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Terrible Quality Control - MacBook Pro 14”

J

jha

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 4, 2021
272
192
Anyone else notice quality control is horrible for the 14” Pro since M1 days?

I bought and exchanged a few M2 Pros, and I’ve probably been through a dozen so far and never got one without issues.

Some creak loudly when handled, hinge makes loud clicking noises when moved, scratches on the screen fresh out of the box on several. Last one I exchanged what making a loud whirring/whistling noise from the right fan.

Last one I just opened has deep scratches on the screen. No other issues so will likely just live with it. Am I the only one noticing this?
 
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Bigwaff said:
Considering how much you are spending for a MBP, why "just live with it"? Return / exchange until you get one that is perfect.
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Realistically time spent doing that far outweighs the cost of the device for me. Already went through a dozen and none were perfect. I can live with it but hope these issues get resolved so if I ever break/damage mine, I can walk in the store and get a replacement without having to play the lottery to get a defect-free one.

The only issue with the latest one is a few hairline scratches on the screen right out of the box, with the deepest being on the bezel above the notch. By far the best I’ve gotten.
 
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Also - these are just tools.. wanted to see if anyone else noticed the poor QC. So far all the M2 airs I have bought for myself and gifts for others have been flawless. The 14” Pro has been the only one with issues for me.
 
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Anecdotally, yes for the redesigned 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pros. All of them had some sort of imperfection (small scratch or ding) on the metal body and the black strip below the screen was not flush. Also found the mini-LED screens to have uneven color uniformity, but pretty good brightness uniformity. The older M1 Air and 13 inch Pro had much better QC overall in terms of build.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
12 returns is absurd. If I worked ant Apple, I would not allow you to do that anymore.
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Understandable - but these are for defects outside of my control. I am not doing anything malicious.
macrumoruser12 said:
Anecdotally, yes for the redesigned 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pros. All of them had some sort of imperfection (small scratch or ding) on the metal body and the black strip below the screen was not flush. Also found the mini-LED screens to have uneven color uniformity, but pretty good brightness uniformity. The older M1 Air and 13 inch Pro had much better QC overall in terms of build.
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Strangely, all the M2 Airs I have bought for myself and others as gifts have been flawless.
TinyMito said:
Which country? Feels like sometime they just sell B grade to certain country and kept the A grade for another country with pro consumer protections.

Mine is super duper flawless day one M1 Pro in Canada.
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Major city in US where I have 2 apple stores within 5-10 mins of me and several authorized resellers.
TechnoMonk said:
Where are you buying? Apple usually replaces with new laptop after 4 repairs. I would look at lemon laws for compensation. And I have never seen nor heard about poor MBP 14 QC, may be outside of few isolated cases.
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Just doing return/exchange for new purchase.
 
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12 purchases and returns doesn’t make sense. There are lemon laws in place for poor QC products. It sounds to me like abusing the return policy. I would try a product couple of times, if I return it twice, I am not buying it.

OP if you really had 12 defective replacements in a purchase, Apple would have sent you new one after 3-4 replacements or repairs. This is how companies tighten their return policy. Costco had amazing return policy, they tightened after abuse of electronic returns.
 
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I have never received a flawed apple product or met anyone who received a flawed Apple Product, except on Macrumors.


jha said:
Anyone else notice quality control is horrible for the 14” Pro since M1 days?

I bought and exchanged a few M2 Pros, and I’ve probably been through a dozen so far and never got one without issues.

Some creak loudly when handled, hinge makes loud clicking noises when moved, scratches on the screen fresh out of the box on several. Last one I exchanged what making a loud whirring/whistling noise from the right fan.

Last one I just opened has deep scratches on the screen. No other issues so will likely just live with it. Am I the only one noticing this?
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Any pictures or videos for evidence?
 
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BigMcGuire said:
My wife's M1 Pro 14' MBP is perfect. My 14' M2 Pro MBP is perfect.

A dozen returns? Going off of everything you said, the fact that they let you return a dozen+ devices means they agree with you about the devices being defective or Apple's return policies are a lot more generous than I thought they were lol.
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No questions asked, it’s gonna change if the abuse continues. Apple never asked me why I was returning.
 
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I've never had anything but a flawless computer from Apple (and Dell, for that matter). Of course I'm sure it happens from time to time, but 12 in a row?

Kind of reminds of my college roommate that constantly complained about his terrible luck with women - every single one he dated was absolutely nuts!
 
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dmr727 said:
I've never had anything but a flawless computer from Apple (and Dell, for that matter). Of course I'm sure it happens from time to time, but 12 in a row?
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Same here. I’ve been using Apple products for 20 years personally and professionally, and my Pro Display XDR experience is the first time I’ve had an item that isn’t flawless. That’s why I keep sending them back until it meets the standards Apple sets.

12 is a lot though! After my 2nd replacement, Apple’s ‘sales senior management’ had to authorise a third.
 
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I will agree 12 is a lot - but not all 12 were exchanged. Some went to employees/family. I probably exchanged the 4-5 that I got for myself. Management has verified pictures/videos or replicated the issue themselves. These devices are being captured and sent back to Apple. I am not doing anything malicious here - just wanted to see if anyone else noticed poor QC on these latest MacBook Pros. I think it's strange all the M2 Airs I bought were flawless but Pro has had so many issues.

TechnoMonk said:
12 purchases and returns doesn’t make sense. There are lemon laws in place for poor QC products. It sounds to me like abusing the return policy. I would try a product couple of times, if I return it twice, I am not buying it.

OP if you really had 12 defective replacements in a purchase, Apple would have sent you new one after 3-4 replacements or repairs. This is how companies tighten their return policy. Costco had amazing return policy, they tightened after abuse of electronic returns.
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Have you ever tried to invoke these "lemon laws"? Lemon laws are largely for vehicles and it is a pain in the ass to actually lemon a car. I had a 2021 Range Rover that qualified as a lemon by the book, but it wasn't worth the headache to fight them with an attorney... was just easier to eat a $10k loss (thanks to the strong car market around the time) selling it than going down that road. Same with these Macs.... I don't think I should be out a new computer to wait for them to repair it.

I didn't anticipate the conversation here would be centered around the returns rather than the actual quality of the device.

dmr727 said:
I've never had anything but a flawless computer from Apple (and Dell, for that matter). Of course I'm sure it happens from time to time, but 12 in a row?

Kind of reminds of my college roommate that constantly complained about his terrible luck with women - every single one he dated was absolutely nuts!
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Maybe - but loud noises and creaks when I adjust the screen on some devices or a whirring/grinding fan is enough to make me think swapping it is warranted. The final one I landed on came with hairline scratches on the bezel (rather than deep scratches on the screen like another device had), which I can live with. Big deal. Last thing I want to do is spend time exchanging.. again I am doing nothing malicious here and I don't expect perfection, but I have never seen such a variation in quality before. I've owned every device apple has came out with and every iteration of MacBook Pro and Air for the last 10 years. Can't remember ever having to exchange. That was the point of the thread.
 
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Bigwaff said:
Considering how much you are spending for a MBP, why "just live with it"? Return / exchange until you get one that is perfect.
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Like I said, not worth the time and energy. Ideally it would be nice to be able to buy a device and not have to worry about quality. Especially if I have to grab a replacement. Just never seen them swing in quality so widely. But appreciate the comment instead of centering the convo over return policy - which I have no ill intent to take advantage of or abuse.
 
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