Touch Bar Glitching on 2018 MBP

[adamjackson]

This wasn't happening when I first got the machine. It's been reloaded twice, once from backup, once a fresh install. When I get up in the morning, it's glitching like this and actually a motion blocky thing near TouchID (I keep the lid open all night with screen off) and it's also now happening when I wake it up from sleep and it's not unlocked yet. It'll stay up for a minute or so after I'm working on things.

Should I reach out to AppleCare or is this some hidden message Im' supposed to understand?

 

[maflynn]

Should I reach out to AppleCare

If its not working as designed, yes, definitely call apple. You paid enough money for this.

 

[adamjackson]

If its not working as designed, yes, definitely call apple. You paid enough money for this.

It is working. TouchID works, the control strip works (once a minute passes) I just didn't know if this glitch was common in which I should just wait for a software update.

 

[tromboneaholic]

It is working.

@maflynn is right. It's not working "as designed." You should definitely contact Apple while it's still under warranty.

 

[Ifti]

Not common - contact Applecare

 

[maflynn]

It is working. TouchID works, the control strip works (once a minute passes) I just didn't know if this glitch was common in which I should just wait for a software update.

You paid a lot of money for this machine, I wouldn't put up with that sort of issue. Apple markets itself as a premium product, you should expect a premium experience. Just get it swapped out

 

[Ifti]

Doubt they would swap the system out - most likely take it in for repair.....

 

[mdnz]

Doubt they would swap the system out - most likely take it in for repair.....

They'll swap it for sure if you request it and if it's in the 14 day return window.

 

[adamjackson]

Well I bought this in July when the new MBPs came out. I'd love to swap this out and pay for a new GPU. Shame Apple store is not anywhere close. Maybe I can work it out where I mail it on a Thursday and get it back Tuesday. We'll see, it's a CTO Machine so not one stocked in stores.

thanks everyone.

 

[JustinRP37]

I feel like the models are just so much more unreliable than the older ones. I was a cheerleader for this version, but I have just had the worst experience ever with my 2016. It is truly the only Apple purchase I regret. It is my least favorite tech purchase ever and that’s include an HTC Evo 4G on Sprint. If it isn’t the keyboard, it’s slepe crashes, or external display issues, or loose ports. Thankfully I have AppleCare, but be firm with them. This is an overpriced laptop, so insist they fix or give you new. Can’t say if I’ll take another risk on these models, but I definitely am selling this laptop as soon as it comes back. I cannot be without my computer 2-3 weeks a year. Especially since the stores have to ship these heaps of garbage out to a repair depot since they are so unrepairable.

 

[Pangalactic]

Apple markets itself as a premium product

Yes

you should expect a premium experience

No

 

[maflynn]

Yes

No

Why No? Please expound

 

[JustinRP37]

Why No? Please expound

I tend to agree now. A premium experience wouldn’t be a week without your ‘professional’ device. For many MacBook Pro users this is their main device. The device that’s makes their money, pays their insurance, and keeps their family fed. Yes we have backups, but it would be nice for the ‘premium’ amount of money if service was quicker and it didn’t take a few hours to explain what is going on, when you see posts online about the same problems. I cannot honestly name a recent Apple product without some type of service note being issued for a widespread issue. Maybe the Apple Watch Series 4, but many other products have had widespread issues with at least one component or another.

 

[adamjackson]

I've been a new Apple user since the iBook G3 233mhz. I had a lot of hand me downs before that. Apple has always had very good support and still does considering I don't live near an Apple Store.

They send you a box that perfectly fits your computer. it has a FedEx overnight label, it gets sent to Tennsee (my nearest depot) and usually a day later it's in the mail back to me (new machine or fixed machine). Every other computer I own from Apple has an AppleCare visit at least once in its 2 year life with me.

The only time that was different was my iBook 600Mhz G4 that was at Apple 10 times before they finally replaced it outright with an 800Mhz G4 as an upgrade. It had a lot of electrical issues.

I personally don't think Apple's hardware is any less reliable than it was years ago but I haven't had any keyboard issues yet with this computer.


