If it was a car that's actually going to get used properly like a Landrover, without question.
If I was only buying it to pose down the local caff, probably.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Got my NEW 2016 15" MacBook Pro...SCRATCH right out of the box?
- Thread starter RandomRazer
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If it was a car that's actually going to get used properly like a Landrover, without question.
If I was only buying it to pose down the local caff, probably.
Just got my 2017 base 15" Pro. Yep... small scratch on the right. Going to live with it, I think. I have enough stresses in my life!
By the way - a friend swears he removed his with toothpaste. Not sure anyone has tried it (I likely will not) but it’s true - he doesn’t have a scratch visible.
Also in consideration was a Magic Eraser...
Also in consideration was a Magic Eraser...
Backstory: Brit living in South Korea. Apple has no brick and mortar stores in South Korea has two resellers one of the resellers - one with a rude name Willys (ahem)
Ordered my first Apple laptop a custom build 15inch Macbook Pro space grey 512gb with an English keyboard from Apple over the phone on the 19th of September - got it delivered from Shanghai on the 27th.
The inside plastic wrapping covering the unit had fingerprint marks and an etched nail mark on the pull out tab. The house had multiple (three) scratches on the bottom 1 cm by 0.5cm. The return key had a fingerprint mark - the mac never powered on while pressing the power key had to plug in the ac adapter.
Called Apple up on 27th for return - Apple arranged to pick up on 10th October! due to the holiday (Chinese/Korean Thanksgiving).
New order delivered 19th October.
Wapping on the unit super scuffed and dirty - MacBook scratched on the bottom and top with 5 scratches in total.
Pickup arranged for 20th October. (Huge hassle arranging pickup and delivery in Korea. You tell Apple to deliver or pickup between 2-6 tnt/dhl come at 11 am)
Only one Eglish speaker in the whole of Apples Korea team.
Now I have to wait again for a week and legs and fingers crossed I get a clean unit.
At this moments it becoming a running joke.
PS what is up with the sticky usb-c cables?! feels like a cat or dog has pissed on them.
Ordered my first Apple laptop a custom build 15inch Macbook Pro space grey 512gb with an English keyboard from Apple over the phone on the 19th of September - got it delivered from Shanghai on the 27th.
The inside plastic wrapping covering the unit had fingerprint marks and an etched nail mark on the pull out tab. The house had multiple (three) scratches on the bottom 1 cm by 0.5cm. The return key had a fingerprint mark - the mac never powered on while pressing the power key had to plug in the ac adapter.
Called Apple up on 27th for return - Apple arranged to pick up on 10th October! due to the holiday (Chinese/Korean Thanksgiving).
New order delivered 19th October.
Wapping on the unit super scuffed and dirty - MacBook scratched on the bottom and top with 5 scratches in total.
Pickup arranged for 20th October. (Huge hassle arranging pickup and delivery in Korea. You tell Apple to deliver or pickup between 2-6 tnt/dhl come at 11 am)
Only one Eglish speaker in the whole of Apples Korea team.
Now I have to wait again for a week and legs and fingers crossed I get a clean unit.
At this moments it becoming a running joke.
PS what is up with the sticky usb-c cables?! feels like a cat or dog has pissed on them.
I have a similar problem except it's happening in the trackpad and not the palm rest or speaker grill zone. I can't take a photo now but it's like theres bright shadows that appear on the trackpad when i rub the finger gently (it's not grease iit's more of like the trackpad looks pristine but if i rub the finger something that looks like 3 scratches w the shape of smudges come out from nowhere??? what amazes me is that i discovered it was happening 9 days after i got the laptop and now seems that there are more of these marks in the trackpad like if it was the corners of an 1:1 scale square of what the trackpad size really is. Also if i clean the "marks" with a cloth they disappear but they are gonna come again in these 4 spots whenever i rub a bit the finger. And i'm surprised bc judging from every photo ive seen of this laptop i haven't seen this issue on any of these, maybe it's a common thing but it's really weird..
Looks like most will come with the same blemishes under each speaker grill must be the factory handling. It is a shame really that "quality control" is so slack. I mean common, you're paying a really pretty penny for a BTO, you'd think if they have quality control on the macbook pros which sit in the store, there would be strict quality control on the assembly line just before it gets put into the shipping box. The calibration on one of their machinese is gone bonkers. My late 2017 15" 3.1GHZ 16GB 1TB 4GB VRAM (SILVER) MPB just arrived and yes it has faint blemishes just like that under the speaker, sent back and forth about 12 so far and the same things appear. Hmmmmm....... Not good 
Not good at all, shame.
First world problems uggghhh...
Not good at all, shame.First world problems uggghhh...
Has anyone else had comsmetic problems like this with your new 2016 macbooks? what did apple do? i know they would likely just replace it but i dont want to wait another month AGAIN
View attachment 675296 View attachment 675297
Can confirm under-speaker scuffing is still occurring on 15” MacBook Pros being produced today.
At this point I think it just has to be accepted as part of the design. Apple will know about it but whatever manufacturing process is being used obviously can’t avoid it. Considering other minor tweaks were made in the 2017 revision but that this remains, it seems like that’s just how it’s going to be.
I’ve actually yet to see one without the scuffs.
The problem is that it can’t usually be seen from head on. It has to catch the light from an angle and then it’s there. So lots of people say theirs in fine when actually they’ve just not seen it.
At this point I think it just has to be accepted as part of the design. Apple will know about it but whatever manufacturing process is being used obviously can’t avoid it. Considering other minor tweaks were made in the 2017 revision but that this remains, it seems like that’s just how it’s going to be.
