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Warped Macbook Pro :(

myPinballs

myPinballs

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Pudsey UK
For **** Sake, just moved my MacBook pro downstairs to do some playfield plastic scanning, and thought hmmmm my lid doesnt close anymore properly, then thought hmmmm its no sitting level on the table anymore.

Short investigation later. The whole thing is frikin warped ike something has expanded inside. Then google to fin out that batteries in them are failing and expanding... Even though my model is only 2 and a bit years old (bought march 2018) and isnt apparantly effected by any battery recall issues.

Jesus christ... and at 2.5k i expect it to last alittle longer than 2 years!

Now to decide whether to try and get repaired by apple somehow or just say sod it and buy a new battery and fit myself....

IMG_7176.JPGIMG_7177.JPG
 
Bought a Apple speaker.. the home pod..

£280.. couple of months back it just stopped working..

called Apple - 12mth warranty bought outside Apple.. Curry’s etc..

24mth if bought from Apple store.. it was a month out (lockdown stopped me from getting sorted)

after a chat with Apple on phone. Choice buy one off them (apple care dept) 6mth warranty £260 or buy £280 from Apple store and get 24mth warranty.

not a £2500 laptop-but don’t be surprised if they don’t do anything, or if you don’t have Apple Care.
 
Honestly the build quality of Apple stuff is utter ****e nowadays. Not that batteries are an Apple-exclusive problem, but everything else about them is.

Louis Rossmann does hours upon hours of electronics repair videos on youtube, and he is very ranty in general, especially about Apple which is his primary repair business - but he isn't wrong in sharing my assessment of Apple products, and his videos include continual proof of their overall poor engineering and planned obsolescence/premature failure-baiting.

If you have bad luck with Apple directly - hopefully not - and end up trying to replace the battery yourself, then watch out for this one -
 
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I had this on mine a few months back pre Covid so just dropped it the Apple store and they fixed it with no charge, whole top case so got a brand new keyboard too

definitely worth a try before you open it up yourself
 
cyberkryten said:
I had this on mine a few months back pre Covid so just dropped it the Apple store and they fixed it with no charge, whole top case so got a brand new keyboard too

definitely worth a try before you open it up yourself
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Good to know. I've managed to get an appointment with the apple store in meadowhall next week. that was the closest one, no slots at the leeds one :(

Was yours still within the 2 year purchase window or not?

I assume they just send it off though?
 
Really surprised you opted into Apple products Jim, especially with your tech knowledge! This youtube channel with an (unofficial) Apple products repair guy routinely trashes Apple for deliberately making their products impossible to repair.

 
irritates me to see that folks don't understand their basic rights.

Anything you buy from a store more or less comes with a 6 year warranty under the sales of goods act. Apple are one of the better companies for following it.

take it to apple. quote sales of goods act, get new Mac. I've done it many times. On my third iPhone 7, had two new MacBook airs and a new Mac mini.

Neil
 
I wouldn't have any other laptop than a Mac; in my experience they are bullet proof. My work MacBook Pro I bought in 2012 when I joined BT and its still running as good as the day I bought it. If I was on widows; I'd be on my third laptop in that time frame.

My current laptop I'm typing this on I got in 2015 and again its runs just as well. I had to replace the screen on this one when I forced it closed whilst there was a pen on the keyboard oops. Apple's service in getting it fixed was same day.
 
myPinballs said:
Good to know. I've managed to get an appointment with the apple store in meadowhall next week. that was the closest one, no slots at the leeds one :(

Was yours still within the 2 year purchase window or not?

I assume they just send it off though?
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they will fix it on site max in a couple of days.
 
I have had 3 macbooks bought to me in the last year with expanded batteries. Well BLOWN F@@KED batteries.

My iMac is bullet proof - 2013 and still going....
My macbook pro is a little newer - was the last ones before the mega high res screens came out, but the speakers have blown (I do not use internal sound card - it runs my bands 'shows' videos and keyboards).

I like the fact that I never get windows issues and blue screens. I will never buy another windows PC/laptop.
 
Thanks Neil for the advice, i will see what happens with it next week in the apple store.

To the other comments, Yes i am an apple fan, i always have been right back from a boy when my dad brought home the first macintosh, with the 9" grayscale screen :) I like unix and mac osx. I cant stand windows. I'm not wanting to start a windows vs mac discussion. use whatever floats your boat and for me its macs. I like their industrial design and use of unix.

