Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The C2D MBP Quality Control Thread

F

fruti

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2006
5
0
I just bought a 15" MBP C2D (custom config. with 3GB RAM)

with 3GB ram I really expected this machine to fly... but it felt slower than my old 1.6GHz g5 which doesn't even have 1GB ram. Right out of the box I noticed 'normal' programs like browsers etc running much slower than normal, and even the Finder seems slow.

the F keys look slightly misaligned, and the casing at the bottom doesn't fit right - it looks a bit stretched...

on the 2nd day of owning this machine, I had a kernel panic while just browsing the internet and running msn... normal usage! I didn't even know what a kernel panic was as my g5 has never done this in the years I have owned it!

Also the airport connectivity problems apply to me - from the same place my g5 finds all sorts of networks, while the MBP finds none!

Obviously as I spent quite a lot of money on this, I was expecting a machine that WORKS, as I have come to expect of macs, but also you would think that basic cosmetic things like straight keys would be a given!

I've called apple and they're sending out a new machine to me, and picking up the current one within a week.

Hopefully the new machine won't have these problems.
 
P

PDE

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2005
2,484
18
Zadillo said:
That would be a question about how quality control is handled at the factories where Apple's computers are assembled. Different ones probably have different issues.

3-5% is a fairly standard failure rate for almost all electronics. That isn't just "serious faults" though, it also applies to more minor defects, etc. As I understand it, Apple is normally actually ahead of the curve in terms of overall quality, but I haven't seen the standard figures (I doubt they are known for sure).

-Zadillo
Click to expand...

Though my personal experience is just anecdotal, I had three MBPs from differen weeks and from two different vendors and they had all had relatively serious quality control issues. I've heard of a surprising number of people who have had several replacements too. Anyway, it's impossible to know how many are faulty, but statistically it should be difficult for many people to get several defective units in a row from different batches.
 
Z

Zadillo

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2005
1,546
49
Baltimore, MD
PDE said:
Though my personal experience is just anecdotal, I had three MBPs from differen weeks and from two different vendors and they had all had relatively serious quality control issues. I've heard of a surprising number of people who have had several replacements too. Anyway, it's impossible to know how many are faulty, but statistically it should be difficult for many people to get several defective units in a row from different batches.
Click to expand...

That's correct.

I've only heard of a handful of people who have had several replacements though, compared to a much much larger number of people who haven't. Anecdotally speaking, that fits into expected trends. And of course, that isn't even counting the general fact that most people who don't have any problems don't go out of their way to go onto forums and post that everything is fine, whereas it is much more expected that when someone does have a problem, they are more likely to post about it to try and see if others are experiencing something similar, etc. This is a trend you can notice on just about every notebook-related or computer-related forum.

-Zadillo
 
P

PDE

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2005
2,484
18
Zadillo said:
That's correct.

I've only heard of a handful of people who have had several replacements though, compared to a much much larger number of people who haven't. Anecdotally speaking, that fits into expected trends. And of course, that isn't even counting the general fact that most people who don't have any problems don't go out of their way to go onto forums and post that everything is fine, whereas it is much more expected that when someone does have a problem, they are more likely to post about it to try and see if others are experiencing something similar, etc. This is a trend you can notice on just about every notebook-related or computer-related forum.

-Zadillo
Click to expand...



But a lot of people who buy and have problems never visit mac sites like this, or even Apple's site. I know at least 10 mac owners who don't even know that there sites like this. I think the average person will a) contact Apple or b) live with the problems. I've seen countless LCDs in coffee shops that exhibit the nasty large white spots that were common with the powerbook G4s and I've seen many PC owners with similar spots - they obviously don't care or can't afford to send in their machines.

WHen I switched to macbook, Apple replaced two or three machines (at the end I couldn't keep track of how many anymore...) before I got one that was ok (which needed repair within a month!) - I mean, what are chances that I would get 6-7 MBP and Macbooks with problems if there weren't more widespread issues?? They were also of different week builds so it wasn't just a fluke. And it wasn't just me being anal - Apple agreed since they replaced them.

I still think it's unlikely that these problems are isolated to just a few people. When I visit the Apple Store it's hard to find one single MBP without some issue. I AM picky, but I think everybody should be given the price of these things.
 
Z

Zadillo

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2005
1,546
49
Baltimore, MD
PDE said:
But a lot of people who buy and have problems never visit mac sites like this, or even Apple's site. I know at least 10 mac owners who don't even know that there sites like this. I think the average person will a) contact Apple or b) live with the problems. I've seen countless LCDs in coffee shops that exhibit the nasty large white spots that were common with the powerbook G4s and I've seen many PC owners with similar spots - they obviously don't care or can't afford to send in their machines.

