15″ MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Shutdowns
My 15″ Core 2 Duo story was meant to make me cringe from the start. I had purchased a Mac Pro for my video/audio workstation and it was a quality machine and I’ve been extremely happy both with the performance and the service. It was time to upgrade my aging Dell 700m which worked flawlessly for two years as a location editing machine.
I waited, or so I thought, for the bugs to be worked out with the first generation portable hardware.
I ordered my 15″ MacBook Pro from Apple for my business. As an aside here I find it very funny that as a business if I order more than $5000 worth of hardware then I get a business discount which rather closely approximates the educational discount. Odd. Businesses pay more for everything from banking fees to wan connections, you name it chances are a business is paying more for the same thing; or maybe a little less because they’re buying so much of it but in that middle zone of small business it seems the only people Apple is charging full price for is the family user. Wow.
Lost my train of thought there.
Seriously though, my laptop arrived exactly one week later direct from Shanghai, China. I had opted for express shipping. I opened up my MacBook Pro box, pretty as it was, to notice to rather large socket adapters (type G if you check the link). I couldn’t believe it. The item was shipped to Alaska and then direct to Montreal. Why would I need adapters for the UK? Why I ask you?!
Over an hour on the phone and several Apple representatives had to confer as to whether or not I could even use the laptop as it may have shipped with international software which I may not have been allowed to have/use. Great start.
Last week I noticed they had actually shipped me a UK MacBook Pro and not just the plugs when I couldn’t find the “#” sign above the three - although now I know why they call it “pound.”
By the way it took three weeks for the cables with the appropriate socket connection to come. (And four phone calls.)
Then this past weekend (December 17th, 2006) my computer started processing data that continuously failed CRC checks. (IE I was compressing and uncompressing large amounts of data.) Moving the data to another machine worked so something was now wrong with the hardware. I would look into it the next day I thought.
I watched a DVD off the laptop with my wife. Two hours later I went to check my email. Black screen with “please reboot.”
Let me add that I’ve run the CPUs on this laptop at 100% using Apple’s QMaster and Logic Node (although it’s hard to use the latter to push the CPUs to 100%) extensively and I never had a problem.
Here, surfing the web, with no errant processess running, the laptop just shut down. And shut down and, yup, you guessed it shut down. Not only that, but it took over ten minutes to boot up after the first shut down. It then continued to shut down at an increasing pace until the latop could not be on for more than two seconds. Leaving it off for a number of minutes had no effect. Although I got to log in once but it shutdown again and then wouldn’t get past the spinning line thingy (I can’t imagine what Apple-ites call it - but I have some crude suggestions.)
So here I am, about to leave the province for the week following Christmas with a deadline looming and no computer to work on. How I wish I could rent one.
When this happened to Dells purchased for business they had a technician here the next day who fixed the machine on the spot. I won’t have mine back for “at least a week,” which I think is technical for “it’s Christmas and we really couldn’t care about your $2500 laptop and the money you’ll not be earning.”
It’s a sad sad state of affairs.
Even worse, my second call to Apple’s Customer Relations was fruitless. They’re disarmingly pleasant, but refuse to do anything.
I think I’m going to halt my business’ switch to Apple for the time being (since I get to call the shots), even if we’re only talking about a few servers and macbooks. If the MacBook Pro doesn’t come back fixed I’ll try to send it back for a refund. Thank heavens Quebec has some potent consumer-rights legislation so at least I don’t feel helpless.
December 19th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
[...] I wrote all about my woes over at macbookrandomshutdown.com in this post. [...]
December 21st, 2006 at 8:04 pm
I put the update on my website: http://opensores.shiftfocus.ca/2006/12/21/the-macbook-pro-failure-update-rant/
December 21st, 2006 at 8:06 pm
To break it down however:
1 - Apple sent me MacBook Pro where the serial number on the machine doesn’t match the one on the box.
2 - They sent a laptop destined for the UK
3 - Evolution Concept in montreal is lazy and incapable.
4 - My Core 2 Duo experienced random shutdown, does yours?
December 29th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
My Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro was exhibiting some of the same types of problems (especially the kernel panics). However, I am pleased to say that when I installed Airport Update 2006-002 everything came right. My machine is now running very smoothly indeed and I am very pleased with it.
December 31st, 2006 at 3:05 pm
I just got a Macbook Pro for christmas (2.33ghz stock) it started fine and nice but once i started watched dvds and videos I’ve seen a slight grain, and keeps getting worse. On mac forums people who have the same problem say apple care are doing nothing!
