Some customers who have ordered Apple’s gorgeous new 12-inch Retina MacBook are in for an unpleasant surprise. After prizing the pristine white lid off the device’s box, they’re discovering that their new notebook is already damaged.
The complaint was noted by Apple accessory maker tizi, whose newly arrived MacBook came with two large dents on its underside. And the company thinks it’s discovered the cause.
“Our tizi engineers discovered that the European power supply must have been jostled during transport, causing the rear edge of the power adapter and the front end of the plug to push up into the underside of the MacBook,” the company notes in a blog post.
The power adapter is definitely responsible, since it lines up perfectly with the dents, while the instruction booklet included with the MacBook bears the same marking.
As tizi explains, this is unlikely to be an issue in the United States, since the U.S. power adapter features prongs that fold up into the power brick — which could explain why the flaw wasn’t spotted by the usually meticulous engineers and quality-control experts in Cupertino.
This isn’t the first time some customers have complained about dents in the shells of their new Apple notebooks, and given that I’ve only seen one instance of this complaint for the Retina MacBook, it’s fair to say this probably isn’t a widespread, never-seen-before flaw demanding immediate attention.
In tizi’s blog post, the company notes that Apple immediately offered to replace the MacBook upon being made aware of the situation. If you live in Europe and bought one of the svelte new notebooks, it’s probably worth checking the underside for dents once you receive it, just to be on the safe side.
Have you received your new MacBook and, if so, did you notice any superficial damage? Leave your comments below.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
54 responses to “Customers complain their new MacBooks come pre-dented”
#DENTGATE when will apple users stop buying faulty overpriced products. The definition of insanity folks.
Do you subscribe to Consumer Reports? They don’t accept advertising and have the best consumer product testing facilities in America, probably the world. Apple products consistently rate highest in every category and their customer services marks are so much higher, it’s like the competition isn’t even trying. Which they probably aren’t. You should check them out. You obviously have a fair amount of spare time on your hands.
LOL at going to Consumer Reports for Tech buying advice. Good one.
Seriously thanks for busting me up. Funny stuff great.
Here’s something really funny back
For sale $1200-1600 a dented one port non touch Apple core m netbook
Hilarious…abusive deceptive marketing to abuse the average Apple user.
You’re right. Why even bother with reviews or opposing viewpoints when you can get that cheap feeling of superiority by anonymously trolling websites and making fun of strangers for not being as smart as you?
I came to the comments to see if anyone else had experienced this issue. Unsurprisingly no one had. Even less unsurprising, some enterprise nerd feeling bent out of shape b/c no one listens anymore and feminists are destroying gamer culture with not wanting to be raped and the what not (/sarcasm) is already there trying to make this one off issue into a thing.
I know the right thing to do is not feed you so you’ll wander someplace else. But I needed a break from actual work and these comments were pretty uninteresting specifically because no one else has experienced this problem. And also because it was immediately rectified by Apple’s vastly superior customer support infrastructure.
If it was a PC bought from a big box, the retailer would say it’s a packaging issue, take it up with the manufacturer and besides we don’t accept returns on damaged merchandise. The manufacturer would say that customer or stock personnel damage is a retailer problem, return it to the store, and eventually you would get a gift certificate for 66% of the value to spend on some other cheap piece of junk.
The reason Samsung/Android is losing market share to Apple even in the third world is because people have tried the alternative and found it lacking. I’m not going to suggest that you do the same because you’re obviously not that kind of guy, but why harsh on what other people choose to do with their hard earned money?
Because you spend to much on crap and encourage Apple to make more expensive crap products.
Thank you for that text book reply. You sir, are a great American! Have a wonderful rest of your week.
I will
Some people spend too much money on cars, clothes, houses, foods, travel, etc. Some people spend too much time worrying about things other people do that have zero effect on their lives. I spent 45 seconds just now. That might be too much time already.
Zero effect? Apple consumerism is amongst the biggest issue the world faces…Apple has no business being the most profitable company ever and that affects every person on the planet. Its apple users fault for being so easily manipulated..grow up. Think for just one moment and look in the mirror.
Weren’t we in high school together just before you dropped out?
“Apple consumerism is amongst the biggest issue the world faces”
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes it is. It’s bad and affects all.
“Yes it is. It’s bad and affects all.”
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guess that explains why you spend your life bitching on Apple websites.
true that.
