2010 MacBook Pros i5/i7 Having Freeze issues

[highADP]

Very.

In all seriousness if you need a computer for work or other mission-critical applications you can not risk having a HARD CRASH while working in:

DO NOT BUY a MacBook Pro.

I haven't heard as many things about the MacBooks. If you want Apple laptop, get a MacBook. And they have much better WiFi signal reception.

To people saying "well I don't have the problem so is not be universal"...It's impossible to say whether it is or is not universal. But it sure feels like if you haven't seen this yet you're lucky. It's likely a driver issue (thus essentially universal).

I love Apple but their quality has taken a nose-dive. Macs shouldn't have these problems. It's been months, no official word from Apple.

I've been waiting to buy a new 15" MBP for several months. I was so delighted to see that Apple launched the core iX MBPs a few months ago and was planning to buy one to replace my black macbook from 4 years ago (core duo 2.0). However, after this freezing problems have emerged, I have to postpone my plan. The fact is that I really need a reliable laptop to compose my dissertation wherever I go. I also plan to use it to on the day I defend my project. But what if the machine freezes in the middle of my presentation??? My advisor and my committee won't be happy for sure.

It may be worth waiting for the next revision which I, as well as other people, predicted to happen after BTS promotion ends. We might see a new case design. Although this unibody design is still looking sexy and sophisticated but I think it's about time. Historically, MBP received the new case designs approximately every 2 year. MBA and Mac Pro are also overdue for the upgrade. Big big Mac upgrades will happen before Christmas? The freezing problem may be resolved with the new design too...no??

Gosh...I need a new MBP!!!

 

[jjahshik32]

I've been waiting to buy a new 15" MBP for several months. I was so delighted to see that Apple launched the core iX MBPs a few months ago and was planning to buy one to replace my black macbook from 4 years ago (core duo 2.0). However, after this freezing problems have emerged, I have to postpone my plan. The fact is that I really need a reliable laptop to compose my dissertation wherever I go. I also plan to use it to on the day I defend my project. But what if the machine freezes in the middle of my presentation??? My advisor and my committee won't be happy for sure.

It may be worth waiting for the next revision which I, as well as other people, predicted to happen after BTS promotion ends. We might see a new case design. Although this unibody design is still looking sexy and sophisticated but I think it's about time. Historically, MBP received the new case designs approximately every 2 year. MBA and Mac Pro are also overdue for the upgrade. Big big Mac upgrades will happen before Christmas? The freezing problem may be resolved with the new design too...no??

Gosh...I need a new MBP!!!

I HIGHLY doubt a new case design will suffice, however I think a speed bump is on its way probably sometime in August.

 

[filfortugno]

all good

i have a 15" i7 and 2 months later all is good, so go for it!!( and don't make the same mistake i did and don't upgrade the ram to 8gb!!)

 

[revelated]

I've been waiting to buy a new 15" MBP for several months. I was so delighted to see that Apple launched the core iX MBPs a few months ago and was planning to buy one to replace my black macbook from 4 years ago (core duo 2.0). However, after this freezing problems have emerged, I have to postpone my plan. The fact is that I really need a reliable laptop to compose my dissertation wherever I go. I also plan to use it to on the day I defend my project. But what if the machine freezes in the middle of my presentation??? My advisor and my committee won't be happy for sure.

It may be worth waiting for the next revision which I, as well as other people, predicted to happen after BTS promotion ends. We might see a new case design. Although this unibody design is still looking sexy and sophisticated but I think it's about time. Historically, MBP received the new case designs approximately every 2 year. MBA and Mac Pro are also overdue for the upgrade. Big big Mac upgrades will happen before Christmas? The freezing problem may be resolved with the new design too...no??

Gosh...I need a new MBP!!!

My opinion: the i7 is a fire waiting to happen, yes. But I just don't buy that the i5 is having as many issues as people let on. I mean if it were truly getting as hot as reported, wouldn't the keyboard effectively melt? Serious question.

 

[Inside_line]

I just got a custom 17" i7 this week... I've got it locked on the nvidia card and using fan control exponent set to 45/60. Have been installing software, playing flash, no problems... machine flies, much cooler than a 2006 MBP. I've got a feeling I'm going to enjoy using this thing for many years. Someone tell me how to make it crash and I will let you know if it does.

 

[xaquaticx]

My opinion: the i7 is a fire waiting to happen, yes. But I just don't buy that the i5 is having as many issues as people let on. I mean if it were truly getting as hot as reported, wouldn't the keyboard effectively melt? Serious question.

Yeah I know...Mine's not too hot at all. I don't even use a sleeve or anything. It's the hard crashing that sucks. It's pretty weird but from where I stand the MacBook is better than the MacBook Pro. I wish I had gotten a MacBook now. Better WiFi reception, no crashes, better case design (not sharp, no electric current) etc. And half the price of course.

 

[BWhaler]

I've been waiting to buy a new 15" MBP for several months. I was so delighted to see that Apple launched the core iX MBPs a few months ago and was planning to buy one to replace my black macbook from 4 years ago (core duo 2.0). However, after this freezing problems have emerged, I have to postpone my plan. The fact is that I really need a reliable laptop to compose my dissertation wherever I go. I also plan to use it to on the day I defend my project. But what if the machine freezes in the middle of my presentation??? My advisor and my committee won't be happy for sure.

It may be worth waiting for the next revision which I, as well as other people, predicted to happen after BTS promotion ends. We might see a new case design. Although this unibody design is still looking sexy and sophisticated but I think it's about time. Historically, MBP received the new case designs approximately every 2 year. MBA and Mac Pro are also overdue for the upgrade. Big big Mac upgrades will happen before Christmas? The freezing problem may be resolved with the new design too...no??

Gosh...I need a new MBP!!!

I need one too. But given Apple's terrible quality in the past few years–yellow iMac screens, Time Capsules failing after 18 months, heat issues in Macbooks, 9400 gpus, mobileme failed launch, and of course the infamous iPhone 4 with numerous issues, I am waiting.

I need a new Mac, but I don't want the headaches.

 

[Jeff Flowerday]

I was hoping this would be addressed in the last update, but apparently it hasn't. So I guess that leaves it as a firmware or hardware issue? Hopefully the first.

 

[PsychedelicRef]

I'm seriously considering purchasing a 15 inch 2.66 i7 MacBook Pro. I've been reading the posts here and at Apple's Forums as well. I've come across a thread regarding the 2010 i5/i7 machines experiencing freezes (lock-ups). According to thread, the situation seems wide-spread. Is anyone here having the same problems?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2420192&tstart=0

and this:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2407560&tstart=30

Photios

yes ! same problem here! it freezes, safari quits all the time, and generally im not satisfied at all from the machine! it seems that i spend all this money for nothing ! very disaponted

 

[zoomzoom3]

I've had a new i5 2.4Ghz MBP hooked up to a Dell U2410 screen. The setup is pretty good, runs a bit warm... ~70 degrees most of the time, but is very snappy. I've had a problem with the unit coming out of sleep mode and having nothing but artifacts on the Dell screen, and the laptop screen stays blank. There is no way to get the system out of that state except rebooting it. Any ideas what this is caused by, or a fix?? I'm using a mini-displayport to HDMI connection from the laptop to the dell. Thanks

Just wanted to update everyone, a couple weeks ago I had my system board swapped at one of the local ASP stores, and like magic all my problems have disappeared. The guys I was dealing with at Apple were awesome, we went through many different t/s steps but it was ultimately determined to be "something with the system board". Two days later i had my new toy back and working perfectly. It still runs toasty, but i suppose that is to be expected. Upgraded the HDD to a Seagate XT ... now I have the machine I thought I was buying a month ago... rock solid and ********** fast

 

[blunderboy]

Count me in as having problems, too. I just got this 13" MBP on Monday afternoon, and tonight I got a hard freeze while listening to iTunes and browsing on Chrome. I wasn't doing anything that intensive; the computer just stopped being responsive and the song I had on iTunes started looping a five-second section of the track. I'm probably going to call Apple tomorrow morning, because this is really making me angry. I hard-restarted the machine, and I haven't had any problems yet. I installed smcFanControl based on suggestions I saw on the Apple forums, and here's hoping that this does help, because I really like this computer and the form factor. :/

 

[Inside_line]

13"=C2D I thought this thread was for people with i5, i7 freezes?