I still think it's unlikely that these problems are isolated to just a few people. When I visit the Apple Store it's hard to find one single MBP without some issue. I AM picky, but I think everybody should be given the price of these things.
Click to expand...

Indeed, that's true. That's definitely the problem with trying to gather much from any sort of anecdotal evidence. That's one reason that things like Consumer Reports are so valuable, because they help to get a larger picture of overall product reliability. That is, if you wanted to find out how reliable the 2007 Ford Focus was, you can tell a bit more from the latest Consumer Reports study than going to a car forum and seeing what people are saying.

But I think that both things are actually valuable. The large scale reliability studies, and seeing the anecdotal evidence, and figuring out where things pan out.

I'm certainly one of those people who has been conditioned to not really expect a perfect LCD screen. As I mentioned before, my other LCD panels have much more serious problems compared to what I've noticed on my C2D MBP (which is just a slight dark area on the bottom right corner).

My Dell 2005fpw 20" widescreen LCD monitor has a large amount of backlight bleeding..... to the point that watching a TV show or movie on it shows that it is almost incapable of reproducing an actually "black" black color, and instead you can see the backlight through anything that is supposed to be dark on the screen. A similar issue with my Samsung 23" LCD HDTV.

When viewing a completely dark scene on either my Dell monitor or my Samsung HDTV, I can see various bright blotches in various parts of the screen.

Comparatively, my C2D MBP screen has perfectly even backlighting, and when watching a TV show or movie or looking at photographs, the blacks are actually black and I can't see any backlight bleeding. The issue I have been able to see, with that slightly dark right hand corner, is only noticeable when showing a solid color across the entire screen (because the degree of color difference is so small, if I just have a white area or grey area in that part of the screen by itself, it isn't noticeable..... it's only even detectable if the whole screen is that color so that I can see the differences. Of course, the only time I ever see this would be like during bootup when it briefly shows an all-grey background. And even at that, as I mentioned in the other thread, it seems to be more a factor of viewing angle than anything else, since when I change my viewing angle to look at that corner head on, it is the same brightness level as the rest of the screen.

So given a choice between the issues I've had with my desktop Dell monitor and my Samsung LCD HDTV, and my C2D MBP screen, I would gladly take the MBP screen every time. I mean, that's what it comes down to for me. With my other LCD's, the backlight bleeding is always noticeable during things I actually use them for regularly. This dark corner issue or whatever is something that I really can't notice, and even then can only notice in situations where I'm displaying a solid color on my entire screen, something which I don't actually do in normal usage.

But if I had an unevenness problem like the photos other people have posted, I would definitely want a return, since in those cases whole areas of the screen look to be significantly darker than normal.
 
C

chiefillini

macrumors regular
Oct 28, 2006
110
0
Chicago, IL.
re: spacebar issue

Well just got back from the apple store and I am typing on a new C2D MBP. Yep, since the book was only 10days old they said they would just give me a new one. So here I am and no squeaky spacebar. I also think the color may be more even on the screen but who knows this may be just me. I do have to perform a system restore because they did a (what ever it is called when making the book just like yours) and the systems boots a lot slower. Just a few more mins of work and wil be back up and running like new again.

The only thing I see wrong with this one is a small, about a period size dot, located on the right side of the bar . So the dang spacebar comes back to haunt me again on the right side of it. ahhhhhh.
later-
 
A

azzurri000

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2005
307
0
My MBP's case doesn't close evenly... This is my first laptop, so I can't say whether this is normal or not, but the hard drive makes a clicking sound every once in awhile. It was really annoying when I was trying to watch a movie.

Oh, and the back-lighting is pretty uneven, too.
 
Z

Zadillo

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2005
1,546
49
Baltimore, MD
chiefillini said:
Well just got back from the apple store and I am typing on a new C2D MBP. Yep, since the book was only 10days old they said they would just give me a new one. So here I am and no squeaky spacebar. I also think the color may be more even on the screen but who knows this may be just me. I do have to perform a system restore because they did a (what ever it is called when making the book just like yours) and the systems boots a lot slower. Just a few more mins of work and wil be back up and running like new again.

The only thing I see wrong with this one is a small, about a period size dot, located on the right side of the bar . So the dang spacebar comes back to haunt me again on the right side of it. ahhhhhh.
later-
Click to expand...

Wow, they completely replaced the MBP instead of just fixing the spacebar? Did they even offer to just fix the existing spacebar? Personally if the only problem I had was a squeaky spacebar I'd prefer that they just fix that rather than risk more significant problems (i.e. dead pixels, etc.) with a new model.
 
