Just returned my 3rd defective MBA

[f1vespeed]

Edit:
If you've had to return your first MBA for a replacement, I'd appreciate if you posted and got counted, I'm sure a lot of us would be curious to know! thanks.

They were all great machines, I was quite satisfied with all aspects of performance, but it seems like the product is a little rough around the edges. I ended up with a base MBP today.

MBA 1: airport card was not detected when waking from sleep, and one of the feet did not touch the table
MBA 2: case was malformed, lower shell had some jaggedy gaps (up to 2mm) at the seam, and one of the feet did not touch the table
MBA 3: on day 5 the lid started making a clicking noise as though some plastic or glue part had come loose, and the problem was intensified as the laptop warmed up.

MBP: perfect so far, kind of boring and familiar since I'm coming from a PB G4. But good times anyway.

Anyone else have this kind of luck? It's worth mentioning I've had to go back to replace a lot of defective apple products, including an apple remote, an aluminum keyboard, and an iPhone with an abundance of stuck pixels. I'd be more pissed off if the products weren't so thought-out and well-designed to begin with.

 

[stakis]

They were all great machines, I was quite satisfied with all aspects of performance, but it seems like the product is a little rough around the edges. I ended up with a base MBP today.

MBA 1: airport card was not detected when waking from sleep, and one of the feet did not touch the table
MBA 2: case was malformed, lower shell had some jaggedy gaps (up to 2mm) at the seam, and one of the feet did not touch the table
MBA 3: on day 5 the lid started making a clicking noise as though some plastic or glue part had come loose, and the problem was intensified as the laptop warmed up.

MBP: perfect so far, kind of boring and familiar since I'm coming from a PB G4. But good times anyway.

Anyone else have this kind of luck? It's worth mentioning I've had to go back to replace a lot of defective apple products, including an apple remote, an aluminum keyboard, and an iPhone with an abundance of stuck pixels. I'd be more pissed off if the products weren't so thought-out and well-designed to begin with.

My friend, someone must have cursed you in some way.... I've had my issues with some Apple things I've owend, but nothing this serious in the 4 years I've been using Apple products (4 different macs and about 8 different ipods)

sorry that you're having bad luck.

 

[RedAbundance]

oh my god! i had the same experience with my MBA...

the first one's mag latch was loose.
the second one had a chip on the bezel near the rubber, it wobbles, and it had SERIOUS bleeding issues on its display.
i'm now on the third one, and although everything is fine, i'm starting to have an issue with heating. it gets incredibly hot when play anything type of videos, and playback is really choppy - not satisfied at all!

so i wish now that i got a MBP instead. the only thing was that i knew its form factor would be redesigned, and form factor means a lot to me. but now i feel that the trade off is not so much worth it.

 

[ceehjayem]

Wow I'm sorry to hear that. I'm going on my second unit. I'm awaiting for my replacement to come in (I have the custom 1.8/80). The problem with my first one was that the fan didnt work. I'm hoping I won't have to switch back to a MBP as that thing was dull and heavy.

 

[brightonboy]

defective MBAs

I'm now waiting on my third MBA to arrive - the first one had a distinct wobble and my local service place said the case was warped. The second had a distinct double click noise coming from the hard disk every 5 seconds.

The third one had better be OK or I'm going to have to seriously consider my decision to buy an MBA! Apple are helpful but not terribly apologetic.

Does this mean they're seeing a number of returns -perhaps it's been over-engineered?

 

[PDE]

I had three replacement, waited a few weeks and then got the 4th one that had a bad screen so I gave up for now. Lovely machine, as long as you get a good one. Apple just can't properly realise its wonderful design with its current assembly practices.

 

[aussieinrome]

Wow, I'm shocked reading these posts. I got my Air in Tokyo, it's my first one and it's flawless, thank god!

 

[n0de]

I am shocked as well. I have never had a defective Apple product.

The defect that is really disturbing to me is the damaged/warped case. This, to me, indicates a severe lack of QC on the part of the real manufacturer. Considering how the machines are packaged I highly doubt the damage is occurring in transit. So this means that every assembly line employee who touches it (case bottom) and does not notice that it wobbles on a flat surface and does not pull it out of production is either a complete moron or really just does not care.

I can only assume the manufacturer is allowing them to go through in order to meet demand because I cannot see any number of people of any education level in any country being so inept. Sure maybe one or two on the line, but not everyone!

Sorry for the rant.

 

[aussieinrome]

I am shocked as well. I have never had a defective Apple product.

The defect that is really disturbing to me is the damaged/warped case. This, to me, indicates a severe lack of QC on the part of the real manufacturer. Considering how the machines are packaged I highly doubt the damage is occurring in transit. So this means that every assembly line employee who touches it (case bottom) and does not notice that it wobbles on a flat surface and does not pull it out of production is either a complete moron or really just does not care.

I can only assume the manufacturer is allowing them to go through in order to meet demand because I cannot see any number of people of any education level in any country being so inept. Sure maybe one or two on the line, but not everyone!

Sorry for the rant.