I’ve actually yet to see one without the scuffs.
The problem is that it can’t usually be seen from head on. It has to catch the light from an angle and then it’s there. So lots of people say theirs in fine when actually they’ve just not seen it.
I don't know what causes the scuffing but I don't think it should be considered a "feature". I have an early 2016 15" rMBP and there is no scuffing on either side, in any light, at any angle. Whether it bothers someone enough to exchange the computer is another issue and an individual decision.
Here are some pictures to show just how precise you have to be to see it:
Under intense light, head-on - can't see it:
Under intense light, at an angle - can't see it:
Under standard room lighting, at an extreme angle - can't see it:
You can only see it with very bright light at a very sharp angle:
I would wager that more have this than don't.
(This is a silver 15", week 45 2017 production by the way.)
Under intense light, head-on - can't see it:
Under intense light, at an angle - can't see it:
Under standard room lighting, at an extreme angle - can't see it:
You can only see it with very bright light at a very sharp angle:
I would wager that more have this than don't.
(This is a silver 15", week 45 2017 production by the way.)
Okay, my apologies. Using a very bright flashlight and angling the computer, I saw this tiny, nearly invisible mark on the right side under the speaker. I must say that something I can't feel and can't see without going to this extreme, is not going to bother me. How do people even find these things? I'm one of the first people here to defend those who aren't satisfied with less than perfection on their new devices, but it is beyond my comprehension to see how someone could be bothered by what I see on my computer today.
Last edited:
Thank you for checking and your honesty. It's made me decide to keep this unit since it probably affects 99% of them to some degree.
I hope you are only keeping it if you truly are ok with it. In spite of what I said, it is too expensive to just settle if you aren't. Based on the difficulty I had seeing the mark on my computer, I believe that it could affect many if not all and most would never know. There is also the possibility that the mark I see on mine is less significant than some. I could see it at the right angle, but it is small and I definitely can't see it in any other light or feel it at all and don't think it would ever cause a problem with the finish or be a problem with resale. Good luck with your decision.
Just document it and it is not an error. For example, from Amazon on monitors:
Product Alert: IPS (In-Plane-Switching) is a technology for LCD displays that offers users wider viewing angles and bolder colors by allowing more light to pass through the panel. As a result, IPS panels can exhibit a slight glow around the edges and corners (also known as light bleed), which is entirely normal.
Product Alert: IPS (In-Plane-Switching) is a technology for LCD displays that offers users wider viewing angles and bolder colors by allowing more light to pass through the panel. As a result, IPS panels can exhibit a slight glow around the edges and corners (also known as light bleed), which is entirely normal.
Sorry! To clarify, I bought a new one in October 2016 (tb model). It had the problem and proceeded to buy a refurbished and it still had it. They definitely ignore it the entire time during their quality control.
You’re right. I actually have had several attempts at getting into the MacBook Pro, the last being in June, and each time I’ve had problems. I thought it would be fixed by now which is why I took the plunge. Evidently not. I’ll stick to my trusty iMac and MacBook.
If it is as hard to see on most computers as it is on mine, I don't think that quality control would ever pick it up. I doubt they hold the computer at an angle and shine a bright light on it. I've had my computer for over a year and never saw it in spite of looking for it after seeing this thread awhile back.
Similar response was given by Apple when I asked for replacement for my iPad which had a gap between screen and edge of the iPad. They said is a cosmetic issue and won't be covered by warranty. I don't get it whats the point of offering a warranty with the device if it can't cover manufacturing defects. In fact many user have this issue on the iPad most of them were offered replacement but in my case they denied me.To be honest the Apple has kind of died after Steve Jobs death.
Nah. There were always stories of the odd crappy service experience with Apple. Mine has to do with me having to push hard to get my iPad 2 replaced due to serious image retention issues. Took three attempts, and an escalation to management on the third try, to finally get them to replace it after I was repeatedly told it was within spec. Jobs died about 4-5 months later.
Things “may” or “may not” have gotten worse since Jobs’ death, but we only have anecdotal evidence of either.
I remember reading posts here back as far as 2008, when I was still in lurk mode, about these types of things. They are usually the exception, and not the rule.
How long have you had the device? While cosmetic issues may not be covered by warranty, there is a big difference between cosmetic damage caused by you and damage to a computer right out of the box.
One of the units I had, had a serious of nicks along the left-hand side near the grill area. I can assure you that Apple took it back. They even tried to offer a $200 credit if I was willing to live with it. I was not. I felt that they were significant enough that they would probably impact resale my more than $200.
It was there since the time I bought it. Initially the refused to replace saying that your device is functional so should be fine. I was kind of pissed so I wrote a mail to Tim cook later on, the very next day I received a call from one of the senior executive of apple he had he apologized for what happened and told me that I had taken the ipad in India region for service so such issue cannot be resolved in India. So I told that, I bought this device in USA so the terms and conditions of USA must be applicable on my device throughout the world. So, I demanded them to replace or repair my device. They said that Apple doesn't have its own service center in India they rely on 3rd party service centers(they are authorized by Apple
They said you can try getting it serviced in USA, they shall replace it there for sure. So I asked him just to get my deviced replaced(which is around $350) I must plan for trip back to USA which cost me more than $1500.And I said I expect the expect the same service through out the world and not give excuses like that. He was left silent and told THAT, this is the best I could do from my side. After this incident I was left with a bad taste for Apple. Now I think twice before buying a Apple device, before I was a Apple fan boy buying a almost every device that came out.
Last edited: