Resolved rMBP 15" 2015 maxed out version - Let apple replace it for 2016 model?

[OSX15]

I'm seeking a bit of honest advice here. I already read lot's of articles and videos that compare the new macbook pro 15" to the 2015 model. They are very controversial.. some people will tell you horror stories, others apparently are unaffected by problems.

My situation: I bought the top Macbook Pro 15" 2015 model 2.8 Ghz / DGPU / 1TB about 8 months ago for my own business. Since a week or so there has been a spot on my macbook screen that's 'dead' it's not a really big thing when you sit away from it, but very noticeable when you sit closely and/or design something. It's made up of 19/20 individual dead pixels. (still a small spot but quite irritating) I called Apple Yesterday and after some discussion they now offer me a replacement, only thing is.. They can only replace it with the newer version.. What would you guys do? I know this might sound like a no-brainer but I'm a serious power user (every day 4K video editing, graphical work, coding, virtual machines and exporting/rendering footage in Adobe and writing documents) I'm not sure what to do.. I spend almost 70 hours a week with my Macbook and I found the older version very reliable. I can't afford myself to get a machine that is unstable or buggy. I'm also worried with battery life.. Any serious input is welcome! thanks a bunch

 

[jerryk]

I think the replace would be fine for your work. Plenty of users are using the Adobe CC, IDEs, and VMs on the new units just fine.

But, you should let Apple know you have concerns, and ask what plan B is if the new machine does not work out. Refund? or ????

 

[Mindinversion]

Hardware wise I have a spec'd out 2016 MbP [1 TB]. It has been the most reliable machine I've ever had.... takes everything I can throw at it, etc. Battery lasts 8-10 hours under light usage, or maybe 1-2 under heavy load [handbrake transcodes]. Pretty much par for the course.

If it were me I wouldn't hesitate, just make sure you pick up whatever cables/adapters you're going to need ahead of time and perhaps a nice organizer book to keep them in.

The 2016 is an amazing machine. I haven't had a single day where I had an issue or regretted the purchase. Granted, you're always going to have a certain % of defects per manufacture, and you're going to hear all about those because nobody ever reports in to complain about how great their machine is [unless asked].

TL/DR? Jump.

 

[OSX15]

I think the replace would be fine for your work. Plenty of users are using the Adobe CC, IDEs, and VMs on the new units just fine.

But, you should let Apple know you have concerns, and ask what plan B is if the new machine does not work out. Refund? or ????

Thanks for your answer, I wanted to do that but the support agent told me that this was not their normal course of action.. That they offered this exclusively for me Well I'm not really sure if this is just some BS talk or indeed true. I guess I didn't want to push my 'luck'

Hardware wise I have a spec'd out 2016 MbP [1 TB]. It has been the most reliable machine I've ever had.... takes everything I can throw at it, etc. Battery lasts 8-10 hours under light usage, or maybe 1-2 under heavy load [handbrake transcodes]. Pretty much par for the course.

If it were me I wouldn't hesitate, just make sure you pick up whatever cables/adapters you're going to need ahead of time and perhaps a nice organizer book to keep them in.

The 2016 is an amazing machine. I haven't had a single day where I had an issue or regretted the purchase. Granted, you're always going to have a certain % of defects per manufacture, and you're going to hear all about those because nobody ever reports in to complain about how great their machine is [unless asked].

TL/DR? Jump.

Thanks for your input! The adapters will probably be annoying in the beginning, but I guess I could get used to it. Do you by any chance experienced problems with the keyboard, trackpad or battery? I read a lot about those things.

 

[leman]

If they are offering to replace a maxed out 2015 MBP by a maxed out 2016 MBP — of course go for it. The new laptop is faster, lighter and has a better display. The "issues" you read about are largely over exaggerated. Keyboard is a subjective thing — some people hate it, some people love it. If you are a fan of flat keyboards, you'd probably love it. If you like technical keyboards with a lot of travel, you'll probably hate it. Trackpad? What is supposed to be an issue with that? Battery? Read any third party review, which all show that in independent testing, battery life of the 2016 15" models is best in class and better than any MBP before it.

 

[Sanpete]

On the whole, I'd say it's your lucky day. The new MBP has a dozen improvements over the 2015. Most of them are incremental but still nice, like the 50% brighter higher-contrast screen, better speakers, faster SSD, smaller and lighter package.

