Soon after I got my MacBook Pro, I put it in a laptop carrying case with a Thinkpad T42. When I took out the MacBook, it had a little dent in the case opposite the screen. I was annoyed, because I had just paid over $2K for the MacBook and it had, in its first week of use, proven itself to be a poorly designed piece of hardware unable to survive the most basic of use. But it still worked, so I just told myself to be more careful with it in the future than I am with any other laptop (and I’ve owned a dozen Windows-based laptops over the years, most of them from IBM, Dell, and HP). Over the next six months of normal use, the case developed a slight warping, so it didn’t close perfectly straight either.
Fast forward to a few months ago, and the screen started acting flaky.
I had purchased the Apple Care package, so I took it in to an Authorized Apple Repair store, expecting it to be fixed - but after having it for a few days, they called me and said they couldn’t fix it because of the dent.
I brought it home and my Mac expert son worked with it and got it to work again, for a couple of weeks at least. I also noticed that the CD slot was now bowed, too. So when the screen started acting up again, I called Apple. One of their support supervisors asked me to take it back in and have pictures sent to them so that they could have the engineers review the damage to determine if it could still be covered under warranty. That was over a month ago, and I still haven’t heard back from Apple, in spite of two phone calls and 3 e-mail.
Even a cursory search on the Internet indicates that the MacBook Pro has a much higher propensity to these kinds of damage than any other laptop out there, with a lot of complaining customers. The fact that Apple is now touting their “breakthrough unibody enclosure,” and says this: “When you pick up a new MacBook Pro, you immediately notice the difference. The entire enclosure is thin and light. It looks polished and refined. And it feels strong and durable — perfect for life inside (and outside) your briefcase or backpack.”
That strongly implies that the old MacBook Pro (mine) is different from the new MacBook Pro - meaning that the old one must be different from “strong and durable” and somewhat less than “perfect for life inside (and outside) your briefcase or backpack.” My experience certainly confirms that the old MacBook Pro is not at all suitable for regular use.
It is clear that Apple should protect its reputation, repudiate the arrogance that they once attributed to IBM, and offer to make whole those MacBook Pro owners, who like me, will sign an affadavit that they did nothing to “abuse” their MacBook Pro to cause the damage it suffered. If it can’t handle being put into a laptop case with a Thinkpad, or other normal and expected usage, then it is clearly defective in design - and that should be covered by Apple’s warranty.
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Wonders when the egg companies will have to include this message on the egg cartons:
Warning if dropped, struck, or handled aggressively the contents of this box will be damaged.
shalan doesn’t pay over 400 USD for ANY computer. They have become disposable and are quickly obsolete.
shalandra on June 24th, 2009 at 3:30 pm | Link
Shalandra, your comment about not paying over $400 for any computer is at least interesting, if not helpful, but your comment comparing eggs to laptops is moronic.
Laptops should be DESIGNED BY THEIR MAKER to be carried around and portable - eggs are neither designed nor portable.
I expected knee-jerk Apple apologists to come out of the woodwork, so thanks for making my defense of my comments so simple. Anyone with a brain can see the holes in your argument.
Dave on June 24th, 2009 at 4:27 pm | Link
She does have a point though, imagine all the complaints Apple must get from folks who drop or damage their products, then try to blame it on poor craftsmanship.
You said yourself that the case had a dent in it, which would logically mean that the case took some sort of blow.
I don’t see why this would come to personally attacking someone, stating that they don’t have a brain, obviously she has a brain. I can see where attitude would play a part in the decision to help a customer or not.
Que sera
dortheajacobs on June 26th, 2009 at 3:00 pm | Link
If she has a point, dortheajacobs, I’m not seeing it. Did you read my original complaint? The part about how I’ve had over 12 laptops over the past fifteen years? About how the Macbook Pro is by far the most flimsy of all of them? About how even a little Google research shows dramatic evidence that there are far more people complaining about dents in a Macbook Pro than other laptops? Why would that be?
But I apologize if I came across as harsh - I’m just very frustrated and angry with Apple right now, because they haven’t responded to my three attempts to reach them and get a resolution on this over the past month.
I know the difference between abuse / accident and normal use of a laptop - and there was no abuse or accident in this case. The Macbook Pro is simply poorly designed for even reasonable use, but because the Mac has such a fanatically loyal following, they get away with it. I still want Apple to succeed - I love their OS X, but their decision to use aluminum instead of magnesium is one that they should take responsibility for. And at least warn people that it is EXTREMELY delicate - far more so than other laptops.
Absolutely a bad design, poor customer service and little regard for the consumer.
I have traveled 50 to 100K miles around the globe, per year, on business doing market research on subjects including the above mentioned issues. I have carried laptops made by HP, Dell, and IBM over the years. Never had a problem of any kind with any of them. Within weeks of getting a Mac, it dented. Inside the travel case that served all the other laptops well enough. And then the backlight for the keyboard failed.
Honestly, if this were a vehicle, the gov’t would have issues a recall.
Any suggestions as to where to take my similar complaint?
Mike on June 29th, 2009 at 6:39 pm | Link
Mike, I’m glad to hear from someone else who’s had experience very similar to mine - I’m absolutely confident that there are MANY people in the same boat. Whomever made the decision at Apple to put looks over essential durability should be ashamed of his poor judgment, even if it’s Steve Jobs himself.
Please e-mail me at dave.whittle at usa dot net and I’ll answer your question and give you my suggestions.
Thanks,
Dave
I bought one of the new 13″ macbook pro (mid 2009) and have run into the following: the bottom pan is dented, from where I put my fingers when I pick it up at its corner. I opened the computer (in line with the manual, so under warranty) and noticed that where the dents are, the aluminium is not supported at al and to me it seems a design flaw.
I have called apple but have not taken it in yet. It is in way hindering the performance of the computer and one only notices upon inspection of the bottom, but is not what I expect my laptop to do and it eats out of the perfection of the design.I will let you know how I fare with apple on this.
Ariaen on July 10th, 2009 at 4:06 am | Link
Yep, 4 days from buying it I found a dent in mine….haven’t even taken it out the house so presumably I’ve just bumped it off something which I can’t even remember doing!
It’s still working fine so I’ll put it down to experience…very annoying that a much cheaper laptop would never get dented from a minor bump.
Apple fail.
Felix on September 20th, 2009 at 1:54 pm | Link
Felix, beware - because that small dent, in my experience, eventually caused the entire display to fail. At the very least, it means that your warranty from Apple is now meaningless, since they will point to the dent as reason to deny any claim you make on your system.
After 4 months now of my MacBook Pro being in the custody of Apple’s Authorized Service Center, and a half dozen attempts to get a resolution, Apple has still not responded to me.
Time for legal action.
Dave on September 20th, 2009 at 9:32 pm | Link
I have a MacBook Pro 13 inch, just received it less than 3 weeks ago. Took it out of the house for the first time tonight– in a cushioned leather laptop bag. I pulled it out of the bag to show off to my mother, and lo and behold, there’s the tiniest mark (not even worth calling it a dent– it’s barely noticeable) in the top of the lid, down near the center of the hinge. Upon opening there was no reason to panic, the glass was perfectly intact – why wouldn’t it be? The mark is nearly imperceptible! Well, the LCD has a spiderweb crack from below the dock subtly in an arch toward the top right corner of the desktop.
This is my first Mac. My husband has a fleet of them. We’re both upset and think that the screens should not break from the slightest mark to the case. This is bad news! Apple needs to step up and realize that this is not the fault of the customer, THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW. I will gladly participate in a class action lawsuit.
Laura Anderson on November 28th, 2009 at 5:14 pm | Link
I agree with everything here except for the fact that the unibody isnt really any better. The computer is amazing. Im an audio engineer and I use the computer extremely extensively. I have the 3.06 Ghz MBP with a 500 Gb HD and love it dearly. I take care of it like its my child….but…despite being extremely careful with it-my lively hood depends on it- the screens casing has become warped on the edges. Presumably from being in my bag with books on long trips, the bottom right corner which is hollow(sp?) and has a dip to allow the screen to open around the bottom casing is now pushed in ever so slightly(dent not noticable to the human eye) so that it brushes the case upon opening and puts stress on the hinge. Agh, the hinge, the same part I had to replace eventually on my last g4. Ugh- I have to use an apple for pro tools and logic- no choice. So is life-Im just gonna move on and get over this after i press post comment
james on December 25th, 2009 at 4:39 pm | Link
An update: after waiting in an Apple store for half a day while on the phone with Apple customer service, Apple did the right thing and decided to repair my MacBook Pro.
The CD hole was also warped such that a CD would not eject - and when I asked how that had happened, the technician asked me if I ever picked up my laptop or held it by that corner, stating that if I held the Pro with one hand by the corner with my thumb on the top, the pressure would be enough to bow the CD slot.
When I got it back, it worked for not more than a week before the screen went black and stayed black. I sent it in again, and they sent it back fixed - the backlight had apparently given out. I had seen that problem before, but usually turning the system off and back on had usually fixed the problem. Annoying, nonetheless.
So I used it for several months, treating it with kid gloves, knowing how delicate these things are.
Now, the screen is broken again, this time with no dent on the case. I have no idea what happened to make the screen break this time. I suspect, however, that my wife picked it up by the screen to move it, because the screen is showing a thumb-sized substrate defect right where someone’s thumb would be if you picked up the screen.
So to net out my experience with the MacBook Pro:
- it is far too delicate to be used as a notebook / laptop. The case does not protect the display from even reasonable use, including picking up the laptop by the display or holding it in one hand.
- Apple apparently refuses to acknowledge that this system is defective in design. MacBook Pro owners of aluminum systems are victims. There is no formal recall - only denial on Apple’s part, even though Apple has attempted to address the problem with the unibody redesign.
I am not an attorney and I have never done anything like this before, but I am an industry expert on laptops and know injustice when I see it. I would like to pursue a class-action lawsuit. If you believe you have suffered loss because of Apple’s poor design of the aluminum case of the MacBook Pro, please e-mail me at dave dot whittle at usa dot net . Once we have a few of us with good evidence (and we’ve already seen plenty posting to this thread) we can persuade a law firm to take the case. The net result of the suit should be to get some recompense and to encourage/force Apple to be more responsible in their future laptop designs.
Dave on December 27th, 2009 at 6:00 pm | Link
Although i live in canada i would like to also make a complaint. I however have the 13″ unibody pro. My complaint is similar, there is an inexplicable dent on the top left hand corner of my notebook. i am extremely careful, im sure i treat it better than any child is treated. This is ridiculous, after dropping 1500 canadian on it i expect it to be built much stronger than it appears to be.
Brian Rankin on February 19th, 2010 at 3:27 pm | Link