Edit: I should add, going to an Apple Store is actually less efficient. I have to drive 2 hours south, drop it off, then 2 days later it's back (because they mail most of their Macintosh repairs to depot anyway) and I have to drive 2 hours south back to pick it up. Calling Apple Support, the only complaint I have is their insistence that I visit an Apple Store. after 3 insisting remarks, they finally ask for my zip code and say "wow, you're in the middle of nowhere" Thanks Apple. They say 80% of the country's population is near an Apple Store, that means 1 out of 5 customers aren't. They should be more considerate of us rural users...same goes for downloading Mac OS Updates instead of shipping disks / USB drives. Up until last year, my internet speed was 1.5 megabits per second. Update day was 12 hours of updates. Apple (and the world at large) has sort of left rural users out of the social, political and economic discussions and the fact that people come up here expecting uber and grub hub and Yelp listings and not having 3G mobile coverage, it just sort of shocks them but no one really cares about northern New Hampshire. when I'm 10 miles from the border, I hop over to Canadian cell phone towers but can't stream music from iTunes on cellular around my town which sucks but that's just how it is up here.

I know that was a massive off-topic post. I just wish Apple was a bit nicer to those of us who request a box be sent to us and not push for us to use a tank of gas going to the apple store.

 

[JustinRP37]

I've been a new Apple user since the iBook G3 233mhz. I had a lot of hand me downs before that. Apple has always had very good support and still does considering I don't live near an Apple Store.

They send you a box that perfectly fits your computer. it has a FedEx overnight label, it gets sent to Tennsee (my nearest depot) and usually a day later it's in the mail back to me (new machine or fixed machine). Every other computer I own from Apple has an AppleCare visit at least once in its 2 year life with me.

The only time that was different was my iBook 600Mhz G4 that was at Apple 10 times before they finally replaced it outright with an 800Mhz G4 as an upgrade. It had a lot of electrical issues.

I personally don't think Apple's hardware is any less reliable than it was years ago but I haven't had any keyboard issues yet with this computer.

I agree, the service used to be top notch. Now here I am waiting on day two for the box to ship the computer to the depot. They have said it would be 2-5 days st the depot before being returned. This is not the Apple I remember from prior experiences. Maybe they are just that much busier with repairs though. They claim no, but literally everyone I know with a 2016 has had to send theirs back for keyboard issues.

 

[Ma2k5]

I agree, the service used to be top notch. Now here I am waiting on day two for the box to ship the computer to the depot. They have said it would be 2-5 days st the depot before being returned. This is not the Apple I remember from prior experiences. Maybe they are just that much busier with repairs though. They claim no, but literally everyone I know with a 2016 has had to send theirs back for keyboard issues.

In the UK, they used to offer students 3 years warranty as standard and 15% off RRP, this changed to just the 1 year warranty as standard and 10% off RRP just a few years ago. Apple also seem to be far more reluctant to replace products which appear faulty - I saw one of the staff give a customer who has come in for the second time to the store for a non-responsive iPhone X screen, saying it is probably a software issue and forced him to do a reset without restore (and to manually download everything again). On his first visit, he had done a full reset and restore, but according to the second adviser, he has to do this second method without restore before he can get a repair/replacement.

This is all under warranty mind you. Old Apple wouldn't have messed him around like this - to add insult to injury, there is a repair programme for this very known issue of the display module failing on iPhone X's...

All the stores seem so understaffed too, you actually have to queue to arrange a pseudo appointment, just to speak to someone to buy a product. If you want support, if you haven't pre-booked (which can be days of wait in London), you have to queue for quite a long time just to book an appointment, then wait for your appointment, then wait for your repair.

 

[Ifti]

They'll swap it for sure if you request it and if it's in the 14 day return window.

Within the 14 day window yes, considering you could just request a refund if they didn't.
Outside of the 14 days no - unless the system has been back to Apple several times already.
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All the stores seem so understaffed too, you actually have to queue to arrange a pseudo appointment, just to speak to someone to buy a product. If you want support, if you haven't pre-booked (which can be days of wait in London), you have to queue for quite a long time just to book an appointment, then wait for your appointment, then wait for your repair.

Even if you have pre-booked you still end up waiting for ages. Ive rarely had any pre-booked appointment where they've actually kept to their time, and then once you're there the support rep (so called 'Genius') seems very robotic with their procedure and half the time aren't as technical as I would expect.

