Buyer's Guide: Don't Buy a MacBook Pro Now

[ibaconi]

I've been a Mac user for over 35 years. Mostly awesome stuff. However my 2020 MacBook Pro is the most disappointing computer device I've ever purchased. My list of complaints would require a journal, but the most horrendously frustrating aspect is the USB C ports. Absolute, complete garbage. I've got a drawerful of cleaning equipment and a box of new cables but nothing works. I can rarely get through 5 minutes without a disconnection taking place. Any movement whatsoever and the device will disconnect. Sadly, Mac doesn't care. They're making a fortune selling vastly overpriced garbage made in China. Their site doesn't even have a feedback page that one can access to see other users' comments. If one tries to use the "support community," your question will be deleted if it contains negativity about the product. The greatest trouble with all of this, is that there's nowhere else to go. I keep praying for a new manufacturer to appear but it doesn't seem likely.

 

[theorist9]

I've been a Mac user for over 35 years. Mostly awesome stuff. However my 2020 MacBook Pro is the most disappointing computer device I've ever purchased. My list of complaints would require a journal, but the most horrendously frustrating aspect is the USB C ports. Absolute, complete garbage. I've got a drawerful of cleaning equipment and a box of new cables but nothing works. I can rarely get through 5 minutes without a disconnection taking place. Any movement whatsoever and the device will disconnect. Sadly, Mac doesn't care. They're making a fortune selling vastly overpriced garbage made in China. Their site doesn't even have a feedback page that one can access to see other users' comments. If one tries to use the "support community," your question will be deleted if it contains negativity about the product. The greatest trouble with all of this, is that there's nowhere else to go. I keep praying for a new manufacturer to appear but it doesn't seem likely.

In 2020 you could purchase either an Intel or AS MBP, so I'm not sure which you have. If you bought an Intel MBP, then that's a known issue with those. It does sound horribly frustrating.

But it's overstating things to say one can't post negative comments on the Apple Support Community without them being deleted. See, for instance, this thread describing that very problem:

Loose USB c port on MacBook Pro 2017 - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

It's possible your thread was deleted because it used stronger language than the one above. E.g., I've seen lots of threads saying something like: "This is an annoying defect and Apple really should do better". But if you instead post something like: "They're making a fortune selling vastly overpriced garbage made in China", that's very different and might indeed get deleted.

Even if your MacBook Pro is no longer under AppleCare, I'd recommend contacting Apple and asking if they can help you out. They are typically very reasonable. You could tell them when the problem started, and cite the above thread to say this seems to be a design defect. And you could mention all the other Macs you've owned that didn't have this problem, which would support this not being due to how you use the machine (and also identify you as a long-standing Apple customer who they don't want to lose). Even if they don't do the repair for free, they might be willing to discount it. Just remember to be polite to the AC support folks, since they're not responsible for this.

 

[lxmeta]

I've been a Mac user for over 35 years. Mostly awesome stuff. However my 2020 MacBook Pro is the most disappointing computer device I've ever purchased. My list of complaints would require a journal, but the most horrendously frustrating aspect is the USB C ports. Absolute, complete garbage. I've got a drawerful of cleaning equipment and a box of new cables but nothing works. I can rarely get through 5 minutes without a disconnection taking place. Any movement whatsoever and the device will disconnect. Sadly, Mac doesn't care. They're making a fortune selling vastly overpriced garbage made in China. Their site doesn't even have a feedback page that one can access to see other users' comments. If one tries to use the "support community," your question will be deleted if it contains negativity about the product. The greatest trouble with all of this, is that there's nowhere else to go. I keep praying for a new manufacturer to appear but it doesn't seem likely.

I have a 2020 MBP M1 and none of these issues. Did this just happen over night? No apple care?

 

[ric22]

Touch wood, I've not had this problem with USB-C. I've known people who were dopey enough to buy the one-port MacBook from a few years ago, where that port died, though. My 2011 MacBook Air ended life with two defective USB ports, for what that's worth.

 

[millerj123]

I've been a Mac user for over 35 years. Mostly awesome stuff. However my 2020 MacBook Pro is the most disappointing computer device I've ever purchased. My list of complaints would require a journal, but the most horrendously frustrating aspect is the USB C ports. Absolute, complete garbage. I've got a drawerful of cleaning equipment and a box of new cables but nothing works. I can rarely get through 5 minutes without a disconnection taking place. Any movement whatsoever and the device will disconnect. Sadly, Mac doesn't care. They're making a fortune selling vastly overpriced garbage made in China. Their site doesn't even have a feedback page that one can access to see other users' comments. If one tries to use the "support community," your question will be deleted if it contains negativity about the product. The greatest trouble with all of this, is that there's nowhere else to go. I keep praying for a new manufacturer to appear but it doesn't seem likely.

This would seem to be an outlier. My wife has the last of the Intel MacBook Pros from 2020, I have the 1st M series from 2021, and we don't have any issues with USB-C anywhere.