has the issue, it is only a matter of time before it fails.

Lets see if your device isn't faulty in a year.

My late 2011 17" had the repair 3 times because they just replaced it with another used part.

 

[Dave245]

Not sure why you decided on the Surface Pro, after spending two years waiting on the MacBook Air? It's obvious that the MacBook Air was the laptop you were waiting for. Large(r) screen, in a thin and light package.

The new MacBook Air is a fantastic machine. Does everything I've thrown at it, while remaining silent and cool to the touch. Battery life is fantastic and Touch ID is a nice benefit.

As of now, I couldn't be happier - remains to be seen how it holds up. This is my first experience with the modern day laptops from Apple, coming from a 2007 MBP, 2009 MB, 2011 MBA and 2013 rMBP.

At the time i was annoyed with Apple, my 2017 iPad Pro was constantly restarting itself and eventually died completely, Apple wanted £544.66 to fix it, i spoke to a few people and the last guy i spoke with told me i would have to go to the Apple store i brought it from (which is miles away from me).
Having felt annoyed with Apple i brought a Surface Pro 6, after buying it i was advised by a member of this forum that i could get the iPad Pro fixed under U.K consumer law, Apple were not to willing to do this at first, i then wrote an email to Tim Cook and Phil Schiller, i got an email back from an Executive Liaison Executive Relations at Apple, and a phone call not too long after, the guy told me that he was acting on behalf of Mr Schiller and wanted to sort out any issues i had, i explained the situation and he told me that a box would be arriving the next day and could i send the iPad Pro back, i did this and within 24 hours i received a new iPad Pro 2017, that restored my faith in Apple.

Before all of that i was leaning towards getting the new MacBook Air.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

When mine fails, then I will take steps to remedy the situation. But, unlike many other people here, I refuse to allow it to rob me of my happiness today.

In the end of the day, it's a computer.

If it's so mission critical, I'd rather get a Panasonic toughbook.

 

[NT1440]

It's an AASP with anecdotal """"evidence"""", if you're willing to even call it that.

I'm quite surprised that this AASP has the engineering background to determine this is a design fault. Impressive.

Forgive my ignorance but what does AASP stand for? Authorized Apple Service Provider?

If so, what people are literally doing is going off the word of a glorified Geek Squad Technician. Having worked at a Geek Squad AND having been officially Apple certified (ACMT, I was in charge of the macs at a college I worked for), unless there’s an official Apple bulletin in their system we’re to take the word of a repair guy on engineering matters.

If such a bulletin did exist Apple would have an official repair program in place for this fault, instead it seems like this is an issue that is more common to this model overall, but it’s not a friggin epidemic where all machines will fail with this problem.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

Forgive my ignorance but what does AASP stand for? Authorized Apple Service Provider?

If so, what people are literally doing is going off the word of a glorified Geek Squad Technician. Having worked at a Geek Squad AND having been officially Apple certified (ACMT, I was in charge of the macs at a college I worked for), unless there’s an official Apple bulletin in their system we’re to take the word of a repair guy on engineering matters.

If such a bulletin did exist Apple would have an official repair program in place for this fault, instead it seems like this is an issue that is more common to this model overall, but it’s not a friggin epidemic where all machines will fail with this problem.

Yes, exactly. This dude has a repair shop certified to perform warranty work.

If that were an internal Apple bulletin, Apple would be terminating his contract immediately for leaking confidential info. As it stands he's just talking out of his ass

 

[NT1440]

Yes, exactly. This dude has a repair shop certified to perform warranty work.

If that were an internal Apple bulletin, Apple would be terminating his contract immediately for leaking confidential info. As it stands he's just talking out of his ass

Even the wording is suspect and frankly, the logic of a dim bulb.

Paraphrasing: “I’ve seen at least one of each model have issues from this particular area, therefore every machine will have this issue”

It’s the same logic as “I’ve worked on at least one of each model that had a hard drive fail, therefore every machine will die from a failed hard drive”.

I see this a lot from technicians. They are the ones that actually get machines when they have issues, so by definition they never interact with the vastly greater percentage of machines that are running without issue. It skews their perception.

I had 3 Lenovo T580’s die from the same problem here at work (same as in those machines had the same fault, not this screen issue we’re discussing). I’m not going to make the incredibly weak “logical” jump to declare that they’re all defective when I have 40+ of them that don’t have any issue at all.

 

[leman]

Where are these stats you speak of?

The classical study is still this one from 2009: https://www.squaretrade.com/laptop-reliability-1109/

There are some newer ones I've seen (but not as detailed), which show very similar trends.

Because I have computers and laptops that are over 10 years and they are still going.

Good that you got lucky. We also have at least two working iMac G5 in our basement. We had many more that have failed.

My biggest issue is the slow but persistent change in company ethos, away from the professional creatives who rescued Apple from the doldrums to the consumers where the big $$$s are.

How did you reach that conclusion? Apple computers are not any more expensive now that it was, say, 10 years ago. They are not any less powerful and they didn't deviate a bit from the original formula that made them so successful: a high-performance, light and thin computer with a great display and best battery life in its category.

Those of us who actually need the power of a MBP to do whatever it is we do, rather than just having bragging rights of having the latest/fastest/shiniest toy, feel (I think) that Apple is no longer catering for our needs.

I do need the power of a MBP to do whatever I do and the current MBP is exactly what I need. What is that you feel you should receive in a MBP? USB ports with fewer functions?

Apple are innovative in many ways and one of their latest innovations is disposable unrepairable devices.

That is strange, since every time we had a problem with a 2016-2018 MBP, it got repaired within a two day window by our service provider. I wonder how they managed to do it if the device is unrepairable.

Is the grass any greener on the other side? I am about to find out

And there is a high enough chance that you will receive an issue-free machine. Your personal experience doesn't matter. If you want to talk about reliability/longevity etc. you need to look across the experiences of thousands and ten thousands of users.

At least I will buying a computer that is more tailored to my needs and at half the cost of the faulty 2018 MBP

Sorry, but let me ask you this: if the MBP was not the best computer for your needs, why did you even get it in the first place? If I need a beefy GPU and don't care about battery, I don't buy a MBP. If I need a tough laptop that and withstand harsh environment conditions, I don't buy a MBP. If I need a 2-in-1, I don't buy a MBP. Seems to be rather obvious to me.

It is just my opinion, but I feel that brand loyalty is a bad thing.

Couldn't agree more with you. Brand loyalty is what leads to customer abuse and technology stagnation, especially if the brand has the status of monopoly.

I don't buy Apple products because I am loyal to the brand. I buy their products because, as I have mentioned before, there is nothing else on the market that would work out better for me. Also, I respect Apple's vision for computing, their view on IT privacy, their open source efforts and their philosophy of software development. There are also a lot of things that annoy me. For example, we've been using Apple's server OS for a while, but now I am phasing it out because its became impossible to work with.

Did you read the linked Reddit post from the AASP though? You may pick holes in the OP's tone, fair enough, but the implication is a bit more than that - the linked AASP post states that there are inherent hardware flaws in these machines.

• "2015 12" + all 2016-2018 Pro models experience issues with display cables failing after normal use."
• "12" 2015 + all 2016-2018 Pro models will develop keyboard issues eventually, its a matter of time."

And why should I care about what this AASP says? When are these guaranteed failures supposed to happen? After 1 year? After 2 years? After 10 years? I have here more then 30 of said machines in operation and so far the only issue we ever had was a single semi-stuck key that was fixed within 2 hours.
[doublepost=1548344068][/doublepost]

It’s the same logic as “I’ve worked on at least one of each model that had a hard drive fail, therefore every machine will die from a failed hard drive”.

Which is completely true! Assuming that the machine won't fail because from any other cause, it will fail because of the hard drive.

Which is similar to saying something like this: "He was drinking water every day for last 80 years, it's obvious why he died".

 

[lnikj]

How did you reach that conclusion? Apple computers are not any more expensive now that it was, say, 10 years ago.

Try as I might I couldn't spend £4-6k on a MBP 10 years ago, even adjusted for inflation.

They are not any less powerful and they didn't deviate a bit from the original formula that made them so successful: a high-performance, light and thin computer with a great display and best battery life in its category.

Except that they are now too thin and too light to adequately vent the heat their top end CPUs and GPUs create.

I do need the power of a MBP to do whatever I do and the current MBP is exactly what I need. What is that you feel you should receive in a MBP? USB ports with fewer functions?

Seeing as you mention it, a couple of USB ports would be nice, yes. No need to reduce the number, 'as well as' not 'instead'. Oh, a Magsafe input would be good, and a lightning port too. I don't need a Firewire any longer but there are plenty of people out there with Firewire audio interfaces who do.

I would like to have back the ability to put my own RAM and my own drives in. I would like the space to put in two drives as I did with the 2011, even if that was not Apple's intention. I would like the ability to put a small SSD in now and replace it later when bigger ones drop in price.

I would like a 17" matt non-retina screen as an option. The performance of software I run is degraded by pushing around a load of pixels I don't need.

That is strange, since every time we had a problem with a 2016-2018 MBP, it got repaired within a two day window by our service provider. I wonder how they managed to do it if the device is unrepairable.

What evidence do you have that they repaired it rather than swapped out its internals or top case or screen?

Have you been given a price list for out of warranty repairs?

And there is a high enough chance that you will receive an issue-free machine. Your personal experience doesn't matter. If you want to talk about reliability/longevity etc. you need to look across the experiences of thousands and ten thousands of users.

I am only talking about my concern that if it had a problem after 37 months it would make no economic sense to repair it. I have opened up my 17" many times, as I did with 4 MBPs/Powerbooks before it, and replaced RAM, drives, batteries, fans, cleaned out the dust etc.

Sorry, but let me ask you this: if the MBP was not the best computer for your needs, why did you even get it in the first place? If I need a beefy GPU and don't care about battery, I don't buy a MBP. If I need a tough laptop that and withstand harsh environment conditions, I don't buy a MBP. If I need a 2-in-1, I don't buy a MBP. Seems to be rather obvious to me.

Stupidity? Fear? I have not bought a PC in 20 years. I don't really want to now, but I will.

 

[Cashmonee]

Forgive my ignorance but what does AASP stand for? Authorized Apple Service Provider?

If so, what people are literally doing is going off the word of a glorified Geek Squad Technician. Having worked at a Geek Squad AND having been officially Apple certified (ACMT, I was in charge of the macs at a college I worked for), unless there’s an official Apple bulletin in their system we’re to take the word of a repair guy on engineering matters.

If such a bulletin did exist Apple would have an official repair program in place for this fault, instead it seems like this is an issue that is more common to this model overall, but it’s not a friggin epidemic where all machines will fail with this problem.

Thank you for saying this. People really need to calm down here and get a grip.

 

[Stephen.R]

Can you give me a pricelist for out of warranty repairs on 2016-18 machines?

What's that got to do with the price of fish? You said they're not repairable. They clearly are. If you want to complain they're expensive to repair, that's a different issue.

I think they would rather sell me a new phone though. Sales are levelling off or falling around the world.

What you think doesn't correlate with what they are actually doing though, so I can't help you.

Sure: https://www.geek.com/apple/phil-sch...that-people-use-5-year-old-computers-1650316/

To be fair, he didn't say the users are sad. He said it's sad that people are using PCs 5 years old.

They're not forcing you to upgrade every 3 years. But if your 2016-18 MBP fails after 3 years you may find there is no sensible economic choice open to you other than replacing it.

If a giant fish falls from the sky I may find myself trapped beneath it too. If the parts are available, (which is what Apple has been changing lately for previously "obsolete" etc models) a repair centre will give you the option to repair it, at whatever the cost is. This is literally no different than it was in e.g. the 2011 models - except now they can actually get the parts - previously, once a Mac reached the obsolete stage, even third party Authorised Service Centres won't help you.

