Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#111

Post by ericmcer » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 5:33 PM UTC

pooya13 wrote: post #59

This was the case with my 2015 MacBook a couple of years ago. The “geniuses” were refusing to fix the keyboard free of charge until they realized I was aware of the law suite and their attitude suddenly changed to “we will fix it for free because we have a great customer support”. I garantee there are people who didn’t know better and paid for it. And I highly doubt that “it’s a small percentage of the customers” aff…

I don't understand why the workers would do that. There is no incentive for them to get you to pay for it. I worked retail for 8ish years and I was usually as good to the customer as my company would allow. It would be bizarre for me to try to hoodwink a customer out of a free repair I am authorized to provide, because I felt some bizarre loyalty to my corporation.

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#112

Post by rixrax » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 5:35 PM UTC

Somewhat off-topic pipe dream, but I wish Apple would up their Linux support. I would get one of these [old 13,1] MBPs in a heartbeat to run Ubuntu on it should I be able to put a stock Linux on it. Unfortunately hibernate and audio still do not appear work[0].

[0] https://github.com/Dunedan/mbp-2016-linux

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#113

Post by ibrault » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 5:36 PM UTC

Wow. I regularly get repeated "e" keypresses and for the longest time just assumed I was getting worse at typing (even though it was only "e"...). Glad to see it's an actual thing and I'm not crazy. Yes I probably should've Googled it but it wasn't that much of a nuisance

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#114

Post by archy_ » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 5:37 PM UTC

I'm impressed that Apple would continue to replace devices without a warranty. Really shows their dedication to their customers, not many other companies would continue to drop so much money on devices they don't have to support.

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#115

Post by hombre_fatal » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 5:41 PM UTC

jacknews wrote: post #5

Add to that, that the keycaps break. They have teeny-tiny clips on the top edge, which just break after a while, and they just lift off, sticking to your finger, or just shift slightly, enough not to 'click' when you press them. I'm not a particularly heavy typist (though it sounds like it on the butterfly keyboard, compared to my previous 2013 macbbok pro), but I've now had about 8 keycaps replaced in the lasst year…

If I turn my macbook upside-down, 8 key caps will fall onto the floor. It’s comically bad. Had the whole keyboard replaced a year ago for the same problem.

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#116

Post by lancesells » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 5:44 PM UTC

bradknowles wrote: post #76

breck wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t know there were 16GB options. I thought I got the best last generation MBA at 8gb and 512. It’s my primary machine and I still love it.

The only problem with the old hardware is that it can't go over 16GB of RAM. And over time, things have slowly gotten to the point where -- IMO -- even 16GB of RAM is no longer really enough for simple baseline usage. If you want an Apple laptop with more than 16GB of RAM, then you don't have much in the way of options. This is a problem that has only been fixed with the latest generation of hardware. So, you have to…

I don't know what you mean by baseline but I have 8GB or RAM in a 2014 MBA and it's perfectly fine for most any tasks that I do. I've rendered heavily layered 1080p video in After Effects without any sort of problem. I doubt it can handle 4K video but for me 8GB definitely works as a "baseline".

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#117

Post by awakeasleep » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 5:46 PM UTC

ibrault wrote: post #113

Wow. I regularly get repeated "e" keypresses and for the longest time just assumed I was getting worse at typing (even though it was only "e"...). Glad to see it's an actual thing and I'm not crazy. Yes I probably should've Googled it but it wasn't that much of a nuisance

This has been the perfect solution to my double press problems. https://unshaky.nestederror.com

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#118

Post by gruturo » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

unicornfinder wrote: post #70

bilbo0s wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My daughter was in the Apple store the other day with a faulty charger. (It wasn't the problem she went to ask about.) They wouldn't even speak to her about the problem she wanted to talk about until they went and got a new charger for her. They said it was just better to get that out of the way first. So her experience was excellent. How is everyone's Apple store experience so radically different?

I reckon it's at least in part down to how busy the particular store is. The one near me is always absolutely rammed and to be honest the service there isn't exactly great.

It's also down to how potentially dangerous something can be. Depending on what actually fails, a charger could electrocute you, and it's cheap to both make and replace ("here's a new one"). A butterfly keyboard won't kill you and it's hell to replace.

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#119

Post by karussell » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 6:00 PM UTC

rogerhoward wrote: post #10

After months of suffering with this, with an out warranty 15" MBP 2016 that was relegated to desk duty with an external keyboard, I heard about this program. I made an Apple Store appointment for the next day (a Tuesday); they checked it, warned me it could be a week or more because of a holiday that week. Thursday morning I had a call that it was ready. Total cost: $0 (according to the invoice the parts were over $8…

So you go to a very specific store that is only available in a the big cities to repair your laptop ordered via Internet? Isn't their an on-site service for Apple? I.e. the repairer comes to your office or home? I find it hard to believe you pay so much money only to get a service of this kind and waste hours traveling to some special Apple store.

Re: Apple's service program for butterfly keyboard MacBooks, even out of warranty

#120

Post by nkkollaw » Fri, Jul 05, 2019, 6:05 PM UTC

rogerhoward wrote: post #10

After months of suffering with this, with an out warranty 15" MBP 2016 that was relegated to desk duty with an external keyboard, I heard about this program. I made an Apple Store appointment for the next day (a Tuesday); they checked it, warned me it could be a week or more because of a holiday that week. Thursday morning I had a call that it was ready. Total cost: $0 (according to the invoice the parts were over $8…

Great, but if it's like my 2016 MBP, it will stop working properly again in 2 months.