It sounds like your issue is different, most people with freezes here just get the mouse, keyboard and screen frozen, the system is still up and running though (wouldn't get iTunes looping). I would give it another few days, 1 freeze doesn't tell you much. If it's not reproducible, it's likely software.

Anyhow, my i7 was shipped to me June 25th. I've been hammering it and yet to see any slow down, stutter, freeze, etc. I've also played bioshock 2, serious sam HD in windows 7 64 and the machine just flies. Whatever the problem was... it seems licked now.

Can anyone tell me how to crash it? I suspect not b/c it is a software problem that gets triggered by an unknown combination of system events.

 

[blunderboy]

13"=C2D I thought this thread was for people with i5, i7 freezes?

It sounds like your issue is different, most people with freezes here just get the mouse, keyboard and screen frozen, the system is still up and running though (wouldn't get iTunes looping). I would give it another few days, 1 freeze doesn't tell you much. If it's not reproducible, it's likely software.

Anyhow, my i7 was shipped to me June 25th. I've been hammering it and yet to see any slow down, stutter, freeze, etc. I've also played bioshock 2, serious sam HD in windows 7 64 and the machine just flies. Whatever the problem was... it seems licked now.

Can anyone tell me how to crash it? I suspect not b/c it is a software problem that gets triggered by an unknown combination of system events.

I know. I'd seen some other people posting about 13-inchers in this thread, so I thought it'd be OK. The problem seems to be present in all versions of the MBP models, unfortunately. I ended up starting my own thread. I do have a sneaking suspicion that this problem IS software, though.

 

[ceshimm]

seems like people having this freeze issue were mostly in May, i haven't see a lot reports in July, was there some kind of update fixed this issue? or people ordered in July does not affected by that issue. i am going to order my MBP i7 very soon. but this thread scared me.

 

[mavric]

seems like people having this freeze issue were mostly in May, i haven't see a lot reports in July, was there some kind of update fixed this issue? or people ordered in July does not affected by that issue. i am going to order my MBP i7 very soon. but this thread scared me.

I'm in the same boat.. I held off my purchase of a MPB 17 until this got resolved.. Is it still happening at the alarming rate? Any of those who were reporting freezes care to update us on their current status?

Thanks!

 

[MBHockey]

I had one or two of these freezes a few months ago but I haven't had any since...since I don't know when. Just haven't seen it at all for a very long time. I bought my 15" i7 on launch day.

The fact that this thread died makes me think it's no longer an issue, maybe fixed in 10.6.4, maybe fixed after?

 

[puercaeli]

Replaced HDD to Hitachi one.

After first futile attempt at trying to replace my HDD at Apple Store(Thanks to not so attentive Genius...), I have managed to get HDD replaced to Hitachi one.
Symptoms leading second attempt included clicky HDD and intermittent freeze which persisted even after reinstalling OS.(Freeze happened in first booting after reinstall lol)

Symptoms seem to have gone away now so far.
Anyone who suspect this type of freeze -general system freeze where only windows can be rearranged but contents of windows cannot be controlled- should think about taking theirs into Apple Store. Especially if your HDD is making clicking noise every 30 seconds or so and HDD you have is Seagate.

 

[sth]

My MBP 17" seems to be 100% freeze-free now.

- Exchanged the 500gb 7200rpm Seagate drive for a Hitachi 7k500
- Disabled the Intel GFX via the control panel (I still get up to 7 hours of battery life with WIFI on and the screen at 4 ticks under maximum)

It's been about a month now and I never had a freeze or one of those mysterious slowdowns again since then.


IMHO there are two main reasons for the freeze problem:

- A bug in the Intel driver or the automatic graphics switching
- The fact that the Seagate drive has a own motion sensor

All these years, the advice in these (and other) forums has always been to avoid drives with integrated motion sensors in MacBook Pros because they cause problems in combination with the notebook's own motion sensor. Since Apple themselves now ships those drives, one would have thought that those problems have been taken care of, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

If you don't want to exchange your hard-drive, try disbling the motion sensor in the MBP. I tried it shortly before I switched drives and didn't encounter a freeze in that time, although the timespan was too short to draw any real conclusions.

 

[eco7077]

hi all:

Yesterday, after rebooting from Win 7 to MacOSX SL my machine was working fine.
She runs really hot, it is a 15" i5.
Well, i took of the magsafe and ran the thing on batteries, every 2% the machine would turn off itself, don't even ask me why.

I did the SMC. Don't know if i did the correct one cause when i plugged the adaptor, the battery would not charge.

I took off the adaptor about three times and i had the same problem.
Then i disconnected it from the wall socket and restarted the computer twice.

It came back to normal and the battery started charging.

The thing has run completely cool since yesterday, i mean cool, not hot at all.

For four months i have had the computer and i think i haven't had a freeze, or maybe i had one on the windows side, but i thought what the heck, it is windows.

I play AA on the windows side and have played a couple of games on the mac side with no problems.

I have never turned of the automatic switching of the cards, so i am just knocking on wood because it seems i got the only one working right.

As i said i think i might have done the wrong SMC, but she is still running really good!

 

[MrCooperS]

Experience my first freeze today. I was only using it for light web surfing. Running off battery at about 60%. All of a sudden the gray screen came up and I have to power down and restart. I also restarted the PRAM while I was at it.

Specs: About 1 month old stock 15" MacBook Pro, i7, 500GB 5400K HD, 4GB RAM.

 

[mavric]

Thanks for all the updates! Well it looks like its getting better but I'm still nervous.

Experience my first freeze today. I was only using it for light web surfing. Running off battery at about 60%. All of a sudden the gray screen came up and I have to power down and restart. I also restarted the PRAM while I was at it.

Specs: About 1 month old stock 15" MacBook Pro, i7, 500GB 5400K HD, 4GB RAM.

Interesting.. My Daughter's freeze happened when it was only weeks old and she was lightly surfing and running on battery.. She states that she has had none since, but most of the time it is plugged in.. Hmm.... Think I'll hold off a while longer and see if it is really resolved...

 

[wandrer2]

My i7 with antiglare and standard 500GB 5400rpm harddrive froze up this morning. It was standing on the table, plugged in. I was surfing using Firefox, and had half a dozen other applications open in the background. Mouse got stuck, clock stopped, nothing worked (well... I didn't try the battery level indicator button). Since it unfreezes for some I left it for about 30 minutes, no luck. Had to hold the power button to restart.

I've had mine since April 17. First freeze. Hopefully last...

 

[BWhaler]

I'm in the same boat.. I held off my purchase of a MPB 17 until this got resolved.. Is it still happening at the alarming rate? Any of those who were reporting freezes care to update us on their current status?

Thanks!

I'm still waiting also, but the need is getting urgent.

The threads on the Apple boards are still very active with people still facing the issue.

People have started posting videos on youtube because AppleCare gives them a hard time since people can't re-create the problem on-the-spot at the Genius Bar and because Apple hasn't acknowledged the problem.

What are others here seeing? Is it getting better or still the same?

On a final and related note, it totally sucks that buying a new Apple product has become so stressful because of all of the quality problems. The Apple "out-of-the-box" experience has gone from breathtaking to holding your breath and hoping there are no problems.

 

[Bmaintz]

Newbeeee

New to MAC...
Want to buy a 13" Macbook Pro for upcoming cruise in Nov...
On hold for now to see waht Apple does on the ongoing "Freezes"...
I want the newer Macbook Pro for the longer battery life...
Wish you could get the Matte screen though...
Thanks for the Forum..
Bob

 

[mrwonkers]

it totally sucks that buying a new Apple product has become so stressful because of all of the quality problems. The Apple "out-of-the-box" experience has gone from breathtaking to holding your breath and hoping there are no problems.

Never a truer word spoken in these forums. I think nowadays when purchasing Apples computer products its really like playing Russian Roulette... I haven't had any issues with my 17" i7 [so far, fingers crossed]but had mega issues going through several crap quality 27" iMacs. I always found Apple customer service to be very good in the past, however they were totally vile and disgusting to deal with this time. Apple your quality control and customer service are going down the toilet, not impressed