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Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

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Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#141

Post by fzzzy »

hvidgaard wrote: post #82
scottydelta wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They never acknowledged the issue even though the issue has been there for quite sometime[1]. [1] https://www.collective-evolution.com/2017/09/03/study-sugges...

In all honesty, a battery is a wear and tear item. At some point it simply cannot provide enough power - it has been this way ever since rechargeable batteries was invented. What Apple did was the only thing they could do to keep the phone working reasonably, but they should have communicated it clearly, and offered battery replacement for a reasonable price (30$ for iPhone 6 battery replacement was cheap). Other man…

No. I don't buy this. The correct action would have been to overprovision the battery such that it is capable of advertised performance for the expected lifetime of the product instead of making the product 1 mm thinner.

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#142

Post by fzzzy »

jakobegger wrote: post #19
Ultramanoid wrote: post #7

Still waiting for Apple to make anything anywhere as good as the Pismo was. I've had hardware issues of one kind or another with every single laptop from them since then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G3#PowerBook_(FireWi...

One problem with the Pismo (and probably other laptops at the time) was that the backlight would become very dim. You could buy replacement backlights, but installing them was really difficult. Even if you managed to not break the very thin glass tube, aligning it in a way not to cast any shadows was tricky. I think that the newer, LED-backlit displays actually have a much longer lifetime (apart from "Flexgate").

I think you might be thinking of the Wallstreet, not the Pismo.

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#144

Post by benologist »

eridius wrote: post #58
l1feh4ck wrote: post #25

The one thing that caught my attention is that "they keep deleting the issue we post". That is an evil thing to do.

Question: do they delete any other posts, or just ones alleging design flaws? Do they give any reason for deletion?

Apple as official policy once warned iOS developers not to talk shit about their arbitrary app rejections to the press so I'd say they've been pretty consistent trying to suppress negative opinions.

     "If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps."
https://web.archive.org/web/20141226094343/https://developer...

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#145

Post by mcphage »

shinryuu wrote: post #100
azinman2 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can assure you the message is consistent internally with action. It’s not just marketing. Disclosure: I work for Apple.

Why is Apple so resistant to making repairable products? What is the obsessiveness with making ever thinner products? I remember starting a job 2014 and choosing a macbook 2012, because of the macbook 2012 being more repairable. It seems to have served me well. Still using it, might consider upgrading to macbook 2015. But won't go beyond that before I hear from others that the current hardware issues have been resolv…

> What is the obsessiveness with making ever thinner products?

Comparing a thicker and thinner version of the same product, the thicker ones always seem more old-fashioned. I still own my Titanium PowerBook, and when it was new it was so sleek I couldn’t believe it was real, and now it feels so thick and old I can barely believe how I used to feel about it.

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#146

Post by tmd83 »

I also never see much talk about the sharp edges of Macbook. It was a struggle for me when I got mine. But just yesterday I checked the 2018 model of a colleague. And the sharpness was even worse. More importantly the vents on the side and on the around the hinge were really bad. My skin was scrapped painfully if my hand dragged across it. I don't know how one can use this safely without scratching one's skin :(. I like a lot about the Macbook itself while I also hate some of their choices. But this package they put everything is in sharp, slippery, zero grip is simply beyond absurd for me. That's not even talking about the repairability or making it so thin than it's harder to grip.

They have solved a lot of the tough problem of quality manufacturing and set a price for themselves to allow it profitability. That's the big thing. The problems Macbook has I feel are not about lack of engineering skill. It's completely about designer ego and fleecing the customers.

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#147

Post by magnusja »

SyneRyder wrote: post #71
forgingahead wrote: post #3

I regret not buying a stash of 2012 Macbook Pros and hoarding them for my own use. Edit: And iPhone SEs as well

Careful on the mid-2012 MBPs... as much as I love that machine, they also have their own flexgate [1]. The internal SATA flex cables bend across the Superdrive and rub against the slightly abrasive back plate, so they have a high failure rate if you actually use your device as a laptop (eg travel with it, keep it in an backpack). Apple seems to have had a problem with flex cables for nearly a decade now. My MBP 2012…

Same here, have an early 2011 and this thing breaks usually after 1 year. I am only using the bay where the SuperDrive was these days because it broke once again a couple of weeks ago.

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#148

Post by csomar »

willtim wrote: post #139
csomar wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder about that too. My experience with Macbooks has been solid (vs. other laptops). I even spilled water (a full cup) on one of them and it only needed a Wifi card change.

Well my ThinkPad actually has drainage channels and holes to protect it against liquid spillage. It's also far more repairable and modular. With Apple's obsession with thinness and the corresponding sales, I actually fear for the future of all function-over-form laptops.

My last macbook pro lasted for 6 years and still can do many jobs. I love the thin form factor because it makes it easy to take.

I don't know if I was lucky or these are just some extreme cases but: Except for the water spilling (which costed a bit), I never had any hardware issue with any Apple product I bought.

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#149

Post by nacs »

devwastaken wrote: post #136
azinman2 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can assure you the message is consistent internally with action. It’s not just marketing. Disclosure: I work for Apple.

Do you have an example of that action? Environmental problems start overwhelmingly at consumerism. Apple is releasing new devices every two years. These devices purposefully made to not be repaired, and apple certainly spends a lot of money into advertising. That's no different from other companies, but apple is lying about it.

The person you're responding is only commenting on their privacy stance.

Not sure what repairing of devices has to do with that.

Re: Apple’s 2018 MacBook Pros Attempt to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exists

#150

Post by gumby »

davidverhasselt wrote: post #76
gumby wrote: post #67

The 2018 keyboard is much more robust than the earilier ones. In 8 months I haven’t had to replace it at all (though I am close). I actually don’t mind the feel, just want it to work. And the Touch Bar...if I could just disable the hypersensitive virtual escape key (I use caps lock for that) it would be perfect...all else can be disabled but not that botch, for some reason. I guess I still use it because I find the a…

You can easily disable the escape key on the TouchBar using the free Karabiner-Elements https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/ This is my setup: https://d.pr/i/sP4OMX

Thanks, I’ll give it a try
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