The most useful improvement for you would probably be the improved dGPU that will handle some elements of your video editing significantly faster. The 2015 CPU is probably a bit faster at some tasks than the new one, which might show up in brief coding tasks and possible even some exporting, but for those who edit video the new dGPU is likely to make a bigger difference on the whole. The new color gamut is also better suited to video if you edit anything in the P3 color space.

If you have had any issues with your machine running hot or even throttling, those are improved significantly on the new machine as well.

The battery life is improved over the 2015 for light to moderate use. If you use the battery for heavy-duty stuff, the 2015 may be better for that, but neither machine will last long on battery that way.

 

[OSX15]

If they are offering to replace a maxed out 2015 MBP by a maxed out 2016 MBP — of course go for it. The new laptop is faster, lighter and has a better display. The "issues" you read about are largely over exaggerated. Keyboard is a subjective thing — some people hate it, some people love it. If you are a fan of flat keyboards, you'd probably love it. If you like technical keyboards with a lot of travel, you'll probably hate it. Trackpad? What is supposed to be an issue with that? Battery? Read any third party review, which all show that in independent testing, battery life of the 2016 15" models is best in class and better than any MBP before it.

Yeah I guess the 'negative' reviews and problems are not as widespread as it seems online. Was just a little shocked with the threads stating that people got their MacBooks replaced for like three or four times

On the whole, I'd say it's your lucky day. The new MBP has a dozen improvements over the 2015. Most of them are incremental but still nice, like the 50% brighter higher-contrast screen, better speakers, faster SSD, smaller and lighter package.

The most useful improvement for you would probably be the improved dGPU that will handle some elements of your video editing significantly faster. The 2015 CPU is probably a bit faster at some tasks than the new one, which might show up in brief coding tasks and possible even some exporting, but for those who edit video the new dGPU is likely to make a bigger difference on the whole. The new color gamut is also better suited to video if you edit anything in the P3 color space.

If you have had any issues with your machine running hot or even throttling, those are improved significantly on the new machine as well.

The battery life is improved over the 2015 for light to moderate use. If you use the battery for heavy-duty stuff, the 2015 may be better for that, but neither machine will last long on battery that way.

It's funny how you and others seem to think I'm lucky because they are offering me a new one. I actually think it's quite normal they replace it if a Macbook is that new and expensive. If you are willing to pay premium price for the top tier I feel it should just be flawless. The only reason I'm able to get a new one is because they don't have the old models anymore (asked for it though)

I guess overall you guys are probably right and I should consider myself lucky. thanks for all your opinions so far.

 

[leman]

Was just a little shocked with the threads stating that people got their MacBooks replaced for like three or four times

I guess it can happen if the person gets particularly unlucky or gets replacement items from a same batch etc. A lot of factors to consider. We have bough a healthy number of those new MBPs and so far haven't experienced a single issue.

 

[Sanpete]

It's funny how you and others seem to think I'm lucky because they are offering me a new one.

Ha, the lucky part isn't getting a new one, though that's good, but that you're getting a new 2016 instead of a new 2015. Hope it works well for you.

 

[Mindinversion]

Thanks for your answer, I wanted to do that but the support agent told me that this was not their normal course of action.. That they offered this exclusively for me Well I'm not really sure if this is just some BS talk or indeed true. I guess I didn't want to push my 'luck'



Thanks for your input! The adapters will probably be annoying in the beginning, but I guess I could get used to it. Do you by any chance experienced problems with the keyboard, trackpad or battery? I read a lot about those things.

I've had the trackpad cause the mouse cursor to jump on me once or twice. . . but that was mostly due to extreme bad posture and laying my hands flat covering the trackpad. I've had no issues with the keyboard, and the battery life during light usage is as advertised. Just remember, light usage means LIGHT usage. You are NOT going to get 10 hours of battery life doing heavy lifting like Logic Pro or Premiere work. Of course, most everyone makes sure to plug in for that kind of heavy work, so it should be a non issue.

 

[Fancuku]

I'd take the 2016 in a heartbeat.

 

[CaptRB]

I had a 2015 MBP. Now I have the 2016 15" and the "old" one went on craigslist in record time.

You're a lucky guy and most likely you'll agree overall, but let us know how it goes.


R.

 

[Hieveryone]

I'm seeking a bit of honest advice here. I already read lot's of articles and videos that compare the new macbook pro 15" to the 2015 model. They are very controversial.. some people will tell you horror stories, others apparently are unaffected by problems.

