One year on MacBook Pro (almost) - disappointed

For Christmas last year, I was offered a 15 inch MacBook Pro. It was, by far, the best present I ever got.
Up until then, I was schlepping around a Dell Latitude. I had had it for six years and that Dell was a reliable little machine, even though it did not have half the cachet of a shiny, aluminum-encased MacBook Pro.
Since December of 2010, I have become an Apple user exclusively. I got an iPhone, and recently got an iPad.
But to me, the most important device in my mini-collection is the MacBook Pro. It is my professional computer, the one I use to write and communicate with.
Shortly after getting it as a present I purchased Office for Mac, the 2011 edition.
Few days after receiving the MacBook Pro, I experienced strange graphics jamming when using Facebook; the screen literally turned into Poltergeist.
I took it back to the Apple store in Tysons Corner, VA and got a new one. This was my first introduction to Apple Computers' great fallability. To discover such a fundamental flaw on a PC would be unheard of.
The problem no longer exists, except for the occasional graphic hiccup (recently, when I would scroll down a web page, stripes of the image would remain frozen in place and get spread over the entire screen like jam as I tried to scroll up and down).
My MacBook Pro often freezes. I see the beachball every other day.
Today I was performing a paste in Word and the application crashed altogether.
Safari has never worked. I start it up and the screen remains blank. I read somewhere in the forums that I can switch to a guest account and use it there. That does work, but to say that that is an impractical solution is an understatement (ie., user settings--passwords, cookies, bookmarks--aren't saved, so that's no good). Why can I not use Apple's Safari on an Apple computer is baffling to me and is very telling. It reveals something fundamentally flawed in the way Apple designs its products. Because if a flaw like this one can make it through their Quality Assurance workflow, guess what? That's an issue.
Another problem is that Mozila used to crash regularly until I turned off some of the browser's features. Now Mozila crashes only every once in a while.
After a year of using Mac, I do not feel secure about this product or this company. I feel like I have a device which is imperfect, a laptop that's fallible, that was assembled carelessly. I feel like the company that is behind the product is full of holes and lack maturity in the way they produce the devices which has made them so famous.
Although I would not go back to PC machines, I am greatly disappointed in Apple's MacBook Pro.
My Dell Latitude never gave me any problems whatsoever. That machine was rock-solid and chugged along, with loyalty.
It would be silly of me to try and convince you of buying a PC -- Macs are sexy and they're cool and that's what you want. But know that you're not getting a machine that's assembled with the same degree of professionalism as a Dell, an IBM or a SONY. Be aware that Macs are fallible machines and that under that beautiful and shiny exterior lies an imperfect core.

Sounds like you've been extremely unlucky. Why don't you make apple get you a new one again, if this machine is also flawed?? I have a mac pro and a macbook pro, and even though my mac pro went down today (hopefully something i'll manage to fix), i must say that that machine has been the most stable machine i've ever owned. It's basically been switched on non-stop for 5 1/2 years, the only times i've ever rebooted it has been after installing some software requiring a reboot, and it's always been rock-solid. I've only had my macbook for a year now, but so far it's also a winner. Only thing i dislike about it is the case-design, as it has a spot wich is extremely vulnerable to liquid damage. It's the opening between the screen and the rest of the case. However an opening is needed there for air-flow, but it could be designed in a smarter way.

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My one year old macbook pro is full. : ( How can I see what's taking up all the GB?

My one year old macbook pro is full already. : ( How can I see what's taking up all the space? I cannot download anymore pictures. It's running slower than usual.

OmniDiskSweeper (free) - http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/download/
Archive files onto other media until your hard drive has at least 10% of its total size free, or at least 15+ GB at all times.

One year old macbook pro moving slow

I've had a MacBook Pro for just one year now and it appears to be moving much slower than it should be. I haven't downloaded many photos or music. Otherwise, mostly use it for word processing and general internet browsing. What's the deal?

First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
There are a few other possible causes of generalized slow performance that you can rule out easily.
Reset the System Management Controller.
If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane.
Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any.
Check your keychains in Keychain Access for excessively duplicated items.
Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, and run Repair Disk.
If you're booting from an aftermarket SSD, see whether there's a firmware update for it.
Otherwise, take the steps below when you notice the problem.
Step 1
Launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)
Step 2
If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Activity Monitor. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Select the 50 or so most recent entries in the log. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V). You're looking for entries at the end of the log, not at the beginning.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. That should be easy to do if your extract is not too long.

