13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program • Hacker News Board

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#31

Post by tedeh » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 8:55 AM UTC

guessmyname wrote: post #8

I entered my computer's serial number, but it's unclear if it is affected or not: > The serial number you entered is not eligible under this program because either: > • It's not in the affected serial number range. > • Our records show that your battery has already been replaced. > • Our records show it's no longer eligible for a free replacement under this program. > If you have questions, please contact Apple. If e…

My Macbook Pro has custom upgrades (RAM and disk) and it IS eligible for the replacement program according to the form.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#32

Post by chx » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 9:24 AM UTC

tkubacki wrote: post #5

The only thing that keeps me with OSX instead of Linux on laptop is awesome touchpad in MacBook. Wandering if there are any ThinksPads/System76's with comparable touchpad quality ?

I think you are looking at the wrong thing. That's like looking for Symbian qualities in an iPhone. I mean, what you need is a productive pointing device not specifically a touchpad and for that the TrackPoint in ThinkPads still wins.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#33

Post by foepys » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 9:31 AM UTC

tkubacki wrote: post #5

The only thing that keeps me with OSX instead of Linux on laptop is awesome touchpad in MacBook. Wandering if there are any ThinksPads/System76's with comparable touchpad quality ?

In my experience if you want to compare touchpads, do it with Linux installed. The Windows drivers for all touchpads I tried were horrible and on the two laptops where I installed Linux, the touchpad responded much nicer and quicker than with Windows.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#34

Post by otp124 » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 9:48 AM UTC

mullikine wrote: post #29

The keyboards on this new range of Apple laptops are a single unit with the logic board, very costly (to replace). They're extremely fragile and essentially booby trapped so that if you try to replace keys yourself, you may end up breaking the keyboard and thus the logic board as particular keys such as the spacebar are replaced differently. From a usability standpoint, the keys are so shallow that the tips of your f…

My wife has been complaining about the keyboard on her new Macbook Pro, within months of getting it. It seems the keys are sticking, but we're not sure if its a defect or if crumbs got underneath. It has never happened on our previous-model MacBooks Pros/Airs. Either way, this design is unfortunate for the consumer.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#35

Post by mullikine » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:08 AM UTC

otp124 wrote: post #34

mullikine wrote: post #29

The keyboards on this new range of Apple laptops are a single unit with the logic board, very costly (to replace). They're extremely fragile and essentially booby trapped so that if you try to replace keys yourself, you may end up breaking the keyboard and thus the logic board as particular keys such as the spacebar are replaced differently. From a usability standpoint, the keys are so shallow that the tips of your f…

My wife has been complaining about the keyboard on her new Macbook Pro, within months of getting it. It seems the keys are sticking, but we're not sure if its a defect or if crumbs got underneath. It has never happened on our previous-model MacBooks Pros/Airs. Either way, this design is unfortunate for the consumer.

It's a defect or multiple defects. I have 2016 MB and a mid-2017 touch bar MBP. So many keys have became unresponsive that I backspace most of the letters I type; A torture that you can't let your frustration out on by typing heavily, lest your fingers bear the brunt (Newton's third law + shallow keys). My shiny new MBP began having these issues after about 2 months.

2nd gripe: I made the most unfortunate mistake of attempting to install Windows 10 through bootcamp. short story: windows f-d up during reboot, leaving me with a non-booting mac parition that I don't want to erase.

I thought I could repair it with Ubuntu, but...

Most aggrivatingly, there are no linux drivers for the keyboard on the MBP (due to the touch bar being a single unit with the keyboard) and you need more than one USB-C to USB converter if you want to both plug in a linux boot disk and a keyboard that actually works.

Far worse is the fact that there is no linux driver for the entire logic board (as it's a single unit with the keyboard and touch bar). No logic board means no access to the hard drive at all. So I can't fix the partition with a linux boot disk even if I do have multiple USB converters. Now both laptops are either used as bookends or to hold my coffee. So yeah, thanks Apple.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#36

Post by zepolen » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:28 AM UTC

chx wrote: post #32

tkubacki wrote: post #5

The only thing that keeps me with OSX instead of Linux on laptop is awesome touchpad in MacBook. Wandering if there are any ThinksPads/System76's with comparable touchpad quality ?

I think you are looking at the wrong thing. That's like looking for Symbian qualities in an iPhone. I mean, what you need is a productive pointing device not specifically a touchpad and for that the TrackPoint in ThinkPads still wins.

No, what I need is a way to scroll effortlessly on a laptop.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#37

Post by frou_dh » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:31 AM UTC

mullikine wrote: post #29

The keyboards on this new range of Apple laptops are a single unit with the logic board, very costly (to replace). They're extremely fragile and essentially booby trapped so that if you try to replace keys yourself, you may end up breaking the keyboard and thus the logic board as particular keys such as the spacebar are replaced differently. From a usability standpoint, the keys are so shallow that the tips of your f…

> The keyboards on this new range of Apple laptops are a single unit with the logic board, very costly (to replace).

Does someone at Apple get their ass kicked up and down the hallway for this idiocy? Presumably a lot of the keyboards fail in-warranty so Apple are eating the costs.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#38

Post by akvadrako » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:32 AM UTC

otp124 wrote: post #34

mullikine wrote: post #29

The keyboards on this new range of Apple laptops are a single unit with the logic board, very costly (to replace). They're extremely fragile and essentially booby trapped so that if you try to replace keys yourself, you may end up breaking the keyboard and thus the logic board as particular keys such as the spacebar are replaced differently. From a usability standpoint, the keys are so shallow that the tips of your f…

My wife has been complaining about the keyboard on her new Macbook Pro, within months of getting it. It seems the keys are sticking, but we're not sure if its a defect or if crumbs got underneath. It has never happened on our previous-model MacBooks Pros/Airs. Either way, this design is unfortunate for the consumer.

Yes, the keys get sticky. This is the first keyboard where they tell you to clean it with compressed air and in my experience it's required.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#39

Post by _gfrc » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:43 AM UTC

slimbods wrote: post #10

I get a hit on serial number but no symptoms. So I think I should replace but: "Your 13-inch MacBook Pro will be examined prior to any service to verify that it is eligible for this program and in working order. Service may take 3-5 days." So I might go through that and still not get a new battery? Feh!

It will be examined before service by a genius. They do some additional tests in the store. When they take it in, pretty sure that you get a new battery. I had several devices changed already in similar programs and it always worked like that. You can also ask to have it serviced immediately, I had some luck with that and had only to wait for 30 mins.

Re: 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program

#40

Post by eknkc » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:45 AM UTC

mullikine wrote: post #29

The keyboards on this new range of Apple laptops are a single unit with the logic board, very costly (to replace). They're extremely fragile and essentially booby trapped so that if you try to replace keys yourself, you may end up breaking the keyboard and thus the logic board as particular keys such as the spacebar are replaced differently. From a usability standpoint, the keys are so shallow that the tips of your f…

I had a couple keys on mine started to fail.

They replaced entire top cap (aluminum case + keyboard + touchpad + batteries + touchbar). What a waste.

Even weird, the touch id failed to activate when they assembled it so they replaced the main board too (with ssd).

I have the display and bottom plate of my original mbp on this monster.

Recently, the new keyboard started having issues with enter key. Hopefully I will cause more costs to Apple replacing this.