MacBook Air 2013 Mavericks - Crashes more frequently than Win XP

[cathyy]

I've owned a Macbook Pro 2008 (used from 2008 - end 2012) that ran Snow Leopard and Windows XP, a Macbook Air 2010 (used from nov 2011 - nov 2013) that ran Snow Leopard, a desktop (used from 2013 - present) that runs Windows 7, and finally a Macbook Air 2013 (nov 2013 - present) that runs Mavericks.

I recall a handful of crashes and BSODs on the MBP2008, but such crashes were rare and only occurred once a month at most. For the MBA 2010 and Win7 Desktop, I can't recall any incident where they have crashed.

My 2013 MBA on the other hand has problems at least once a day. Sometimes when waking it up from sleep it has problems with the audio or trackpad. No audio is played with or without headphones, and only a reboot fixes it. Trackpad fails to register single taps or clicks but right clicks are fine.

It also crashes fairly often. Sometimes the monitor simply goes blank halfway. From the back I can see the LCD is still on, but it's completely dark on the monitor and nothing responds. On other times, it simply freezes. On both occasions I have to hold down the power button to force it to turn off, then reboot it again.

It's frustrating as hell and the only thing that makes all this crashing bearable is that it reboots so quickly. Anyone else facing similar issues? Daily crashes isn't even something I expect to see on a Windows XP computer, let alone a from a 2013 Mac.

 

[Boyd01]

So glad I never upgraded to Mavericks. My 2013 MBA is still running 10.8 and I can only recall two crashes since I got it last summer. But I'm a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" kind of guy who is very reluctant to upgrade MacOSX since I run a lot of older software.

 

[BenTrovato]

It's the most buggy os x I've ever used. What bothers me most is that sometimes my internet stops working... or not stops but slows down. I'd run a speedtest to see what's going on and I was getting 0.65 download and pages would take minutes to load.

For the longest time I thought my ISP was terrible and was resetting my modem but it was os x as all my other devices were fine. The only solution was to reboot. Mavericks looks pretty but it's all filler no killer.

 

[psik]

It is not maverics fault, it is yours. Limit yourself to using your laptop one hour a day and you may be less likely to witness crashes, you are probably asking the os for too much....

 

[Dweez]

Interesting. I use my 2013 Mavericks MBA more or less daily for hours at a stretch, running the M$ Office suite, VMware Fusion, Chrome, Firefox, iTunes streaming, and some flavor of VNC/RDP. I did have a couple of issues with waking from sleep early on, but the platform has been rock solid for a few months.

I'm assuming you've taken the general 'debugging' steps such as SMC and PRAM resets?

 

[gnasher729]

I've owned a Macbook Pro 2008 (used from 2008 - end 2012) that ran Snow Leopard and Windows XP, a Macbook Air 2010 (used from nov 2011 - nov 2013) that ran Snow Leopard, a desktop (used from 2013 - present) that runs Windows 7, and finally a Macbook Air 2013 (nov 2013 - present) that runs Mavericks.

The solution is to go to an Apple Store and have the hardware fixed. What you describe isn't normal. You have one year manufacturer's warranty, wherever you are, so instead of getting annoyed with it, get it fixed.

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I'm assuming you've taken the general 'debugging' steps such as SMC and PRAM resets?

I write software for a living. I upgrade my computers regularly. I often debug software that I've written. I _never_ debug hardware that I purchased. If it doesn't work, Apple can fix it. That's what I paid for. If I worked as "Genius" at an Apple Store, and my own private Mac at home had problems, I'd take it to the store and let one of my colleagues fix it.

 

[Eli727]

I too have noticed more crashing/lagging on it. Do not think I have changed my usage at all (I do have a lot of stuff open at once, including remote connections to other computers, lots of browser tabs, Adobe Suite, etc open) and recently noticed more crashing than normal but not frequent enough to really complain but I have noticed. More lagging issues than full crashes.

Always had somewhat of a wifi issue but usually can reset the router and get reconnected (even though my other devices are still connected to it fine).

 

[scaredpoet]

My 2013 MBA on the other hand has problems at least once a day. Sometimes when waking it up from sleep it has problems with the audio or trackpad. No audio is played with or without headphones, and only a reboot fixes it. Trackpad fails to register single taps or clicks but right clicks are fine.

It also crashes fairly often. Sometimes the monitor simply goes blank halfway. From the back I can see the LCD is still on, but it's completely dark on the monitor and nothing responds. On other times, it simply freezes. On both occasions I have to hold down the power button to force it to turn off, then reboot it again.

You might be blaming the wrong thing. The problem is most likely your hardware, and that macBook Air needs to be taken back to an Apple Store to get looked at.

I have a 2013 MacBook Air (using it to type this right now) and have none of the problems you have running Mavericks.

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I _never_ debug hardware that I purchased. If it doesn't work, Apple can fix it. That's what I paid for. If I worked as "Genius" at an Apple Store, and my own private Mac at home had problems, I'd take it to the store and let one of my colleagues fix it.

