Apple’s M4 Max is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and efficient chipsets of this generation, able to stand ‘toe to toe’ with those power-hungry and beastly desktop processors and run circles around them. Of course, achieving this level of performance comes at a literal cost, with the lowest price for a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the aforementioned chip and a 14-core CPU and 32-core GPU, going for $3,499 on Amazon. In short, you need to cough up a serious sum to become the proud owner of these portable powerhouses, but one older 2018 MacBook Pro owner managed to get one for free, and that too when he decided to stroll into a physical Apple store outlet seeking a battery replacement.
One Redditor surmises that Apple store employees might have broken something inside the 2018 MacBook Pro and decided to compensate the owner with another unit rocking the closest specifications, which the staff believed was an M4 Max model
A 15-inch 2018 MacBook Pro belonging to Reddit user ‘otto-mate’ received a battery service message on his machine, prompting him to replace the component on his 8-year-old product. First, he decided to try his luck at a third-party store, which quoted him £200, or approximately $268. Likely concluding that the expense was too much, otto-mate took his aging MacBook Pro to an official Apple store outlet, where the employees quoted him £45, or $60. The staff was thorough in their initial assessment of the machine, but needed to order the required parts, which would take around a week.
Fast forward to a week, the Apple store employees rang the MacBook Pro owner to inform him that the parts had arrived, but after another week, the same staff members regretted to inform the person that the portable Mac had ceased functioning during repair. Even after trying two sets of new repair parts, they weren’t able to revive the machine. With the 2018 MacBook Pro owner now left without a computer, a solution was needed. Luckily, Apple’s store members had one; they provided the customer with a machine boasting specifications that are more or less equal to the product he had in possession.
Now here’s the twist: no one, probably not even otto-mate would have anticipated that the model in question would be the 16-inch M4 Max MacBook Pro. The customer even agreed to pay the amount of £245 ($328) for the new battery and wanted to credit the £150 ($201) sum for opting for the nano-texture display on his shiny new portable Mac. The best part was that Apple didn’t charge him a dime, giving him a configuration worth £3,249, or approximately $4,353. Based on this amount, he likely got the top-end M4 Max that’s kitted out with a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 48GB of unified RAM, and a 2TB SSD.
This isn’t the first time that Apple shelled out a significantly faster MacBook Pro for free, as a 2019 machine featuring an Intel processor was replaced with the M5 MacBook Pro. Despite the platinum-level customer service, the owner labeled Apple’s business practices as planned obsolescence. As for why the company’s employees decided to hand out a ludicrously expensive MacBook Pro without charging so much as a strand of hair, one Redditor with the username ‘Bsul92’ believes it was likely due to Apple employees unintentionally breaking the 2018 model when performing repairs. As compensation, an M4 Max version was offered, which honestly sounds like a dream come true.
News Source: Reddit
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
