Where are you getting this 1-2% and 3-5% rate from?
The last PC Magazine user survey I saw showed 16% of Apple notebooks needed repair -- tied with Sony for the LOWEST repair rate of all notebook manufacturers.
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The C2D MBP Quality Control Thread
- Thread starter akadmon
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The last PC Magazine user survey I saw showed 16% of Apple notebooks needed repair -- tied with Sony for the LOWEST repair rate of all notebook manufacturers.
Not sure, that might not be a representative sample. 16% would be incredibly high though.
I assume that's 16% of people who responded to the survey or whatever. I don't think that means that 16% of every Apple notebook sold has needed a repair (a rate that high would start to show up in Apple's financial reports, etc.).
Then again, as akadmon has documented in this thread, it's clear that the C2D MBP is one of the worst products Apple has manufactured in quite a while in terms of product reliability, etc., so maybe 16% isn't that far off either.
My MBP is a week 43 and it is perfect. No uneven lighting, no excessive sounds, no squeeky keyboard nothing. Just works like it should. Defects are very common with anything that is mass produced, take Dell laptops for example. They always seem to have horrible LCDs no matter what model you buy along with a string of other issues. Does that mean Dell laptops are garbage? Nope, it just mean there's always a level of problems to be expected from devices like these and threads like this just tend to make people more paranoid and picky about little things to the point of hysteria.
yeah, and if you're willing to pey 10000$ i'm sure they can even send the guy with the laptop so he can fix your machine as soon as somthing coem up
My advice to you and anyone else considering buying a MBP is to forgo the temptation of getting a CTO machine. It will make your life so much easier if you get one that has some problems.
I am still waiting for the 17" MBP. It's a good thing I live so close to NH where there is no sales tax, otherwise I probably would have placed my order on line back on October 24. Those of you who did -- if I were in your shoes I'd be cancelling that order right now. Why buy something this expensive sight unseen?
Then again, I've never bought anything on eBay -- I'm weird that way 
Well, i had no hardware issue. when i moved my data to the virgin C2D MBP, the old print driver was causing programs to crash.
The Apple Genius at the mac bar helped me out and i was out of there within 10 minutes after my initial 30 min wait.
As for the MBP? i got the custom 160GB hd on my order and had 2GB ram in my stock config.
Absolutely no problems other than that.
The Apple Genius at the mac bar helped me out and i was out of there within 10 minutes after my initial 30 min wait.
As for the MBP? i got the custom 160GB hd on my order and had 2GB ram in my stock config.
Absolutely no problems other than that.
Fequent crashes
Let's keep an eye on this one:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=692305&tstart=0
Let's keep an eye on this one:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=692305&tstart=0
The "graininess" of the display related to the GPU?
Here is a thread with more complaints about the now (in)famous graininess. The person who started the thread has stumbled on info that may link the problem to the graphics card:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=594282&tstart=0
Here is a thread with more complaints about the now (in)famous graininess. The person who started the thread has stumbled on info that may link the problem to the graphics card:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=594282&tstart=0
More reports of fan hum..hmmm
Like I said..um, hummed:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=724963&tstart=15
Like I said..um, hummed:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=724963&tstart=15
This is a ridiculous exaggeration. Less than 100 (and that's being REALLY generous) users out of thousands of shipping machines does not make the C2D "one of the worst products" Apple has manufactured in quite a while. People on Apple's discussion forum, where you're looking for many of your "examples," are there for the sole reason that they have a problem. It's like watching an emergency room, and then deciding that humans are in bad shape because everybody you saw there was injured. Without the context of how many happy users there are, these problems mean very little.
More GPU issues?
A user reports problems with monitor mirroring:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/251233/
A user reports problems with monitor mirroring:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/251233/
I don't know, the only thing I can think of that had this many reports of problems so soon was the PowerBook 5300c, really.
This is more than just Apple's discussion forums too, you'll note that akadmon has posted threads from here, MacNN, the Apple Discussion forums and other places. It definitely seems to point to more than just the typical "isolated" problems; even with all the problems the previous MBP's had, I don't remember this variety of problems (most of the MBP CD problems were more just inherent issues like heat, etc.). I don't recall nearly so many complaints about things like screen quality, etc.
-Zadillo
My advice to you and anyone else considering buying a MBP is to forgo the temptation of getting a CTO machine. It will make your life so much easier if you get one that has some problems.
I am still waiting for the 17" MBP. It's a good thing I live so close to NH where there is no sales tax, otherwise I probably would have placed my order on line back on October 24. Those of you who did -- if I were in your shoes I'd be cancelling that order right now. Why buy something this expensive sight unseen?
Nonsense! Apple's quality is, year after year, the highest in the industry, and those having "issues" in these threads are a small handful (in fact many of the threads have the same people posting the same problems in multiple threads.)
My CTO MBP is absolutely perfect, and every other friend who's gotten theirs has also been the same. Any high-tech product will have a certain number of units needing repair/replacement, but to give a blanket warning to avoid buying Apple's MBPs is nuts!