That's all fine and good, but for some people, trying a few key combinations to reset hardware will save a user the aggravation spending the better part of a day to make a trip to the Apple Store, only to have a person there solve the problem doing the exact same thing. And if it doesn't solve the problem, you've wasted a whole 30 seconds.

And even if I can't solve the problem, taking a few steps to isolate what conditions trigger the problem can save some repair time, as opposed to walking into an Apple Store, dumping a Mac on the table and saying "it's broken and it's not my job to tell you what's broken, fix it." With that approach, odds are pretty good that you'll simply get your Mac back after a day or two with the response "we couldn't find your problem."

 

[kingtj]

Internet issues ....

Honestly, I find it doubtful this is a Mavericks issue, specifically?

I have run into a similar issue on my 2008 Mac Pro where my Internet connection just stops working (actually, it's my whole LAN network connection because things like network Time Machine backups stop too when it happens).

Instead of rebooting, I figured out I could get it to recover by going to System Preferences, Network, and clicking to highlight my Ethernet adapter in the list. Then click on the small "gear" icon and select "Make Service Inactive". Let it shut the service down (takes a few seconds), and click the gear icon again, to make it active again.

At first I blamed this on Mavericks, but I realized that actually, I've only run into this since I started using the shareware "Little Snitch" application with it to track which programs were chattering on my connection. I think Little Snitch can sometimes clobber the network .....

It's the most buggy os x I've ever used. What bothers me most is that sometimes my internet stops working... or not stops but slows down. I'd run a speedtest to see what's going on and I was getting 0.65 download and pages would take minutes to load.

For the longest time I thought my ISP was terrible and was resetting my modem but it was os x as all my other devices were fine. The only solution was to reboot. Mavericks looks pretty but it's all filler no killer.

 

[MaxinMusicCity]

I've been using a used MacMini 2009 for several years and haven't had any issues after upgrading to Mountain lion and Mavericks. Neither have I had any problem with my MacMini 2013. I do have 8 & 16GB of memory and run all flavors of Windows on both machines under Parallels.

 

[willgreene99]

My 2013 MBA on the other hand has problems at least once a day. Sometimes when waking it up from sleep it has problems with the audio or trackpad. No audio is played with or without headphones, and only a reboot fixes it. Trackpad fails to register single taps or clicks but right clicks are fine.

It also crashes fairly often. Sometimes the monitor simply goes blank halfway. From the back I can see the LCD is still on, but it's completely dark on the monitor and nothing responds. On other times, it simply freezes. On both occasions I have to hold down the power button to force it to turn off, then reboot it again.

It's frustrating as hell and the only thing that makes all this crashing bearable is that it reboots so quickly. Anyone else facing similar issues? Daily crashes isn't even something I expect to see on a Windows XP computer, let alone a from a 2013 Mac.

Your symptoms that you are describing sounds a lot like more hardware issues and less software issues. Or maybe it could be vice versa.

In either case, a trip to thenApple store, will help to determine which one it is.

As for me, I have been on Mavericks since it came out and at first I had some crashes, maybe 2 or 3, but recently I have not had any issues. And when I do have a crash, I can trace the cause to an app that I have not updated. I have not had any system issues with the OS itself, such as the wake from sleep that has been reported.

I hope you find out the cause and let us know.

 

[Detrius]

I'm assuming you've taken the general 'debugging' steps such as SMC and PRAM resets?

Well, those specifically almost never fix what's ailing a mac. If your computer turns on and off when you tell it to and sleeps properly, an SMC reset is highly unlikely to change anything. If your computer boots, a PRAM reset is highly unlikely to fix anything. If your computer is a Mac, repairing permissions is highly unlikely to fix anything.

 

[Boyd01]

If your computer turns on and off when you tell it to and sleeps properly, an SMC reset is highly unlikely to change anything.

Certainly not the case with me. Back in 2011, my 2008 15" MBP started having problems with over-heating and shutting down after a couple hours use. No AppleCare and I assumed it was some kind of hardware problem. So I got my first MacBook Air to replace the MBP - it was much faster - a nice upgrade.

Months later I read that you should do a SMC reset if your computer was running hot. I didn't hold out much hope but gave it a try anyway. It completely cured the old MBP, and I still use it today for ripping DVD's.

 

[gnasher729]

And even if I can't solve the problem, taking a few steps to isolate what conditions trigger the problem can save some repair time, as opposed to walking into an Apple Store, dumping a Mac on the table and saying "it's broken and it's not my job to tell you what's broken, fix it." With that approach, odds are pretty good that you'll simply get your Mac back after a day or two with the response "we couldn't find your problem."

The best approach is to tell them exactly what the problem is for you, without trying to interpret it. You are an amateur, they are professionals. An amateurs opinion will be most likely misleading, so they'll ignore it anyway. And as an amateur, you don't know which helpful hints from random internet sites are harmless, and which ones can mess up your computer - and fixing a computer with two entirely different problems is ten times more fun than fixing a single problem.

 

[Chatran]

These two threads in Apple Support forum might interest you.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5118135?tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5475679


Anyway, wifi and black screen problems were being discussed from last year June to now, still.

 

[Detrius]

Certainly not the case with me. Back in 2011, my 2008 15" MBP started having problems with over-heating and shutting down after a couple hours use. No AppleCare and I assumed it was some kind of hardware problem. So I got my first MacBook Air to replace the MBP - it was much faster - a nice upgrade.

Months later I read that you should do a SMC reset if your computer was running hot. I didn't hold out much hope but gave it a try anyway. It completely cured the old MBP, and I still use it today for ripping DVD's.

The SMC runs the fans, so that sounds like a plausible scenario.

 

[copa]

My 2013 MBA on the other hand has problems at least once a day. Sometimes when waking it up from sleep it has problems with the audio or trackpad. No audio is played with or without headphones, and only a reboot fixes it.

I've had the same exact thing happen twice, although I cannot reproduce it at will.

How can you guys be so sure that it's a hardware error? I've never had this prior to 10.9.2 and even now it only happend twice since 10.9.2 rolled out. Since a reboot fixes it I assumed that it HAD to be a software issue.

I mainly ask because I don't want to take my MBA to the store

 

[scaredpoet]

You are an amateur, they are professionals.

There are MANY people on this forum who will disagree with you on both points. Just like end users have different skill sets and knowledge levels, so do Apple "geniuses." In both cases, some know exactly what they're doing; others, not so much.

 

[s15119]

I've owned a Macbook Pro 2008 (used from 2008 - end 2012) that ran Snow Leopard and Windows XP, a Macbook Air 2010 (used from nov 2011 - nov 2013) that ran Snow Leopard, a desktop (used from 2013 - present) that runs Windows 7, and finally a Macbook Air 2013 (nov 2013 - present) that runs Mavericks.

I recall a handful of crashes and BSODs on the MBP2008, but such crashes were rare and only occurred once a month at most. For the MBA 2010 and Win7 Desktop, I can't recall any incident where they have crashed.

My 2013 MBA on the other hand has problems at least once a day. Sometimes when waking it up from sleep it has problems with the audio or trackpad. No audio is played with or without headphones, and only a reboot fixes it. Trackpad fails to register single taps or clicks but right clicks are fine.

It also crashes fairly often. Sometimes the monitor simply goes blank halfway. From the back I can see the LCD is still on, but it's completely dark on the monitor and nothing responds. On other times, it simply freezes. On both occasions I have to hold down the power button to force it to turn off, then reboot it again.

It's frustrating as hell and the only thing that makes all this crashing bearable is that it reboots so quickly. Anyone else facing similar issues? Daily crashes isn't even something I expect to see on a Windows XP computer, let alone a from a 2013 Mac.

I'm on a 2013 Air running Mavericks 10.9.2 - my Air virtually never crashes. I use it al least 3 or 4 hours per day. I agree with the others who have suggested it may be a hardware issue. Good luck.

 

[filmbuff]

I've had my Air for 2 years running 10.8 and 10.9 and I've never seen it crash. Multiple crashes definitely aren't normal.

 

[cathyy]

Well I guessed you all called it right that it's a hardware issue.

Was using my laptop yesterday, put it to sleep and went to the toilet. Came back and the laptop had switched off by itself. Booted it up and came to this thread for replies and *poof* it switches off by itself again. Made several more attempts to boot it up but it either failed to boot up or died halfway.

Brought it to the repair centre. Gonna take 5-7 days to fix, ugh

 

[ET iPhone Home]

I have a 2011 MBA. I experienced one crash, but not since. Or at least I think it was a crash. Anyway, I thought about doing the free upgrade to Mavericks, but after reading the comments, maybe, I shouldn't.

 

[iStiggy]

I always restore a device as soon as I buy it. I have seen too many weird things with the mass produced factory image. When i got my Air, I didn't restore it as a test to see how long before I had to restore it. After about a week, it would take minutes to shut down, or start up. So, I restored it that night, and haven't had an issue since.

 

[kage207]

I write software for a living. I upgrade my computers regularly. I often debug software that I've written. I _never_ debug hardware that I purchased. If it doesn't work, Apple can fix it. That's what I paid for. If I worked as "Genius" at an Apple Store, and my own private Mac at home had problems, I'd take it to the store and let one of my colleagues fix it.

What are you? IT or CS? I don't want anyone fixing my Mac unless it is a hardware issue. I can do everything and faster so I can get back to work.

It is not maverics fault, it is yours. Limit yourself to using your laptop one hour a day and you may be less likely to witness crashes, you are probably asking the os for too much....

You are kidding, right? You should be able to use your computer as long as you want and whenever you want. I'm on my 2012 MBA for roughly about 8-16 hours a day on my computer.

Also, I've never have had any of these issues. No crashes. Nothing. Mountain Lion and Mavericks have been rock solid. Lion sucked.

 

[psik]

What are you? IT or CS? I don't want anyone fixing my Mac unless it is a hardware issue. I can do everything and faster so I can get back to work.


You are kidding, right? You should be able to use your computer as long as you want and whenever you want. I'm on my 2012 MBA for roughly about 8-16 hours a day on my computer.

Also, I've never have had any of these issues. No crashes. Nothing. Mountain Lion and Mavericks have been rock solid. Lion sucked.

That's totally different from many other people's experiences, but I believe you, sort of.