Undersurface of new 2021 MacBook Pro 16 flimsy?

[bolandross]

Hey folks,

I noticed that the underside of my new MacBook Pro 16 (2021) seems to be a little flimsy on the left side. When having it on my lap and moving it a little, I can sometimes hear the thin backplate "clicking" against the rest of the case, like there is a little gap of air. It's really minor, but honestly giving me a bad feeling regarding build quality. Is it the same with you machines?

 

[drxcm]

yup the bottom on mine flexes ever so slightly in the same area. Doesn't bother me in the slightest but agree it would be nice if it felt a little more rigid.

 

[UltimateSyn]

Someone tore them apart and remarked at how incredibly thin and flexible the bottom panel is. I do notice that on mine - surprising considering the rest of the build quality feels A1 rock solid.

 

[yitwail]

Someone tore them apart and remarked at how incredibly thin and flexible the bottom panel is. I do notice that on mine - surprising considering the rest of the build quality feels A1 rock solid.

This was noted in iFixit teardown of MBP 14 or 16, not sure which. It's partly why I cancelled MBP 14 order and settled for M1 MBA instead.

 

[bolandross]

Hey guys,

thanks for your feedback regarding this.

I wonder if this might be an intentional design decision of Apple, knowing that batteries tend to swell a bit over time, maybe especially when being regularly quick charged, becoming hotter more often than usual?

Almost all of my older MacBooks showed swelling after years of daily usage, even so far that the physical trackpad click stopped working (the space under the trackpad became less and less, until the button had no space anymore to be pushed down).

Maybe battery technology has changed over the last years and this theory is absolute nonsense, but it wouldn't surprise me if this factor was taken into account by Apple's engineers.

 

[bolandross]

Hey folks, does anyone know if the current MacBook Pro 16 has the same issue?