If you want any easy return, buy at Amazon.com - any "defects," and they'll pay shipping back, and no restocking fee.
iBorg
Indeed. Apple's products are by definition the best. Even if Apple offers a Core Duo 1.66Ghz Macbook Pro with Chimei LCD panels and 256mb of ram for twice the price of a top of the line Core 2 Duo Thinkpad, the Apple is still the best because the Thinkpad is not an Apple!
Anyway your metrics make 0 sense because the "vast majority" of the Apple user base are not even aware of the existence of such websites. Nor are they aware of Apple's 10 day return policies. Nor do they even know better to purchase online. Most likely they walked into an Applecentre and purchased it from there. When they didn't like the screen and brought it back to the genius bar all they will hear is "it is in line with specifications" and they will leave it at that. Then 3 years down the road when the walk past that shiny Vaio with that gleaming screen, they will reflect on their experiences so far (troublesome to get software, massive incompatibility, high quality screen) and guess what they will buy?
I am not looking at this from a "switcher's" perspective, but from a "switcheur's" perspective. Making any statements that this community does not reflect the user base may be true, but it cuts both ways. If anything the members of this community represents the early adopters, the crest of the curve, the well informed, the vocal minorities.
I just had an experience of chatting with a friend I bumped into who was in the market for a laptop some time ago, turned out that she got an Acer 5673. For less money than a Macbook 1.83 she got the same processor, lesser ram, DVD burner, the $1000 x1600 GPU (according to Apple's pricing methology) and last but not least, a brilliant screen. Now, I love my new MBP like the next guy, but the screen is really getting annoying.
Oh yeah, just to add, the Acer had a X1600, with 256mb, for less money, than a Macbook 1.83. Go figure.
yeah, and if you're willing to pey 10000$ i'm sure they can even send the guy with the laptop so he can fix your machine as soon as somthing coem up
Maybe you should give some further consideration to the economics of decent QC
1. My MBP retails for $4,400 (Aus) in Australia
2. MBPs are made in china.
3. The employees at the factory probably make what $50 a day?? (guess - in AUD for simplicity)
4. It would take an hour (generous) to run through a QC checklist and make sure things like the freaking KEYBOARD work.
5. The cost for getting a chinese factory worker to QC each laptop would add 50/4400 X 100 = 1.14%
6. you can subtract the cost of paying for that faulty laptop to get shipped back to apple and the cost of shipping me a new one.
7. you can subtract the cost of the "apple care" rep's time in attempting to troubleshoot & organise the transport.
8. you can subtract the cost of doing PR damage control and avoid your customers suing (see the ACD class action thread).
9. you can subtract some more because a satisfied customer is likely to buy another product from you in the future
10. I'm getting more angry every day that my credit card is accruing interest while my replacement MBP hasnt even shipped.
Maybe you should give some further consideration to the economics of decent QC
1. My MBP retails for $4,400 (Aus) in Australia
2. MBPs are made in china.
3. The employees at the factory probably make what $50 a day?? (guess - in AUD for simplicity)
4. It would take an hour (generous) to run through a QC checklist and make sure things like the freaking KEYBOARD work.
5. The cost for getting a chinese factory worker to QC each laptop would add 50/4400 X 100 = 1.14%
6. you can subtract the cost of paying for that faulty laptop to get shipped back to apple and the cost of shipping me a new one.
7. you can subtract the cost of the "apple care" rep's time in attempting to troubleshoot & organise the transport.
8. you can subtract the cost of doing PR damage control and avoid your customers suing (see the ACD class action thread).
9. you can subtract some more because a satisfied customer is likely to buy another product from you in the future
10. I'm getting more angry every day that my credit card is accruing interest while my replacement MBP hasnt even shipped.
Hey another aussie. Which model did you get? Mine only costed me $3500.
you make some good points.
the sample on apple's discussion forum is biased toward those having problems, as is this thread. only apple knows whether the number of problems with the MBPs are excessive and they're not telling.
Regardless, their are a lot of people here on macrumors who started posting before getting their MBPs, who were obviously excited about their purchase, and have wound up being disappointed. I cant give even a guess of the %, but it's more than i'd expect. Especially given that the MBP is a PRO device, with a LARGE amount of profit, this is apple's FLAGSHIP product (bar the MacPro). I mean really the QC on a MBP should be outstanding.
LCD screens are notoriously bad at reproducing real black. It seems to be a bit better with glossy screens though (IMO).
15" 2.33 160G HDD.
mine was actually cheaper because of student ADC purchase - but that's not relevant to the current discussion re QC
Indeed. I'd even go on to say that Apple's profit margins on the MBP is probably greater than the MacPro. And what do we get? A $50 TN LCD panel?
Get real Apple. Seriously
i wasnt saying that everything was done right and perfect, just saying that you always here people that have a problem more than satisfied customers. this is why everyone should agree that maybe there is no problem with quality control and that some units will fail.
More evidence/speculation that the graininess is related to ATI X1600.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1633447
Poor build quality
Perhaps this user is too picky, perhaps most aren't picky enough:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=729698&tstart=30
Perhaps this user is too picky, perhaps most aren't picky enough:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=729698&tstart=30