OSX Lion problems

[Sybrant]

So I recently purchased a 2011 13" MacBook Pro i5, and I know that this baby can handle several tasks. But, ever since I purchased it there's been several occasions where I'll be going about my normal activities (i.e. surfing the web, downloading on Steam) and the computer will significantly slow down for no apparent reason. I get the color wheel and it takes forever to load to do something, is anyone having this problem with OSX Lion as well?

 

[Mark-Technology]

So I recently purchased a 2011 13" MacBook Pro i5, and I know that this baby can handle several tasks. But, ever since I purchased it there's been several occasions where I'll be going about my normal activities (i.e. surfing the web, downloading on Steam) and the computer will significantly slow down for no apparent reason. I get the color wheel and it takes forever to load to do something, is anyone having this problem with OSX Lion as well?

Yeah I am facing many problems with my 4 days old, brand new, Macbook Pro 15'' Late 2011 low-end model. At times I realize it's not the quad-core or ram causing the problems in my system, but it's lion. I can't downgrade to snow leopard though and that breaks my heart. I would honestly like to see many issues with lion fixed asap.

Sybrant - I see the color wheel at times too...if I use iTunes, Safari, and even MS Office at most, my computer starts acting up. I am 100% sure that a quad-core i7 2.2ghz system can handle those and even more processes with a snap.

**COME ON APPLE - Fix and improve lion...it's been months.

 

[Sybrant]

Yeah I am facing many problems with my 4 days old, brand new, Macbook Pro 15'' Late 2011 low-end model. At times I realize it's not the quad-core or ram causing the problems in my system, but it's lion. I can't downgrade to snow leopard though and that breaks my heart. I would honestly like to see many issues with lion fixed asap.

Sybrant - I see the color wheel at times too...if I use iTunes, Safari, and even MS Office at most, my computer starts acting up. I am 100% sure that a quad-core i7 2.2ghz system can handle those and even more processes with a snap.

**COME ON APPLE - Fix and improve lion...it's been months.

Yeah, it's definitely frustrating that the OS is holding back such powerful computers, I hope they fix these problems soon!

 

[thundersteele]

I don't have any problems. I have just 4GB of RAM but I hardly every see the "wheel" even when heavily multitasking or playing games. New 2.2GHz model with Lion.

 

[Mark-Technology]

I don't have any problems. I have just 4GB of RAM but I hardly every see the "wheel" even when heavily multitasking or playing games. New 2.2GHz model with Lion.

I guess you're a lucky one. Most lion users are reporting problems...not all the time but more than once in a while.

It is acceptable to say that lion is not a better os than snow leopard; at least not better in handling and managing processes. I feel there must be many updates to come for lion in the near future.

 

[thundersteele]

I guess you're a lucky one. Most lion users are reporting problems...not all the time but more than once in a while.

It is acceptable to say that lion is not a better os than snow leopard; at least not better in handling and managing processes. I feel there must be many updates to come for lion in the near future.

I have a SSD, which might help mitigating some handling issues of Lion. I upgraded from a 2008 MBP with SL to a 2011 MBP with Lion. Everything is faster of course, and so far I did not have any compatibility problems with software, including my own little programs.

I'm not claiming that Lion is better than SL. My comparison is skewed by the hardware upgrade, and I'm aware that other's have problems. However, I don't think that I'm "lucky", because I have the same hardware and OS as everyone else. Differences in performance can have a few reasons:
- the SSD
- use of software that doesn't play well with Lion (MS Office?)
- different use, different perception of fast/slow
- migration/update issues (I did a clean install of everything)
- a hardware defect

It might be worth to visit an apple store just to exclude the hardware defect.

 

[iLog.Genius]

I wonder how much the CPU plays a part in problems. Obviously iCore/higher clock is going to be better but I'm thinking is, say a C2D 2.4GHz, "enough"? My brother just purchased a late-2011 MacBook Pro and it FLIES. I think 4GB is enough so I'm looking at CPU being one, if not, the problem right now for those who are having slow downs (perhaps HDD also plays a part).

 

[Mark-Technology]

I have a SSD, which might help mitigating some handling issues of Lion. I upgraded from a 2008 MBP with SL to a 2011 MBP with Lion. Everything is faster of course, and so far I did not have any compatibility problems with software, including my own little programs.

I'm not claiming that Lion is better than SL. My comparison is skewed by the hardware upgrade, and I'm aware that other's have problems. However, I don't think that I'm "lucky", because I have the same hardware and OS as everyone else. Differences in performance can have a few reasons:
- the SSD
- use of software that doesn't play well with Lion (MS Office?)
- different use, different perception of fast/slow
- migration/update issues (I did a clean install of everything)
- a hardware defect

It might be worth to visit an apple store just to exclude the hardware defect.

That clears things up a bit.

What's your ram and which late 2011 model did you purchase? I am interested in an SSD upgrade but since it's been only 4 days since I purchased my Macbook, I'm just waiting a little. Could you tell me some good ssd options and the one you picked up?

I am using MS Office, legally downloaded, for mac. It does lag a bit when I start it up, but seems to operate fine. Maybe it could be a cause of lag.
About an hour ago I was playing a few youtube videos, downloading a 100 mb file, and using the appstore, but suddenly the beach ball showed up and the computer remained frozen for 15 minutes until I had to force-shut it down.

My specs are honestly very good for the programs I use. I do video/photography work on my iMac. I am planning to upgrade my ram and replace my hdd with an ssd but that aside, I think 4gb is a lot and shouldn't be causing such problems.

--Which do you think is causing the problem? Specs, Lion, or what?

Specs:
Macbook Pro 15.4'' Late 2011 Model - Standard low end configuration.
Processor - 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory - 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Software - Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2
Graphics - AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 512 MB of dedicated GDDR5 SDRAM and Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384 MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Hardrive500GB Standard

Mark

 

[thundersteele]

I have the same mac as you, just with the 128 GB apple SSD. There are many threads here that discuss faster SSD alternatives, but I wanted it to work right out of the box.

Your system should not just lock up randomly. Maybe let it check for hardware issues? Lack of RAM or a slow HDD can slow your system down a bit, but it should keep running.



@iLog.Genius

The CPU shouldn't be a problem. It's idle most of the time. Office applications and web browsing and stuff like that works fine on 5 years old CPUs.

Both the OP and Marc have new MBPs with i5/i7 CPUs with Lion. They are having some issues, I was just surprised that they immediately blame it on Lion, instead of considering all possible causes of problems, e.g. faulty hard discs.

 

[Mark-Technology]

Yes, that's what I have been worrying about. I'll go check in with apple about this and maybe even get the whole system replaced...it's not just locking up most of the time, but also really taking a long time to load applications. I've become so infuriated with this.

 

[axual]

Something is amiss

Something is amiss. I have an early 2010 model MacBook Pro that ran perfectly before Lion. After Lion, I have experienced system freezes, beach balls, and have had to force my MacBook Pro down to restart it.

I use only Apple apps except for Chrome or Firefox, and that's because Safari has also been a problem.

I am current with all the latest software (OS and apps), I've reinstalled Lion once, cleared NRAM, run diagnostics, talke to Apple Support twice, and nothing seems to resolve the issue.

Very very very very frustrating.

 

[Badrottie]

I have seen color wheel is when I am installing some apps that is about it.

 

[ibuyufo]

I have an early 2008 macbook (the white one) and don't see any color wheels. It's running latest version of lion and 4gb of ram. Even when I had 2 gb I didn't see the spinning wheel. It's possible that your hard drive has bad sectors?