Returned Very Buggy 15" MBP w/ TB Today: Was Give a replacement No questions asked.

[farkasam]

Hi All,

I received my 15" MBP (see below for specs) on Saturday, 12/5/16. As soon as I powered it on I knew it had issues:

1. The Touch ID button was loose and wobbled around in its socket. It eventually stopped working.
2. I deleted and then tried to re-add my fingerprints but the system continually stalled and would never complete the reset.
3. The entire touch bar would become non-responsive, during multiple tasks (emptying the trash, adjusting vol. etc).
4. As everyone has noted, I was getting between 3.4 and 5h of battery life using Office, streaming Spotify, and using some bibliographic software. Abysmal.
5. The hot corners I set up were buggy and switching between apps felt jerky
6. I saw one screen "fritz, flash" type of thing on startup
7. I was continually being logged out of my iCloud account

Today I made an appt. at a Genius bar (I'm in NYC). When I realized I couldn't be there in time (2h before the appt.) I tried to call the store to cancel. No dice, I got apple tech support using the store-specific phone number and was on hold for 35 min. Feeling more than a little pissed off, I took the train down to the flagship store on 5th Ave and walked in.

As soon as I explained the situation to the Apple store employee she immediately went in the back and gave me a brand new replacement. I asked if she wanted to see the issues I was having in person. She did not. If was as no questions asked as possible. I asked what her take on customer experience had been with the new MBPs so far. She was diplomatic but I inferred that she's probably put up with a lot of angry customers. That's too bad because it's not her fault, she was great.

I asked if they would refurbish my "old" MBP for resale and she said no. Apparently Apple has instructed retail stores to ship any returned computers directly back to Cupertino so the engineers could have a look. My overall impression was that, perhaps obviously, Apple is totally aware that it released at least a decent percentage of malfunctioning machines and are trying to quietly handle the duds before pursuing further action (I doubt there would be a recall, but perhaps a serious, engineering-intensive update release),

Anyway, I'm currently setting up the new computer and hoping it's as good as it should be. To anyone having significant issues with your new MBPs, take them to the Apple store closest to you and perhaps you can walk out with a replacement that represents the machine you spent all that money on.

Cheers.

 

[fs454]

I asked if they would refurbish my "old" MBP for resale and she said no. Apparently Apple has instructed retail stores to ship any returned computers directly back to Cupertino so the engineers could have a look. My overall impression was that, perhaps obviously, Apple is totally aware that it released at least a decent percentage of malfunctioning machines and are trying to quietly handle the duds before pursuing further action (I doubt there would be a recall, but perhaps a serious, engineering-intensive update release),

Anyway, I'm currently setting up the new computer and hoping it's as good as it should be. To anyone having significant issues with your new MBPs, take them to the Apple store closest to you and perhaps you can walk out with a replacement that represents the machine you spent all that money on.

Cheers.

It's not too out of the ordinary what's going on here - I just had mine replaced for the Boot Camp speaker issue as well - but Apple always sets up a capture program at the launch of any product in order to track and stay ahead of any issues coming out of mass production. In your case, it wasn't a clear cut issue so they're going to want to see why it was behaving that way and use your notebook to help cure any potential issues at large. I don't think that their failure rate is of the magnitude of, say, the Xbox 360 red ring of death fiasco. We see a lot of complaints here on the forum because most are likely to come here for advice (or to vent) about issues they're having. Far fewer people come on here to talk about how everything is A-OK.

 

[blairian89]

I have not had any obvious issues with either one of my 15"ers.

One of the TouchID buttons seems to be a little "looser" than the other, but it functions flawlessly and does not cause me any concern. I have AppleCare; figure if it craps out it will do so within the next three years. Both laptops have been relatively bug free and the only issues that have presented themselves are easily fixed with a reboot.

 

[xraydoc]

Hi All,

I received my 15" MBP (see below for specs) on Saturday, 12/5/16. As soon as I powered it on I knew it had issues:

1. The Touch ID button was loose and wobbled around in its socket. It eventually stopped working.
2. I deleted and then tried to re-add my fingerprints but the system continually stalled and would never complete the reset.
3. The entire touch bar would become non-responsive, during multiple tasks (emptying the trash, adjusting vol. etc).
4. As everyone has noted, I was getting between 3.4 and 5h of battery life using Office, streaming Spotify, and using some bibliographic software. Abysmal.
5. The hot corners I set up were buggy and switching between apps felt jerky
6. I saw one screen "fritz, flash" type of thing on startup
7. I was continually being logged out of my iCloud account

Today I made an appt. at a Genius bar (I'm in NYC). When I realized I couldn't be there in time (2h before the appt.) I tried to call the store to cancel. No dice, I got apple tech support using the store-specific phone number and was on hold for 35 min. Feeling more than a little pissed off, I took the train down to the flagship store on 5th Ave and walked in.

