Q: MacBook Pro 2011 17" hard freeze

i was ready to buy the 2.3ghz MBP 17" this monday, but after this whole post, i'm not sure what to do... unless there is a way to confirm that the model i will hold will not freeze, is there actually an any answers appreciated

Vasilis,

I was right where you are now. Reading this thread terrified to pull the trigger on the 17" 2.3 GHz MBP. My need outweighed my fear and I decided to go for it a little over a week ago with Applecare and figured I would fight through the freezes.

Though I continue to try to break it...the freezes never came.

My machine is a 17" 2.3 GHz / 4 GB RAM (I swapped out for 8 GB OWC RAM) / 512 GB SSD / OS 10.6.7 and I am running a 27" Cinema Screen off the Thunderbolt Port.

I have been POUNDING this machine for 2 weeks with hi-rez After Effects / Cinema 4D renders, Final Cut Pro editing, multiple QTs playing along with iTunes music & YouTube videos, etc. Right now, as I type this, I have AE / PS / ILL / FCP / Motion / C4D / Quicktime and Firefox all open at once...and the machine does not even blink. The temp is 158 degrees and the fans are not even pumping.

I am thankful and grateful that I am one of the lucky ones...and I say to you that maybe because in the most recent builds that Apple may have fixed the issue (they just do not tell anybody because that would be admitting there is a problem and they would have to recall all MBPs). You will never be able to confirm that the model you buy will not freeze because Apple does not recognize this as an issue.

The only way to find out...is to dive in.

BTW...I ordered mine through the Apple Online Store / Website (not an Apple Store).

Best of luck!!

@grafixjoe i don`t think this is a very good solution

The only way to find out...is to dive in.

Most of the people here are complaining cause they paid 3-5 grands for a Laptop & you are saying this so imagine "in my case" i`ll pay 19 grands & yes you read it right it`s 19,000 that the price of MBP 17" here in Egypt.

How can i dive in that easy to try my luck. actually this was supposed to be my 1st owned Apple Machine but it looks like i have to wait a bit "who know how long" more or go for other options.

So what is more easy to try my luck & keep returning back machines & getting new ones or Apple fixing this issue for once & for all ?

$19,000 for a Macbook Pro? I wouldn't dive in either. That is plain old ROBBERY.

Anyway I am talking to people "on the fence"...not people who are struggling with their machines now. What I am trying to say is FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NOT PURCHASED YET, I waited a long time and finally went for it very recently and I think they fixed the issue (in my case). I was lucky. You may be too. Do it. Don't do it. Either way, get off the forums and do something. I am just trying to help...

Onager wrote

" I have no ide ahow many macbooks apple sells every month, or week, or how many they have sold since March (or whenever the new ones came out), but the ratio has got to be very small.  Even if every post on this thread was a new user with a problem on a macbook pro, that would still be only about 700 reported issues - which I am sure (whether they admit it or not), Apple would jump on fixing - if for no other reason, for fear of the issue spreading and a recall."

Perhaps the reason why Apple is getting few official notifications about this issue  ( I think 700 reports is a major issue) is that because the machine freezes up completely no official notification box appears for you to be able to report the freeze as one has to shut down and reboot. No official report box is available when you do this so the 'freeze' goes unnoticed.

I had three freezes before I reported to Applecare and then about one an hour as the Apple representative tried to 'fix' it. It just got worse and just running a basic set up using the trackpad froze the machine solid in a matter of minutes. This went of for a few days until I asked for and received a refund.

Being an ostritch and pretending there is 'no issue being reported' when the user is not able to report it doesn't mean it isn't there. I I have not the time to spare to spend hours on the phone to Applecare however nice they are and they are 'nice'.

What I want to know and why I come back here is  'Is it fixed?' so I can go out again and buy one! I love Apple, I just want one that works for me. I still don't know. If anyone has solved this issue please let us know and don't be selfish. We all congratulate you on you perserverance.

Luckly old you!

When one has a major problem there is nothing so infuriating as being told by someone who hasn't that 'they are alright and they can't think what the fuss is about and stop complaining and get on with it!

Has the problem been solved?

Mine froze moving the mouse from iCal to address book. Never got to running FCPro.

But I stil want one that is why I come here.

