Apple quietly fixing MacBookPro bugs

We don't expect to hear anything official about this from Apple, but according to DailyTech, the company has quietly begun repairing some of the more annoying bugs reported by MacBookPro owners, and has also been replacing the computers of customers who complain loudly enough. According to DailyTech, Apple's "revision D" models, which have serial numbers starting with W8611 or 12, no longer have certain issues, including becoming unbearably hot and LCD problems. The company also told DailyTech that anyone whose MacBook becomes too hot to handle should bring it in to be replaced. While we're not suggesting that every MacBookPro user immediately storm the nearest Apple store, if your serial number starts with W8610 or lower, you may want to be sure everything works okay -- especially if you actually want to put the thing on your lap without getting burned.

[ramond @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:34PM]

What about the annoying CPU whining noise - can they fix that yet?

[ronnie @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:40PM]

Is anyone happy with this stupid machine?

I was thinking about getting an intel portable when apple put out a 12" but i'm probably goning with a thinkpad.

It seems like everyone that bought one of these has sent it back twice and still has problems.

[erik @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:46PM]

We've got one in the office and have never had any issues with it. Runs great! Some of the legacy apps are not performing as well in Rosetta, but not as poorly as we thought they would.

Overall, we've been very happy with the machine.

[Jason Reich @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:48PM]

I've been trying to do my research into the MacBook Pros as I'm considering whether to buy one quite recently. A good few people seem to have no problems but I can't seem to get a good idea as to the proportion as these people seem to be quite quiet. (I suppose 'I've bought a good computer. I've had no problems... at all' isn't very interesting news.)

I wonder whether an Apple news site could perhaps carry out a straw poll to see what the actual numbers are ... hint HINT.

[Mark @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:51PM]

We've had one for a few weeks for evaluation purposes. It's worked fine without any problems. I just ordered three more.

[Patrick D @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:52PM]

I have a new MacBook Pro, serial number starting with "W811" and it doesnt seem to have any major issues... That said, there is a very faint whining sound that goes away when the isight is active and it does get hot by the hinge... Im just not sure if this is normal or not. I will check out the display models at the apple store and maybe have the geniuses give it a once-over to be sure.

All in all, its the most amazing machine that I've ever owned (oh, Ties for 1st with my Cooper S!)

[Batboy @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:53PM]

"I wonder whether an Apple news site could perhaps carry out a straw poll to see what the actual numbers are ... hint HINT."

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person who considers Engadget to be an "Apple news site."

[Desert @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:54PM]

I actually returned mine and paid a 10% restocking fee because the screen can't be tilted far enough back to use it comfortably on your lap.

IMO Apple has a new head of design and he's doing a horrible job.

[Jordan @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:05PM]

Desert - In your opinion they have a new head of design? Or in your opinion that person is doing a horrible job?

Because I believe Phil and Ive are still running the show, are they not?

Not saying I disagree with you, I have a scratched up nano and all, just wondering if they really did switch? I have an iMac Core Duo and love everything about it. It's silent too. I don't have a MacBook Pro yet though.

[Jason Reich @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:10PM]

#7:

I did actually get Engadget confused with TUAW, as I often do... sorry folks. But my point stands.

[Pierce Han @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:13PM]

omg this is the best laptop on the market ... thanks to the hackers who also have allowed us to run those necessary windows apps makes this machine even better. i had one of the very first macbook pros (W860 ...) and i had a few problems. but i got a replacement immediately and its awesome!!!

[Thill @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:14PM]

This is why I never buy an expensive product within the first few months or a major release..

I prefer to wait a little while and let some of the initial kinks work out.

Overall though, I have been very happy with all the Apple products I have ever purchased (including a Nano purchased in December for my wife that does not seem to have the scratching issues. Although I did by a nice case for it)...

[X @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:18PM]

I have the model W8612 and it gets hot from time to time espeically when I have it running for a lengthy period. And some small issues with Rosetta, that being said, I'm still happy with my Macbook.

[TK2K @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:19PM]

Hey,
I have a '12 just got it from apple, it doesnt get as hot as my old 10, the lcd problems are gone, HOWEVER, I STILL HAVE THE BUZ!!! this buz comes from the 2nd cpu core being on.