My situation: I bought the top Macbook Pro 15" 2015 model 2.8 Ghz / DGPU / 1TB about 8 months ago for my own business. Since a week or so there has been a spot on my macbook screen that's 'dead' it's not a really big thing when you sit away from it, but very noticeable when you sit closely and/or design something. It's made up of 19/20 individual dead pixels. (still a small spot but quite irritating) I called Apple Yesterday and after some discussion they now offer me a replacement, only thing is.. They can only replace it with the newer version.. What would you guys do? I know this might sound like a no-brainer but I'm a serious power user (every day 4K video editing, graphical work, coding, virtual machines and exporting/rendering footage in Adobe and writing documents) I'm not sure what to do.. I spend almost 70 hours a week with my Macbook and I found the older version very reliable. I can't afford myself to get a machine that is unstable or buggy. I'm also worried with battery life.. Any serious input is welcome! thanks a bunch

what 2016 version are they giving you? 15 inch? how many gb's? the cpu?

I mean if you got a maxed out 15", and if they want to be slick and pull a fast one with a 13" ntMBP I'd say no

 

[SteveJUAE]

I'm seeking a bit of honest advice here. I already read lot's of articles and videos that compare the new macbook pro 15" to the 2015 model. They are very controversial.. some people will tell you horror stories, others apparently are unaffected by problems.

My situation: I bought the top Macbook Pro 15" 2015 model 2.8 Ghz / DGPU / 1TB about 8 months ago for my own business. Since a week or so there has been a spot on my macbook screen that's 'dead' it's not a really big thing when you sit away from it, but very noticeable when you sit closely and/or design something. It's made up of 19/20 individual dead pixels. (still a small spot but quite irritating) I called Apple Yesterday and after some discussion they now offer me a replacement, only thing is.. They can only replace it with the newer version.. What would you guys do? I know this might sound like a no-brainer but I'm a serious power user (every day 4K video editing, graphical work, coding, virtual machines and exporting/rendering footage in Adobe and writing documents) I'm not sure what to do.. I spend almost 70 hours a week with my Macbook and I found the older version very reliable. I can't afford myself to get a machine that is unstable or buggy. I'm also worried with battery life.. Any serious input is welcome! thanks a bunch

I can understand your concern given the only reliable Mac for you is the one you have

I would say the odds of getting a new MAC with a production fault is the same be it 2015 or 2016, not really a comforting thought but all OEM's have a small % of defective units. Apple do appear to fair better than most other similar premium laptops in the 1st year but are similar in the following 2.

Likewise assuming you are already using the latest MacOS any bugs would similarly affect both 2015/2016 to some degree and any other the minor ones specific to the 2016 are likely resolved over the last few months

Given the amount of use your Macs get it's probable you would replace your current 2015 in the not too distant future so adapting to the new KB and TB is inevitable

Opting for the newer spec although not a major concern to you is never the less a nicety that should not be ignored plus you have gained an extra 8 months warranty

In truth your choice is limited and you should jump in with both feet as the odds are in your favour of getting a perfectly fine laptop as often too much is read in to forum threads both for and against

It's a shame you have been put in this position in the 1st instance with a premium device but best of luck

 

[OSX15]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I'm going to the store in a few days. Keep you guys posted

 

[Obagleyfreer]

Why don't you just replace the screen??
In fact I'm quite shocked that Apple are replacing your whole computer when only the screen is faulty.
Any time I've had dead pixels Apple have done a screen replacement.
Apple didn't offer a screen replacement?

 

[OSX15]

So I just want to give you guys an update to this thread. In the end.. the promised replacement was never given! They said they made a terrible mistake and the genius had no authority to replace it with a 2016 model. You know what is the most crazy thing? My maxed out 2015 MacBook Pro is STILL IN REPAIR! I mean.. counting the weeks it would be like 7-8 weeks now from when the problem originally started..

This is not just screen, there also seemed to be a logic board problem, and after that a problem with the WIFI adapter.. after that replacement my Trackpad did not work anymore.. (I do think the repairs caused the other problems)

So I did the following (had no choice really, I have to get my work done)

First I bought the 2.7 / 455 model but after two days of usage the screen was flickering and acting up -> turned out to be a GPU failure/problem. I was very dissatisfied so I asked for a refund.

After this whole thing; Apple offered me a 10% discount on the top 15" 2.9 / 460 / 512 model + Apple Care. At first I was not so sure but I decided two weeks ago to do it. Now I have it for two days and I feel really disappointed. Like some people on Macrumors and other sites where saying about differences in display panel.. It's sadly true. This new display on my new Macbook is not bright at all! It feels a huge step back from the 455 model. I also noticed little backlight bleeding in the left-corner of the screen and (on some small parts of the screen) a slightly purple tint when displaying white.