Come on Apple, We trust you. Help us PLEASE!

OP wrote:

 

i was ready to buy the 2.3ghz MBP 17" this monday, but after this whole post, i'm not sure what to do... unless there is a way to confirm that the model i will hold will not freeze, is there actually an any answers appreciated

I ordered mine 3 weeks ago direct from the online Apple Store. I have not had any issues with mine. It's been running fine. I even ran SystemLoad for hours to get it good and hot. I would say you are safe to buy one now. I have a feeling Apple may have modified the hardware behind the scene. We will never know though--especially how secretive Apple is.   

It seems from other posts that it might be a RAM issue. Did anyone change the ram (total upgrade, not keeping the old chips) and saw any difference?

thanks for the replies so far!

OP wrote:

 

Did anyone change the ram (total upgrade, not keeping the old chips) and saw any difference?

Yes, I did the same thing grafixjoe done. I added 8GB right away from Omni Technologies.  

OP wrote:

 

i was ready to buy the 2.3ghz MBP 17" this monday, but after this whole post, i'm not sure what to do... unless there is a way to confirm that the model i will hold will not freeze, is there actually an any answers appreciated

 

I'm in the same boat.  Started out on the mac way back and went the wintel route when they killed PowerComputing.  Been thinkinkg about switching back to the Mac for quite some time since the inclusion of bootCamp and intel based processors but the fact that they are ridiculously overpriced and offer very few upgrade options  was/is a major factor IMHO.  I was/am seriously considering buying a maxed out 17" macBookPro but after reading this thread and seeing articles on several mac-centered sites about the issue....  If Apple simply came out, acknowledged the issue, and said that the problem has been corrected the problem I'd probably go out and buy one tomorrow but they haven't and I don't have $4k to waste on an aluminum brick. 

For those of you that have had issued and tried the updates - can you please let us know if it fixed the problem?  I'm particularly interested in how it's performing in bootCamp/Win 7 since I'll probably be running 3DS Max on it a significant amount of time.

Thanks and good Luck to those that have been dealing with this problem...

It seems everyone that has bought recently are not affected by these issues..  Apple would never admit a fix has taken place (it's just their way). Those with new machines should post their 'Hardware Overviews' so others with problems can cross refrence revision changes and arm themselves with ammunition when dealing with apple on the phone or in the store.

I disagree with you because i ordered mine 2 weeks after it released ( from online appstore )and i have had NO freezes.because the day after i received it update came out.Mine is 15 with cpu: 2.3- antiglare .hi-res with 8gig ram

grafixjoe wrote:

 

$19,000 for a Macbook Pro? I wouldn't dive in either. That is plain old ROBBERY.

 

Anyway I am talking to people "on the fence"...not people who are struggling with their machines now. What I am trying to say is FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NOT PURCHASED YET, I waited a long time and finally went for it very recently and I think they fixed the issue (in my case). I was lucky. You may be too. Do it. Don't do it. Either way, get off the forums and do something. I am just trying to help...

Ofcourse not $ 19,000 it's in Egyptian pounds "my fault for not making it clear" but it's still a huge sum of money & actually for your info i waited for too long too & it seems that i have to wait for some more.

And what's the deal with "Either way, get off the forums and do something. I am just trying to help..." ?!

shishlik wrote:

 

I disagree with you because i ordered mine 2 weeks after it released ( from online appstore )and i have had NO freezes.because the day after i received it update came out.Mine is 15 with cpu: 2.3- antiglare .hi-res with 8gig ram

Great for you but the title of this thread as you can see is 17" models that are affected and not the 15" like you and i have, i'm also unnafected with this issue and i was also an early adoptor.

However, don't get me wrong this has also affected a 15" users but seemingly very few.

New, unnafected 17" users should post their details so older users can cross refrence revisions.

Don't buy one if you can't easily return it. The aggravation isn't worth it.

Us 15" owners aren't free either. I've had a system freeze either due to heat or the finder crashing. Both things happened at once so I don't know which to blame. However, I do experience frequent system "pauses". Once the finder gets into a funky state every finder operation takes a long time (seen by spinning beach ball). The Apple menu become useless. The only way to recover is to do a hard reset. It's as bad a getting a system freeze.

I switch back to a Mac and my experience has been disappointing.