Apple has had a number of engineering missteps over the years, often times ending in free fixit campaigns through threat of lawsuit or public backlash. Based on timing some people get stuck with rather high fees to fix, sometimes being half the cost of a new machine.
I've been part of 3 of these - 1) the 8600GT issue w/ the 2008 MBP, requiring a new logic board and 2) a retina display delamination, requiring a screen swap and 3) a butterfly keyboard issue requiring top case replacement. Didn't end up paying for any of these, but came dangerously close to paying for #1.
I have no idea how many of these have occurred but it seems like there's some active case like this every year or two.
All that said, have owned about 15 Apple laptops over the years, and probably 10 or so Windows based ones, and it's been a decade since I've had anything Windows related. Most of these were work based as a software developer since the late 90s and about 5-6 Apple laptops have been personal machines. My father also typically has a windows laptop at any given time that I occasionally have to fix.
Aside from say possibly a ThinkPad (and sure there are some other higher quality built machines), nothing really holds up mechanically like an Apple laptop - aside from the butterfly issues, but that no longer exists in their lineup. You can use one for a good 5 years and it will be a solid machine with no squeaks and rattles. And from a software perspective Apple will support it for at least 7 years.
The chance of you getting into some design defect and having to pay $$ that Apple won't cover out of warranty is going to be low on the whole, esp. if you have AppleCare. I never buy AppleCare, that is how unconcerned I am with this... I figure if I get caught paying out of pocket for some major issue every 4th laptop, I still come out ahead.
It seems like going into year 3 for the 14/16" MBPs, these are easily the best built/engineered machines Apple has produced, in part by reversing past trend of increasingly thin/light. They run much cooler and the Apple SOC is of course ridiculously performant against power usage. I'm unaware of any issues with these machines, but perhaps Louis has identified some concerns.
Last edited:
