Brand new Retina 13" slow shut down (Please read/help)

Hello all!

I have always had so much help with this forum, but this time I am dying for a particular answer/explanation that even the Apple Genius Bar and Apple Care could not give .

At the 23rd of December 2012 (a month ago) I bought a brand new MacBook Pro Retina 13" - 2.5GHz - 8GB - 128GB in an APR abroad. Went home a couple of days later and opened my MB. Started it, went through the setup, and voilà! Did not do all the updates yet and shut it down (cuz I had other things to do and I am used to shut my MB down when I know I won't be using it anymore that day). Surprisingly that took a looong time (compared to my white MB early 2008 with SL).

I started it again, waited a couple of minutes (staring at it), and shut it down again: 23 seconds. I thought that must not be good.. Used it for a couple of days without installing anything else, except the OSX updates.

Called Apple Care, they told me this was not normal and advised me to go to an APR or the Apple Store for a check-up. I could not go with the DOA Policy, since I bought it at an APR abroad.. So they told me. Went to the Apple Store and they tested it. Came to the conclusion to replace my SSD.

My poor new out-of-the box Retina, within one week under 'surgery'. Okay, picked it up a week later: same issue. They were clueless. Called Apple Care afterwards; told me to use it for 1-2 weeks and see..

My question to you: Might there be something wrong with my brand new Retina when it ALWAYS has a shutdown time from 23 seconds, in ANY circumstance?

I have gone through this whole forum and used Google for a couple of weeks but I cannot find whether in my situation this is absolutely normal or that there might be something wrong.

I am very interested in your opinion. Thank you!

Hi KPOM, thank you so much for your reply.

No I did not migrate from another Mac. And I am not sure what they did when they replaced my SSD. My old SSD was 'empty' so nothing was installed on it by myself except the update, and I also told them that I did not needed anything from that one. Can a slow shutdown also be caused by another hardware part in the MB?

At the Genius Bar they did a hardware check, if that is what you meant? They also did that after the replacement - so they said, I did not saw them do that.

Besides, I already had these shutdown 'problems' when it first came out of the box and I even had not installed the update to 10.8.2 yet by then. And in the first place I thought maybe it is because I did not have the new update yet. Unfortunately, after the update nothing changed. Until now . Tried various things though.

Starting up holding the D-key I have never tried. I will do that tomorrow and let you know (it is 3AM here ). I found the Apple Support page about this hardware test btw, but can everyone understand this test? And can I do anything wrong that can mess up my rMBP?

Oh I just saw that you also have the Retina 13" (2.5GHz, 8GB, 10.8.2?). May I ask what your (average) shutdown time in normal circumstances is?

First of all, thank you all for replying!

kensic said:

try this...

system preference--->users & groups--->login items tap--->select all items----> click on the negative "-" button directly below.

my MBP 15 was doing the same thing after upgrading to mountain lion...and that did that trick...now its back 2-3 secs shut down.

it seems like this is a known issue....search "mountain lion slow shut down" u'll find alot of posts w/ ppl with this problem.

hope it helps

Click to expand...

I have already tried so many things, this also, but nothing has helped . In my login items there was only iTunesHelper and I trashed that in order to keep it away from that list. Still 23 sec shut down.

And yes I did searched the whole web about this issue, but I haven't find anyone in a situation like me; slow shut down from the time it came out of the box. And it is the newest MB Apple has. I did not expect this to happen to me, and certainly not at this stage of use (new and ‘empty’ from my own programs).

joec1101 said:

The slow shutdown has nothing to do with your rMBP.

It's a known Lion/Mountain Lion issue and has been a problem for the past few releases (there's been several other threads about this issue).

I have the the same issue on my 15" rMBP and my 13" MBA, so you're not alone.

Hopefully, Apple will fix it in the next release <crossing fingers> !

Click to expand...

I’m sorry I haven’t added this: I have an iMac (bought new in OKT 2012) with ML 10.8.2 and a friend of mine has a MacBook Air (bought also new in OKT 2012), also with ML 10.8.2: Shutdown time never had any issues. Shut down ‘instantly’, like 3-4 seconds, both .

KPOM said:

About 4 seconds.

Click to expand...

And KPOM with the same rMBP as me, also has a shutdown time from 4 seconds . Did you do anything about your shutdown time KPOM? Or has it always been like this short/perfect?

Seems like this issue does not happen to everybody with 10.8.2 and that is concerning me, because I understand some people experiencing ‘bugs and issues’ with their older Apple Macs on ML, or newer ones with a lot of programmes running on it or other devices connected to it. But mine just came out of the box like this. I shouldn't troubleshooting a brand new rMBP

Thanks all for your replies!

Schranke said:

Its a bug, i have 20+ shutdown time most of the times. sometimes i can do it in 2-3 sec. but not normal atm.
Don't worry, wait until 10.8.3 and see if tha will fix it.
if you do a search on shutdown time on these forums you will find 5-15 threads about the subject.
try reading some of those since all the things wort saying about it properly is there all ready.

Click to expand...

My issue is that I ALWAYS have a shutdown time from 23 seconds (weird enough it is exactly 23 seconds). I've tried many many things that are mentioned in forums, but unfortunately nothing helped - yet.

definitive said:

it's an operating system issue. i've seen it on multiple macs - desktops and laptops.

Click to expand...

Let’s hope it is, because I just think it's weird that when it's an operating system issue why not ALL Macs are experiencing this issue since updating to ML. Or why not all rMBP need a shutdown time in any circumstance, from 23 secs on ML – like mine .

chrise2 said:

Is it just me, but I almost never shut down. I only do that when installing an update or if I'm having some kind of problem. Otherwise, I just close the lid and let it sleep. I have the 13" retina. I have no idea how long it takes to shut down because I don't remember the last time I did it.

Click to expand...

Normally I shut down my laptop once a week or two, just to ‘make a clean start’. But these days I am testing my new rMBP, and it got my attention when it had always a shutdown time from 23 seconds, while my other (new and old) Macs on Mountain Lion don’t .

1member1 said:

My average time is 4-6 seconds (rmbp 13 256). I guess It actually depends on how many open application you got.
20 seconds it's too much time.

Click to expand...

Yes normally it does depend. But with my rMBP it doesn’t. It had always and in any circumstance a shutdown time from 23 seconds. That’s why I am concerned .

Well, wanted to update my thread for you guys - with good news!

I was sick of it that Apple Care told me to go to the Apple Store and Apple Store told me to call Apple Care (my rMBP turned out to had more issues than those I posted; battery, trackpad, storage).. So I decided to tell my story to.. Tim Cook . I know I was desperate.. but I did email him, and I know.. he won't be reading those emails himself.

Anyway, wasn't expecting to hear anything from Apple HQ any time soon, but it already gave me a better feeling to just email this.

The very next day I got a call from the Apple Store right away: I was getting a new rMBP . And I am typing on it right now. Everything works perfectly fine and the shutdown time is sometimes 3-4 seconds and sometimes it takes a little bit longer, like about 20 seconds.

But the shutdown time wasn't the issue that I emailed for - I know this thread was about the shutdown time so I am coming back on that.

The conclusion I can make based on my experiences with Mountain Lion on different Macs in this house (and my two Retina's I worked on) is the same as what already is mentioned before; it has to do with Mountain Lion.

BUT, in MY case and the reason why I opened this thread, it was NOT Mountain Lion. It was my rMBP for sure.