At least for me the A031 Display was perfect. As a professional who heavily uses this computer for graphical and color related work, I can definitely see the differences immediately. Even my GF who is not so into the whole graphical thing noticed it right away without me giving her any pointers.

At this point I'm really semi-depressed.. I must be completely honest, I felt like the internet stories where mostly by people who just wanted to complain, like a negative hobby or something, but seeing this first hand changed my view completely. I do feel the new Machine is in some areas an improvement.. but come on!

I'm thinking of returning it.. the only thing I hate is that they gave me 10% discount on the new 2.9 / 460 model because of all the trouble I've had with them.. I'm pretty sure I won't get it when the refresh is coming.. choices.. choices..

I'm going to call Apple again and ask when they finally plan to get my "old' MacBook Pro back in working condition. UPDATE: wow.. they told me the new logic board is DOA so they have to order another one.. This is getting better every day

 

[sneak3]

Id try and keep the 2015 at all costs. You have reasons to tell them to expedite your repair. Dont waste money on the 2016. Maybe just keep it until yours is repaired and then return it.

 

[CaptRB]

This is pretty sad and bad luck.

All of my apple stuff works great, including the 13" and 15" touch bar units I am using for my work.

This poor guy gets a BAD 2015 machine and two BAD 2016 machines!

Man...I say play the lottery!


R.

 

[jerryk]

This is pretty sad and bad luck.

All of my apple stuff works great, including the 13" and 15" touch bar units I am using for my work.

This poor guy gets a BAD 2015 machine and two BAD 2016 machines!

Man...I say play the lottery!


R.

Naw, with his luck I want him to play the lottery right in front of me. Because his tickets will be bust, and mine will win the grand prize

 

[ilifecomputer]

good luck, op. sidenote: can someone please let me know how to check the display model on these?

thanks.

 

[uecker87]

...

I'm thinking of returning it.. the only thing I hate is that they gave me 10% discount on the new 2.9 / 460 model because of all the trouble I've had with them.. I'm pretty sure I won't get it when the refresh is coming.. choices.. choices..

I'm going to call Apple again and ask when they finally plan to get my "old' MacBook Pro back in working condition. UPDATE: wow.. they told me the new logic board is DOA so they have to order another one.. This is getting better every day

I would think about going the refurbished route if you decide to try another 2016. I actually think they have better quality control on those.

I bought one about a month ago, but I just couldn't enjoy it (however it didn't have any QC issues). Just my personal preference though - I get why some people love the new 2016 models, just not for me. I'll stick with my 2013 13" for now (mainly upgraded for the larger 15" screen).

 

[iamMacPerson]

I would think about going the refurbished route if you decide to try another 2016. I actually think they have better quality control on those.

I bought one about a month ago, but I just couldn't enjoy it (however it didn't have any QC issues). Just my personal preference though - I get why some people love the new 2016 models, just not for me. I'll stick with my 2013 13" for now (mainly upgraded for the larger 15" screen).

The idea that the refurbished computers are better is a myth. Yes they are throughly checked, but I think the new computers would be as throughly checked, if not more, since people pay a higher premium for it to be new. Also remember that OP said that the replacement logic board they got in for their 2015 was DOA. Those are from the same part stock they put in the refurb machine. New or refurbed, it can go either way.

 

[CaptRB]

The idea that the refurbished computers are better is a myth. Yes they are throughly checked, but I think the new computers would be as throughly checked, if not more, since people pay a higher premium for it to be new. Also remember that OP said that the replacement logic board they got in for their 2015 was DOA. Those are from the same part stock they put in the refurb machine. New or refurbed, it can go either way.

A little education on refurbished items:

1) Some are simple returns for a variety of reasons. These systems are checked and repackaged for sale. Great if you get one of these.
2) Some are defective. You HOPE that the repair was made correctly and additional issues stemming from the original issue are caught. Sometimes they are not.
3) Some are returned with intermittent problems. This is the WORST because we all know that such problems can vanish for periods of time or only appear under certain loads. The system can pass tests and then fail again after you buy.

As a rule I won't buy a refurb. My time is too valuable and #2 & #3 are situations I've seen with computers and cameras. I do think that MOST people have a positive experience with refurbs, but it's not for me.



R.