4 ms·

What is more astounding to me is not the fact that it happened, but that apple did nothing about it. Years later they are still selling a broken device, and peo

What is more astounding to me is not the fact that it happened, but that apple did nothing about it. Years later they are still selling a broken device, and people are still buying it.

ps 7y ago
I refused to upgrade due to touch bar/esc key absence and the keyboard fiasco is a big no for now. I did hope for a major redesign this fall, but it seems I will have to wait much longer. Macbook Pro has been my companion since 2005 and I feel like Apple is doing everything they can to make me switch to Linux. My current, fully loaded 15 inch MB Pro from late 2013 started having serious battery issues and I hope it will survive until redesign is introduced. Although given the recent breakthroughs in Apple product lines I suppose they will drive me even further away from them :-(
- jdnenej 7y ago
  You can replace the battery on older macbooks fairly easily. Unfortunately now they glue them down so hard it's easier to just throw out the laptop.
  - systemtest 7y ago
    It's $199 for a battery replacement. Not cheap but given that you pay for a 95wh battery, a new keyboard, a new trackpad, a new topcase and warranty that's a pretty good deal. Your MacBook Pro will be as good as new.
    - mtsr 7y ago
      The price for the replacement is also higher if your battery isn’t actually in need of replacement. Basically apple subsidizes (compared to their higher pricing anyway) the other parts when replacing the laptop body to get the battery replaced.
- kofejnik 7y ago
  you can change your battery, of course. Also, it is sometimes possible to buy refurbished 2015 models directly from Apple, which is what I intend to do if September models aren't a serious improvement over current offerings. Because, even with all current Apple semi-hate, nothing beats usability of OS X. And 2015 MBPs were (are) great.
  - EugeneOZ 7y ago
    > nothing beats usability of OS X I used to share same opinion, but Windows 10 is surprisingly good nowadays, I didn't expect it to be so nice to use.
    - kofejnik 7y ago
      Ads in start menu? Apps installed without my consent? No, thank you
      - EugeneOZ 7y ago
        Never experienced it. I don't advertise Win10, so no need for aggressive "no thank you", I don't give a fuck if you will use it.
      - V-2 7y ago
        If by "ads in start menu" you mean the lame app suggestions, it's trivial to disable the thing.
        kofejnik 7y ago
        by your logic, any ad can be reframed as "a lame suggestion". They're still ads, though, and still very unwelcome. And last time I checked, there wasn't a switch to easily turn them off, completely and permanently.
        V-2 7y ago
        While I admittedly can't remember what I did exactly in order to switch them off at the beginning... I'm not seeing any, ever. So clearly I must've used such a switch
jotm 7y ago
Because they're buying it. The failure rate must not be impacting their profits, or people buy a new MacBook before the keyboard breaks, again not impacting their sales.
fauigerzigerk 7y ago
True, and it really shows the downside of vertical integration for users. Tying yourself to a particular software ecosystem turns into a bit of a lottery if it means you're left with exactly one totally broken laptop keyboard option for years and years. Even ignoring the actual brokenness, using a keyboard with very little key travel is just not everyone's cup of tea. It really makes me think hard about whether or not I want to take this risk again, not just for laptops but for phones as well.
MobileVet 7y ago
These products spend years in development. They are doing something about it but it takes time. Apparently the all new designs, to start release this fall, will address many of these issues. If they don't, I to will be furious. That said, due to the huge list of issue, I probably would have interrupted the normal design cycle and accelerated the new models. But 20/20.

What is more astounding to me is not the fact that it happened, but that apple did nothing about it. Years later they are still selling a broken device, and people are still buying it.

ps 7y ago

I refused to upgrade due to touch bar/esc key absence and the keyboard fiasco is a big no for now. I did hope for a major redesign this fall, but it seems I will have to wait much longer. Macbook Pro has been my companion since 2005 and I feel like Apple is doing everything they can to make me switch to Linux. My current, fully loaded 15 inch MB Pro from late 2013 started having serious battery issues and I hope it will survive until redesign is introduced. Although given the recent breakthroughs in Apple product lines I suppose they will drive me even further away from them :-(

jdnenej 7y ago
You can replace the battery on older macbooks fairly easily. Unfortunately now they glue them down so hard it's easier to just throw out the laptop.
- systemtest 7y ago
  It's $199 for a battery replacement. Not cheap but given that you pay for a 95wh battery, a new keyboard, a new trackpad, a new topcase and warranty that's a pretty good deal. Your MacBook Pro will be as good as new.
  - mtsr 7y ago
    The price for the replacement is also higher if your battery isn’t actually in need of replacement. Basically apple subsidizes (compared to their higher pricing anyway) the other parts when replacing the laptop body to get the battery replaced.
kofejnik 7y ago
you can change your battery, of course. Also, it is sometimes possible to buy refurbished 2015 models directly from Apple, which is what I intend to do if September models aren't a serious improvement over current offerings. Because, even with all current Apple semi-hate, nothing beats usability of OS X. And 2015 MBPs were (are) great.
- EugeneOZ 7y ago
  > nothing beats usability of OS X I used to share same opinion, but Windows 10 is surprisingly good nowadays, I didn't expect it to be so nice to use.
  - kofejnik 7y ago
    Ads in start menu? Apps installed without my consent? No, thank you
    - EugeneOZ 7y ago
      Never experienced it. I don't advertise Win10, so no need for aggressive "no thank you", I don't give a fuck if you will use it.
    - V-2 7y ago
      If by "ads in start menu" you mean the lame app suggestions, it's trivial to disable the thing.
      - kofejnik 7y ago
        by your logic, any ad can be reframed as "a lame suggestion". They're still ads, though, and still very unwelcome. And last time I checked, there wasn't a switch to easily turn them off, completely and permanently.
        V-2 7y ago
        While I admittedly can't remember what I did exactly in order to switch them off at the beginning... I'm not seeing any, ever. So clearly I must've used such a switch

jotm 7y ago

Because they're buying it. The failure rate must not be impacting their profits, or people buy a new MacBook before the keyboard breaks, again not impacting their sales.

fauigerzigerk 7y ago

True, and it really shows the downside of vertical integration for users. Tying yourself to a particular software ecosystem turns into a bit of a lottery if it means you're left with exactly one totally broken laptop keyboard option for years and years. Even ignoring the actual brokenness, using a keyboard with very little key travel is just not everyone's cup of tea. It really makes me think hard about whether or not I want to take this risk again, not just for laptops but for phones as well.

MobileVet 7y ago

These products spend years in development. They are doing something about it but it takes time. Apparently the all new designs, to start release this fall, will address many of these issues. If they don't, I to will be furious. That said, due to the huge list of issue, I probably would have interrupted the normal design cycle and accelerated the new models. But 20/20.