I am an iPhone owner (I don’t like Android at all) but I stopped believing Consumer Reports decades ago. I worked in a bike shop and customers were coming in with CR and asking for specific bikes, we actually stocked one of the highest rated models (a Trek) and one of the lowest rated models (a Schwinn). I couldn’t figure out why they wanted the Trek and not the Schwinn, they were basically the same bike and the Schwinn was cheaper. We finally got ahold of the CR issue with their bike review. CR stated the Trek was great and the Schwinn had bad brakes and gear shifts was rough. The thing is, we did last assembly on those bikes so we knew them inside and out, and both bikes had the exact same Shimano parts (brake levers, brake calipers, gear shifters, derailleurs cogs) all the same, we double checked! So CR was bashing the Schwinn while praising the Trek. These were both sub-$300 entry level bikes. They had the same parts. The only difference would have been the quality of the final adjustments made by the shop mechanic when setting up the brakes and failing in the derailleurs. CR is not as expert as they claim.
Find me a laptop that is smaller or same size as the 13 inch MacBook Pro, and costs less for the same specs.
Surface 3..more ports, touch and Digitizer . AT $650 OR SP3 at $1000
OR go check Dell XPS
Are you kidding me? Do you know what a 13inch MacBook Pro can do? Jesus. You are literally comparing a full laptop computer with non-low watt CPUs with what is quite literally a tablet with a processor slower than the iPad Air 2.
The SP3 is decent – I have one – but you get less value out of it. Less pixels, less performance, terrible keyboard, worse battery life, less ports.
The Dell XPS is the same. To get the same specs, you have to pay more. And once again, lower powered processor, that can turboboost for less time = less performance under full load.
Face it, Apple haters can’t reconcile with the fact that the MacBook Pro is amazing value for a classy & light laptop. And no, it does not game better than a desktop gaming PC.
sp3 is way better than mac as it has a digitizer and runs windows 10..quit bein fanboys no one needs to spend $1500 on non touch laptop. That’s ridiculous
Windows 10 hasn’t been released to the general public, and you can’t even install the beta on the new Surface 3 as of now. Windows 8 was and still is a disorganized disaster of epic proportions. For that reason, I still have my old desktop running Windows 7. When I made the move from Windows 7 to OS X three years ago, I did it over the lack of quality hardware coming from Windows laptop manufacturers. Fast forwarding to today, I like the SP3 a lot from a hardware perspective, but it’s not a viable option for me until they’ve fixed the OS, improved app availability, and gotten more developers onboard. Just the other day, I was playing with the SP3 in a retail store, and the combination of tiny buttons on the screen and tiny trackpad on the Type Cover makes a lot of programs annoying to use. Windows 10 has got to universally fix the scaling issues with higher resolution screens. Scaling is something that should have been fixed on Windows a few years ago.
When they achieve the above things, I will definitely reconsider going back to Windows. But until then, I’m loving my (second) new MacBook and my trusty Retina iPad Mini for school. They both make the most of their high definition screens, are intuitive to use, and have a gigantic range of apps to pick from. For example, I run an amazing app called Notability (it’s just $2.99) on a daily basis which allows me to take notes on either device. Those notes then automatically synch across all of my devices. It also has fantastic export and import options. Microsoft’s OneNote can do most of what Notability does, but it doesn’t handle Power Point imports the right way for annotating lectures. It creates a new “page” of notes for each slide, making the document incredibly tedious to navigate. That design omission is a pretty catastrophic blunder on Microsoft’s part, and makes an otherwise powerful program useless for my purposes. If Windows had more developers making smarter apps, they wouldn’t have to bother with making programs like OneNote because someone else would make something better.
Its Ok you don’t mind wasting money I get it. Apple makes you pay to use their stuff it what they offer is worth it by all means. Meanwhile I’ll use my $40 Nokia 635 and Four year old Vaio. I’m not enamored by the “latest” tech. Windows is much easier on the pocketbook.
Um no. You seem to think having touch is oh so important. When I use the SP3 I only use the touch screen because the trackpad on the typecover is so horrible. And I’m not the one comparing the Surface 3 with the iPad Air… you are.
Windows 10 isn’t even out yet… and already you claim it as a pro? Look who’s the fanboy…
Its ridiculous how it takes a different category of computers for you to show how Apple MacBooks are “overpriced” and “old”. Yet literally every other computer company makes the same type of computers, albeit for higher prices and less value. Can’t we actually compare Apples to “Apples” for once? Its just like the traditional Apple-hater argument that Apple laptops can’t play games because it doesn’t have a friggin’ desktop class Nvidia Titan GPU…
PS, the Surface 3 is horrible. Its a netbook in an age where we’ve all accepted netbooks are horrible. I mean seriously… it literally has a CPU thats slower than the iPad Air 2… and you want it to run a full Windows 10? wtf. Worst. Microsoft product. Ever. Even worse than the Kin.