January 1st, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Joe, do you have the glossy or matte screen?
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:35 am
[...] Never piss off a 12-year-old My son is really pissed at losing his MacBookPro. So, now what is he doing? Research on Google. He finds new articles from others who are having trouble, like this guy is, and he brings over his computer (I loaned him a ThinkPad) and says “read this.” [...]
January 5th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
I updated my web journal to include the fiasco to date. You can find it here:
http://opensores.shiftfocus.ca/2007/01/05/the-macbook-pro-update-update-rant/
February 3rd, 2007 at 6:55 pm
I started experiencing random shutdowns, which happened only when my 17″ MacBook Pro 2.16ghz ran on battery power. As soon as it ran on the power supply, it was just fine.
At the day after reporting this error my battery in the computer started expanding (physically - quite a scary experience). In the end the battery had grown to a size where the battery kept the trackpads mousebutton constantly pressed down (from the underside of the computer). I also reported this error.
Apple (in Denmark) immediately sent me a replacement battery. That cleared up all my problems (well.. all mac-related ones anyway).
February 21st, 2007 at 1:29 am
THIS PROBLEM SEEMED TO OCCUR ONCE I HAD ADDE A WIRELESS CARD FROM VERIZON TO MY MAC BOOK PRO LAPTOP AND AT THE SAME TIME (WHILE RUNNING PARALLELS) DOWN LOADED A TRIAL EDITION OF AUTO CAD 2007.
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Turn off capslock GARY VON, you freakan moron.
May 6th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Hey guys, my macpook pro 15” is not only shuting down, but will close programs, I dont understand, im not stressing my cpu or making videos or anything. Its become very upseting, I’m a student and im constantly saving because I’ll loose all my work. I’m loyal to apple but this sucks.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:04 am
What causes this? Does anyone know? I’m just intrigued.
June 7th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I got my laptop replaced after much arguing. No one could ever say what the cause was.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:31 am
Hey, My 15″ Macbook Pro 2.16 it’s ALSO giving sort of this bug, but it’s a variant… while i’m working, just doing NOTHING stressful to the computer, it leads me to the login screen…. i have to enter my password again and taraaan!! there it is, beautiful Mac Os X rebooted… and of course it closes all the programs i was working on… i’ve owned this Macbook for 3 months now and i was really very pleased with it, but this is starting to be a pain in the ass, as i’ve lost information many times…. Anyone have any answers on this? please!
August 1st, 2007 at 1:22 am
OK! I think i’ve found what was causing this bug on my MBP…
I had recently installed a 3rd party app called “Stoplight” which tweaked the beahaviour of the maximize, minimize and close buttons on the Mac Os X, well… i just uninstalled it and everything got fixed! Damn… i was really scared to death just to think i’ll have to take my laptop to a mac store… Thanks god… well if you have installed this app, just try removing it! I hope this works for you too!
December 6th, 2007 at 2:43 am
Well I just got back from the apple store with my third(YES You Heard It Right) third Macbook pro in less than 2 weeks. It is the 2.2 15.4 model. the first 2 just started freezing and asking me to restart them and after clean installs of leopard. The mac support level 2 says that I just happened to get 2 bad ones in less than 2 weeks(HUH)……Well I am on my third and loading everthing back up. if this does it too I am through……..
December 6th, 2007 at 2:56 am
If I wasn’t so invested in Apple hardware and software I’d feel the same way. As the original poster I should add another update:
The second Macbook Pro works, but it’s still of shoddy quality. The screen is unevenly lit pretty frequently (it has to “wam up” somtimes), it flickers ever-so-annoyingly (and upredictably) at the two lowest brightness settings and the DVD burner, well it won’t burn more than 1 DVD without making a coaster of subsequent ones. It seems the drive overheats and has to cool down. If I wait 5-10 minutes between DVD burns it’s fine.
December 9th, 2007 at 7:51 am
My macbookpro with leopard randomly brings up “restart required” when im on ichat. How do i fix this?
December 9th, 2007 at 7:52 am
its a grey screen that comes up
December 9th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Matt,
That’s a kernel panic. If you can, I would recommend installing Leopard fresh to see if that fixes things.
April 12th, 2008 at 7:02 am
were can i get a restoration cd for the operating system on the book will any work ?
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Sounds like you got pwned by a kernel panic.
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