The computer for the rest of us may require us to have the patience of Job (definitely not Jobs) and the acumen of a Wozniak when it comes to the MacBook Pro.
As I’m told by my Mac-devoted friends, buying an Apple computer isn’t just buying into a hype machine and a glittering brand name. It’s about buying a finely made machine to accomplish the tasks in one’s daily computing life.
I’ve used a number of Macs through the years, but haven’t plunked down my own cash for one since owning a wonderful SE/30 at a time that predated the World Wide Web by a number of years. I used it for one task – word processing – and it did that exceptionally well, with the help of a huge external monitor that could rotate from portrait to landscape modes.
That all-in-one Mac, with the engineers’ names etched inside the case, probably cost me then what a new MacBook Pro costs today. After seeing the wiki of defects for that model at AppleDefects, I can’t help but think I got the better deal.
The wiki lists 19 defects that have been reported about the MacBook Pro since its Valentine’s Day debut. Seeing the issues on the wiki make that look more like the Valentine’s Day Massacre instead.
The infamous thermal grease problem stands out among the group. The MacBook Pro manufacturer applied too much thermal grease to the logic board, causing some very uncomfortable overheating (remember, the MacBook Pro is a notebook per Apple, not a laptop machine. Ouchie.)
Sometimes the internal fan would go moo, but that has been corrected. Sometimes the machine will shutdown randomly. The ATI video card has reportedly been underclocked, to keep the heat down. Batteries for the MacBook Pro have been recalled previously.
A few of the issues are cosmetic, a real stunner considering Apple’s devotion to image and perception. Apple fans should be rooting for Steve Jobs to kick some major butt at 1 Infinite Loop about these problems. We’d be thrilled to hear he has, assuming Disney and Hollywood aren’t occupying too much of his time.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