Trying to deal with a recurrent problem regarding my one year old Macbook Pro

I have restored my hard drive three times and already took my Macbook Pro to a check up where it got supposedly repaired... What should I do? I don't download anything odd and I haven't the slightest idea of what's going on... Help would be appreciated.
But really, I freak out everytime it stops turning on and today it shut down on its own, those error reports aren't getting me any help either and I am a clueless sixteen year old girl that had less issues with her 2007 Windows... Or maybe I'm just freaking out and get too scared because this thing cost me and my parents quite a lot.
So, explain this to me like am 5.

AkiraScrolls wrote: I have restored my hard drive three times and already took my Macbook Pro to a check up where it got supposedly repaired... What should I do?
Take the computer right back to the repair shop for them to fix it like they should have done in the first place. You should have gotten a case number. You should not be charged for the repair work under the same case number. Were the original repairs done under warranty? Do you have Apple Care? If yes to the above, call Apple Care and explain the situation to them. Or Call Apple Customer Relations (1-800) 275-2273. Wait for a human to come on the line and ask politely and firmly that you want to be transferred over to the Customer Relations department.

I currently have a one year old MacBook Pro, and right when I boot up the system, the kernel_task is using about 1GB of the 4GB of RAM that I have. Is this normal? Or if not, how can I reduce the kernel_task?

I have noticed that my computer is running super slow, even when I only have one application (like Chrome) running for a short amount of time.

First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
Step 1
This diagnostic procedure will query the system log for messages that may indicate a hardware fault. It changes nothing, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator. I've tested them only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'Channel t|GPU D|I/O|nspace-h|n Cause: -' | tail | open -ef
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the command will produce no output, and the window will be empty. If the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window) has anything in it, stop here and post it — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the TextEdit window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.
Step 2
There are a few other possible causes of generalized slow performance that you can rule out easily.
Reset the System Management Controller.
If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane.
Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any.
Check your keychains in Keychain Access for excessively duplicated items.
Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, and run Repair Disk.
If you're booting from an aftermarket SSD, see whether there's a firmware update for it.
If you have a MacBook Pro with dual graphics, disable automatic graphics switching in the Energy Saverpreference pane for better performance at the cost of shorter battery life.
Step 3
When you notice the problem, launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)
Step 4
If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Activity Monitor. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Select the 50 or so most recent entries in the log. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V). You're looking for entries at the end of the log, not at the beginning.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. That should be easy to do if your extract is not too long.

My one year old macbook pro will no longer play DVD's.. why?

After a year, without any problems playing DVD's, my macbook pro has suddenly decided that it no longer wishes to have anything to do with DVD's and spits them out at the first opportunity. Can anyone out there help to rebuild this once loving relationship.

SuperDrives can fail and you don't have many options in replacing them. You can get Apple to replace it or travel over to OWC - here - and look at the options for replacing the SuperDrive yourself.
Before doing anything, however, I'd take your computer into your local Apple Store and have them diagnose the problem. That won't cost you a thing. If you're still under AppleCare warranty, they should replace the drive for nothing. If you're not under warranty go in knowledgeable, at least, at what it would cost you to replace your SuperDrive yourself - and then find out what Apple would charge.
Good luck - it just sounds as if you SuperDrive has bitten the dust...
Clinton

I installed Mountain Lion on my one-year-old MacBook Pro and now the fan runs every time I use it. That very seldom happened before. Does Mtn Lion ,ake it work harder? If so, can I go back to the old OS for some peace and quiet?

This is my first time trying to post a question so I'm not sure I did it correctly...

Hi JoeyR. Well, according to this link at the Apple Store, OS X Moutain Lion became available in July and I downloaded it for $19.99. I figured I would do that before renewing my Norton security SW. Are we talking about the same thing?
http://www.apple.com/osx/

I have a 3 year old MacBook Pro with MAC OSX 10.6.8, iPhoto '09 version 8.1.2 and have downloaded two software programs: one is Aperture 3.2 and the other is Photoshop Elements 9 (which I got from a friend who didn't need it). I am totally happy with the

