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Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
I've had my 2012 MBP for about 5 months now, and I am bitterly disappointed.

I'm a huge apple fan, owned two Mac's before, several iPods and an iPhone, but this Mac has left me cold.

It's slow, it's sluggish, sometimes I open the screen from sleep and have to literally jab the keyboard several times for it to light up and let me log in.

And now the main reason I wanted it for, iMovie, isn't working properly at all. It's doing what it did on my old mac, which couldn't be resolved and lost me all my work.

Frankly, I feel let down.
 
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Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
Well I'm sorry that your disappointed but if you owned a mac for 5 months, you're well beyond the return period.

I've got a three year warranty. These problems have gotten worse and worse. It was okay for the first month and I've only just starting using iMovie, as I didn't have all my clips sorted. I use it now and it's awful, there is something wrong with it.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,447
43,366
You can certainly have apple look at the Mac, I was not saying that but your title is "Reason enough to take back?" To me that communicates that you're looking to return the laptop and get a refund.

If you think something is wrong with it, I highly recommend having an apple Genius look at it and see what they can do to rectify the situation.
 

Orlandoech

macrumors 68040
Jun 2, 2011
3,341
887
What model and specs MBP did you get?

The standard 5400RPM HDDs are painful to deal with, try adding an SSD.
 

Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
You can certainly have apple look at the Mac, I was not saying that but your title is "Reason enough to take back?" To me that communicates that you're looking to return the laptop and get a refund.

If you think something is wrong with it, I highly recommend having an apple Genius look at it and see what they can do to rectify the situation.

I'd prefer to have it checked out/ replacement, as I loathe PC's anyway and always go for apple.

I'm just shocked that this soon in and iMovie isn't working, it's getting boiling hot and being so inconstant. Occasionally it works fine, but other times, running itunes and safari only it will be so slow.

It's really difficult for me as I'm in Uni and the nearest apple store to me in Manchester which is over 2 hours away -.-.

I'm going to London in a few weeks so I may take it in there.

----------

What model and specs MBP did you get?

The standard 5400RPM HDDs are painful to deal with, try adding an SSD.

It's the 13" lower spec 2012 MBP.

Without wanting to sound rude to you (I'm not being) I will not spend the £1000 I did to have a sub standard computer that needs an SSD to make it bearable.

My mums 2008 Mac is faster than this.
 

Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
What has Apple said and done after you contacted them about the issues?

I haven't contacted them this time.

I contacted them last year about iMovie on my old Mac.

I tried to take this in last time I went to London but they had no free appointments in any of the stores I could reach, so haven't had a chance.
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
I'd prefer to have it checked out/ replacement, as I loathe PC's anyway and always go for apple.

I'm just shocked that this soon in and iMovie isn't working, it's getting boiling hot and being so inconstant. Occasionally it works fine, but other times, running itunes and safari only it will be so slow.

It's really difficult for me as I'm in Uni and the nearest apple store to me in Manchester which is over 2 hours away -.-.

I'm going to London in a few weeks so I may take it in there.

----------



It's the 13" lower spec 2012 MBP.

Without wanting to sound rude to you (I'm not being) I will not spend the £1000 I did to have a sub standard computer that needs an SSD to make it bearable.

My mums 2008 Mac is faster than this.

No offence, but you bought the cheapest, entry level MacBook Pro - it's not going to be super-quick. If her 2008 ones is an iMac, that'll be because it has a 7200RPM drive.

There's every chance there's a hard drive failure, but it sounds to me like you're expecting more than the laptop can give. If it does have a faulty hard drive, they'll put a new hard drive in - they won't give you a new machine.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
Without wanting to sound rude to you (I'm not being) I will not spend the £1000 I did to have a sub standard computer that needs an SSD to make it bearable.

Traditional HDDs are slow. There isn't a whole lot that can be done about it. Even the upgraded 13" MBP has a slow 5400RPM HDD. The retina models come standard with SSDs, as do MacBook Airs.

