2016-18 MacBook Pros are suffering from "Flexgate"

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

6 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

I'm not telling you to deny your experiences, but I haven't had any hardware failures. 

doesn't your macbook have a broken x key?

[suicidalfranco]

8 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

doesn't your macbook have a broken x key?

that's a feature

[DrMacintosh]

13 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

doesn't your macbook have a broken x key?

No. It occasionally double taps. Far from broken and since the X key is one of, if not the least used letter; if it was broken I wouldn’t be too mad lol. 

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

20 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

No. It occasionally double taps. Far from broken and since the X key is one of, if not the least used letter; if it was broken I wouldn’t be too mad lol. 

that is still a hardware fault though. if you want to make that argument anyway at least be honest and say that your x key does that.

[Sir Asvald]

Weird flex, but ok.

 

Sorry I had to do it. 

[D13H4RD]

3 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

No. It occasionally double taps. Far from broken and since the X key is one of, if not the least used letter; if it was broken I wouldn’t be too mad lol. 

Eh, it still counts as a fault. Not a huge one but still one. 

 

For an expensive machine, I wouldn't want anything less than stuff which works when I want it to. 

[Drak3]

8 hours ago, D13H4RD said:

The closest thing to 3D Touch on Android would be the pressure sensitive bottom area on the Galaxy S8/S9/Note8/Note9 

No, it'd be the Spen functionality that the Note 4 (maybe eariler) had.

[VIVO-US]

17 hours ago, Thaldor said:

The bolded part probably goes with the 2016-> models too?

That's actually what I was thinking, soldering something like flex cable is very hard but doable if you can get access to the connection point (not something ever lasting but it's possible to do something that is cheaper than buying whole new screen). But if the whole screen assembly is glued to the lid then you can forget accessing the screen totally, at least without possibility to cause even more damage.

Right, I was talking about the 2012-2015 models.  The flex cables on those can be replaced fairly easily at least.  The LCD panel is glued directly into the aluminum frame though, so replacing that alone is difficult.  It can be done with a lot of skill, care and patience.  You basically need a heat gun, suction cup, and thin plastic tools to help pry up some of the edges.  And while doing that, you have to make sure it doesn't get hot enough to damage the plastic backlight diffuser layers beneath the panel.

[DrMacintosh]

3 hours ago, D13H4RD said:

For an expensive machine, I wouldn't want anything less than stuff which works when I want it to. 

I’ve never understood that logic. 

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I’ve never understood that logic. 

you don't understand that a $1000+ machine should function correctly?

[Blademaster91]

6 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

you don't understand that a $1000+ machine should function correctly?

Yeah paying $1,000 should get you a laptop that functions correctly, without faulty keyboards or bad display cables, especially on a laptop marketed to pro users.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

2 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

Yeah paying $1,000 should get you a laptop that functions correctly, without faulty keyboards or bad display cables, especially on a laptop marketed to pro users.

well you're paying more. i just covered the 'educational discount' argument just in case . 

[DrMacintosh]

10 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

you don't understand that a $1000+ machine should function correctly?

I don’t belive that the price of a product should determine how reliable or dependable it is. That logic doesn’t work with cars, scientific equipment, heavy machinery, etc. 

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

That logic doesn’t work with cars, scientific equipment, heavy machinery, etc. 

it sort of does do that with everyone example you put there. i mean sort of, there are examples where it isnt the case, but doesnt that remove the Apple tax argument? and it is definitivly the case when you mark it with Pro or market it towards proffesionals. Where uptime is key

 

4 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don’t belive that the price of a product should determine how reliable or dependable it is

determin? no, but be a clear indication of? yes, very much so. (that is not counting repairability. 

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

6 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don’t belive that the price of a product should determine how reliable or dependable it is. 

i would expect a €1400 macbook to age better and work for longer than an €300 chromebook. 

[DrMacintosh]

5 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

but doesnt that remove the Apple tax argument?

The Apple Tax includes a lot more than just how durable a device is. 

 

Generally the “Apple tax” is thought to include the cost of iOS and macOS, the customer service (which is still bar none), potential out of warranty free repair programs, privacy, and the brand. 

 

I don’t really think durability or reliability were a big component of that, if it ever was a component given Apple’s long history of Mac issues. 

[GoldenLag]

5 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

potential out of warranty free repair programs

i dont live in the US, but those are allready free regardless of what the company says, and if they cant do the repair, i get other options. yay for good consumer protections.

 

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privacy

i will give them that they are more privacy oriented than most companies. 

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 the brand. 

i mean, shure, but we have also reached the pointed where all the brands have excelent products. while you can argue over resale value, other laptops are holding their own really well in that regard aswell. 

 

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the customer service (which is still bar none)

they have probably the best customer service, however it has to be said that the send-in repairs and or replacements you get with other companies is not half bad. and credit where credit is due, their stores are good, regardless of what varied and "ripoff" experiences people may have there. 

