Judge Rules Apple Knowingly Sold Defective MacBook Pros

[26astr00]

Summary

 

Apple started a repair program for the 13 inch MacBook flexgate issue a while back, for some reason the 15 inch wasn't included. Obviously, Apple buyers weren't happy and they have taken the issue in their own hands.

Quotes

Quote

The problems started back in 2016 when Apple launched the Touch Bar generation of MacBook Pro, and with it made a terrible internal design decision. The display was connected to its base using a very thin and flimsy ribbon cable, which was also wrapped around a hinge. Whenever the MacBook Pro was fully opened, this cable got pulled tight and over time it became damaged and ultimately failed.

iFixit revealed the design fault and ultimately it ended up being referred to as "flexgate." For owners, the damage would first become apparent as a "stage light" effect at the bottom of the screen, with the backlight displaying in bands. Eventually the backlight would fail completely. At the time, Apple wouldn't even talk about it, but instead quietly fixed the problem in 2019. This resulted in many MacBook Pro repairs costing customers around $600 for what was actually a $6 ribbon cable fault.

As 9To5Mac reports, Apple's poor handling of the fault resulted in a lawsuit being filed, which inevitably escalated to seek class action lawsuit status. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila reviewed the application and has concluded Apple did knowingly sell defective laptops.

[...]

The lawsuit only covers 15-inch models of the MacBook Pro because Apple did eventually offer a Display Backlight Service Program for the 13-inch models. For some reason the 15-inch models were not included in that program, but Apple may now be wishing they had been. Apple is already facing one class-action lawsuit over the MacBook butterfly keyboard problems, so its legal department is going to be kept very busy.

 

My thoughts

The issue affected my gf 15 inch 2016 MacBook Pro, the repair quote was almost 1000€, so she got a new laptop instead. Seems pretty wastful to me.

 

Sources

https://www.pcmag.com/news/judge-decides-apple-knowingly-sold-defective-macbook-pros

[WhitetailAni]

Apple, did you know that when you do a bad thing and don't do anything about it, bad things happen?

That's two lawsuits about these MacBooks now?

[Tieox]

In other news water is wet.  

 

Apple is as Apple does, however I am happy that users are giving them just deserts.

[Sauron]

27 minutes ago, 26astr00 said:

The issue affected my gf 15 inch 2016 MacBook Pro, the repair quote was almost 1000€, so she got a new laptop instead. Seems pretty wastful to me.

I think you should specify in the original post that the reason this is suddenly news is that it was ruled by a judge. We all knew the problem and that Apple probably knew about it as well, the difference is that now it has been found to be so in a court.

[Murasaki]

26 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Louis Rossman has multiple videos on the issue. Really stupid, fast and cheap fix, but a multi-billion dollar company apparently is unable to replace a cable.

Why fix a problem when its only affecting a small percentage of them! /s

[BuckGup]

40 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Louis Rossman has multiple videos on the issue. Really stupid, fast and cheap fix, but a multi-billion dollar company apparently is unable to replace a cable.

I think they don’t want to admit they were wrong. Apple has done many free programs in the past for defective products but it took a lot of arm twisting to make them do it. 

[ProjectBox153]

Honestly not surprised at all. These MacBook Pros are great when they work, but they're plagued with issues like this and the keyboards. But, Apple is Apple and Apple will continue to be Apple. I wouldn't be surprised if something like this happens again in the future. 

[StDragon]

They're looking at it wrong. Obviously!

[Grabhanem]

17 hours ago, StDragon said:

They're looking at it wrong. Obviously!

Powering on the system isn't a use case this product is designed for. Use the right tool for the job, smh.

[suicidalfranco]

no, no, no, but please, please, tell me more about... those amazing 8 year of HW support 

[Pc6777]

"we care so much about the environment and our costumers" proceeds to make it impossible to fix your device, not sell replacement parts, and make everything ultra proprietary. 

[Distinctly Average]

2 minutes ago, Pc6777 said:

"we care so much about the environment and our costumers" proceeds to make it impossible to fix your device, not sell replacement parts, and make everything ultra proprietary. 

I agree it should be made possible to fix such devices, parts, tools  and information made available. However I do not agree that things should not be ultra proprietary. We need innovation to push technology. If every company were forced to use more generic components then the industry would go stale very fast. 

[Commodus]

Ah, it's time for the Only Apple Does Bad Things posters to come out of the woodwork. Every Apple product is glitchy and broken! And you would surely never find problems that are as bad or worse on the Windows side.

 

Yes, Apple should have tackled this sooner, and you'd hope for better with higher-end computers like this. But  it's rather odd for people to act like Apple is uniquely bad about this when the horror stories about some Windows laptops could fill an old-school encyclopedia. It's just that Apple receives a disproportionate amount of coverage, and thus it looks like Macs have more problems than they really do.

 

(This isn't including inherent design flaws like the butterfly keyboards on some MacBooks; that was straight-up awful.)

