Q: Macbook Pro slows to a halt when plugged in via magsafe.
Hey guys.
I've been having this weird issue lately, which had started about 2 weeks ago.
My Macbook Pro runs flawlessly while it's not plugged in with the magsafe adapter.
The moment it's plugged in it slows to almost a halt with beach ball hiccups etc. Starting the MBP up goes from 15-20 seconds (unplugged) to 3-5 minutes (plugged in with magsafe)
Now originally I thought this was a hardware issue, but then I did a full reformat and reinstall:
I actually did 3 full reformats (the first two I zero'ed out my data) AND reset the SMC and PRAM twice:
The first reformat, and reinstall brought my MBP from El capitan back to Snow Leopard. During this first reformat and reinstall the system, may have showed signs of it still being afflicted by this slowness and beach ball hiccuping that it was showing prior to the reformat and reinstall. I kept the first reformat and reinstall for maybe 30 mins in which I then decided to reformat and reinstall again, as I didn't like the Home folder name.
The second reformat and reinstall, I didn't notice a single issue with the system, in fact it was running flawless both unplugged and plugged in via magsafe. I fired up the PS4, and played some BF4 while I downloaded and reinstalled all the updates, then I upgraded back up to El Capitan. After all was said and done, I was reading how you can do a clean install of El Capitan via a USB. I wanted to try this, so I downloaded a copy of El Capitan to a USB with disk maker X, and then proceeded to reformat (no zero out as the boot up program with El Capitan doesn't have it), and did a clean install of El Capitan.
I didn't restore from back up or anything, the only thing I did was download all my iCloud data, like photos and songs etc. My system has run flawlessly for about a week since reformatting and reinstalling. There was no issue with having the system plugged in or not.
Now a week later, the same problem has crept up out of nowhere instantly and the system runs like crap when plugged in. It takes 3-5 mins to start up, instead of 15-20 seconds when it's not plugged in. Also keep in mind this is a fresh reinstall where I don't have any garbage on my system. I didn't even reinstall any games on my MBP or anything, and in my opinion it's a very bare bones reinstall. The total memory used is like 150 Gigs versus 350 prior to my first reformat and reinstall.
So, I'm at a point where I'm racking my brain trying to figure out if this is a hardware issue or not. Since the system ran a solid week without this issue post reformat and reinstall, it makes me doubt it's a hardware issue. But on the flip side, since I did a reformat and reinstall, it can't be a software issue either, especially since I didn't install anything the night before this problem emerged.
My only hope to rectify this issue is hopefully one of you encountered the same issue and have a solution. If not it looks like I may need to get a new MBP this fall, which would be a shame as this system ran flawlessly and fluidly prior to this annoying issue.
Thanks in advance for any input.
MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), null
Posted on Jun 20, 2016 12:27 PM