How you can argue that providing spare parts for longer is worse for "repairability", I'll never know.

Don't confuse 'still supported in software' with 'hardware is economically repairable'. If none of my devices or computers could be updated to the latest version of the OS I really couldn't care very much. My 2011 MBP was never upgraded beyond El Capitan, I doubt if I will upgrade by 2015 iMac beyond High Sierra, and if my iPhone or iPads couldn't use the latest IOS it would make very little difference to me.

So your theory is, that rather than simply stop providing software updates, they specifically engineer the hardware to fail sooner, to force you to upgrade, while also dedicating engineering effort to keep the latest software running on hardware they've specifically engineered to fail.... by any chance can I sell you a tin foil hat?

 

[lnikj]

What's that got to do with the price of fish? You said they're not repairable. They clearly are. If you want to complain they're expensive to repair, that's a different issue.

I lack the superlatives to describe your pedantry, chapeau ! I think you can clearly understand from my post that I meant "economically repairable". My apologies for not being more precise.

If a giant fish falls from the sky I may find myself trapped beneath it too. If the parts are available, (which is what Apple has been changing lately for previously "obsolete" etc models) a repair centre will give you the option to repair it, at whatever the cost is. This is literally no different than it was in e.g. the 2011 models - except now they can actually get the parts - previously, once a Mac reached the obsolete stage, even third party Authorised Service Centres won't help you.

Forgive me if I am wrong, and you are sure to correct me, but these are the spare parts for the 2018:

https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/xCOP5tkGbfLdFPTx.large

Care to speculate on their cost?

 

[Garage Battle]

Skimmed through this thread to see adult children acting like adult children.

This issue with the screen flex cable affects all 2016-2018 MBP users and I'm sure with a complex enough calculation you could determine a number of openings/angle of opening/opening speed/temperature that could predict a range of when this will happen to every 2016-2018 MacBook Pro. Unlike the keyboard, which has a variance based on contamination, the screen cable is strands of copper that with a range of forces applied it will always fail (unlike the keyboard which may/may not fail due to several more reasons).

If you haven't watched this video, watch it:

This can happen to every MacBook Pro and I think its a much bigger concern than the keyboards are. It shows a design flaw that will fail with normal usage (ie opening the screen is normal usage). Nowhere in the instructions or literature do they mention an increased chance of failure opening the lid past 90deg, and nor do they mention an increased change of failure by number of times the lid is opened.

Apple made the cable too short and too frail. The sooner we become unanimous in that thought the sooner Apple will recognize the flaw and offer an extended warranty - hopefully this time with a revised stronger, longer cable that solves the issue.

Think of it this way. If 500 of us take our MacBook Pros and open the screen the same way a number of times eventually all of our laptops will fail due to the same flaw. Opening the screen is normal usage. How many times/and how a user does this in its life will vary greatly - but we all have the same fault whether you personally have reached that threshold or not.

This differs heavily from the keyboard - where is 500 of us started typing the same novels over and over we would see sporadic failures but it isn't guaranteed that all of ours would fail.

So, in true Steve honor - you're opening it wrong.

 

[Newtons Apple]

It's just hilarious to me how many people are still recommending to put down thousands of dollars for these faulty devices.


AASP tech outlining all of the issues of the MacBooks, stating that it's inevitable for the problems to keep resurfacing (Even after getting it "fixed" through Apple): https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comm...hind_macbook_pros_stage_light_effect/eepf7j9/

(I hate the -gate titles) The already well known issue of the display cable getting worn out:

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...20/apple-macbook-pro-lighting-screen-flexgate
https://www.cnet.com/g00/news/macbook-pro-screen-cable-issues-spawn-flexgate-petition/?i10c.ua=1&i10c.encReferrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8=&i10c.dv=12

And of course the keyboard issues that are starting to pop up in the 2018 MacBooks.

I didn't even bring up the T2 chip issues. Seriously, the mental gymnastics to purchase these faulty products.

My 2018 MBPro 15" has worked without flaw. NONE of the keyboard problems I had with the previous models have occurred. I could not be more happy with mine.

 

[leman]

Try as I might I couldn't spend £4-6k on a MBP 10 years ago, even adjusted for inflation.

The mid-range model is £2,699.00. I have no idea how you are arriving at 6k, unless you insist on speccing it with the very expensive 4TB upgrade option (which has the same price as the base cost of the machine).

Except that they are now too thin and too light to adequately vent the heat their top end CPUs and GPUs create.

Complete nonsense. The laptop has no issues maintaining sustained 45W power draw to the CPU under prolonged multi-core operation and also performs better than other laptop in its class in simultaneous CPU and GPU operation. What you say is based on gross misunderstanding of some few popular vloggers on how modern CPUs operate and how Intel in particular had specced mobile Coffee lake in order to maintain sales amid its lack of technological breakthroughs.

It is certainly true that there are large gaming laptops that house desktop-class cooling solutions and can operate those chips at a desktop level, raising the power limit from the typical laptop scenario to desktop-class 60+ or even 90+ watts. If that's what you are after, MBP was never a computer for you, since that's a completely different beast with other tradeoffs (weight/size/battery).

What evidence do you have that they repaired it rather than swapped out its internals or top case or screen?

Of course they swapped it out. What does it matter? I got a fixed computer back, with all its data in tact. This is arguing semantics. I don't care how they accomplish a repair if they can fix my problem.

Have you been given a price list for out of warranty repairs?

Unfortunately, I don't care for out of warranty repairs because I (just as you) don't believe that it makes sense economically to repair a laptop 3 years after its purchase date. Which brings me to your next point...

I am only talking about my concern that if it had a problem after 37 months it would make no economic sense to repair it.

I do not see how this is elusive to Macs. Computers are a work tool for me. Three years is a very long timespan in tech and I usually upgrade my machines every 2.5-3 years simply because the tech has advanced far enough to make a significant difference. I have now replaced my 2016 machine with the 2018 and the speed-up in my daily work is something I can definitely notice.

If I had a cheap computer that suffers a catastrophic failure, I certainly wouldn't bother repairing if after 3 years have past. I'd just sell it for scrap and get a new one.

I have opened up my 17" many times, as I did with 4 MBPs/Powerbooks before it, and replaced RAM, drives, batteries, fans, cleaned out the dust etc.

Cleaning out the dust or replacing battery is not a problem with the new MBPs as well. RAM upgrades made sense back in a day where RAM was expensive and the advances in RAM tech were rapid. Not so much these days where you machine just with a very high default amount from the start. Yes, I would also like the SSD to be user-replaceable since its still a sensitive component and it seems a bit dumb to replace the logic board on its failure. That said, I haven't experienced a single(!!) SSD failure in any of the retina Macs we have ever bought (and this is probably more then 100 Macs since 2012). Can't really claim the same for the HDD-equipped models.
[doublepost=1548362060][/doublepost]

This issue with the screen flex cable affects all 2016-2018 MBP users and I'm sure with a complex enough calculation you could determine a number of openings/angle of opening/opening speed/temperature that could predict a range of when this will happen to every 2016-2018 MacBook Pro. Unlike the keyboard, which has a variance based on contamination, the screen cable is strands of copper that with a range of forces applied it will always fail (unlike the keyboard which may/may not fail due to several more reasons).

How many opening-closing events are we talking about? I have here around 30 of these laptops that are being opened-closed somewhere between 10 and 50 times per day (highly mobile work environment, many meetings and teaching events) — why haven't I seen a single display cable failure yet?

Sorry, I am simply not convinced.

 

[lnikj]

If I had a cheap computer that suffers a catastrophic failure, I certainly wouldn't bother repairing if after 3 years have past. I'd just sell it for scrap and get a new one.

This is where I realise that we are on two different planets. I cannot afford to scrap the £4k MBP I returned after 3 years.

Thanks for your comments !