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Comment by superuser2 | Hacker News Reader

One place where marketers have gotten around this quite adeptly is Windows PCs and laptops.

Try searching for reviews on a laptop you find at Best Buy. There are none. The model number is 10+ random characters and completely meaningless. Comparison shopping between laptops on the basis of reviews is impossible. Consequently, they have you buying on 1) brand and 2) specs, which is right where they want you, and completely ignoring things like build quality and MTBF of parts which might be revealed by long-term reviews.

This is one of the (many) refreshing things about Apple. Macbook Pro is Macbook Pro until the next refresh.

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> Try searching for reviews on a laptop you find at Best Buy. There are none. The model number is 10+ random characters and completely meaningless.

This is a problem for a number of users but I think you got the reasoning a bit wrong.

The real reason this is done is for the purpose of reducing price-match deals when other retailers have a discount on the same model.

I for one have never faced a problem finding reviews as a number of tech reviewers mention all model numbers in their posts.

Also, this is not limited to Windows PCs but to most high(er) ticket electronics like televisions.

> This is one of the (many) refreshing things about Apple. Macbook Pro is Macbook Pro until the next refresh.

While partially true, Apple does have multiple model numbers within the same generation, they just don't tell the customers about it. The models are based on hardware used. This makes any review somewhat inaccurate as different customers who bought the same product based on the same reviews from the same retailer may get marginally different hardware.

ex. Macbook Pro - Retina - mid-2012 - came with either a LG display or a Samsung. The LG displays had problems with image retention. A few Samsung had a yellow tint. And at the time of purchase the customer had no way to know which one they were buying.

Personally this is extremely problematic.

Considering that your MBP screen issue is the same one always mentioned about Apple, and it was widely discussed online and screens got replaced under warranty, it seems to be the exception that proves the rule.

And it's way more pervasive than that. Companies who make appliances, mattresses, etc. have been doing this for decades. It enables them to say, "We'll beat anyone's advertised price!" Since all the major retailers are getting models tailored and numbered for their chain, they know they can do this with impunity. This is one of the reasons it's so hard to find the models Consumer Reports reviewed at your local retailer. You have to buy the one from that brand that's close enough.

I noticed this as well, but it just pushed me towards those kinds of companies that use reliable identifiers like Lenovo. I find that if a company is doing this kind of weird naming, they're probably not in the business of selling things based on quality.

This is one of the (many) refreshing things about Apple. Macbook Pro is Macbook Pro until the next refresh.

That may be more true of Apple than of others, but it's not completely true. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6727/apple-is-using-sandisk-ss...

I think Best Buy and co. do that to prevent them having to make good on "price matching" promises - everyone sells a different model (that really only differs by the model number), so since no-one sells "the same" model they can SAY they price-match without ever actually having to. I believe they do this for TVs too.

Ummm... I love my MBP but it's no way 'the' Macbook Pro until next refresh. I got a choice of two form factors and multiple hard drive/SSD, processor and RAM configurations.

The build quality is great, but don't pretend for a moment Apple don't play the specs game.

I think you know this isn't what he meant.

This isn't about meaningful variations. Go to Dell and HP's websites and see how many different ways (with different model numbers and sometimes even prices) you can configure a laptop with the same screen, processor, RAM, and hard drive.

I tried it at one point and stopped counting after around 10.

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