As soon as I explained the situation to the Apple store employee she immediately went in the back and gave me a brand new replacement. I asked if she wanted to see the issues I was having in person. She did not. If was as no questions asked as possible. I asked what her take on customer experience had been with the new MBPs so far. She was diplomatic but I inferred that she's probably put up with a lot of angry customers. That's too bad because it's not her fault, she was great.

I asked if they would refurbish my "old" MBP for resale and she said no. Apparently Apple has instructed retail stores to ship any returned computers directly back to Cupertino so the engineers could have a look. My overall impression was that, perhaps obviously, Apple is totally aware that it released at least a decent percentage of malfunctioning machines and are trying to quietly handle the duds before pursuing further action (I doubt there would be a recall, but perhaps a serious, engineering-intensive update release),

Anyway, I'm currently setting up the new computer and hoping it's as good as it should be. To anyone having significant issues with your new MBPs, take them to the Apple store closest to you and perhaps you can walk out with a replacement that represents the machine you spent all that money on.

Cheers.

Let us know if the new one is better. If it's the Radeon 455 model, I have the same one and it's been good so far.

 

[farkasam]

So far so good, thank you. Yes, Radeon 455 . . . Hopefully just go unlucky w/ the 1st one.

Let us know if the new one is better. If it's the Radeon 455 model, I have the same one and it's been good so far.

 

[MH01]

Awesome that you had a good experience getting the exchange, hope the new model is issue free

 

[athletejmv]

Hi All,

I received my 15" MBP (see below for specs) on Saturday, 12/5/16. As soon as I powered it on I knew it had issues:

1. The Touch ID button was loose and wobbled around in its socket. It eventually stopped working.
2. I deleted and then tried to re-add my fingerprints but the system continually stalled and would never complete the reset.
3. The entire touch bar would become non-responsive, during multiple tasks (emptying the trash, adjusting vol. etc).
4. As everyone has noted, I was getting between 3.4 and 5h of battery life using Office, streaming Spotify, and using some bibliographic software. Abysmal.
5. The hot corners I set up were buggy and switching between apps felt jerky
6. I saw one screen "fritz, flash" type of thing on startup
7. I was continually being logged out of my iCloud account

Today I made an appt. at a Genius bar (I'm in NYC). When I realized I couldn't be there in time (2h before the appt.) I tried to call the store to cancel. No dice, I got apple tech support using the store-specific phone number and was on hold for 35 min. Feeling more than a little pissed off, I took the train down to the flagship store on 5th Ave and walked in.

As soon as I explained the situation to the Apple store employee she immediately went in the back and gave me a brand new replacement. I asked if she wanted to see the issues I was having in person. She did not. If was as no questions asked as possible. I asked what her take on customer experience had been with the new MBPs so far. She was diplomatic but I inferred that she's probably put up with a lot of angry customers. That's too bad because it's not her fault, she was great.

I asked if they would refurbish my "old" MBP for resale and she said no. Apparently Apple has instructed retail stores to ship any returned computers directly back to Cupertino so the engineers could have a look. My overall impression was that, perhaps obviously, Apple is totally aware that it released at least a decent percentage of malfunctioning machines and are trying to quietly handle the duds before pursuing further action (I doubt there would be a recall, but perhaps a serious, engineering-intensive update release),

Anyway, I'm currently setting up the new computer and hoping it's as good as it should be. To anyone having significant issues with your new MBPs, take them to the Apple store closest to you and perhaps you can walk out with a replacement that represents the machine you spent all that money on.

Cheers.

I had the 15" that did not power on out of the box. Once we got it plugged in at the Apple Store it said the batteries were critical and to replace. No fun since I had to drive over an hour to go pick the MBP up and drive another hour home... not cool with finals, etc going on right now :-/ The only other annoyance is some of the screens on the MBPs, the colors appear uneven, which is mostly noticeable reading text on white backgrounds in normal lighting condition (most people probably won't notice this though).

...unlike your circumstances, I was not able to do an exchange because the 15"MBP sell as soon as they come in at the local Apple stores near me in FL.