You're so right, if this happened to me with my first Macbook Air - I would demand a refund and forget that Mac.

 

[jlanuez]

2nd AIR is a charm

The first MB AIR had one dead pixel in the middle of the screen.
I drove right back (35 miles R/T) to the Apple store and they replaced it with no problem, (after checking it in the back for 15 min.).

Second one seams 100% perfect!

 

[HotAir]

I better help balance out this thread with a 100% satisfied reply. There are those out there who may be scared out of their wits to even think of an MBA after reading so many bad reports.

When things are working great, it's human nature to stay quiet sucking our MBA pacifiers... but whence the MBA has an issue, all hell breaks loose!

I just want to balance this out and while I respect the *issues* at hand, I want those who are contemplating an MBA to have no fears. The majority tends to be silent, sucking our pacifiers.

 

[dthree36]

I had the dreaded spinning fan on my first MBA and it had to be replaced. My fans spun at 6500 rpm non stop for no reason. Other than that the MBA was running fine. My replacement is perfect and has had no issues. The first one was a week 1 release and the second is a week 3 release. I am so happy that I gave it a second chance but if I had to give a third or a fourth, I would be a bit bitter considering the 1.8 SSD isn't cheap and to have to be with out one until the replacement arrives would not be satisfactory.

 

[f1vespeed]

What's up with apple QC?

I respect that a lot of folks here have had good experiences, but I feel like Apple's manufacturing organization must really be cutting corners, if products like the ones I received are leaving the factory.

It's worth noting that:
a) At least half of the iphones I've encountered (my own, friends and family) have had imperfect shells. The bezels are not centered, and you can feel the edge if you run your finger along the middle of the thin sides. Same deal with the back plastic piece. I decided it wasn't a big deal, so I kept mine, but I haven't seen this kind of thing happen with even the cheapest plastic phones.

b) None of the 3 Macbook Airs I owned had perfectly aligned hinges. Looking at them while the laptop was closed revealed that each hinge was always slightly lower or higher than the spine.

Maybe they make things harder on themselves by using fancier materials and processes? I don't know, but these imperfections are a step backwards and downright disappointing coming from a company like Apple.

 

[RedAbundance]

I am shocked as well. I have never had a defective Apple product.

The defect that is really disturbing to me is the damaged/warped case. This, to me, indicates a severe lack of QC on the part of the real manufacturer. Considering how the machines are packaged I highly doubt the damage is occurring in transit. So this means that every assembly line employee who touches it (case bottom) and does not notice that it wobbles on a flat surface and does not pull it out of production is either a complete moron or really just does not care.

I can only assume the manufacturer is allowing them to go through in order to meet demand because I cannot see any number of people of any education level in any country being so inept. Sure maybe one or two on the line, but not everyone!

Sorry for the rant.

no need to degrade the poor workers as they make maybe 3 dollars an hour and if every mba wobbles it could be a design flaw.

 

[glitch44]

no need to degrade the poor workers as they make maybe 3 dollars an hour and if every mba wobbles it could be a design flaw.

Agreed.

Node, I urge you to watch a documentary called http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chinablue/film.html. It's about the blue jean manufacturing business, not about the computer business, but it shows how the workers live and work.

It's pretty disheartening.

Sample quote:

"We must be fast and can't miss any of the loose threads... I need to brush the lint from the inside and out. Need to look in all pockets for pebbles. In one hour I can make about half a yuan [about six cents in US dollars]."
--Jasmine, a 17 year old factory worker

 

[mykoljay]

I notice the clicking sound when moving the lap, when it is open. However I only notice this every few weeks, kind of weird, but in no way an issue with me. The notebook works flawless and I woulnt trade it for any other on the market.

 

[dantay]

I had 7.....yes 7 macbook Air units! I ended up giving up on the idea of an Air. I'm sure i posted on here about my experiances.
All bar one unit had bad backlight bleed and there were a variety of build/QC issues including scratches....pitting....curved space bar.....poor lid fit.....wonky feet and weird patches (penny sized) of discoloration on the screen on solid colors. These units are produced by Foxconn for apple and all I can say is the QC there is pretty low. Apple design a desirable product at a premium price and then it all falls flat because they dont seem to have decent QC in place. Having had to return several ipod touches and iMac (20" white core2due) 2 macbooks 3 macbook pro's and now 6 24" iMacs I have to say I am stunned by what poor quality some people are willing to accept. We are not talking about cheapola Acer stuff here but products that are aimed at the top end of the consumer market. Don't get me wrong, I love apple's os and industrial product design but always dred opening a new product as most of the time I quickly find some sort of fault with it and have to return it. Sorry to go on but there seems to be a whole lot of bad apples out there.

 

[AlexanderTgreat]

Edit:
If you've had to return your first MBA for a replacement, I'd appreciate if you posted and got counted, I'm sure a lot of us would be curious to know! thanks.

They were all great machines, I was quite satisfied with all aspects of performance, but it seems like the product is a little rough around the edges. I ended up with a base MBP today.