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I don’t really think durability or reliability were a big component of that, if it ever was a component given Apple’s long history of Mac issues. 

you might not think that, with the people ive talked to, they have allways talked about the reliability of the machines. And the average user doesnt go scouting for issues that might hit their machine. 

 

 

 

and if you were wondering why i posted early. i had a small issue with my cursor

[DrMacintosh]

6 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

i dont live in the US, but those are allready free regardless of what the company says, and if they cant do the repair, i get other options. yay for good consumer protections.

 

 

edit: posted early. give me 5

We don’t have those laws and there is nothing saying Apple is obligated to repair anything out of warranty as far as I know. 

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

We don’t have those laws and there is nothing saying Apple is obligated to repair anything out of warranty as far as I know. 

which why repair programs are nice in the US. though elsewhere not as much. especially it can give the perception that we need to wait for such a program to come out. 

[D13H4RD]

41 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don’t belive that the price of a product should determine how reliable or dependable it is. 

It’s simple. If you buy a $300 craptop and it breaks, you don’t feel much remorse about it because it was cheap, and cheap products tend to have some form of sentiment about them in regards to being built badly.

 

But for a premium-priced device, you do expect at least some semblance of quality and reliability. 

[XR6]

56 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don’t belive that the price of a product should determine how reliable or dependable it is. That logic doesn’t work with cars, scientific equipment, heavy machinery, etc. 

If you're paying £1500+ for a laptop it should last. If it doesn't, then what part of that £1500 actually goes into the manufacturing of the laptop? 

Especially with a brand like Apple, I'd expect nothing less than for that laptop to work first time, every time. 

It's a premium product. If it isn't reliable and high quality then what point is there in marketing it as such a premium device?

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have that opinion, you can believe that, but I just think that for the money that people are paying they should get a reliable device.

[Thaldor]

32 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

The Apple Tax includes a lot more than just how durable a device is. 

 

Generally the “Apple tax” is thought to include the cost of iOS and macOS, the customer service (which is still bar none), potential out of warranty free repair programs, privacy, and the brand. 

I can give Apple that the Apple tax is brand and OS and in privacy Apple is on the bar with every respectable company (Microsoft, Google and Facebook aren't on that list and probably never will be). But customer service... Like you fucking pay extra to get the Apple care and in three years when the warranty and Apple care fades off the only thing Apples customer service gives you free is "Fuck off, poor bastard!". And don't get me even started on Apple repair services "Bend pin, fixing 700$+100$ for the work" "Some grime and dust and shit in connectors, 700€+100€ for work while fixing that shit took 20 minutes and costed 20€ for new bottles of corrosion remover and alcohol". Definetly customer service worth taxing

Spoiler

What real customer service is in example, I managed to buy 10 Thinkpads from an auction real cheap. They were from around 2000 so at the tiem around 10 years old and no warranties and not expecting any help from IBM in fixing them and getting them working. Turns out everyone of them were security locked, send message to IBM if it is possible to wipe them and get them working and the answer was CD-image for firmware wipe and secure formating of the disk and very clear directions how to use the said CD-image. They had no obligations to provide me any help or anything but still they did and without asking money out of it, probably back them many would ask the same question and they probably had ready answers, but that is still 100 times better service than Apples "insert serial number... Your product isn't applicable for free customer service" and their knowledge database has holes big enough to fit an elephant able to buy adapter from China and formating SSD using the said adapter, after which their "probably expensive and excelent" macOS licence database goes ping because the mac has installed completely new macOS and it can't be sure if it's legit installation from someone who owns a licence or illegit by someone who hasn't paid a cent from their mac.

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I don’t really think durability or reliability were a big component of that, if it ever was a component given Apple’s long history of Mac issues. 

The whole joke around Apple has been that they sell "superior and premium" devices which each have more or less same problems than other brands but which Apple turns in their comments "features" or "minor problems, not big enough to fix".

 

Probably that is just part of the "premium Apple experience"...

[VIVO-US]

2 hours ago, D13H4RD said:

It’s simple. If you buy a $300 craptop and it breaks, you don’t feel much remorse about it because it was cheap, and cheap products tend to have some form of sentiment about them in regards to being built badly.

 

But for a premium-priced device, you do expect at least some semblance of quality and reliability. 

I think I paid a total of about $200 for a used HP DV9000 for home use a few years back.  The laptop's close to 10 years old now and still works.  A DV9000 that still works after 10 years.  Who'da thunk it?

 

On the other hand, we have an almost 11 year old 15" MacBook Pro here at work that still works great.  Now THAT was a well designed machine.

[DrMacintosh]

iFixit seems to have done some in-depth coverage of the issue

 

[Guest]

IDK my 2016 is peachy. My screen hinge is a lot less stiff now than it used to be so, getting it replaced would be pretty nice, I do notice some brightness spots, but its not major and pretty normal.