Is it me or is Apple's QC not reliable anymore

[bogman12]

It seems to me that there is an awfully high rate of various issues/bugs with apple hardware products.

My first apple product was the MacBook c2d, purchased March of this year. My Macbook was plagued with the flickering LCD issue. I exchanged my 1st unit with a new one at the store and the problem still existed on the 2nd one. I ended up keeping it however..

Then my second Apple product was the dreaded W37 Ipod Touch. I ended up returning it.

I'm holding my breath that my new Touch coming from Target will not have any issues.. but I wouldn't be surprised if it did..

These experiences with Apple has effectively conditioned me to be cautious of all Apple products in the future. I don't ever remember feeling this way about any electronics that I've purchased.

Do others feel the same? Or do you see the Apple QC issues no different with other established name brands?

 

[benzslrpee]

kinda hard for you to judge Apples quality control issue if you're first Apple product was something that was purchased recently...isn't it? aside from that, it's about the same everywhere. go Google Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Creative etc etc etc or visit their forums and then you can see how many issues pop up with their products.

that being said, all our stuff is made in China anyway...kind of hard to control quality in a third world country that's on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

 

[bogman12]

like i said, ive never had these kind of issues with any other electronics ive owned.. be it my first time purchase or repeat customer.. this is my reference point in my assessment of apple's products..

 

[rdowns]

A lot of forum members will defend Apple no matter what. I think Apple has grown quite rapidly and quality has suffered, likely due to the pressure of releasing the new product. That said, Appple typically takes care of these issues although you hear a lot of negative stories. People don't go around posting praise nearly as much as those who post negative to get get back.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Apple QC is really no more impressive that most of the industry. It used to be near the top but it seems lately it has slip to average.

 

[elppa]

I think it is hard to tell.

There may be more reported incidents.

But Apple also ships a hell of a lot more computers and other devices.

We would need to see it as a percentage to judge. One would think Apple would have access to this information internally. If they are concerned then it may result in a change in procedure.

I'm not sure it is yet possible to mass produce a product and have each item in 100% perfect working order, I may be wrong though.

 

[gkarris]

The QC for the electronics/computer industry as a whole is slipping...

 

[flopticalcube]

While Apple's customer satisfaction is still number one amongst computer manufacturers, it is slipping.

I think your experiences are reflecting that slippage. As Apple has scaled up its production, problems have followed. I don't think the switch to Intel has helped either.

 

[bogman12]

flop:

How does switching to Intel architecture have anything to do with slip in quality? Do you mean all the effort involved in redesigning and recoding and less effort dedicated to quality?

 

[flopticalcube]

flop:

How does switching to Intel architecture have anything to do with slip in quality? Do you mean all the effort involved in redesigning and recoding and less effort dedicated to quality?

Yes. Too much on their plate. Switch to Intel. iPhone. TV. Too much, too fast.

 

[LizKat]

kinda hard for you to judge Apples quality control issue if you're first Apple product was something that was purchased recently...isn't it? aside from that, it's about the same everywhere. go Google Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Creative etc etc etc or visit their forums and then you can see how many issues pop up with their products.

that being said, all our stuff is made in China anyway...kind of hard to control quality in a third world country that's on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

I don't think it's true that it's so hard to control QC there but I think some companies are willing to let that notion float around because it means they don't have to do QC on the QC. And if you think you don't have to do QC on the QC in the USA, think again. If I had a nickel for every programmer who thinks that QC is something happens a) on status reports and b) in the first maintenance release post shipping, I'd buy NBC and solve the whole commercial versus 1.99 on iTunes thing. Really free TV!

 

[gkarris]

Yes. Too much on their plate. Switch to Intel. iPhone. TV. Too much, too fast.

Not to mention 1 iPod refresh, 2 next generation iPods, and 1 new iPod all at the same time...

 

[GimmeSlack12]

You read too much MacRumors. Thats why you think its unusually high.

 

[Cybergypsy]

I had 4 bad macbooks, finally bought a MBP and I am happy, the need to tighten up the QC......

 

[bogman12]

You read too much MacRumors. Thats why you think its unusually high.

2 for 2 has been my record with Apple...

 

[theman]

The QC for the electronics/computer industry as a whole is slipping...

i agree...

for one thing, everything is just so much more complex, powerful, and more crazily designed than it was years ago. my 10 - 25 year old computers are running strong still, but 3 computers i've owned in the last 3 years have all crapped out.

also, there is the fact that most of the products are made in china, and this has its ups and downs. for one, it makes computers much cheaper. think about it, the prices of computers have stayed completely constant (without inflation) and dropped considerably since the 80s. This means a $1000 computer in 1995 was an average price, and it also is in 2007, but $1000 now is way less money.

anyways, as the cost of production goes down, it's just bound to increase the QC problems.