I have a 3 year old MacBook Pro with MAC OSX 10.6.8, iPhoto ’09 version 8.1.2 and have downloaded two software programs: one is Aperture 3.2 and the other is Photoshop Elements 9 (which I got from a friend who didn’t need it).
I am totally happy with the way iPhoto organizes my photos and how I can work with iMovie to create slide shows with music from iTunes, etc.
I have been shooting mostly high resolution jpegs and I continue to learn more and more about photography, post processing etc. I realize that the small adjustments I can make in iPhoto are good, and are adequate most of the time. However, a have started to experiment with shooting RAW images and would like to go the next step, ie. post processing.I am totally technically challenged and need SIMPLE, INTUITIVE programs and am certainly NOT anywhere ready for Photoshop CS whatever!
After having these programs sit on my computer, I decided to try to see if I could figure them out. When I opened Aperture, this is what first comes up.
“Welcome to Aperture 3.2
Your library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of Aperture. Once upgraded, you will not be able to use this library with previous versions of Aperture.
Upgrading a library from previous versions of Aperture 3 generally takes a few minutes or less, though larger libraries will take longer. After that, Aperture 3.2 will upgrade your library's thumbnails, but you can use the application during that time.
Tip: To open a different library, quit Aperture and hold the Option key down while starting Aperture
Current Library Location:
Jadzia (home) -----Pictures------Aperture Library
QUIT UPGRADE”
I have heard horror stories about moving your entire library to Aperture, ending up with 2 libraries, etc. etc. hence my previous reluctance in attempting Aperture. In addition, many of my photography friends are saying: Go with Lightroom 3.....you’ll love it!
So here is my dilemma. I don’t want to mess around with my iPhoto library. All I want to be able to do, is to isolate a few photos, export them to Aperture, Elements, and work on them there, then bring them back into iPhoto.
Can I do this? Should I forget about Aperture and Elements and look at purchasing yet another program like Lightroom?

Export those few photos via the File ➙ Export ➙ File Export menu option with Kind = Original to the Desktop. Then import them into the Aperture library. That would keep one copy in your iPhoto library and another in your Aperture library to edit, etc.
You can use Photoshop Elements 9 from within iPhoto as your editor of choice. However, if you edit a raw file in iPhoto with PSE9 the resulting edited version must be saved outside the iPhoto Library and imported back in as a new file. For editing jpegs just do a Save (not a Save As) and it all will be kept within iPhoto.
Using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.
1 - select Photoshop or Photoshop Elememts as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.
2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.
3 - however, if you get the navigation window
that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.
This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..
NOTE: With Photoshop Elements the Saving File preferences should be configured as shown:
I also suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always. In PSE’s General preference pane set the Color Picker to Apple as shown:
Note: to switch between iPhoto and PS or PSE as the editor of choice Control (right)-click on the thumbnail and select either Edit in iPhoto or Edit in External Editor from the contextual menu. If you use iPhoto to edit more than PSE re-select iPhoto in the iPhoto General preference pane. Then iPhoto will be the default editor and you can use the contextual menu to select PSE for your editor when desired.
OT

I have a 2 year old MacBook Pro and the superdrive has stopped working, it won't take discs in as if there is one already inside but iTunes or the dvd player doesn't recognise that there is a disc inside and if there is it can't be ejected

I have a 2 year old MacBook Pro and the superdrive has stopped working, it won't take discs in as if there is one already inside but iTunes or the dvd player doesn't recognise that there is a disc inside and if there is it can't be ejected, i have tried shutting down and restartinf while holding down the trackpad, as recommended on some forums but that has done nothing
It might be a huge coincidence but the drive was working fine before i installed lion?

Installing Lion would not cause the superdrive to stop working. Are you unsure as to whether or no a cd/dvd is inside? Something may be broken inside and you should consider bringing it in for service.

I am going to replace my 3 year old MacBook Pro with a new MacBook Pro Retina display machine. I have been told by Apple that I can use the Migration Assistant ON MY WIRELESS NETWORK (no cables) to transfer data... I've read this can take AGES.. True?

I am planning to replace my 3+ year old MacBook Pro with a new MacBook Pro, Retina display... I have been told by "chat" on the Apple site that I can transfer my data wirelessly... on my network.. Is is a good option? I don't want to invest in cables if I can help it... since the old machine has firewire and the new one has thunderbolt! Will the wireless transfer take forever... as in 30-50 hours??? I've been hearing these horror stories...

Ralph Landry1 wrote:
Recently did one MacBook Pro to another for my daughter...almost full 500 GB HD estimate wireless was 48 hours, wired took a little over an hour.
Wow, shocking in comparison. You have the patience of a Saint !

My 3 year old Macbook Pro is getting slow..

Hello, i have a 3 year old Macbook Pro which have been great use to me. When i first purchased it, the boot up time was extremely fast, and the general speed of the mac was superb. However 3 years later the machine take at least 3 mins to boot up and is pretty slow when i use it to carry out my daily tasks.
It originally came with Tiger but i upgraded to Leopard, basically i'm after advice on how i can increase the speed or how to make my mac as fast as it was 3 years ago. anyway help or information would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks in advance.

Use a Utility like MainMenu or OnyX to clean out the caches, archived and temporary files.
Do a Parameter RAM reset - hold down apple/option/p/r keys at start up and wait for three chimes before releasing the keys.
Use Disc Inventory X to examine your hard drive and see a) if there's anything there taking a lot of space you can delete and b) that you still have 10%+ free space.
Consider doing a clean install of the OS and all Applications, it's a lot of work but is the one sure way of "starting over"

Hi, I have a 3 year old Macbook Pro 13" and I accidentally cracked the outer screen of my mac book, however the LCD panel is fine and works well. Please advise what to do

Hi, I have a 3 year old Macbook Pro 13" and I accidentally cracked the outer screen of my mac book, however the LCD panel is fine and works well. Please advise what to do. I live in India and I have gone to authorised Apple technicians and they infomed me that I will have to replace the LCD panel as well even though it is not cracked, is this really true or can I just change the outer shell? Also they say that they cannot do it in India... can I do it myself at home?

Since it is 3 years old find a local repair shop that can replace the glass Only. you may have to send it out to a Non Local shop for that but there are some that specialize in doiing that on Mac notebooks.
Apple will ony replace the complete screen enclosure with all normal parts included, LCD, Camera, Aluminum housing and glass as one unit. Which is very expensive. Or you could just use it as a desktop system with external monitor and buy a new notebook.

Is it normal that 2 years old macbook pro logic board died

is it normal that 2 years old macbook pro logic board died.i Went to apple repair plase and they said that logic board is ded.is it really OK that in 2 years it dies.

Hi,
No it is not normal nor it is a gamble. It will be a shame if anyone within Apple thinks that you were gambling on the quality of their products by not buying an extended warranty.
When someone buys a machine like a MacBook Pro from Apple you are not gambling with quality. But investing by forking out a higher amount of money than people do find less expensive solutions. This is, of course, a personal choose.
When a computer dies within two years anyone can see that the machine was not build for such a period and therefore it is not more than reasonable to have it repaired or replaced on the costs of the manufacturer.
In growing amount of (European) countries customers are protected against the approach of limited warranty. Apart from the one year warranty, people are entitled to have a device (in your case a computer) on which they can rely on for many years, unless stated differently (except for wear and tear for which a manufacturer is not responsible for).
Buying an extended warranty (as a warranty against a failure of the product) is no more than a commercial exploitation against which consumers should be protected. Which only can be achieved through proper legislation in the country you live in.

The trackpad on my 4-year-old Macbook Pro barely works anymore. It moves around by itself sometimes, can't scroll, etc. Is there a way to fix this?

The trackpad on my 4-year-old Macbook Pro is completely screwed up. It moves around by itself sometimes, can't scroll, randomly freezes etc. Is there a way to fix this??

Portables and Magic Trackpad: Jumpy or erratic trackpad operation

I have a one year old Macbook Air 13. I have a brand new 22" external monitor. When I connect my external monitor it initially provides a nice display - very accurate and no distortions. But, within a few minutes the screen begins a incessant series

I have a one year old Macbook Air 13. I have a brand new 22" external monitor. In turning the Macbook and monitor on, the monitor displays very well, but within a few minutes it begins this incessant blinking (temporary black out of the screen that lasts anywhere from 1-5 seconds). This has been going on for a long time (it also happended with my older monitor which apparantly I threw out when I should have kept it thinking it was the problem). From reading various blogs in the Apple support community, this appears to be a widespread problem, but I don't find a solution, only a lot of speculation. I'm very surprised the Apple folks haven't figured this out. As a new Apple user, heretofor, I have been very impressed with the support and effort to get fixes out to users. This, however, has me frustrated to the point of junking my Mac and going back to a PC. I love the Macbook Air and most of the functionality, but I cannot function without an external monitor. Anybody have any ideas, please help. Frustrated, Jim

Your dsplay is getting extended onto the external monitor. Chcnage the setting to duplicate it or only display on the external monitor and you should be fine,
Let me know if this worked for you.

One year on MacBook Pro (almost) - disappointed

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