My coworker brought his system in three weeks ago as it wouldn't boot and they replaced some parts and it's crashing today so he's going to borrow some cables from me so that he can use his personal system for work while his is in the shop. This will be his third trip to the Apple Store for repairs. The first time was for video issues. This is a 2017 13 inch. We have a ton of the 2015 13 models and I'm not aware of any problems with those.
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Would you feel comfortable buying a new MBP today?
- Thread starter dspdoc
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A small, very vocal minority of people are having problems with their MacBooks. Not to say they don't exist (I've had to get my keyboard swapped out), but it's nowhere near as bad this website makes you think. I love mine to death and would never go back to an older model. Go for it and enjoy!
Those of us who depend on them for our income need reliability and it's unreasonable to expect the downtime that those, few, but not insignificant people suffer. My approach is to have two similarly configured systems in case one fails - I have another one to use while the failure case is in the shop. It's unlikely that one fails and the odds of two failing would be a small percentage of a small percentage.
Vocal: yes.
Small or minority: doubtful.
I know 4 people close by who own 2017 and 2018 Macbooks. Two of them are already in their second keyboard iteration within one year. Another one is having problems with the 'e' key. (Mind you, those are €2500-€3000 machines). What are the odds of that?
You yourself already have your keyboard swapped out. Wait until the next swap, or until your warranty or Apple Care runs out and you have to pay $600 for the swap yourself. Still love your computer to death then? Maybe it is time to get vocal yourself too to prevent that from happening?
Edit: breaking news. Apple just apologized for the failing keyboards. Maybe the 'small vocal minority' did something good. Something you may profit from in the future as well..
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Could you imagine losing a few days or a week of work in dealing with a problem like this? Would you want to risk losing a week of income over something as silly, in the age of modern QA methods, as computer downtime? One of my coworkers is driving to my office (30 miles) this evening to get a part from my office so that he can use his personal Mac (2012 - a good year) as he has a lot of work to do in the next couple of days and he can't wait for the Apple Store to repair his MacBook Pro.
The repair programme should absolutely run the entire length of hardware support of each machine until it is made obsolete. That's not even 'great service' that's the minimum you'd expect of a reputable company that's released an expensive product people rely on for work which has a significant design flaw causing an issue which effectively bricks it with little or no notice.
http://fortune.com/2019/03/27/apple-apology-macbook-butterfly-keyboard-problem/
It even happened to Joanna Stern....
It even happened to Joanna Stern....
2/2 in our office (2017 and 2018 MacBook Pros) failed. Some of my colleagues have 2015 MacBook Pros and 2014 MacBook Air. None had any problems with the keyboards.
I had 4 or 5 Macs with the old scissor keys and none had any issues.
As I said before, I do not doubt that there are out there many happy users with no issues but these kind of failure rates are anything but normal.
I had 4 or 5 Macs with the old scissor keys and none had any issues.
As I said before, I do not doubt that there are out there many happy users with no issues but these kind of failure rates are anything but normal.
I was with you guys and swore I would run my Mid 2012 into the ground. However, as soon as I got my '17, I was sold. Even if I had to shell out another 600 I would love it to death, yes. It's a brilliant machine IMO. Not saying it has some flaws, but the benefits outweigh them by some margin for me.
If you want to use acquaintances to prove your point on durability, my office (50 people) have been using the new MacBooks since 2017, and aside from myself, we've had zero flaws with the keyboard. Most of us write all day every day, so they definitely take a hammering.
If all of our keyboards for some reason start going wrong in a few years, I will join the minority, but I have zero faith that Apple will ever listen (and certainly won't revert back to the old style of keyboard). They have always been a very stubborn company. Is it good practice? No, but I don't see that changing. Just get a Surface Pro or an old MBP. Myself and many others however will continue enjoying the new model!
I was with you guys and swore I would run my Mid 2012 into the ground. However, as soon as I got my '17, I was sold. Even if I had to shell out another 600 I would love it to death, yes. It's a brilliant machine IMO. Not saying it has some flaws, but the benefits outweigh them by some margin for me.
If you want to use acquaintances to prove your point on durability, my office (50 people) have been using the new MacBooks since 2017, and aside from myself, we've had zero flaws with the keyboard. Most of us write all day every day, so they definitely take a hammering.
If all of our keyboards for some reason start going wrong in a few years, I will join the minority, but I have zero faith that Apple will ever listen (and certainly won't revert back to the old style of keyboard). They have always been a very stubborn company. Is it good practice? No, but I don't see that changing. Just get a Surface Pro or an old MBP. Myself and many others however will continue enjoying the new model!
I don’t find a single point to disagree with. I love my ‘18 MBP. Period. End of story, at least from my POV.
I agree, aside from the superiority of MacOS over Windows the other two really annoying things about Windows laptops are the lousy trackpads and the 16:9 screens with the stupid chins on the screens, bezel less on three sides only.
I guess we can only speak from our own experiences, but you having a flawless machine is of little consolation when my machine has bridgeOS kernel panics, frequent beach balls, more issues connecting to the office wifi than any other machines in our company (including many older macs), 560x display glitches, and most recently the case started falling apart despite zero abuse, requiring a week long repair at the Apple store. (Where they determined there was zero they could do to address the crashing)
So far I’ve been free of keyboard issues but we’ll see how long that lasts.
