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june 2009 15" Macbook pro sloppy performance??

Does your mid 2009 macbook pro perform sloppily ?

  • Yes

    Votes: 7 21.2%

  • No

    Votes: 26 78.8%
  • Total voters
    33
P

Panzo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 28, 2006
271
0
Is it just me or are the new unibodys performing a bit on the sloppy side?

Ive had alot of problems so far, applications randomly freeze, system lock ups, safari and itunes stutter (short freeze), also on the bootcamp side, the graphics card has lag spikes randomly when playing video games!

Anyone else notice sloppy performance on their brand new machines? ive cycled macbook pros since 2006, from the 2nd gen macbook pro to the 2nd gen macbook pro unibody, and by far im having the toughest time with this machine 2.66 ghz 4 gigs of ram, 320 gb hard drive, i wouldn't all these hiccups lag spikes and freezes....

I know lots of people are experiencing the same issues i have with quicktime as you can see here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2084745&start=0&tstart=0

Any one else noticing these hiccups lag spikes etc?

N.B: IMO i think it has something to do with the SataII firmware update....
 
Ive noticed these sorts of things since the original Core Duo systems. One of the reasons through all this time ive had some form of PowerBook. Much better quality.
 
My mid-2009 15" MBP has been working fine for me. I still use the old EFI firmware. The only upgrade I did was the Scorpia Blue 500G HDD.

I am using the MBP for emailing, web browsing, and development (GCC, Xcode). Installed MacPorts with lots of utilities.
 
This definitely happens to me on my 13 mbp. I'm running snow leopard too...so it seems like a hardware/firmware issue. Dammit.
 
this really sucks, its the first time its this bad in any macbook pro ive had, even the 8600 gt didnt give me any problems...

This really sucks, i dont know what to do anymore.... i dont even feel like going and get it replaced/return it... chances are ill open up the box at the apple store and the replacement will be worse then this one... ive had such a bad experience with this macbook pro wow.
 
this is sad really, already the hardware were supplied with is over priced, were paying alot more then a pc counterpart, and to top it off it doesn't even perform decently...
 
15" 2.66 model here- Runs like a greased up Cheetah on speed.... No hint of any slowness here :cool:
 
Just want to say that the hardware is not overpriced. I still can't configure any sort of 15/16 inch notebook without surpassing what I paid for my MBP. I did have slowdowns after I kept it running nonstop (Handbrake encoding my movies) for 3 weeks. A quick restart fixed it.

EDIT: I have the 15" 2.66Ghz model, same as OP I think.
 
I have a june 09 13" mbp. Only change on my part is adding the 500GB WD Scorpio Blue HDD. Haven't had one issue with it. Runs great.
I've applied all the mac software updates including 10.5.8 and the 1.7 EFI.
 
Late 08 MBP here runs really smooth. I suspect the OP could be right and that the firmware update for the SATA connection has something to answer for..... Lets hope its sorted soon so we can all be happy MBP owners :cool:
 
15" 2.66 here with a Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB HD.

Runs like a champ. I'm thinking User Error has a large part to play.
 
Sloppy performance? What it drips? :rolleyes:

If you are getting lockups then it's a hardware problem or software corruption. I'd first run the hardware diagnostics (restart, hold down the "d" key until it boots to the diagnostic screen). If that passes, then I'd backup, erase and reinstall the OS.
 
bcaslis said:
Sloppy performance? What it drips? :rolleyes:

If you are getting lockups then it's a hardware problem or software corruption. I'd first run the hardware diagnostics (restart, hold down the "d" key until it boots to the diagnostic screen). If that passes, then I'd backup, erase and reinstall the OS.
Click to expand...

Sloppy perfrmance being, itunes freezing, safari beachballing, quicktime system lockups, alot of issues, apart from the bootcamp videogaming (graphics in game suttder randomly) which isnt even supported @ apple.

I have tried clean formatting and reinstalling already (not from a back up, a clean install) already, i will try the diagnostic test, dont i need ot have the mac osx dvd inserted though?
 
I may just be lucky, but my June '09 uMBP is running great. I've had one shutter, and that was because I opened Safari too fast after booting. Apart from that I've had absolutely no problems.

Sorry about the problems everyone else is having. Try contacting apple?
 
Panzo said:
Sloppy perfrmance being, itunes freezing, safari beachballing, quicktime system lockups, alot of issues, apart from the bootcamp videogaming (graphics in game suttder randomly) which isnt even supported @ apple.

I have tried clean formatting and reinstalling already (not from a back up, a clean install) already, i will try the diagnostic test, dont i need ot have the mac osx dvd inserted though?
Click to expand...

With the last few revisions of the MBP you don't need the disc. Just reboot and hold down the "d" key. It may take up to 20 seconds for the screen to come up.
 
pressing d just prolongs boot time and eventually lands me into my desktop... whats going on....
 
Everything good here on my 17" 2.8GHz antiglare model. :D

Although it does perform a bit slower via battery as to magsafe plugged in but I think this is normal.
 
Your issue is well noted. There's a lot of issues right now with the mid-2009 MBPs (13/15/17). Go to the offical support forums here:

http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1293&start=0

and look at the two big threads that have more than 80,000 views. The issue doesn't plague all MBP owners but there seems to be a growing list of folks having issues (myself included). Based on what's in those threads, it looks like it could possibly be related to the EFI 1.7 firmware update causing the issue. No fix yet. But the issue results in random 10-30 second beachballs appearing in any app. Most cases are tied to when disk access is happening.
 
40 pages, holy batman..... i posted in there too, i hope there is a fix soon.
 
jmf1 said:
Your issue is well noted. There's a lot of issues right now with the mid-2009 MBPs (13/15/17). Go to the offical support forums here:

http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1293&start=0

and look at the two big threads that have more than 80,000 views. The issue doesn't plague all MBP owners but there seems to be a growing list of folks having issues (myself included). Based on what's in those threads, it looks like it could possibly be related to the EFI 1.7 firmware update causing the issue. No fix yet. But the issue results in random 10-30 second beachballs appearing in any app. Most cases are tied to when disk access is happening.
Click to expand...

3 weeks ago I bought a 15" 2.8GHz uni mbp. I had that exact firmware 1.7 issue. Whenever I put a faster SATA-II 3rd party (hitachi travelstar 320gb hdd) in the 15" mbp (after the 1.7 firmware update) osx install would freeze most of the time and when I did manage to install OSX it froze with the color wheel of death every 2-5 minutes.

Thats why I decided to jump on the 17" as it doesnt have the SATA-I/II issues. I put the hitachi travelstar 320gb in this 17" and works flawlessly. Oh and the 1.7 firmware update doesnt even show up under software update.

The 1.7 firmware update is only recommended towards the 13" and 15" mbp not the 17".

On the 15" the stock 500gb hitachi drive worked flawlessly but that hdd (and all of Apple's stock hdds) are SATA-I hdds. Before the 1.7 firmware the 13"/15" mbp runs SATA-II hdds in SATA-I mode (1.5 Gb/s). But after the 1.7 firmware it updates the SATA-II controller to SATA-II but if you install any SATA-II hdds into the 13"/15" mbp it freezes every minute or two under OSX (like huge bottlenecking).

Anyway the 17" is unaffected by the slower SATA-I controller. So anyone here that is looking for a notebook deciding between the 15"/17" I'd strongly suggest the 17".
 
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