What i tend to do is buy the top specced MacBook pro's and they tend to last 10 years plus. I then give them to my children when i upgrade. My son who is at university has 2 of my old ones. One from 2007 and one from 2013, both still run perfectly, though they have had a couple of batteries each in that time.

I think the battery situation is a common issue cross manufacture really after reading more, whether its premature failure or this weird bloating

Writing this on my bloaty MacBook pro 2017 ha ha :)
 
Pick Holder said:
I like the fact that I never get windows issues and blue screens. I will never buy another windows PC/laptop.
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The only ones I ever get on my windows desktop (own built) are because I was overclocking it too hard. Dialled back on the overclock and it's absolutely bulletproof.

In 2020 I've got to be honest and say that software-related errors are either hardware-based issues, or just plain-old operator error. Could go into insomnia-curing detail, but this is a pinball forum rather than a PC enthusiasts forum, so I'll spare all of you the details.

By that though please understand - I say to use whatever you need, want or enjoy best. Just make sure you protect your rights as a consumer, and try your best to hold companies to a high standard, especially if you're paying a premium.
 
Pick Holder said:
I have had 3 macbooks bought to me in the last year with expanded batteries. Well BLOWN F@@KED batteries.

My iMac is bullet proof - 2013 and still going....
My macbook pro is a little newer - was the last ones before the mega high res screens came out, but the speakers have blown (I do not use internal sound card - it runs my bands 'shows' videos and keyboards).

I like the fact that I never get windows issues and blue screens. I will never buy another windows PC/laptop.
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Literally (10 mins ago) shipped my Dell xps back to Germany for repair due to blue screen/hard drive failure. Will wait and see what they come back with, but may need to rethink laptop purchase. Had ongoing wifi adapter issues since purchase. Might be time for a mac
 
myPinballs said:
To the other comments, Yes i am an apple fan, i always have been right back from a boy when my dad brought home the first macintosh, with the 9" grayscale screen :) I like unix and mac osx. I cant stand windows. I'm not wanting to start a windows vs mac discussion. use whatever floats your boat and for me its macs. I like their industrial design and use of unix.
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See, you're one of the ones I completely understand. I'd love if the desktop experience of Linux was as well integrated as Unix manages to be in the form of Mac OSX.

I also know that habits die hard. Linux is a better fit for me in most ways except games, but I can't be ****d dealing with the tiny differences, so I remain a Windows dork
 
Yeah for sure I love the original Apple stuff. Truly great engineering (though I was more a Commodore fanboi in that period who similarly excelled at engineering). I also love *nix as it's a 'power to the people' style OS. All that is a world away from the horrible tactics Apple use these days to make their products deliberately degrade and unrepairable.

But yeah, not looking to start a war! And I have to admit from a design point of view, Apple products are gorgeous.
 
myPinballs said:
Thanks Neil for the advice, i will see what happens with it next week in the apple store.

To the other comments, Yes i am an apple fan, i always have been right back from a boy when my dad brought home the first macintosh, with the 9" grayscale screen :) I like unix and mac osx. I cant stand windows. I'm not wanting to start a windows vs mac discussion. use whatever floats your boat and for me its macs. I like their industrial design and use of unix.

What i tend to do is buy the top specced MacBook pro's and they tend to last 10 years plus. I then give them to my children when i upgrade. My son who is at university has 2 of my old ones. One from 2007 and one from 2013, both still run perfectly, though they have had a couple of batteries each in that time.

I think the battery situation is a common issue cross manufacture really after reading more, whether its premature failure or this weird bloating

Writing this on my bloaty MacBook pro 2017 ha ha :)
Click to expand...

I was the fourth person to use the original Macintosh in the UK, it was so new it was 110v with a step-down. the trash can was called Trash (when the Mac was launched in the UK it was called wastebasket) . I was 11. Picture of me in the Evening News with it! I met Bill Aitkinson, Susan Kare and the man himself Mr Jobs when I was 14 at MacWorld.
 