[leadeater]

1 hour ago, Commodus said:

But  it's rather odd for people to act like Apple is uniquely bad about this when the horror stories about some Windows laptops could fill an old-school encyclopedia.

The main difference is Apple is, or was close to during these periods of time, the richest company in the world who loved to tout how environmentally friendly they are and how easy to use their devices are, and how it's the user experience that matters etc etc blah blah.

 

Other device manufactures have had their fair share of issues, had plenty of news coverage about them but the difference is they weren't running a narrative Apple were and were actually fixed quickly and easily without undue cost to the consumer or undue hassle.

 

This is why Apple gets shit, and for no other reason.

 

1 hour ago, Commodus said:

It's just that Apple receives a disproportionate amount of coverage, and thus it looks like Macs have more problems than they really do.

Apple only makes a very select few devices, it's inexcusable to have such issues. There are problems that are fair and reasonable, that Apple devices have had, but the expectation is justly higher given the factors of who Apple is and how many device models they manufacture.

 

The absolute very least the richest company in the world could do is not be an active impediment to their customers for fair and reasonable servicing.

[Commodus]

18 hours ago, leadeater said:

The main difference is Apple is, or was close to during these periods of time, the richest company in the world who loved to tout how environmentally friendly they are and how easy to use their devices are, and how it's the user experience that matters etc etc blah blah.

 

Other device manufactures have had their fair share of issues, had plenty of news coverage about them but the difference is they weren't running a narrative Apple were and were actually fixed quickly and easily without undue cost to the consumer or undue hassle.

 

This is why Apple gets shit, and for no other reason.

I wouldn't say other brands necessarily fixed things quickly and easily. I remember hearing about XPS 15 problems lasting for months (they might even be ongoing). And of course, there are a lot of chronic problems linked to poor designs and build quality. I have a friend who had to send their Dell G5 gaming laptop back multiple times.

 

Apple does set lofty expectations that aren't entirely merited; the machines are designed by humans, and they're not made in factories sprinkled with pixie dust. But I do think Apple's emphasis on higher-end machines, and a certain attention to strong basic design, gives it an edge in quality over much of the PC market... certainly a lot of the low- and mid-range offerings out there.

[WolframaticAlpha]

21 hours ago, Pc6777 said:

"we care so much about the environment and our costumers" proceeds to make it impossible to fix your device, not sell replacement parts, and make everything ultra proprietary. 

Oh no. They do it for the environment you know. They want you to buy a newer more environment helping model. You are a a a apple hater(wipes snot)/s

[WolframaticAlpha]

36 minutes ago, Commodus said:

I wouldn't say other brands necessarily fixed things quickly and easily. I remember hearing about XPS 15 problems lasting for months (they might even be ongoing). And of course, there are a lot of chronic problems linked to poor designs and build quality. I have a friend who had to send their Dell G5 gaming laptop back multiple times.

 

Apple does set lofty expectations that aren't entirely merited; the machines are designed by humans, and they're not made in factories sprinkled with pixie dust. But I do think Apple's emphasis on higher-end machines, and a certain attention to strong basic design, gives it an edge in quality over much of the PC market... certainly a lot of the low- and mid-range offerings out there.

Does Dell go on the roofs to shout 'hey! Our new crapbook is more environmentally efficient'?

Does Dell charge you a thousand f***ing dollars for a stupid design oversight?

 

I am sorry, but apple is the most serious offender for the number of products and the price of the products they sell.

 

 

 

PS: I am on edge cuz crApple decided to f*** me, who needs a laptop with ports and x86. And now they are not fixing my mbp 2015 until I pay an exorbitant fee. They got me in with the ease of use of the Mac ecosystem , and it turns out that they are not easy(shittiest repair I have ever seen, my laptop was one of those that had the keyboard keys fail fail, and they sent it back to me saying that it will cost me 900 dollars for 3 keys). They are only made for people who sit at Starbucks all the time and throwaway their stuff before it becomes obsolete(the i7 did my work perfectly)

 

For that price I bought a ThinkPad yoga witha ryzen 5 for 850 bucks. Apple will call itself environmentally friendly and then the retards in their online official apple community will call you a hater when you complain about their repair. The truth is that the flak they receive is true. I love my iPad but I am on the fences about the brand as a whole

 

 

[WolframaticAlpha]

39 minutes ago, Commodus said:

I wouldn't say other brands necessarily fixed things quickly and easily. I remember hearing about XPS 15 problems lasting for months (they might even be ongoing). And of course, there are a lot of chronic problems linked to poor designs and build quality. I have a friend who had to send their Dell G5 gaming laptop back multiple times.

 

Apple does set lofty expectations that aren't entirely merited; the machines are designed by humans, and they're not made in factories sprinkled with pixie dust. But I do think Apple's emphasis on higher-end machines, and a certain attention to strong basic design, gives it an edge in quality over much of the PC market... certainly a lot of the low- and mid-range offerings out there.

Also apple design is not all that great. Attention to detail is all good and fine but the design extends to looks only. They are making their laptops thinner, when no one is asking for it. The essential rigidity and strength of the unibody is found in most upper end pc laptops(unless you buy a gamery one). Their butterfly keyboards sucked. Their bezel design sucks. Their wedge design and stupid f%@! thinness sucks

 

 

 

[CTR640]

22 minutes ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

 they sent it back to me saying that it will cost me 900 dollars for 3 keys).

 

 

I can see why crApple is lobbying against Right to Repair. Stupid fucking scumbags.

[Blademaster91]

I'm not surprised at all, the defective display cables, and with Apple using garbage butterfly keyboards that repeat key presses from having the tiniest amount of dust under the keys. I'm sure they knew of the issues yet didn't want to admit it and had no problem charging customers $1000 for a simple cheap fix. I think its inexcusable and there isn't any defending the richest company in the world that screws over their customers and lobbies against the consumer being able to service their device or or the option to get a repair from someone that won't charge them the cost of a new laptop.

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, WolframaticAlpha said:

Does Dell go on the roofs to shout 'hey! Our new crapbook is more environmentally efficient'?

Does Dell charge you a thousand f***ing dollars for a stupid design oversight?

 

I am sorry, but apple is the most serious offender for the number of products and the price of the products they sell.

 

 

 

PS: I am on edge cuz crApple decided to f*** me, who needs a laptop with ports and x86. And now they are not fixing my mbp 2015 until I pay an exorbitant fee. They got me in with the ease of use of the Mac ecosystem , and it turns out that they are not easy(shittiest repair I have ever seen, my laptop was one of those that had the keyboard keys fail fail, and they sent it back to me saying that it will cost me 900 dollars for 3 keys). They are only made for people who sit at Starbucks all the time and throwaway their stuff before it becomes obsolete(the i7 did my work perfectly)

 

For that price I bought a ThinkPad yoga witha ryzen 5 for 850 bucks. Apple will call itself environmentally friendly and then the retards in their online official apple community will call you a hater when you complain about their repair. The truth is that the flak they receive is true. I love my iPad but I am on the fences about the brand as a whole

 

 

I'm sorry, but you've largely invalidated your argument by slinging "crapple," outdated Apple stereotypes and "retards."  Apple definitely isn't perfect, but I'm not going to discuss this with you again until you can write like an adult.

[leadeater]

6 hours ago, Commodus said:

Apple does set lofty expectations that aren't entirely merited; the machines are designed by humans, and they're not made in factories sprinkled with pixie dust. But I do think Apple's emphasis on higher-end machines, and a certain attention to strong basic design, gives it an edge in quality over much of the PC market... certainly a lot of the low- and mid-range offerings out there.

It's actually not the design problems that are the issue it's the response to them that is the problem, like the keyboard issue. Nothing wrong with trying something new, something very wrong to basically refuse to even acknowledge it for as long as legally possible.

 

Where as for example there was a bad batch of batteries supplied to HP for their laptops the issue was identified very quick, recall issued, problematic use case that contributed to the problem identified with temporary guidance to avoid problem on all batteries and then firmware fixes to permanently fix it. The entire process end to end closed within a few months.

 

Stories like above that involved Apple are unfortunately rare, it shouldn't be.

[wall03]

On 4/2/2021 at 4:25 PM, gabrielcarvfer said:

multi-billion dollar

multi-trillion, you mean.

 

Apple not fixing the issue for 15" MacBook Pros is stupid and never should have happened. Apple needs some serious reform, but Apple being Apple I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[WolframaticAlpha]

9 hours ago, Commodus said:

I'm sorry, but you've largely invalidated your argument by slinging "crapple," outdated Apple stereotypes and "retards."  Apple definitely isn't perfect, but I'm not going to discuss this with you again until you can write like an adult.

so you want me to start using normie names instead of winblows, crapple microshit,, scamsung, hell, loonix and fack os x, novideo, ayymd and shintel?

 

 

not gonna happen

[WolframaticAlpha]

9 hours ago, Commodus said:

I'm sorry, but you've largely invalidated your argument by slinging "crapple," outdated Apple stereotypes and "retards."  Apple definitely isn't perfect, but I'm not going to discuss this with you again until you can write like an adult.

I am not calling you a retard. Of course not. I am calling the people who told me to pay up, and then warned me to stop discussing this stuff on https://discussions.apple.com/ retards. I know that their products used to be good(first laptop was a macbook and had an ipod 5th gen video) and some still are good. But f*cking consumers with expensive and overpriced repair, and then whenever the issue is raised, saying "what about company X? Their y product had problems!" only deflects the blame at apple. Apple sells expensive products, less of them and uses advertising hyperbole. That''s why so much hate is directed towards it.