The MacBook Air and new unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros have been incredibly reliable. Very few are returned or exchanged for being dead on arrival—I’d say less than one percent. I expect that some of the product we ship won’t work right out of the box, but I also expect that the failure rate out of the box would be a tiny fraction of the number sold. I’m confident the new 17” MacBook Pro will show an equally low failure rate.
The repair of the week involves a 15” unibody MacBook Pro that lacked AirPort function. In all Apple laptops to date, the AirPort card has been a part that can be ordered individually. But in the unibody laptops, the AirPort card is located in the display module, which can be ordered only as a “kit” that includes the screen, screen enclosure, bezel, iSight, inverter board, and AirPort/Bluetooth card.
I installed the display module, reassembled the computer, and found that, while AirPort was working, signal strength was poor in my office where I usually enjoy a full signal. The new MacBooks are designed for serviceability, so I removed the bottom case and re-seated the camera/AirPort/Bluetooth cable. Success!