This is my 4th mac over the last 15 years and by far plagued by the most issues. In fact it’s the first Mac I’d give less than a glowing review to, so the difference for me has been quite stark.
Just sharing to give context for the vocal frustrations of someone stuck feeling like they paid a pretty penny for an expensive step backwards.
I haven't' had an issue yet, but I have 4 years of warranty coverage between Apple Care+ and Amex Extended Warranty. If it proves problematic I'll sell it towards the end of its warranty term, but so far the machine has been fantastic for me and I will be quick to say when (or if) that changes.
Why don't people who are having issues and facing week+ repairs from Apple (and who live close to an Apple Store) simply buy another MacBook Pro and return it once the repairs are complete for a full refund? Amex (and other cards) come with damage protection in case the temporary MacBook gets lost, damaged, stolen, or the like. Since you're returning it within 14 days you have no out of pocket costs and minimal downtime. You also get to make the repair process a bit more expensive for Apple (as they now have to spend money refurbishing the return) which should help to convince them to find a solution.
Seems like a simple no brainer to me...
I guess we can only speak from our own experiences, but you having a flawless machine is of little consolation when my machine has bridgeOS kernel panics, frequent beach balls, more issues connecting to the office wifi than any other machines in our company (including many older macs), 560x display glitches, and most recently the case started falling apart despite zero abuse, requiring a week long repair at the Apple store. (Where they determined there was zero they could do to address the crashing)
So far I’ve been free of keyboard issues but we’ll see how long that lasts.
This is my 4th mac over the last 15 years and by far plagued by the most issues. In fact it’s the first Mac I’d give less than a glowing review to, so the difference for me has been quite stark.
Just sharing to give context for the vocal frustrations of someone stuck feeling like they paid a pretty penny for an expensive step backwards.
I get it... and I've posted as much in this and other threads ... I guess it better to be lucky than good, sometimes. Sorry to hear that some (including you) are having so many issues... the worst part is that Apple either doesn't know or doesn't care. Not sure which concerns me more.
Based on my conversations with Apple Executive Relations, I would have to say it’s the latter. They definitely know and are aware of the reported issues.
Nice, dump the garbage on someone unsuspecting, seems to be a building trend with some Apple fans. Some of us rely on our hardware for a living and even with multiple backup systems it still costs downtime to deal with such issues, for what? to be a little thinner and impress the shallow. Previous to this fiasco the MBP was near universally praised now we see long time Mac users switching Windows and professional's abandoning the platform way to go
As time passes it will just get worse as the Butterfly keyboard design is fundamentally flawed.What's a no brainer is Apple delivering exactly what they promised and not ********ting everyone, and quit the nickel & diming...
Q-6
Do not buy MacBooks because they have many issues going on and apple is being completely ignorant about it, After having a keyboard issue and then motherboard issue on my 2016 MacBook Pro 15"
Now it's out of warranty and I started having flexgate issue on march 26 2019
On March 27 2019 i wen't to service centre and they are charging me INR 60,000 which is USD 870 just to replace screen when I showed them posts on internet regarding the issue they just said that "there are many false posts on internet" and we don't know anything about this issue, that means unless I pay for their design flaw they won't replace the screen as they don't yet have any programs for display issues.
Ensure you keep your receipt and all associated paperwork/emails, as the numbers mount up Apple will likely be taken to court and will forfeit by offering an extended warranty program for the flex cable. If so you should be able to get a refund. These machines are simply a joke these days and an embarrassment for all of us, pity Apple could care less...
Q-6
Aside from the keyboard taking some getting used to after using previous MBPs for many years, I haven't had an issue with it. My machine has also only really spun up the fan while playing Call of Duty 4 on the highest graphical settings. As far as flickering, nothing either, and I believe "Flexgate" has been addressed with a different ribbon cable. I also haven't had my machine long, so time will tell.
i believe the majority of the keyboards are fine. But this isn’t a majority or minority issue; there are some standards we expect. What happens if Google is down 10% of the time? That is still certainly the minority’s right?
Also, the problems started surfacing after only a few months, although laptops are designed to last for years. Will it only be the minority that will develop problems or a matter of when the problem will develop?
Also, the problems started surfacing after only a few months, although laptops are designed to last for years. Will it only be the minority that will develop problems or a matter of when the problem will develop?
People don't want apologies, people don't want to think about whether their keyboard will fail
I echo the sentiment from D2D, instead of offering an apology, and sticking with a failed and flawed design apple needs to do something
Apple is literally destroying it's credibility by following this asinine path, the MBP was once universally praised, now we see professional's and long term users dropping the platform, for what to impress the shallow. This iteration of the MBP has to be the worst and most problematic since it's inception in 2006.
Apple's apology is little more than a shallow sales and marketing tactic to mask the extent if the issue. As said we don't want apologies, we want action. Something Apple and the Mac has been devoid of for a very long time...
Frankly as long as Apple meets it's production and revenue targets for the Mac it clearly could care less as that's the only logical way to explain the current mess.
Q-6
Agreed, the only way for apple to change is people vote with their wallets and stop buying the laptops.