Surface 3 is $500 and compares favorably to the ne Mac Book as they use the same style CPUs. Only
difference is th Surface has more ports and a
digitizer option where’s the Mac Book has one port and is non-touch and is between $1200 to $1600 .
So before you complain about Surface 3 being a netbook , remember it runs Windows 10 and
compares very faviribly to the double priced Mac Book
All the netbooks ran Windows… they were horrible, unresponsive machines. And they were also VERY cheap, just like the Surface 3. The Core M, processor, on the other hand, is effectively a dual core sandy bridge core i5 ULV. It is far superior in getting decent performance.
If you want to dis the new MacBook I’d suggest you use the Asus Zenbook UX305. Its the same specs for 700$, in a larger, heavier, less attractive body, with “only” a full HD display. A great deal if you don’t think the MacBook’s sheer hardware experience matters.
I’m starting to think the reason PC laptops are touting touch as so important and useful was because their OTHER option of navigation, the trackpads, were all so horrible to begin with. Meanwhile, MacBook users with their silky-smooth touchscreen-without-the-screen trackpads, they don’t notice any improved benefit, other than exercising one’s arm muscles and accuracy by trying to touch virtual buttons 1/9 the size of your thumbnail. Trackpad + cursor ftw.
Actually you are observant. Touch pads in any form are inefficient, so are touch screens but they are a step up. Next is voice a logical extension for a more sanitary albeit loud solution. Which brings us to the future non touch 3D spacial interfaces.
Did you ever stop to think why over a decade ago Microsoft started using the term “surface”. Think about it…the future is one driven by the distributed cloud backbone where every surface can be your input.
The world is moving that direction with Windiws 10, trackpads will be as effective as typewriters once multiple surfaces become everyone’s input an viewing device.
As I have said, a good trackpad in the current OS usage paradigm is superior, because fingers are too big to tap on stuff. Mobile OSes have nice, big buttons. OSX and Windows 10 do not.
WOW, what a total absolute tool you are. Here’s why:
1) You don’t realize the fact that all these tech blogs are click-bait crazy over every possible Apple related story no matter how trivial. Two people in the world will report some issue, and these sites print it. Why? Because clicks is how they make money and everything Apple is always very sensational.
2) The other manufacturers do not have nearly the same levels of interest from the media because they just aren’t that interesting, so they don’t get nearly as much click-bait attention and their minor problems go way under reported. You think there’s never been any problem or return of a Surface or Dell XPS? How many stories about those companies do you hear compared to Apple? LOL
3) You live in a reality distortion field… yes, you do. I know you guys like to twist that around and brainwash yourselves into thinking it’s all the “Apple fans” but it’s really you Apple haters. Why? Because Apple products have the most consistently highest reviews and scores in nearly all categories for years and years from nearly all review sites. This is why their stuff sells, because it’s great. That’s how and why Capitalism works. But you are the one living in a distorted reality because you either believe there is a global conspiracy where most review sites and testers are all “in on it” with Apple and are lying to us, or you really think you live in a different world where there is a separate species of human called the APPLE FAN and that it isn’t just everyday average people like everyone else realizing how great Apple stuff is. Every single Apple fan wasn’t one at one point, they didn’t come from another reality like your delusion is telling you. They came from other products and love Apple’s more. That’s just brand loyalty based on quality and performance of their product. And new Apple Fans are created daily, transformed from non Apple fans. There’s a reason for that transformation, and that’s because they tried it and loved it. And there are others who turn away, and that’s fine too, but that doesn’t mean that suddenly everyone is crazy. It’s called personal preference. Every platform and hardware product has pros and cons. There’s no big mystery.
You are hilarious, but seriously, you need to look in the mirror and realize you don’t have all the answers and it’s your overblown ego talking. Get some help, you’ll have a better life.
1) No ..Apple charges more and delivers less..hence the story
2) See Guess my age
3) It is “Apple fans” those who cannot think for themselves and waste too much money. If the world though about the 2yr “subsidized”price they would get a clue.
Lets try an experiment… Which would you prefer?
1. Pay $1000 up front for iPhone 6+ and pay $25 less per month in Data
2. Pay $299 up front plus $701/24 = $29.08 per month for 24 months PLUS extra $25 for choosing the low up front cost.
Did we do the math yet?
Option 1 the person pays $1000 + normal cell phone bill lets say $40 on Family plan so they pay $1000+ $960= $1960 over two years for their 6+
Now lets look at option 2 which 99.9999% of apple users choose….
Person pays $399 up front pays the other $710 (over 24 months) to get to $1000 MSRP then adds in $960 normal bill then adds in $600 for extra subsidized data charges
That’s $2560 for same phone and same term for one person
$600 more over two years for a pay as you go phone bill…that’s steep and then its their “time to upgrade” and they repeat this over payment every two years…multiply by family of 4 and you see the horror.
Apple users are a special sub-species of humans, those with more credit than sense…and the iPhone still has 1GB of ram and runs on a 7 year old mobile OS with an 8MP camera…get a clue people! Apple care more about new Chinese buyers than you.
My Lumia 635 cost me $40 it runs Windows 10..you absolutely are getting racked over the coals by Apple inc. Wake up!
Äckliga jävla människa kan du inte bara gå och dö.
Use Google translate asshole.
Not until you apologize and act accordingly
F……U
That’s not an apology.
You don’t deserve any.
Yes I do you called me what you did because I somehow upset you by just reporting th truth. Perhaps you should really be mad at yourself instead I didn’t force you to waste too much money. That was your decision.
What did i call you? The only truth here is that you are a troll.
I can’t say the word it is not to be used online. I will accept you apology
I draw the conclusion that you don’t know what o wrote.
Can you scroll up you used the “a” word
What word do you mean?
I’ve always wondered why the European standard plug and the UK standard plug are so huge as compared to the North American plug. The UK and EU plugs were designed after the North American plugs were in use, so what would possess the designers to create such huge lumps? The North American plug design (also used in Japan) is compact and tiny, and is a fraction of the size of the other 2 plugs.
This is funny timing. I bought a retina MBP and when I went to put the casing on it right out of the box I found a nice little dent in the bottom. Now Apple did replace the computer right away, but it was still frustrating to have to wait for one to ship out to me after receiving one that should have been mint. Not sure what the issue was that did it, but it was not a European plug as this was in the US and it wasn’t just the new MB, this was a MBP. Stuff happens be it in production or shipping. Was it annoying? Yes, but it was taken care of quickly.
This thin selling point is causing issues, that’s why surface pro went with magnesium.
Apple is all style selling not actual durability. Microsoft products are built to be used and last,
Fail by design. Jony is too busy in Milan, the basic stuff is left behind. Attention to detail was a slogan sometime
If it easily dents, being in a protective packaging box, why would you even want to own something so fragile? I would just return it for a refund and get a $199 Chromebook. Better, Faster, Cheaper.
Better, Faster, Cheaper, and Completely crippled without web access.
Every computer for the last 5 years has been crippled without the internet. The world has changed.
False, google docs works offline, and ubuntu can be installed, providing a full suite of software. I know, I use my Chromebook every day on the subway *the 64 GB removeable micro SD card transfers easily between my cell phone and my CB), meaning document can be transferred easily from a web access device to the CB easily.
I think apple gets an unfair shake when it comes to problems like this. . . they are isolated incidents that the media bllows up.
I do think many apple products are overpriced, And if I bought one, I would be really ticked if it exploded in my pocket (two reports of Iphones so far) or dents, or bending . . . .
Honestly, if only two lithium ion powered iPhones catastrophically failed in almost a decade of selling hundreds of millions of phones, then that’s not a bad track record. Samsung has had a lot of similar episodes of phones catching on fire in people’s pockets. It’s just something lithium ion batteries are going to occasionally do no matter how much quality control is in place. It’s an inherent risk with the current technology, but (thankfully) odds are incredibly low of your phone doing this regardless of manufacturer. You can lower the odds of this happening even more by not puncturing your phone, using low quality chargers, or exposing it to high temperatures.
I think silly “bendgate conspiracy” is likely either 1) people bending them on purpose or 2) rather heavy people sitting on the phone while it’s in their back pocket. Either way, it takes a pretty considerable amount of force to bend one. Consumer Reports has a good video on YouTube of them bending different phones including the new iPhones. You have to apply about 70lb of force on an area the width of your pinky before they begin to show signs of deformation. That would honestly be hard for most people to do intentionally (without using a tool), and if you’re applying that much force to your phone, you shouldn’t be surprised when there’s an issue…
Apple has the market on #(insert word)gate and it’s not just coincidence. Apple products are actually inferior in build quality for the ever ending selling point of thinner and more profitable. They have to do this as their user base is shrinking apart from new markets they enter.
In the future it will recede furthur.
Have I received my MacBook? Hahahah! I see the shops got them yesterday, but despite Apple’s insistence it was best to buy the supposedly available April 10th product on line, I have seen and heard nothing, dented or otherwise
Got mine 4 days after ordering…