Is you MBP dead slow after Safari Beta/Security Update? Mine is

I have a 2.2GHz MacBook Pro (Santa Rosa)...

It has been performing like a champ for the two days I had it until last night. Right after checking software update and updating the Safari Beta app and the Security Update, now my MacBook Pro is dead slow. Is anyone else having this problem?

I ran xbench and geekbench on my computer the day I got it. I noticed the performance issue after the updates last night, but was too tired to mess with it. Since, I have run both benchmark apps on my computer and am not getting even half the score I got before the updates.

I did create a new user to see if maybe it was something else I may have installed, but I get the same results.

GeekBench-
Pre update score - 2960
Postupdate score - 1080

XBench-
Pre update score - 55.15
Postupdate score - 34.77

Those are some major downgrades in performance. I can honestly say that this MacBook Pro is currently not any faster than my PowerBook G4 1.67GHz.

Has anyone else seen this same thing happen after the updates?

I also just remembered that I had an XBench benchmark from my PowerBook G4...

Score - 46.56

My PowerBook G4 1.67 is actually faster than this MacBook Pro now.

Something is wrong...

aquajet said:

Did you use Activity Monitor to see if there are any processes hogging resources? Make sure you select "All Processes" from the drop-down menu.

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Yeah, I already checked that. There was nothing that looked any different than normal. No intensive CPU hogs in the activity monitor.

The only thing I can think it that something in the security update really screwed things up. I already uninstalled the Safari Beta (that has screwed up a lot of things since they release it) and it did not make any difference.

I am probably going to do a clean install and get back to pre-security update and see what happens.

Where are you in Texas? I am from Austin, Texas. I am living in Burlington, Ontario right now (basically Toronto), but am getting ready for an August move back to Austin! I can't wait.

Anybody else see the issues in performance?

aquajet said:

That's weird. You might try downloading CoreDuoTemp and see at what speed the CPU is running. Perhaps it's clocked itself down for some reason.



I'm in Denton, north of Dallas. Crazy amounts of rain have made it a bit humid lately. Not as nice as Toronto, I'm sure.

Click to expand...

Wow that is an awesome tool. I have never heard of that. Thanks!

So, first off, I just finished an archive and install and that did not help at all. I downloaded and installed all the updates except the security update because it scares me. No difference after that.

CorDuoTemp is telling me that the Mini is 1.0GHz and the Maxi is 1.83GHz. The current is 1.33GHz. That would explain the loss of performance.

How do I fix this?

Ok, I tried that. I had two quicktime movie trailers running at the same time (both HD). CoreDuoTemp did not change a bit. Same mini, maxi and current as before. I checked my processor load using iStat and I had 1% idle so the processor was getting hit. It did not change the speed from 1.33GHz though.

Any other ideas?

Kevo said:

I don't think CoreDuoTemp has been updated for the new machines yet. It's probably giving false readings on the speeds.

You probably need to repair permissions and then run the combo updater. If that doesn't work then I would reload from scratch. I tend to do that with new machines before I start using them anyway, just to avoid odd glitches from the factory install.

Click to expand...

I have never used CoreDuoTemp, so I wouldn't know.

I did repair permissions, repaired the drive, reset the PMU, etc... I did an archive and install from the disks that came with the computer, but have not run the combo updater (didn't think I had to since I did the archive and install). I also reloaded the OS from scratch when I got the computer because I did not want all the extra languages and printer drivers taking up room on my hard drive.

I am pretty damn good at troubleshooting these computers, so this is really starting to annoy the hell out of me. I am not sure what to do at this point.

iW00t said:

If i want beta i will buy a PC

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And you are contributing to this thread how???

If that is all you have to say, then just go away.

aquajet said:

This is strange. It might be time to call Applecare or visit the Genius Bar.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I am thinking so too. I am doing a backup now. Once that is done, I am going to erase the drive, reinstall using the disks that came with the computer and test it without installing all my crap. If it makes a difference, I will basically start over installing my apps and stuff. I planned on doing this when I got this computer, but just did the migration assistant. I decided to wait until 10.5 to come out and then clean it up and reinstall everything.

I hope that after erasing the drive and reinstalling the OS will give me some hope as far as the performance hit this MBP has taken... I will know soon enough. If that does not make a difference, I will be making a trip to the Apple Store. I have a feeling that this is going to be a difficult conversation seeming as everything works, but slow. I hope they don't just tell me to go away and not actually check the performance of the computer.

I figured out what the problem was.

I ended up erasing the drive and reinstalling the OS. That DID NOT help at all.

The only other thing I did just before the slow down happened was I removed the battery from the computer. This machine is going to sit on my desk about 90% of the time, so I figured I would remove the battery to try to extend its life. This way I could just leave the computer plugged in and put the battery back in just before I leave with it (not very often).

So, I put the battery back in the computer and ran GeekBench again... I got a score of 2999! So apparently if you remove the battery it will kill the performance of your MacBook Pro. I guess it is possible that the same thing will happen on other computers (MacBook, iBook, etc...), but I have no way to test that.

Just thought I would post the fix in case anyone else out there has removed their battery.