Wizcat said:
All that is a world away from the horrible tactics Apple use these days to make their products deliberately degrade and unrepairable.
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Not sure i understand you obsolescence comment for MacBooks though as like i said they run for years and years 10 -15 years usually with no hardware faults excluding batteries. Everyone i've had (probably getting on for 6 now including older powerbook ones) has run for years without hardware issues. That's another reason to buy them, as i know they will last and be useful for my kids after. The latest os is also supported for a good while to, so its pretty good for a company thats goal is to make money foremost.
Neil McRae said:
I was the fourth person to use the original Macintosh in the UK, it was so new it was 110v with a step-down. the trash can was called Trash (when the Mac was launched in the UK it was called wastebasket) . I was 11. Picture of me in the Evening News with it! I met Bill Aitkinson, Susan Kare and the man himself Mr Jobs when I was 14 at MacWorld.
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Nice, and yes i still prefer the name Wastebasket :)

I often search on ebay for colour classics to! Not sure why as i have no time or space for it, but anyway ... :)
 
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myPinballs said:
Not sure i understand you obsolesce comment for MacBooks thought as like i said they run for years and years 10 -15 years usually with no hardware faults excluding batteries
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It's based mainly off that Louis Rossman channel I linked. He spends all day every day repairing Apple stuff, and in recent videos from the last year or so he goes into how some components are now literally impossible to replace because they are coded to only work on the board they came off of. Components that would normally cost 20 cents now mean the only option to repair is to buy an official replacement board from Apple for hundreds of dollars instead. Apple are very much against people repairing their own products. It just surprised me a little that people like yourself who are more than capable of doing these kind of repairs would buy into that.

There's an argument that it's a problem maybe 90% of people won't have for sure though. And I'm well aware that they have a good consumer support network. It's just when you fall through that net, there is no other option than scrap it and buy new.
 
Markjduk said:
Is it a 13" non touch bar model? If so there is a battery replacement program. My Mrs had the same issue with her MacBook Pro and they replaced the battery no questions asked - https://support.apple.com/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement
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Its not unfortunately, its a 15" model with touch bar. But the issue seems rather similar doesnt it! hopefully they just expand the replacement program, as it looks like it might effect them all eventually!
 
Wizcat said:
It's based mainly off that Louis Rossman channel I linked. He spends all day every day repairing Apple stuff, and in recent videos from the last year or so he goes into how some components are now literally impossible to replace because they are coded to only work on the board they came off of. Components that would normally cost 20 cents now mean the only option to repair is to buy an official replacement board from Apple for hundreds of dollars instead. Apple are very much against people repairing their own products. It just surprised me a little that people like yourself who are more than capable of doing these kind of repairs would buy into that.

There's an argument that it's a problem maybe 90% of people won't have for sure though. And I'm well aware that they have a good consumer support network. It's just when you fall through that net, there is no other option than scrap it and buy new.
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Apple aren’t against folks fixing their stuff. Apple are against designing something so that it’s more expensive to build or poorer in aesthetics and finish because they make it “easy” (not really) to fix components. In my view Apple’s products are hugely more reliable than any other manufacturer and when you have a problem the platforms are designed to be fixable in store quickly to keep customer support costs down.

We pinballers might love to get out trusty soldering irons out at the first smell of toasted electronic component but joe public who can barely operate computers just want it to work and even if it was made easy to fix most folks wouldn’t bother.

Apple are also against folks selling counterfeit or knock off goods, if you ever goto Shenzen the volume of fake Apple gear is unbelievable and it’s totally brazen.

Cheers,
Neil.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Apple are definitely against people fixing their stuff, they would rather sell entire new items than service them. That's much better money for them, it is obvious.

They go far beyond the valid reasons Neil suggests for changes in design - increasingly with newer models they make decisions that are bone-headed at best and malicious at worst; things that neither make a more reliable or cheaper product, but just makes it harder to fix. Including for themselves.

It's also quite hard to justify being against chinese copies of parts if it is deliberately made as hard as possible to source OEM parts from Apple themselves. Reason for that of course is that they don't want anyone to fix their stuff except themselves, in which case they're quite happy to tell you to go jump, or tell you that you need <x> and <y> parts. In believing all of that, I'm happy to go with the words of someone whose entire business is based on repairing Apple products (why Apple products if he seems to dislike them so much? It's because Apple users are the only ones that are overwhelmingly prepared to pay for repairs to their stuff instead of buying new.)

As well as - y'know - outright griping that repairs cost them money https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-50505342
 
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