Replacement MacBook Pro Failed After Just 3 Days — How Can I Escalate Repeated Failures?

waybarrios wrote:

Has anyone experienced repeated hardware failures across replacement MacBook Pros? How did Apple handle the situation?

My original MacBook Pro M4 Max with 128 GB of RAM and AppleCare+ developed severe display flickering and needed a screen replacement. Approximately six months later, display problems returned, and Apple replaced the entire machine with a new MacBook Pro M5 Max.

After only three days of my usual AI/ML workloads, the replacement’s display started repeatedly turning on and off before going completely black.

I already have another service case open and another appointment scheduled. However, I was told the replacement is treated as a separate case because it has a new serial number.

The entire experience has been extremely frustrating: hours spent with Apple Support, repeated appointments, setting up replacement devices, and significant downtime. I chose a high-end MacBook Pro specifically for demanding AI/ML and other high-performance tasks, so this level of reliability has been deeply disappointing. I cannot confirm whether the failures are related to those workloads, but these are the tasks I purchased the machine to perform.

Has anyone successfully had Apple review the complete history across the original and replacement devices and escalate the situation beyond another standard repair? What helped you reach a lasting resolution?

You return it for one that works.

you have a limited 14 days for an exchange or refund for any reason—see Returns & Refunds Order status

Returns & Refunds - Shopping Help - Apple

Only items that have been purchased directly from Apple, either online or at an Apple Retail Store

Your 90 days of complimentary telephone support begins on the date of purchase.

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

submit your feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

CEO John Ternus [email protected]

Complex Electro-mechanical devices fail at random, arbitrary, and capricious times.

The most frequent reason for most failures is 'just because'.

Your specific failure is most likely caused by an advanced scientific principle called ...

... 'bad luck'.

--------

If you want a really substantial lesson how this this works (or more precisely how this stops working) own an older used automobile.

At a run rate of 20 million Macs a year, Apple ships about 57,000 Macs a DAY.

The failure of your 1 or 2 samples of the product, while lamentable, does not change the Mac's reliability statistics in any measurable way.

Lots of disaster plans include way to restore your saved data. But if your disaster plan does not make any allowance for the loss of use of your computer (to damage, theft, or failure) your disaster planning is inadequate.