Can my MacBook Air keyboard be faulty right out of the box?

[Trappiste]

A stupid question.

Is my Macbook Air faulty out of the box?

I received a brand new Macbook Air today, and started setting it up. Everything went fine till I logged in for the first time, and noticed the keyboard behaving weirdly. Additional testing showed that most of the keys on the right-hand side of the keyboard will not register any keypresses. This affects both alphanumerical as well as special keys. They are just dead.

My question is: Can this premium-priced computer be faulty out of the box -- I do not know how a keyboard could even fail like so, since it is not that complicated stuff mechanically -- or am I missing something? I checked the keyboard settings and found nothing unusual there. Powering off and back on will not impact the keyboard any way either.

 

[Rob Phillips]

Yes, there’s likely something wrong with your keyboard and you should take it into an Apple Store or bring it back to where you bought it. It’s a premium laptop but that never guarantees zero issues, much like buying a luxury car doesn’t guarantee zero issues. They make millions of MacBook keyboards so there’s bound to be a few bad ones that get through QA.

 

[Just_Me_D]

If it’s man-made then yes, it’s possible. Every manufacturer have duds/lemons. With that being said, return the device to the nearest Apple Store and switch it out for another one. I’m assuming you purchased it within the last 2-weeks.

 

[Lee_Bo]

If it’s man-made then yes, it’s possible.

Exactly right.

 

[Trappiste]

If it’s man-made then yes, it’s possible. Every manufacturer have duds/lemons. With that being said, return the device to the nearest Apple Store and switch it out for another one. I’m assuming you purchased it within the last 2-weeks.

I live in Finland, so do not have access to Apple Stores.

It was bough to me around the new year time as a gift, but I was able to open the box and set it up only yesterday, since I was away from my office where it was sent.

I am currently ensuring wherefrom it was bough.since I left the receipt at the office, so I can take it back to the store directly. A friend of mine suggested, though, that they will likely send it for servicing by Apple and this will take about two to three weeks; or that, at least, is what happens with other Apple products. I should hope not... at this price point. But we shall see.

 

[doogald]

At least in the US, if the computer is within the return time frame, you should be able to return the product as defective and purchase a new one. Apple, for example, has a 14 day return policy. Not sure what the situation would be in Finland, though.

 

[Just_Me_D]

I live in Finland, so do not have access to Apple Stores.

It was bough to me around the new year time as a gift, but I was able to open the box and set it up only yesterday, since I was away from my office where it was sent.

I am currently ensuring wherefrom it was bough.since I left the receipt at the office, so I can take it back to the store directly. A friend of mine suggested, though, that they will likely send it for servicing by Apple and this will take about two to three weeks; or that, at least, is what happens with other Apple products. I should hope not... at this price point. But we shall see.

Contact Apple Support. They’ll take care of you.

 

[Trappiste]

At least in the US, if the computer is within the return time frame, you should be able to return the product as defective and purchase a new one. Apple, for example, has a 14 day return policy. Not sure what the situation would be in Finland, though.

The store instructed me to take it to a local official Apple service centre, of which there is one in my area. For some reason, the place is open only from Monday to Friday, however, so no go on the weekend... oh well.

If I had purchased the computer myself I could at least have exercised the store's own return policy option, but now cannot do even that, so I am left at the mercy of Apple's post-purchase service.

I was also told Apple support will tell the same thing, since it is the only thing they can do. All assessments of product servicing and/or replacement have to go through the service centers where an authorized technician takes a hands-on look a the item in question first.

So, now I shall wait till Monday and see what happens then.

My next work trip is on Wednesday, so will probably have to take my trusty old Win laptop there with me still lest they fail to turn this over by Tuesday, which I think is likely.

Googling the issue seems to belie the build-quality of Apple's laptop keyboards, so at least I am not the only one impacted.

 

[doogald]

Ok, good luck.

 

[Trappiste]

They took it in for servicing. I have no clue how long it will take... so don't have any choice but to wait now.

 

[bamf-hacker]

They will take care of you... and enjoy your new MBA when you get it back ??????

 

[Trappiste]

They will take care of you... and enjoy your new MBA when you get it back ������

Haven't heard anything back yet... the only thing about this incident that has proceeded quickly and smoothly was the purchase. Once Apple got their money, everything bogged down and no-one gave a damn any more.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Haven't heard anything back yet... the only thing about this incident that has proceeded quickly and smoothly was the purchase. Once Apple got their money, everything bogged down and no-one gave a damn any more.

Would you rather they not take the time to properly diagnose and repair it?

 

[doogald]

Would you rather they not take the time to properly diagnose and repair it?

To be honest, with all of the known problems with the butterfly switch keyboards on MacBook, McBook Pro, and now MacBook Air, I would hope that by now that Apple would have a swap program in place rather than the 2-3 week repair program. The burden for a bad design should fall on Apple, not its consumers (to be without a computer for multiple weeks.)

 

[Just_Me_D]

To be honest, with all of the known problems with the butterfly switch keyboards on MacBook, McBook Pro, and now MacBook Air, I would hope that by now that Apple would have a swap program in place rather than the 2-3 week repair program. The burden for a bad design should fall on Apple, not its consumers (to be without a computer for multiple weeks.)

Here in the U.S. the OP probably would have already gotten a replacement MacBook Air, but he resides in Finland. There may be laws and/or restrictions involved that we’re unaware of.

 

[Trappiste]

Here in the U.S. the OP probably would have already gotten a replacement MacBook Air, but he resides in Finland. There may be laws and/or restrictions involved that we’re unaware of.

No, there are no restrictions of any kind imposed on Apple's post-sale support. They could have swapped the computer for a new one had they so chosen to do. Quite the contrary, I think they may be violating the law by not replacing a faulty-out-of-the-box product. But there is nothing I can do about that, since I have no motivation for pursuing a legal action against them.

On the positive side, I already have a Win laptop in use in its place, so I no longer need it any way. Apple can keep it for all I care, when, one day, it maybe resurfaces from the depths of their service abyss.