 

[mdnz]

Within the 14 day window yes, considering you could just request a refund if they didn't.

They swapped mine 3 times outside of the 14 day return window. If you're persistent and have a good reason they're reasonable, I guess it also depends on luck.

 

[Pangalactic]

Why No? Please expound

Let's think what professional users want from their laptops. I would say it's:

1. Reliability
2. Easy and quick repairs if something goes wrong
3. convenience
4. power

Now let's look at these four factors with the new MBP:

1. Reliability - extremely low, there are a lot of components that can break and that do break (Bridge OS, touchbar, speakers, new keys), far more than the competition.
2. Easy and quick repairs - good luck with that, the superglued together MBP takes 5-7 days to replace at an Apple Store. Most other laptops can be repaired in an hour - swap an SSD and copy the data, or swap the keyboard for $20 at the nearest repair center. If this is a PRO machine why is it so hard to repair then?
3. Convenience - a ton of controversial decisions. Is the new keyboard better than the previous one? Do people need the touchbar? Where is SD card slot? Where is USB A slot? Where is MagSafe? A lot of them could have been easily avoided (eg Surface Book 2: no touchbar, great keyboard, SD slot, USB A, MagSafe - but admittedly no USB C)
4. Power - far less power than the equally priced Windows machines. GTX 1050 currently beats all the MBP graphic cards (hopefully Vega will be good), core i7 and core i9 really suffers from the small chassis. And yeah it's like $4000 USD for these models.

Overall - marketed as a premium device, but definitely doesn't bring a PRO experience. IF this was called "Macbook Experimental" I wouldn't mind, but for a pro machine, this won't do.

 

[SDColorado]

(eg Surface Book 2: no touchbar, great keyboard, SD slot, USB A, MagSafe - but admittedly no USB C)

SB2 does have a USB-C port but it isn't TB3.

But Maflynn's statement that you should expect a premium isn't incorrect. You should expect a premium experience for the premium price you pay. Unfortunately, the reality doesn't always live up to the expectations.

 

[tromboneaholic]

There is a lot of whining about premium experience. Apple isn't perfect, but they are better than the competition when it comes to service and support. Even their outdated laptop design sets the bar for everyone else.

 

[Falhófnir]

There is a lot of whining about premium experience. Apple isn't perfect, but they are better than the competition when it comes to service and support. Even their outdated laptop design sets the bar for everyone else.

True to say their aftercare is vastly superior - but it definitely shouldn't be a substitute for sound design and robust quality control.

 

[Ma2k5]

True to say their aftercare is vastly superior - but it definitely shouldn't be a substitute for sound design and robust quality control.

I don't know if it is vastly superior (at least in UK) - and to be honest, it is an Apple and Oranges comparison since the cost of Apple's aftercare appears to not only be more expensive in the form of AppleCare, in addition I reckon they bake in quite a bit of $$$ into the product to cover the aftercare.

 

[JustinRP37]

There is a lot of whining about premium experience. Apple isn't perfect, but they are better than the competition when it comes to service and support. Even their outdated laptop design sets the bar for everyone else.

I really do not think it is much. better than all the. competition anymore. I have had awesome support from Microsoft, and I know many people that love Dell support. Sure Samsung might not be great, but the competition is catching up. I have a faulty MacBook Pro keyboard and they just said it will most likely be 2-3 weeks for repair. That is not great by any standard.

 

[tromboneaholic]

I don't know if it is vastly superior (at least in UK) - and to be honest, it is an Apple and Oranges comparison since the cost of Apple's aftercare appears to not only be more expensive in the form of AppleCare, in addition I reckon they bake in quite a bit of $$$ into the product to cover the aftercare.

AppleCare is included with every purchase, and is superior to everyone else in the industry. If you are going to nitpick, you might want to use the correct terminology.
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I really do not think it is much. better than all the. competition anymore. I have had awesome support from Microsoft, and I know many people that love Dell support. Sure Samsung might not be great, but the competition is catching up. I have a faulty MacBook Pro keyboard and they just said it will most likely be 2-3 weeks for repair. That is not great by any standard.

I don’t know many people who buy Dell, so I can’t compare.