ALSO, there is almost twice the battery life if i have the second cpu core turned ON. i know, ON, i know, i dont get it ether.

but, i do love it, with all my maccy heart

[Donut @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:24PM]

I have a W8612 that I received last week, and it gets pretty warm (i don't know how warm it is comparing to the earler versions, but portions of the laptop heats up quite well, especially the underside and areas near the keyboard. The palm area remains quite cool though.

my MBP also has the whining problem, which i guess isn't fixed as of yet, and I also get occassional dropped airport connection.

[Samuel McConnell @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:26PM]

I have a first-run MBP, and it suffers from most of the problems...pantsless MBP use is dangerous and not advised.

[Matt @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:39PM]

I'm sitting here in my room, with my MBP (week 12) on my lap, and i have none of the reported problems - no whine, no buzz, airport reconnects, etc... It does get a little hot sometimes - but it is a huge heat sink, and i have no unbearable heat problems when it is running off of battery power..

Incredible computer.. I'm just greatful that they've seemed to work out the bugs by the time they built mine.

[Dan @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:42PM]

My macbook pro has worked fine, not sure what everyone's whining about.

[bryan @ Apr 3rd 2006 4:57PM]

I've got a MBP w/ serial W8609... and it's just a joy. Runs cool and quiet, no freaky CPU noises or LCD issues, nothing but a "normal powerbook" pumped up with a strangely super-charged ass-kicking kind of power that leaves you completely certain that you have upgraded to something in every way superior to your former powerbook.

Go Apple go!

[BobbyW @ Apr 3rd 2006 5:06PM]

17. You're a real genius. Because yours works fine everyone else is whining. Because yours works, theirs must work. Good thinking.

[jmfangio @ Apr 3rd 2006 5:29PM]

I just got a macbook pro yesterday. I made sure that the geniud and salesperson verified that the build date was recent. This was before the dailytech post. I just figured it was the smartest thing to do.

I have not experienced any of the issues that have bneen reported. I have one of the 8612 machines.

I was totally wary after hearing about all the problems, and am relieved to find that so far this one is ok.

Not sure what people are expecting noise wise, but I feel that whatever there is, is only audible when I put my ear right up to the machine. PEople have to remember that this is a portable with a dual processor chip. It has to get cooled somehow.

I did get applecare just to be on the safe side.

[apple sucks Leo @ Apr 3rd 2006 5:58PM]

Screw Jobs-pod and Apple...Crappy company always tries to hide their problems and hope it gets swept under the rug.I hope Steve Ballmer slaps Mr.Turtle-neck n`jeans...well , bald-headed.Made in China plastric crap without replaceable batteries.

[Mike Lord @ Apr 3rd 2006 6:03PM]

Samuel McConnell,

Are you using an Airport Extreme or Express wireless access point, or third-party? I ask becuase I get Airport drops from third-party access points, but not my Airport Express or Extreme.

[steve-0 @ Apr 3rd 2006 6:40PM]

All you Apple fan boys, just wait. Cell processor will become what Apple always wanted to be. Apple will never get out of "niche" market. But don't worry. IBM will take you back again when you're ready to switch
sides.

[rafa @ Apr 3rd 2006 6:55PM]

OT: what app is that running on the screen, or is that just some 'shopped up pic?

[scb @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:07PM]

most macbooks have no issues. but you won't hear about them. you only hear about the few that have issues

mine is perfectly fine

[UAK @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:08PM]

Mine's 8609xxxx

It's steaming hot. I mean Steaming Hot.

But I'm too lazy to return it - because I would have to re-install everything again, right? And I can't live without it at the moment, since I upgraded and installed everything I need onto this new MBP and put my last one to rest and packed it away!

The noise isn't as much of an annoyance for me as I listen to music through iTunes the whole time I'm on it. I would say that in general, if I did not have iTunes on in the office, the noise is totally unnoticeable as it is drowned out by the humdrum of the office.
I wonder about the amazingly quiet rooms that people must work in for them to notice the whine that easily! The A/C fan and general buzz around the office building is enough to drown out the whine of the MBP.

[Roger Rodrigues @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:19PM]

MY MBP runS AR 110 F,. Is this considered hot?

[diulei @ Apr 3rd 2006 7:33PM]

Well, the moral of the story is don't rush out and buy the first version of things, people, even almighty Apple is far from perfect.

[Nick @ Apr 3rd 2006 8:01PM]

#1 ramond said:
"What about the annoying CPU whining noise - can they fix that yet?"

The **CPU** (processor) doesn't make noise. It's a silicon chip.

#23 rafa said:
"what app is that running on the screen, or is that just some 'shopped up pic?"

It's iChat. You can do group video chat on a Mac. If group < 5 anyway.

[Dennis @ Apr 3rd 2006 8:01PM]

Rafa (23),

That pic is a screenshot of apple's videoconferencing program, iChat, which works with AIM's video chat (comes with all macs). Since the macBook pro has a built in videocam into the top of the screen, it's the perfect app to show what's possible on OS X.

[Nick @ Apr 3rd 2006 8:59PM]

"Finally, Apple stops being arrogant and realizes that they need to SATISFY their customers by FIXING the problems in order to stay in business!"

The implication of your statement is that Apple doesn't fix problems, and this is simply untrue.

Thanks for the FUD. How much did Microsoft pay you?

[Reg @ Apr 3rd 2006 9:32PM]

> "Well, the moral of the story is don't rush out and buy the first version of things, people, even almighty Apple is far from perfect."

I've done that (credit card poised the moment it's announced) for my last 5 iPods (1st Gen, 3rd Gen, 4th Gen photo, 5th Gen video, nano for gym!!!) and I haven't been burnt.

The 3rd Gen's battery died after 13 months (grrr!) but a $7 replacement battery from Hong Kong and 20 mins with a plastic case opening tool fixed that.

My moral:

"Buy as soon as something comes out, and you'll have it for the longest time before it is superceded!"

(That said, I'm not buying a MacBook until a smaller form factor is available.)

[Mike Lawson @ Apr 3rd 2006 10:00PM]

My MacBook Pro (2.0 Ghz, 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200RPM Drive) is wonderful. No weird noises, not any hotter than previous PowerBook G4 1.25, and it's a joy to use. Even under Rosetta, Photoshop Elements runs at least as fast as it did under the 1.25Ghz PowerBook. I am very satisfied with it and would happily suggest it to anyone.

[Miles @ Apr 3rd 2006 10:03PM]

Intel laptop? Yeah, well, "heat" and "intel" seemed to be synonymous for a while, it's nice to see they sorted that out. Though maybe had Apple joined forces with AMD this would have never happened to begin with... hmmm....

Cool'n'Quiet forever!! Bwuhahahaha!!

[Malfoy Roark @ Apr 3rd 2006 10:31PM]

Bought one tonight, serial W8613,,,, no fan noise or processor pitches. No problems at all that I can see.

[Steven Sloan @ Apr 3rd 2006 11:08PM]

hmmm, replacing those that got uncomfortably hot. I wish i could have gotten my PowerBook (15" 1.67) replaced after burning myself on the strip above the keyboard...grr

[ellen @ Apr 4th 2006 3:19AM]

I bought a MB Pro. Was having problems with spontaneous reboots -- turned out to be bad RAM. Mine also gets pretty hot. Apple support was helpful and courteous; they offered to ship me new RAM and try to replace it myself or I could just ship back the DOA machine and they'd replace it pronto. I opted to swap the RAM and it worked.

So yeah, there are problems. It's a new system on a totally new architecture. They seem to be quite reasonable about taking care of the problems... and boy oh boy is it FAST!

[Joelg @ Apr 4th 2006 10:06AM]

Got mine yesterday. Serial W8613

The left hand side near the mag safe connector does get damn warm and there is also a slight whiring noise coming from that area as well.

Its still sweet though ;-}

[samkim @ Apr 4th 2006 11:53AM]

i have a rev D i believe, serial number starts with w8613... still got a whine.

[gaudior @ Apr 4th 2006 5:51PM]

I'm evaluating my choices for replacing my ancient iBook G3 700. It's been a very good machine, but it's time to move up. I'm thinking of a refurb 17" G4, because I don't want to be in on the bleeding edge. I'm also expecting that within a year there will be a widescreen MacBook Pro, and that will be good timing. I'll be able to afford to upgrade to that, just in time to send my daughter to college with the 17. By then, these small glitches will be worked out.

