If your 2018 MacBook Pro develops a fault before September, you’re likely to get a new one

If you’ve just splashed out on the new 2018 MacBook Pro, or managed to get an exchange for your recently purchased 2017 model, you’re likely to get a replacement rather than a repair if it develops a significant fault before September …

A service document seen by us notes that most service parts for the new models won’t be available until September.

It says that minor repairs will be possible from later this month, but major components won’t be available for another couple of months.

For any 2018 MacBook Pro requiring a significant repair, Apple Store staff are advised to follow the procedures for providing the customer with a replacement machine.

Of course, whether this is good news or bad depends on your point of view. On the upside, you’ll be getting a slightly newer machine than the one you bought. On the downside, a new machine will mean restoring from backup before you can use it.

But then this may be needed anyway. A logic board replacement on any 2016-onward MacBook Pro is likely to mean a new SSD, as components are soldered to the board, and the 2018 model also uses the T2 chip first seen in the iMac Pro. If that fails, the SSD will be unreadable.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: