Althouse: The MacBook Air "hinge defect."

July 23, 2009

The MacBook Air "hinge defect."

Hey, this is exactly what happened to mine!

27 comments:

Jason (the commenter) said...: Apple products are pretty but they always seem plagued with defects. Apple always gets away with it somehow. Lucky them!; 7/23/09, 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Apple has no engineers, only designers.

How much longer can they get away with not standing behind their products?; 7/23/09, 6:41 PM
Irene said...: This is a refreshing transition because it looks like some of the commenters in the Crowley thread came unhinged as well!; 7/23/09, 7:00 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I dont have an Aple computer but my Ipod freezes up all the time. I'm always having to reboot it.; 7/23/09, 7:00 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: wait that's a Mac, I should have said a Mac.; 7/23/09, 7:01 PM
rhhardin said...: My own experience is that quiet and polite persistence always gets a free repair when it's really required.

If you have a popular blog you can report, in dispassionate fashion, the exchanges, as a lively blog topic.

Otherwise USENET in the group for the manufacturer is a good place to post. Manufacturers read those and assume that consumers do too.; 7/23/09, 7:19 PM
Unknown said...: @Paul Zrimsek,

Um, Apple have one of the highest consumer satisfaction mark in the computer industry. The iPhone has the highest in the phone industry. Please, stop with your hyperboles.

Of course with very popular products, you can always find defect anecdotes.; 7/23/09, 7:23 PM
blake said...: Apple sells pretty, and relatively software-trouble free. Not rugged. Not utilitarian.

Though, I think Darcy had a pretty good experience with her iPod lately.; 7/23/09, 7:33 PM
chuckR said...: I hate the idea of an $800 repair that involves a couple of pieces of injection molded plastic and maybe a few bits of cheap metal stampings and screws. $800. Really?

OTOH, my daughter has a Mac Pro. I installed more RAM and can't remember the last time I saw a PC - for that's what it really is - that was as nicely designed internally or as robust. It must be the outlier in the fragile Apple family. If the MacBook is Air, this thing is Anvil.; 7/23/09, 8:00 PM
TitusABalletForMartha said...: We here in Cambridge have boarded up her lofts, locked are expensive German automobiles, are not attending to our fabulous restaurants, our professionally designed and lighted gardens are dark.

We now know how the Real Americans from Wasilla, Alaska felt when the national media converged on their great city.

This is too much for some to bare.

I am eating my salt cod and chorizo fritters alone in silence and in the dark.

When will this madness end.; 7/23/09, 8:18 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "My own experience is that quiet and polite persistence always gets a free repair when it's really required."

Yes, and that is described in the linked article too. I think they have 2 policies that work together. 1. You're not entitled to a repair (it's not in the warranty), but 2. They will do you what looks like a special favor (aren't they nice?!).

Another 2-part Apple thing: 1. the product looks elegant but it is actually junky in some ways, but 2. They'll swap it for a new one (or do something else) and make you feel you've gotten special treatment, and you're Apple Love is actually stoked. (I've bought 2 iPhones, and each has failed and been swapped for a new one, not because I was entitled but because I was getting a favor.); 7/23/09, 8:21 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @Irene LOL.; 7/23/09, 8:21 PM
TitusABalletForMartha said...: We are just a small, exclusive, very expensive and highly educated city with no pretenses. Many of our children are afraid to go to their private elite elementary schools. I hope all you can give us some privacy we deserve. I actually saw Burberry baby carriages today with the shades drawn-a complete travesty.

We just want our exotic lives back.; 7/23/09, 8:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Um, Apple have one of the highest consumer satisfaction mark

That would be "mark" in the carnie sense of the word, I'm thinking.; 7/23/09, 9:13 PM
Methadras said...: Sy said...

@Paul Zrimsek,

Um, Apple have one of the highest consumer satisfaction mark in the computer industry. The iPhone has the highest in the phone industry. Please, stop with your hyperboles.

Of course with very popular products, you can always find defect anecdotes.

Highest satisfaction in terms of what? Usage? Reliability? GUI? Features? Anyway, Apple does very little engineering. They source out there engineering and design work to outside product development houses. They send out their prototypes to prototype houses to be fabricated and product tested for fit, form, and function. Apple mainly cares about their aesthetic and industrial design. Paul is right, but a lot of people confuse mechancial design with industrial designers. There are many aspects of design work in producing a product, but Apple's forte is ID. It's how they have developed their brand around their entire iLife label.

Obviously this hinge design was not design reviewed well if at all. Otherwise they would have seen this right away. As a principal mechanical engineer myself I see this stuff in consumer products all the time and lately a lot more than usual. A lot of this is driven by short development cycles and even smaller windows of first sales opportunities and many of these designs are driven by marketing departments and Apple's marketing department is substantial. Look and see how much they spend on marketing vs anything else.

There will be a lot of buck passing internally on this one because this is clearly an engineering design flaw and will probably require a significant amount of time, effort, and retooling to make it right. It isn't hyperbole, but rather bad internal practices where these problems show up. Someone is going to suffer for this one.; 7/23/09, 9:51 PM
Methadras said...: TitusABalletForMartha said...

We are just a small, exclusive, very expensive and highly educated city with no pretenses. Many of our children are afraid to go to their private elite elementary schools. I hope all you can give us some privacy we deserve. I actually saw Burberry baby carriages today with the shades drawn-a complete travesty.