[jon @ Apr 5th 2006 1:38AM]

These are the reasons apple zombies sound so hypocritical. I could go on C-Net and get the truth out of users for any product except Ipod, OSX, G5's and mac equipment. Apple has always been a shoty hardware maker. All of their products always have some issues.

Damn the stuff looks good...but damn it doesn't always work as promissed.

[owen @ Apr 7th 2006 4:20AM]

got my mbp (2.16 ghz, 1 gb ram, 100 gb 7200 rpm harddisk), so far, no hissing noise whatsoever. As for the heat issue, yes i am experiencing it, my mbp gets really hot at times. This gets very uncomfortable, especially if im using it on my lap. The hottest areas are the strips in between the screen and the keyboard and.. of course, the battery areas. mine has w8612. 1 last thing, it froze yesterday.. and itunes was the only running program.

[owen @ Apr 7th 2006 4:21AM]

got my mbp (2.16 ghz, 1 gb ram, 100 gb 7200 rpm harddisk), so far, no hissing noise whatsoever. As for the heat issue, yes i am experiencing it, my mbp gets really hot at times. This gets very uncomfortable, especially if im using it on my lap. The hottest areas are the strips in between the screen and the keyboard and.. of course, the battery areas. mine has w8612. 1 last thing, it froze yesterday.. and itunes was the only running program.

[butch dee @ Apr 10th 2006 7:45AM]

W8609, I don't have the whine, it does run hot. I thought I was pretty lucky to have none of the issues others are having. But I did find out that the book is a bit warped in the sense that it rocks on two rubber thingys in the bottom on a level surface.
I wont hesitate to have it replaced if and when they make an offer. Meanwhile, I'm loving it more everyday.

[****NO LONGER WITH APPLE**** @ Apr 14th 2006 4:50PM]

MICROSFT VS APPLE
------------------------------
My faith in apple has disappeared!!
FORGET APPLE AND GET A PC WITH WINDOWS, JUST BUY MORE MEMORY AND MAKE SURE U HAVE A DECENT GRAPHICS CARD, (will still cost less than a mac!!and for the same price as a mac will run better, even for graphics and videos.)

all we pay for is the design!!!

apple have a history of cover up problems with their machines, just look at all the people with problems with the powerbook, macbooks, and ibooks!!!

** GOOGLE Search "logic board" with "G3", "G4" and see all these people with mac problems.**

If this was a car, u would get a letter in the post calling a recall, if it was windows they fix it with an update...apple, well leave it to us to figure it out and if u get the problem sooner than any 3yr extension replacement program, then great, but any time after that....GOOD LUCK

TO END
if u get an apple machine expect only about only 3yrs of bliss at most if you lucky, just look look at all the people with ibooks G3, which have missed and boat and stuck with a null computer that looks pretty and nothing else

[nrque @ May 24th 2006 1:44AM]

DO NOT get a MacBook Pro P.E.R.I.O.D. I'm on my second one, booth have serial numbers above 8614 and still run way to hot...for my preference, for my lap (not to mention my 9 y.o. sons lap)

Don’t even get me started on the Mac store reps, they can care less...if the “Specs” state XYZ and you don’t like it or feel uncomfortable with it, tough luck 10% restocking fee $249.90.

I’m not sure what my next step is going to be…

E.

[johnny knoxville @ Sep 6th 2006 2:40AM]

I have a MBP serial W8626 and love it - never had any problems. Sure, it runs a little warm (sometimes too warm for the lap) if I'm doing some processor-intensive tasks (which can be as light as having 15-20 web pages open in Safari or as heavy as editing digital video). It runs noticably/significantly hotter than my last laptop, which was a 1ghz Powerbook, but it also has A LOT more horsepower. I highly recommend the MBP.. but I also recommend a coolpad (or similar device) if you plan on "lapping" it.

The Mac OS is far superior to the windoze system and will be for (AT LEAST) years. Tiger is better than longhorn/vista, and will likely even be better than the subsequent windoze OS (scheduled for release June, 2020). If Tiger's not better, Leopard (or any of the later revisions of the Mac OS released between now and 2020) will be.