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User profile for user: MBP15_Early2013User
MBP15_Early2013User Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

MacBook Pro Early 2013 Works on Safe Boot only

Good day to all!


I bought a "used" MacBook Pro (15 inches) Early 2013 recently (on year 2020) solely for learning photo editing - Lightoom and Photoshop. Only after installing the apps that I noticed that the MacBook crashes when using any of the 2 apps. After crashing, normal mode won't boot up - with black screen, though the keyboards have lights. I did all the basics like resetting SMC, PRAM, but still won't work - I have to wait for hours until it will boot again.


What confused me is when I boot through Safe Mode, I don't get the same problem with all Adobe softwares. It works perfectly, only issue is that Safe Boot is so slow. Do you have any idea what could have caused the problem? Is this related to GPU - does Safe Boot use a specific GPU (not the built-in)?


Hope those who experienced the same problem before can share how they had the issue resolved. I would really appreciate response from the experts also. 


Thank you.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 18, 2020 10:52 PM

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User profile for user: Axel Foley
Axel Foley
User level: Level 10
149,556 points

Posted on Jun 19, 2020 12:04 AM

You have two graphic units-

  • Intel HD Graphics 4000
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory and automatic graphics switching


You are correct. Safe Mode uses the low performing Intel HD graphics 4000. Your Adobe apps use the NVIDIA GeForce unit to render the images. That is why things appear to work in Safe mode. You may have noticed that graphics are not that great in Safe Mode.


This may very well be connected to the NVIDIA GPU and its possible failing state. You can run the diagnostics on your MacBook Pro and see if that reveals anything. To get in diagnostics mode, boot with the D key pushed down during the boot process. Here is more information on how to run the diagnostics mode in an article published by Apple ➔ How to use Apple Diagnostics on your Mac.


Axel F.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Axel Foley
Axel Foley
User level: Level 10
149,556 points

Jun 19, 2020 12:04 AM in response to MBP15_Early2013User

You have two graphic units-

  • Intel HD Graphics 4000
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory and automatic graphics switching


You are correct. Safe Mode uses the low performing Intel HD graphics 4000. Your Adobe apps use the NVIDIA GeForce unit to render the images. That is why things appear to work in Safe mode. You may have noticed that graphics are not that great in Safe Mode.


This may very well be connected to the NVIDIA GPU and its possible failing state. You can run the diagnostics on your MacBook Pro and see if that reveals anything. To get in diagnostics mode, boot with the D key pushed down during the boot process. Here is more information on how to run the diagnostics mode in an article published by Apple ➔ How to use Apple Diagnostics on your Mac.


Axel F.

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MacBook Pro Early 2013 Works on Safe Boot only

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