On Monday, my MacBook Pro arrived. Fantastic piece of equipment, but that isn’t what this post is about. It didn’t take me long to notice some out of box issues that really made me mad. When one pays as much as they did for a laptop, they want it to be perfect, and with Apple’s classy products you wouldn’t expect any less than that.

First thing I noticed was a bright red stuck pixel. Fantastic! You have this great machine for photo and video editing but then it is ruined by a bright red pixel which I understand is not covered in the warranty. I know from experience that Dell would have a new laptop in the post within minutes if you rang up and explained you were a multimedia professional and couldn’t have a stuck pixel.

It took me a couple of hours to notice the next, more worrying problem; the strip of metal along the bottom of the screen (above the hinge) was buckled, and definitely something they should be shipping without. It is very noticeable on the left side, specially when closing the screen; there is some on the right side too but not as severe.

I called Apple yesterday, who asked me to take it into my nearest Apple Service Centre, which happened to be in Hokitika. If I get it done before Wednesday next week I believe I am entitled to ask for a replacement or repair, which I will obviously be asking for the replacement (because they wouldn’t repair the stuck pixel). I hope it doesn’t take long however, because I have the youth group ball on Saturday Night which I am DJ’ing for and could really do with it.

I hope Apple support is as good as they claim it to be.

UPDATE 10/12/06: I took it to the Apple place yesterday, who said that yes it is definitely covered under warranty. I now have to ring Renaissance on Monday morning and convince them that I need a replacement, rather than just a repair.