My mums 2008 Mac is faster than this.

It probably isn't running newer, more demanding software.
 

Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
No offence, but you bought the cheapest, entry level MacBook Pro - it's not going to be super-quick. If her 2008 ones is an iMac, that'll be because it has a 7200RPM drive.

There's every chance there's a hard drive failure, but it sounds to me like you're expecting more than the laptop can give. If it does have a faulty hard drive, they'll put a new hard drive in - they won't give you a new machine.

That's fine. But my friend has the same MBP as me, expect the 2011 version. His is faster from my experience of using it, and he hasn't had any trouble yet (I've asked him as I was concerned). I don't expect it to be lightening fast, but if iMovie isn't working properly, it heats up to the point I can't touch it when I'm doing simple tasks, and it becomes sluggish when using safari alone, I feel shocked that this is the norm!
 

Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
That's fine. But my friend has the same MBP as me, expect the 2011 version. His is faster from my experience of using it, and he hasn't had any trouble yet (I've asked him as I was concerned). I don't expect it to be lightening fast, but if iMovie isn't working properly, it heats up to the point I can't touch it when I'm doing simple tasks, and it becomes sluggish when using safari alone, I feel shocked that this is the norm!

Sounds more like a software issue in that case.
 

Asuriyan

macrumors 6502a
Feb 4, 2013
622
23
Indiana
If the CPU heatsink is not mounted properly it could account for this. The system would run hot and throttle down to avoid damage to the processor cores.

Probably worth having Apple have a look.
 

Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
Sounds more like a software issue in that case.

Mm, maybe.

I just deleted all events from iMovie to see if re- importing them would help, but now when I reimported one lot, the files on iMovie show a little yellow triangle with an exclamation mark :/
 

yusukeaoki

macrumors 68030
Mar 22, 2011
2,550
6
Tokyo, Japan
Your using a 13in and expect it to be faster?

It can be a Mac's problem if its extremely slow.
It also means you have a 5400rpm drive so I would swap that with an SSD.
 

nickbarbs

macrumors regular
Nov 26, 2009
202
57
you could just grow up and actually put in an SSD....?

Hard disks are defunct. Use it only to store your media and keep all your OS/apps on an ssd.

put another 100£ towards a crucial m4 128gb.

My coworker just got an entry level 13inch and we ditched the crap HD as the first step and replaced his main disk with an ssd, putting the 5400 rpm drive in the optical bay. 1,000£ spent on a pc doesn't mean it will have a good disk drive. you should have realized from the start you were buying something that will need an upgrade for desired performance
 

Orlandoech

macrumors 68040
Jun 2, 2011
3,341
887
There's every chance there's a hard drive failure, but it sounds to me like you're expecting more than the laptop can give. If it does have a faulty hard drive, they'll put a new hard drive in - they won't give you a new machine.

What I am thinking too, especially with a slow 5400RPM HDD, he should at least buy a 7200RPM HDD or SSD if he is going to expect more performance.
 

Interstella5555

macrumors 603
Jun 30, 2008
5,219
13
Still confused why the OP hasn't contacted Apple, if there's a problem there, Apple will repair/replace it. Additionally, it doesn't matter how long the warranty is, you're well beyond the return period after 5 months.
 

Macaroooon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2012
378
3
Your using a 13in and expect it to be faster?

It can be a Mac's problem if its extremely slow.
It also means you have a 5400rpm drive so I would swap that with an SSD.

Sorry, I'm just suprised how slow this MBP is. I didn't expect it to be super fast, but for it to struggle with safari at times I find it rather odd!

you could just grow up and actually put in an SSD....?

Hard disks are defunct. Use it only to store your media and keep all your OS/apps on an ssd.

put another 100£ towards a crucial m4 128gb.

