That’s what Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica is wondering in this piece. Specifically since the introduction of the Intel Macs, there have been a number of Quality Assurance problems cropping up: MacBook Pro whines, MacBook discoloration, overheating, random shutdowns, etc. Is this problem systemic or are these isolated occurrences forming a perfect storm of perception?
Despite being a victim of the random shutdown glitch, I think that pinning the blame on the transition to Intel is probably misleading. There are two important factors to consider here: 1) Apple has always had QA problems. This comes, in part, from pushing the envelope in their designs, trying to get the new cool thing out the door on time. But if anybody remembers the Performa 53xx/63xx series, or, for that matter, the first generation of Titanium PowerBook G4, well, it’s pretty clear that quality problems are nothing new under the sun for Apple. 2) As Jacqui notes, the problems we’ve been hearing about are related specifically to the MacBook/MacBook Pro. The Intel iMac and Mac mini appear to have been relatively problem-free. But notebooks are always harder to engineer. As we’ve said about heat problems in the past, when you stick a microprocessor into a small form factor along with a bunch of other electronics, you are going to get heat. You’re going to get glitches. From a media perspective, Apple’s arguably the most visible computer company in the world: of course their QA problems are going to get a lot of attention.
This isn’t intended to be a blind apologia for Apple: I believe their QA team needs to come up with better testing regimens. It’s a thankless job, QA; we never hear about the bugs that they do quash before a product gets out the door. And with the Mac Pros just hitting the streets, I’m sure we’ve got a round of new problems to look forward to.
I've been a Mac user for well over a decade and a half.
During that time, I've owned and used numerous Macs and never had any major problems, until my mom bought the MacBook, which suffers from the infamous random shutdown syndrome.
Until now, I've always thought that Mac hardware issues were exaggerated. However, it is difficult not to feel like Apple has messed up when it's YOUR machine that has a problem that is shared by thousands of users.
I couldn't agree more. I think that while the QA has missed some things here, there are also deadlines to work to and these faults are relatively minor and also quite few (compared to the number of each machine shipped). Overall I think Apple does more than a fair job of their QA and the guys that are employed to do it work their behinds off.
That said there are still bugs and in a perfect world there won't be. Perhaps one day.
Also remember that these machines have been rolled out in around 6 months, which is 18 months quicker than originally scheduled. Quite a feat, and frankly having any of them work at all is amazing. I think Apple have done a great job and I wish their QA team all the best of luck for the future; it's a thankless task.
I just sent my MBP out for the CPU (whine)
and it came back, and it is still doing it.... :-(
also I had a problem with my left shift button (which a genius fixed) and the trackpad button making a clicking noise when pressed....
If anything esle happens i am going to ask Apple for a completely new MBP....
That's nothing. My boyfriend bought a refurbished 1st revision MacBook Pro from the online Apple Store three weeks ago. It arrived bent. Yes, bent, by about 15 degrees in the lower right hand corner, and not from a battery issue. Someone just bent it and Apple sent it out that way.
The replacement computer Apple sent, also a refurb, had a very obviously stuttering display, which also somehow managed to get sent out. We took that computer into our local Apple Store (N. Michigan Avenue here in Chicago) and they told us it was probably a faulty logic board. So we hunkered down and left the MBP there for them to send back for a logic board replacement.
The book came back a week later. All the service department had done was replace the display cable, not the logic board. As a result, the display problem was still there. in all its glory, which would have been obvious if anyone had actually been doing quality control before the computer was sent back to us.
So three drop-dead obvious problems ignored by, well, really whomever at Apple while the same customer kept getting stuck with an unusable computer.
Finally, the manager of our Apple Store, as aghast as we were, just took the unfixed refurb back and ordered my boyfriend a brand-new, current revision MacBook Pro for no additional charge. That's a good outcome, but it's a pretty sorry chain of events leading up to it.
It all left me wondering whether some midlevel manager at Apple has sent the word out to do as little work as possible on the problematic 1st revision MacBook Pros--or perhaps the new Intels in general--in order to protect the profit margin.
Or maybe Apple's just fired one too many talented people and the dingos and gila monsters now working in service are having a hard time getting much work done without those opposable thumbs.
Either way, the punch line is that my boyfriend started out in this story as a very eager Windows switcher buying his first Mac, and now he's left wondering whether he's made a very bad decision.
Now there's a switcher story you won't see in an Apple commercial.