We just want our exotic lives back.

Oh, honey, you are so full of pretenses. Your veneer is showing again.; 7/23/09, 9:53 PM
Unknown said...: @methadras

There will be a lot of buck passing internally on this one because this is clearly an engineering design flaw and will probably require a significant amount of time, effort, and retooling to make it right. It isn't hyperbole, but rather bad internal practices where these problems show up. Someone is going to suffer for this one.

Well you are wrong about taking a long time to fixed. They already fixed the problem with a b revision. According to their record profit last quarter, Apple certainly isn't suffering.

Apple, for instance is #1 in consumer satisfaction with smart phones.

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009082

From your post, I can see you clearly have a bias against Apple and Macs. Don't let your bias cloud your judgement.; 7/24/09, 12:03 AM
Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/24/09, 12:13 AM
Unknown said...: Also Apple ranked #1 in satisfaction among computer manufacturers in a variety of categories.
link

I also might ad, judging from your characterization of Apple, you are clueless about them. If you know anything about Apple, you would know that they value secrecy over almost anything else. To suggest that Apple would outsource all of their engineering is utterly laughable.; 7/24/09, 12:24 AM
Leland said...: I also might ad, judging from your characterization of Apple, you are clueless about them. If you know anything about Apple, you would know that they value secrecy over almost anything else. To suggest that Apple would outsource all of their engineering is utterly laughable.

You are clueless about NDA's.; 7/24/09, 7:22 AM
Unknown said...: Leland,

Oh I know about NDAs. You are apparently clueless about both leaks and Apple.; 7/24/09, 1:17 PM
Unknown said...: Also, Apple is a HUGE company. Their market cap right now is over $140 billion ...bigger than IBM. Are you telling me they have no engineers?; 7/24/09, 1:21 PM
Methadras said...: Sy said...

@methadras

There will be a lot of buck passing internally on this one because this is clearly an engineering design flaw and will probably require a significant amount of time, effort, and retooling to make it right. It isn't hyperbole, but rather bad internal practices where these problems show up. Someone is going to suffer for this one.

Well you are wrong about taking a long time to fixed. They already fixed the problem with a b revision. According to their record profit last quarter, Apple certainly isn't suffering.

Apple, for instance is #1 in consumer satisfaction with smart phones.

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009082

From your post, I can see you clearly have a bias against Apple and Macs. Don't let your bias cloud your judgement.

Well, good for them. They fixed it. That's why they get kudos for their customer satisfaction. However, your assumption that I have a bias against Apple or Macs is rather stupid. First of all, I'm an original Apple stock holder, still am. Second of all I'm a computer user. The platforms are irrelevant. Thirdly, I run into Apple Acolytes all the time and they never cease to amaze me with how their assumptive ignorance shows through whenever their precious Apple brand gets attacked. Fourthly, Apple has been pumping out Intel/Nvidia based systems for quite a while now including the MacBook Air. They haven't been proprietary on their computer front for years. And you have the nerve to call me biased. Give me your address so I can send you a quarter to go buy a clue.; 7/24/09, 1:23 PM
Methadras said...: Oh, I forgot. Fifthly, I still have my Apple ][ and my Apple ][+, all 64k and 128k of them. Do you? Were you even around when those got rolled out? I've met and am acquainted with Wozniak and Jobs. I was recruited to come work for Apple as an in-house mechanical engineer. I turned it down because I had better offers elsewhere. See, my e-peen is monstrous compared to your little hatreds.; 7/24/09, 1:27 PM
Unknown said...: @Methadras

Sorry, but you are clueless when it comes to Apple. Yes, Apple use Nvidia/Intel parts, JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY. That doesn't mean they don't do their engineering in-house. Are you seriously telling me Apple, as big as they are, don't do their own engineering? Seriously?

Yeah, you are clueless.; 7/24/09, 1:55 PM
blake said...: I may have to touch Methadras now.; 7/24/09, 2:29 PM
Methadras said...: Sy said...

@Methadras

Sorry, but you are clueless when it comes to Apple. Yes, Apple use Nvidia/Intel parts, JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY. That doesn't mean they don't do their engineering in-house. Are you seriously telling me Apple, as big as they are, don't do their own engineering? Seriously?

Yeah, you are clueless.

Jesus Christ, you really want to go down this road? Of course Apple has it's own internal engineers. But what they engineer and how they engineer it or who on the outside they work with to engineer are three different things. There are all kinds of engineers working in their internal departments, but they are also very insulated from the outside world. Otherwise how would they get anything done. They have multiple products and multiple product divisions with their own support teams and support structures. However, some of the work is outsources to product development companies that work with Apple to produce product when their resource bandwidth isn't available.

Apple for the longest time was a proprietary world. They developed their own hardware to suit their own needs. Unfortunately for them, at the time, this kept them with only around a 5% market share. That's the problem when you become a closed-source proprietary hardware products manufacturer and that's what Apple used to be. Now their hardware is the same as any other machine except they've transitioned into a software company and gained market share based on their new software IP model, namely iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and their other iLife products. I'm not really sure what you are irritated about, but you might like to get a little fiber in your diet from time to time.

Also, when you find yourself in an argumentative hole, you need to learn when to stop digging. I'm really just going to chuckle at your lame assertions of what you think you know about me.; 7/24/09, 4:18 PM