2011 15" MBP (early)

[Anthony81586]

I have a couple of questions as well as concerns regarding my MBP. The first is concerning the ongoing issues I'm having with performance as well as boot up. About a month ago it started feeling sluggish, at least to me as a daily user, and would also sit at the grey boot screen and not actually boot up. I'd have to manually restart it once or twice then it'd be fine. So I did a clean install of Lion and started everything over and saved a time machine back up at that point. Now, it still seems to have that boot issue, as well as when it does boot sometimes the applications on the applications bar just sit there jumping indefinitely without launching. This is fixed with a restart or two.

My concern is why is this happening? I'm suspecting a hard drive failure is imminent but I'm not sure. I do plan to take it to the Mac store next week and have them run some tests on it, but in the mean time I'd like to see if people have experienced these issues before and what the possible results were. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

My second and final concern is a question regarding upgraded RAM. I'd like to upgrade from the 4GB to 8GB, I see on the apple store its $400, is there anyplace else that's as reliable and possibly cheaper? Or is the apple store the best and most importantly, safest option?

Thanks in advance!

 

[GGJstudios]

Now, it still seems to have that boot issue, as well as when it does boot sometimes the applications on the applications bar just sit there jumping indefinitely without launching.

It could be a hard drive issue, but it makes sense to eliminate other possibilities. Performance Tips For Mac OS X

I'd like to upgrade from the 4GB to 8GB, I see on the apple store its $400, is there anyplace else that's as reliable and possibly cheaper? Or is the apple store the best and most importantly, safest option?

• Apple does not manufacture RAM and charges more than you would pay with other reputable RAM providers.
• Some great sources for Mac-compatible RAM are OWC, Crucial and newegg.com.
• Installation of user-installable parts such as RAM does not void the Apple Warranty or the AppleCare Protection Plan, unless you damage something in the process.
  
  
• MR Guide to Buying RAM
• MR Guide to Understanding Intel Mac RAM
• MR Guide to Matched RAM on Intel Macs
  
  
• MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory
• MacBook: How to remove or install memory
• iMac: How to remove or install memory
• Mac mini: How to remove or install memory

You can find specs on all Apple products, including maximum RAM:

• By visiting EveryMac.com: Actual Maximum RAM
• By selecting your model on the Crucial Memory Advisor™ Tool to find RAM information
• By using Mactracker
• By entering your serial number here to find specs for your model.
  (Be aware that some models can use more RAM than Apple shows. Check EveryMac to verify actual usable RAM.)

 

[Anthony81586]

Thank you very much for the detailed response. I'll go through those trouble shooting steps to hopefully eliminate possibilities. Also, I'll look into the RAM. Thanks again!

 

[Anthony81586]

It could be a hard drive issue, but it makes sense to eliminate other possibilities. Performance Tips For Mac OS X

It would seem most of this doesn't pertain to my situation since I did a clean install and noticed the issues immediately. But, thanks for the info. The bit about monitoring the memory usage is helpful though, I still plan on upping the RAM.

 

[Anthony81586]

Well I ran a verify disk check yesterday and it came back with an issue, not exactly sure the issue was. Ran the repair and it said whatever was damaged is now fixed. I restarted the computer and it's been running fine since, no sluggishness and the boot up seems to be as smooth as ever.

Hopefully this was a small issue that stays resolved.