Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

On November 17, Apple removed the "Ratings & Reviews" section from all product pages on the Apple website. It is currently unclear what has prompted this decision, nor when Apple will bring back the option to read the opinions of other customers at the time of purchase.

AppleInsider received a tip from a reader who had noted the buyer review section was missing on Apple's online retail store page. The user also pointed out that the pages have been removed from U.S., U.K., and Australian Apple online stores, which suggests this is not simply a mistake, but rather an intentional move on Apple's behalf.

The reviews were pulled over the weekend, though it's not clear as to why this has happened. Apple had been known for leaving up even especially negative reviews, which demonstrated both transparency and integrity to their customers.

By removing the reviews, it's possible that Apple will be seen as less credible to potential buyers.

Utilizing the Wayback Machine, AppleInsider found that the reviews were pulled at some point between the evening of November 16 and the morning of November 17. The image below shows a capture of the sections on November 16 and 17, highlighting the missing "Rating & Reviews" section.

Capture of two different days, showing the missing reviews section

AppleInsider has contacted Apple for clarification over the feature's removal, and if it would be making a return.

It is possible to view the changes by looking at the Wayback Machine archive page for the original Apple Pencil.

A YouTube video offered as part of the tip was published by the popular photography account, Fstoppers, titled "Apple Fanboys, Where is your God now?" In the video, the host reads a selection of negative reviews of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro with the video published on November 16, coinciding with the removal of the website feature.

However, it remains to be seen if the video had anything to do with Apple's decision to remove the reviews, given the 56 thousand page views at the time of publication doesn't seem like a high-enough number for Apple to pay attention to the video's content. Other videos have been more critical about the company's products, and some with far higher view counts, but evidently Apple seemingly does not spend that much time involving itself with such public complaints.

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45 Comments

gatorguy 24607 comments · 13 Years

About 4 years ago

That Fstoppers review does seem sincere, and the reviewer certainly can't legitimately be called an Apple Hater. He makes some good observations about dongles and Thunderbolt 3, which by the way is problematic with Windows machines too tho I don't know of any that offer only TB3. To be honest I've never used the Thunderbolt port on my XPS

elijahg 2822 comments · 18 Years

I'm not sure they were exactly representative... Maybe Cook at. al only just noticed and thought it best to remove them. Not many first-party websites allow reviews of their own products. Pretty much everything on the Apple site has 3 star and below reviews because people only bother to review when their whatever breaks. And of course everyone thinks nothing should break ever, no matter how they treat it. I've never killed a Macbook charger but somehow 80% of the reviews for Macbook chargers are people buying replacements because the cable frayed. Macbook chargers aren't tough, but they aren't as bad as their lightning cables. My 10 year old Apple in-ear earbuds are still going... just!

elijahg said:

I'm not sure they were exactly representative... Maybe Cook at. al only just noticed and thought it best to remove them. Not many first-party websites allow reviews of their own products.

In actuality it's pretty common for first-party websites to offer reviews of their products. HP does. LG does. Samsung does. Before buying my Samsung Q80R last week I read thru a sample of them, along with looking at other online resources. I always pay particular attention to the 3 stars or less and ~~don't even~~ very rarely consider products where more than than 10% of the reviews are 1 star unless there is no other market option for something I just gotta have.

mark fearing 439 comments · 16 Years

The sincerity of reviews is certainly something to question. Since honesty is what is needed in reviews not agendas. But who needs a review to decide to buy? Or a better question who lets a review of Mac Hardware decide it? I've read reviews, but more importantly I read specs and try out the machines. If you buy it and don't like it, return it. You have 30 days, I believe, to return anything to Apple. But letting the nits who only want USB A ports or demand 3 headphone jacks or whatever tiny little issue obsesses them fill pages with comments and reviews that are a waste of time (I think an adult spending 3 grand on a laptop can decide what ports they want...I mean, seriously?) seems sort of a waste os time and effort. Most of these types all have YouTube channels filled with their obsessions.

mark fearing said:

The sincerity of reviews is certainly something to question. Since honesty is what is needed in reviews not agendas. But who needs a review to decide to buy? Or a better question who lets a review of Mac Hardware decide it?

Of course anyone buying an expensive piece of kit should look at reviews. Heck we have folks here who say they want to buy the latest Apple whatever but will wait on reviews from users before opening their wallet. I guarantee if you are one of those who never reads reviews before buying you've had far more than your fair share of purchase regret.

Personally I dislike unpacking, setting up, using, not liking, then repackaging products and arranging for return shipping or scheduling another trip to the brick and mortar. Worse is when you look at reviews after-the-fact to see just the type of issue frequently mentioned that was what YOU disliked about it too.