Macbook Air freezing and buggy - what are my options?

Hi,


I'm a longtime Macbook Air user and like to think that I have a good idea of how to handle it smoothly. I'm a scholar, so I don't do anything heavy to strain the machine.


In 2020, I bought my latest one, and have been having problems ever since. Every day, there is some kind of bug, freeze, or other problem. I keep having to restart it. My partner, who got a macbook air around the same time, isn't having any of these problems.


I've tried to chase down the individual problems and reinstalled macOS, which initially seemed to help a bit, but the problems persist.


I'd like to know at this point: what are my options? Is there a way I can take it to the store and have them look at it? can they fix it or replace it?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Mar 14, 2021 1:26 AM

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Posted on Mar 14, 2021 11:36 AM

Probably would need to have someone reinstall and restore your data from a backup.

You may be able to do most of that yourself, instructions online may be sketchy to you.


Plan on a service call, those would not be a warranty item; but may not be full fare.


• Apple Repair and Repair Status Check - Official Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/repair


• Get your Mac ready for service - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209095


• Apple - Find Locations (usually will show nearer AASP/Apple choices)

https://locate.apple.com/


If you try to reinstall or get a latest update to install and hope something there fixes

your MacBook/Air's situation, there are more than one article to try & work through.


• How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904


• Erase and reinstall macOS - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/erase-and-reinstall-macos-mh27903/mac


Sometimes you may have to erase and reinstall; bet is to have known good backup

first; such as Time Machine on external drive, and maybe another on separate one.


• How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372


You may want to learn of options that exist prior to ever needing to use them.

There are articles on how-to, some offer additional detail. I've a few saved links.


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Mar 14, 2021 11:36 AM in response to Tharok

Probably would need to have someone reinstall and restore your data from a backup.

You may be able to do most of that yourself, instructions online may be sketchy to you.


Plan on a service call, those would not be a warranty item; but may not be full fare.


• Apple Repair and Repair Status Check - Official Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/repair


• Get your Mac ready for service - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209095


• Apple - Find Locations (usually will show nearer AASP/Apple choices)

https://locate.apple.com/


If you try to reinstall or get a latest update to install and hope something there fixes

your MacBook/Air's situation, there are more than one article to try & work through.


• How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904


• Erase and reinstall macOS - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/erase-and-reinstall-macos-mh27903/mac


Sometimes you may have to erase and reinstall; bet is to have known good backup

first; such as Time Machine on external drive, and maybe another on separate one.


• How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372


You may want to learn of options that exist prior to ever needing to use them.

There are articles on how-to, some offer additional detail. I've a few saved links.


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Mar 14, 2021 4:44 AM in response to Tharok

There are a few MacBook Air builds that identify as 2020+

including M1 Silicon ~ as well as newer Intel-based Macs.


Technical specs & user guides, follow those shown here.


• Identify your MacBook Air model - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201862


MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Model Identifier: MacBookAir10,1 (apple silicon)

Part Numbers: MGN63xx/A, MGN93xx/A, MGND3xx/A, MGN73xx/A, MGNA3xx/A, MGNE3xx/A

Tech Specs: MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

User Guide: MacBook Air (M1, 2020)


MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)

Model Identifier: MacBookAir9,1 (intel-based)

Part Numbers: MVH22xx/A, MVH42xx/A, MVH52xx/A, MWTJ2xx/A, MWTK2xx/A, MWTL2xx/A

Tech Specs: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)

User Guide: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)


• How to use Safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262


This may help, to troubleshoot &/or resolve minor issues.



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Mar 14, 2021 6:18 AM in response to K Shaffer

I have the MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020). I've tried the safe mode, but I don't know what to do with it. There isn't one specific issue, there's many different ones.


Doesn't apple have a service that takes a look at this stuff? I spent a lot of money on this, and it's not working the way it should.



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Mar 15, 2021 2:53 AM in response to K Shaffer

This is helpful, thank you. As I said, I've already reinstalled OS, but might just have to do it again and wipe all my data.


I guess I'm wondering whether it could be that my computer is somehow defective. I order it with certain specs and it took a month and a half or so to get to me. I thought that maybe there's a twist somewhere deep in there that is causing the problems, and no matter what I do I won't be able to fix it fully.

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Macbook Air freezing and buggy - what are my options?

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