C

chiefillini

macrumors regular
Oct 28, 2006
110
0
Chicago, IL.
Zadillo said:
Wow, they completely replaced the MBP instead of just fixing the spacebar? Did they even offer to just fix the existing spacebar? Personally if the only problem I had was a squeaky spacebar I'd prefer that they just fix that rather than risk more significant problems (i.e. dead pixels, etc.) with a new model.
Click to expand...
Well, what you say makes sense and I guess I didn't even think about that. This is my first laptop/macbook so don't think of those things when I probably should. No, they didn't even offer to fix the bar just asked how long I had the MBP for. Than the next thing I know I am leaving the store with a new one. Thanks for the info though, something for me to think about the next time something happens.
 
Z

Zadillo

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2005
1,546
49
Baltimore, MD
chiefillini said:
Well, what you say makes sense and I guess I didn't even think about that. This is my first laptop/macbook so don't think of those things when I probably should. No, they didn't even offer to fix the bar just asked how long I had the MBP for. Than the next thing I know I am leaving the store with a new one. Thanks for the info though, something for me to think about the next time something happens.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't think you did anything wrong..... I was more expressing surprise that they were so quick to just replace the whole machine, which I would think has to be kind of expensive for them unless it's necessary.

Has anyone else with the squeaky spacebar issue had a similar issue? Perhaps they replaced the whole machine because it is something they've seen before and it isn't as simple a fix as we might think it is?
 
A

akadmon

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 30, 2006
2,006
2
New England
A user posted in another thread that he has had 2 different C2Ds with unacceptably uneven backlighting:

johnzoidberg said:
I'm currently on my second MBP C2D (15-inch, 2.16, matte), after replacing the first one that had an unevenly lit display, which the second one also has. So I'm going to ask for a full refund from Apple.

The latter machine has a 00009C60 model display, and I suspect the first one has one, too.

On both machines, the left side of the display is a few levels brighter than the right side. When working with precise colors as my work requires, this drives me completely insane.

Based on store models I've seen and comments on Apple's support forums, I suspect most, if not all 15" MBPs have this issue to some extent. IMHO, those who claim they have "perfect" MBP displays are either not looking close enough or being picky enough. (I think for a $2000 machine targeted towards professionals, many of whom work in design, an evenly-lit display isn't too much to ask for.) I have not seen one picture of a "perfect" evenly-lit MBP display (showing one solid color) yet on the web. I think this issue affects both matte and glossy displays, as the backlight lamp (the culprit) is not related to coating or model of the LCD panel.

This issue is easy to see if you set your entire display to light grey. Either there will be some blotchiness, or in my case, one side of the display will be brighter than the other.

I'll be waiting a while before trying my luck with another MBP, though I don't think Apple will be fixing this anytime soon. According to their support staff and "Mac Geniuses", these displays are all "within spec" (their new favorite line). There clearly isn't a rush to improve on what's currently shipping, and that's really disappointing. I'm all for Apple's newfound popularity, but trading in quality control for volume is unacceptable.

The thing is, everything else about these new C2D MBPs is perfect. They're not hot, they have non-warped lids, and the fit and finish is awesome. But the crappy displays are a deal-breaker for me, and it's really frustrating not to be able to take my work with me for the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...







Link to original post: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=3041880#post3041880
 
A

akadmon

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 30, 2006
2,006
2
New England
Squeaking space bar

chiefillini said:
Well just got back from the apple store and I am typing on a new C2D MBP. Yep, since the book was only 10days old they said they would just give me a new one. So here I am and no squeaky spacebar. I also think the color may be more even on the screen but who knows this may be just me. I do have to perform a system restore because they did a (what ever it is called when making the book just like yours) and the systems boots a lot slower. Just a few more mins of work and wil be back up and running like new again.

The only thing I see wrong with this one is a small, about a period size dot, located on the right side of the bar . So the dang spacebar comes back to haunt me again on the right side of it. ahhhhhh.
later-
Click to expand...

Several other users report squeaking noises made by the space bar:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=701348&tstart=0
 
Z

Zadillo

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2005
1,546
49
Baltimore, MD
akadmon said:
Oh no, here goes another one!

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=728921&tstart=60
Click to expand...

same thing happened to me when i got mine - now more problems - no wireless at cafes. they tried to blame it on a network, but all my friend's pc's connect just fine - my g4 too. Im calling again tomorrow - then probably getting my $ back & getting a pc!
Click to expand...

Oh no. indeed.

Man, time to start selling your Apple stock, it sounds like the C2D MBP is a complete lemon, huh? Sounds like everyone is having problems and there are only a handful of actually non-problematic units. This might be the most problematic product since the PowerBook 5300.

Looks like you were right to document all these problems in this thread akadmon.

I'm going to return my MBP to the Apple Store tomorrow, it's still within the 14 day limit. No real problems, but there's enough stuff here to make it clear something bad could happen.

I might go ahead and get another Vaio too again, I guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom