New owner of a 2016 MacBook Pro with only 70 battery cycles

[sdfox7]

Today I picked up a beautiful 13" silver 2016 MacBook Pro with only 70 battery cycles. $375

I was a little nervous about the butterfly keyboard but seller (computer business) threw in a 1 year warranty. The computer is in mint condition with no signs of scratches or damage--amazing for an 8 year old machine. Must have been used very little and stored in a case. Currently running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6.

My first butterfly model, we'll see how it goes.

 

[StoneJack]

i had such machine. nice

 

[JPack]

Many of those butterfly models have low cycles since they were part of the service program. The owner replaces the top case under the program and quickly sells it.

 

[sdfox7]

Many of those butterfly models have low cycles since they were part of the service program. The owner replaces the top case under the program and quickly sells it.

Thanks for the info. At least, I didn't buy the machine new, and for the small price I paid I have much less at stake if the machine does break in the future. I'd be very annoyed if I had spent thousands when it was new to have it fail.

 

[Acronyc]

I had that machine for almost 4 years and the butterfly keyboard never gave me a problem. I bought it right when it came out in late 2016 and it served me well.

Right before my AppleCare+ expired, I took it to the Apple Store to get the keyboard replaced just in case it had problems down the road. My mint condition MBP came back with a scratched up monitor. Luckily I had taken photos before dropping it off and provided proof that the service center caused the scratches. So they then replaced the monitor and I had an almost new MBP.

Unfortunately, just about a year later that new monitor they installed died. With all warranties expired, I ended up selling it for about $400 at the time and bought an M1 MBP. I regretted replacing the keyboard even though it didn't have a problem, as I probably would have gotten some more years out of it.

 

[GlynH]

Nice machine and I share your enthusiasm as I've just bought a mint 2019 MacBook Pro 2.3GHz i9/32GB/1TB/5500M 4GB in Space Grey with 116 cycles and it's a beauty!

Loving the Touch Bar (ducking) and almost everything about it but disappointed that I lose a few handy ports such as USB-A for legacy devices, SD Card slot for cameras and missing the MagSafe connection but the main thing is it runs cool & quiet in contrast to the many threads on here.

It came with a 14-day returns policy, 1 year warranty (excluding battery) with the option to extend for a further 2 years which I will probably take out after reading the horror stories on here.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[sdfox7]

I've read many reviews of people with butterfly keyboards never having an issue.

It seems that cleanliness and maintenance go a long way towards avoiding the issue. As I work in relatively clean environments and don't eat or drink over my laptop, maybe I'll be lucky. Not saying the design is not vulnerable, just that being aware of the potential issue can help.

It's difficult to get an accurate representation of how widespread or likely the issue actually is. On the internet, you tend to have more vocal "I had X problem with X item", but those who never had an issue don't always post or review.

 

[chrfr]

It's difficult to get an accurate representation of how widespread or likely the issue actually is. On the internet, you tend to have more vocal "I had X problem with X item", but those who never had an issue don't always post or review.

You can be sure that if it were not widespread, Apple would not have put a 4 year extended warranty on the keyboard of every laptop they sold for roughly 4 years.
While crumbs and cleanliness might be a factor in some cases, in many cases it is not, and the keyboard just fails with normal use because it's a fundamentally flawed and defective design.

 

[sdfox7]

You can be sure that if it were not widespread, Apple would not have put a 4 year extended warranty on the keyboard of every laptop they sold for roughly 4 years.
While crumbs and cleanliness might be a factor in some cases, in many cases it is not, and the keyboard just fails with normal use because it's a fundamentally flawed and defective design.

True, but the repair program was ELIGIBLE for MacBooks that hadn't even failed yet. All recall programs work this way. If you have a vehicle with a known flaw, you can have it resolved, even if you didn't experience the issue. If granola bars are recalled due to salmonella, it doesn't mean all of them were contaminated.

Me thinks Apple did it because 1) they were being sued by people WITH the issue, and 2) they were taking a hit to their reputation.

 

[Jake123456789]

How does a MacBook stay at only 70 battery cycles? Mine is a year old and shows 86 cycles.

Mine's always plugged in and it has more cycles than yours. How does this happen?

 

[sdfox7]

How does a MacBook stay at only 70 battery cycles? Mine is a year old and shows 86 cycles.

Mine's always plugged in and it has more cycles than yours. How does this happen?

This machine was either plugged in most of its life, or as @JPack noted above could have been part of the repair program at some point. I bought this laptop from a local computer business so I don't have the history on it.

I have a late 2008 unibody MacBook with around 20 cycles on a 4 year old NewerTech battery from OWC. I only cycle it a few times a year to keep the chemicals fresh.