My coworker just got an entry level 13inch and we ditched the crap HD as the first step and replaced his main disk with an ssd, putting the 5400 rpm drive in the optical bay. 1,000£ spent on a pc doesn't mean it will have a good disk drive. you should have realized from the start you were buying something that will need an upgrade for desired performance

Thing is, 128GB will not be enough for me. I'd be looking at a 500GB, and for a student, that is costly.


Still confused why the OP hasn't contacted Apple, if there's a problem there, Apple will repair/replace it. Additionally, it doesn't matter how long the warranty is, you're well beyond the return period after 5 months.

I am going to contact apple. I know I'll need to book an appointment, and considering there isn't a store anywhere near me I'll have to wait until I'm next in London.
 

tcphoto

macrumors 6502a
Feb 23, 2005
758
2
Madison, GA
I haven't contacted them this time.

I contacted them last year about iMovie on my old Mac.

I tried to take this in last time I went to London but they had no free appointments in any of the stores I could reach, so haven't had a chance.

You dropped the ball and I'd be blown away if Apple would allow you to return or exchange the MBP. You have plenty of warranty left and they will certainly repair it if there are and hardware issues. I would start by backup your data and reinstall the operating system.
 

ljonesj

macrumors 6502a
Oct 20, 2009
945
63
Kingsport TN
There is actual depending on drive size that a 5400rpm is faster than 7200rpm per the Gb or gb what ever you want to call it. The platter density is what causes it i would say its a faulty drive or software. I changed out my 250gb drive in my mid 2010 13in macbook with the hybrid 500gb seagate and i cant tell a difference with it the original drive was 5400 the seagate is 7200. i do have some problems with imovie myself it locks both my mac mini and my macbook pro so i would think its a glitch in imovie
 

HKSSS

macrumors member
Nov 9, 2012
37
0
I have no idea why everyone is blaming OP for buying a 13'' low end MBP. OP has clearly stated that he did a comparison with his friend's 2011 l3'' low end MBP and it's still slower.

OP: I would recommend you to go to an Apple store and let me see the problem. Show them how hot it is. Or even ask them to do a comparison with a similar MBP. Be expect to leave the MBP with them cause they may need to diagnose it or change parts.

I would recommend you to SSD too. I understand that you need 500GB and it's expensive but there's alternative. I have a dual drive setup (128GB + 1TB). Nothing is sluggish when you go SSD.

Your using a 13in and expect it to be faster?

It can be a Mac's problem if its extremely slow.
It also means you have a 5400rpm drive so I would swap that with an SSD.

Where did OP say anything about using a 13'' and expect it to be faster than whatever you are referring to? OP has only stated that his mom's 2008 mac (unknown model) is faster than his and his friend's same model but from 2011 is also faster. It's better to read what OP says before 'trying' to give advise.
 
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Soulweaponry

macrumors 6502
Mar 13, 2010
394
1
I think it's funny how people are so used to getting such complete idiot trolls on here complaining over such stupid reasons, they don't know how to act towards you. Obviously...you have a real problem

I had a late 2011 macbook pro 13inch that could edit iMovie just fine. Really. The fans wouldn't even kick in most of the time. The fans on my new retina kick in even more than they did on my 13inch. You have a real problem on your hands if it's doing that baldy with imovie and can't even manage running safari will. I know you're here instead of the apple store looking for advice on an easy fix because you don't have an apple store near you, but this isn't something i think we can really help you with. Apple needs to run a diagnostic and go from there. You shouldn't have to install an expensive ssd that would lower your gigs just to get your laptop running well. It's a Macbook "pro" for chrissake. Why even call it a "pro" if it can't handle simple stuff? Yours is defective, but there has been debate over the years if the 13 inch should even be called a "pro". I think unless a person really needs upgradeability, the 13inch pro is a horrible deal compared to an air. Really. If apple wants to separate their pro from the air so it actually seems powerful, they need to add dedicated graphics.

But i wish you luck man. Even if the only help we could give you was to tell you "whoa. Hey. Thats not normal". Call Apple's 1800 number first
 
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