MBA 1: airport card was not detected when waking from sleep, and one of the feet did not touch the table
MBA 2: case was malformed, lower shell had some jaggedy gaps (up to 2mm) at the seam, and one of the feet did not touch the table
MBA 3: on day 5 the lid started making a clicking noise as though some plastic or glue part had come loose, and the problem was intensified as the laptop warmed up.

MBP: perfect so far, kind of boring and familiar since I'm coming from a PB G4. But good times anyway.

Anyone else have this kind of luck? It's worth mentioning I've had to go back to replace a lot of defective apple products, including an apple remote, an aluminum keyboard, and an iPhone with an abundance of stuck pixels. I'd be more pissed off if the products weren't so thought-out and well-designed to begin with.

it seems to be a common story with the macbook air

 

[thejakill]

maybe it wasn't the MBA. maybe it was the table.

 

[jjahshik32]

I had 7.....yes 7 macbook Air units! I ended up giving up on the idea of an Air. I'm sure i posted on here about my experiances.
All bar one unit had bad backlight bleed and there were a variety of build/QC issues including scratches....pitting....curved space bar.....poor lid fit.....wonky feet and weird patches (penny sized) of discoloration on the screen on solid colors. These units are produced by Foxconn for apple and all I can say is the QC there is pretty low. Apple design a desirable product at a premium price and then it all falls flat because they dont seem to have decent QC in place. Having had to return several ipod touches and iMac (20" white core2due) 2 macbooks 3 macbook pro's and now 6 24" iMacs I have to say I am stunned by what poor quality some people are willing to accept. We are not talking about cheapola Acer stuff here but products that are aimed at the top end of the consumer market. Don't get me wrong, I love apple's os and industrial product design but always dred opening a new product as most of the time I quickly find some sort of fault with it and have to return it. Sorry to go on but there seems to be a whole lot of bad apples out there.

I agree with you I exchanged my mba 2 times before giving it up.. both were fine only things I've noticed that I didnt like were the click on the mouse was kinda clunky + the fan noise was my #1 issue... sadly I will wait for the next revision.

I really do feel as if apple's QC has gone down by ALOT. I remember picking up a powerbook g4 17" and just perfect on the first buy.

 

[Sound Evolution]

I had 7.....yes 7 macbook Air units! I ended up giving up on the idea of an Air. I'm sure i posted on here about my experiances.
All bar one unit had bad backlight bleed and there were a variety of build/QC issues including scratches....pitting....curved space bar.....poor lid fit.....wonky feet and weird patches (penny sized) of discoloration on the screen on solid colors. These units are produced by Foxconn for apple and all I can say is the QC there is pretty low. Apple design a desirable product at a premium price and then it all falls flat because they dont seem to have decent QC in place. Having had to return several ipod touches and iMac (20" white core2due) 2 macbooks 3 macbook pro's and now 6 24" iMacs I have to say I am stunned by what poor quality some people are willing to accept. We are not talking about cheapola Acer stuff here but products that are aimed at the top end of the consumer market. Don't get me wrong, I love apple's os and industrial product design but always dred opening a new product as most of the time I quickly find some sort of fault with it and have to return it. Sorry to go on but there seems to be a whole lot of bad apples out there.

Dear,

It feels sad to say but you are totally right. I type this from my 4th MBA and also this one have issues. A lines of 2mm. scratches on the richt corner of the screen, A trackpad that don;t respond sometimes, To high adjusted screen hinges, that leave a gap when closing and make the magnetic latch not working. And some rainbow bleeing in the backlight.

ALL! MBA's I owned had issues, and no single one was decent in quality of the case.

On positive thing I have to say is, that Apple europe is extremely understanding and helpfull to. They take me serious and are down to earth and don't mind at all to send replacements everytime. But it is sad it is this way.

Now I don't know what to do. Send this back or keep it? In terms of core shutdown this one is the best I ever had. No single core shutdown so far! THis machine is just 3 days olld and fresh from the factory in Shanghai.

With kind regards,
Bas

 

[Sound Evolution]

I agree with you I exchanged my mba 2 times before giving it up.. both were fine only things I've noticed that I didnt like were the click on the mouse was kinda clunky + the fan noise was my #1 issue... sadly I will wait for the next revision.

I really do feel as if apple's QC has gone down by ALOT. I remember picking up a powerbook g4 17" and just perfect on the first buy.

I feel the same. My first powerbook G4 was perfect out of the box. Really perfect!

With kind regards,
Bas

 

[kingcrowing]

that sucks, mine has been great so far! I thought one of my feet wasn't touching the table as well, but after I checked it on the box which is flat and another table I just realized it was the junky desk I've got haha! Well other than that small freak out, I was ok!

 

[Insulin Junkie]

I returned my MBP because of the NVIDIA graphics issue, the blackbook I got instead is perfect though, thankfully.

 

[kingcrowing]

yeah I was going to get a macbook pro, but I got the air instead partly because I don't need the graphics (I've got a 512MB 8800GT in my desktop) and I didn't want that to cause a bunch of issues for me.