As expected, I received a magnificent MacBook this morning. It is sleek, it is fast, the screen is great, the keyboard is great, it is silent, the built-in camera is great, I had Windows installed on it in less than a half-hour, etc. The two-finger scrolling and right-clicking on the trackpad is plain genius.
Unfortunately, I have already called Apple to return it and exchange it for a new one (due to arrive late next week).
While Windows was installing (via Parallels Desktop), I started inspecting the machine more closely and noticed that the top surface of the unit (where the keyboard and the palm-rests are) was coming undone from the bottom part of the shell along several centimeters, on both the left and right sides of the Mac (to the left and right of the keyboard). A visible gap was apparent, big enough to slip a fingernail in. Apple didn’t even argue for a second and immediately transfered me to the sales rep who arranged for the exchange.
Still, I wasn’t sure making an exchange was the right move, so Pamela and I went to the local Fnac store to check out the units on display. There were 5 MacBooks, and some of them had the same problem, but much less pronounced than on mine (shorter and narrower gap, one side, not 2 etc.), while others didn’t have the problem at all. When we got back home, I examined it again, and noticed the top surface coming undone in one small spot on the front of the MacBook, and I also noticed that the spot where the lower right half of the Mac connects to the screen hinge was a bit askew.
Oh well. I had enough time to test how blazingly fast Windows runs on the machine, but I decided nevertheless to put it back in its box and pretend it never arrived.
I just hope the next MacBook will be OK…
Just added: Here is a link to pictures from another user who posted them on the Apple discussion forums. While it doesn’t seem that bad in pictures, the whole top of the computer does flex as the gaps close, so it is somewhat freakish…