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Retina MacBook Pro wont wake from sleep

This issue is frustrating me to the point where I want to return it. About 1 in every 2 times when I try to wake this computer from sleep it will NOT respond to any mouse or keyboard action. The computer is still on (caps lock light works), but the screen just wont turn on. The only solution is to force shut off via power button and restart.


I turned off the "But hard drive to sleep" option in case its an issue with that and the SSD in this computer, but still have the issue. The macbook pro is connected to a cinema display most of the time and it occures more frequently when I connect/disconnect the cinema display. I also have screensaver/log back in after sleep enabled and im pretty sure this only happens when the "enter password to wake from sleep" is enabled so its obviously some sort of OS issue.


(ps I just installed snow lepard and the issue is still happening).

MacBook Pro with Retina display, Other OS, 10.8

Posted on Jul 28, 2012 2:30 PM

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Nov 25, 2012 3:09 AM in response to jstefanop

I hear you. I had a mid-2010 MBP 17-inch and there was a period where the initial going-to-sleep closing the clamshell took up to 30-seconds. The waking was not so much an issue because I never seemed to have anything to compare it to like the "instantaneous" wake-up I used to experience with my MBPr before this SNAFU.


My own "fix" to this on my mid-2010 MBP came through installing the CUDA drivers directly from NVIDIA, which brought me back to a fast sleep, fast wake-up, which stayed on through my eventually selling it on Gazelle. Unfortunately even NVIDIA's current CUDA drivers disclose this issue with current MBP/MBPr's, so this solution is not available now.


Sadly, this all-too-familiar issue, despite all the various helpful hints on the Apple Communities by good-meaning contributors, ultimately distills down to this "handing off" between the Intel and NVIDIA chipset. Whatever longstanding underlying architectural flaw there is needs to be fully addressed by Apple in the design/build phase, not by "witchcraft" firmware. Buyers of "professional" hardware who pay a premium for ownership deserve something more solid and reliable than what we've been getting. Unfortunately what we're plagued with is a constant fix one thing, break two more things spiral.

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Nov 25, 2012 6:51 AM in response to Maurizio Orlandi

My Retina MBP stayed cool and quiet but it was scary; I could not wake up the MBP for 20-30 minutes. The laptop did not respond to the power on button. Even though I back up regularly those moments worring that my new expensive computer was malfunctioning were very uncomfortable.

Apple folk were really good in communicating and solving my issue. I suspect at some point the issue will be fixed at hardware or firmware level.

Glad your MBP is working well, now, Maurizio....

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Nov 25, 2012 6:55 AM in response to Maurizio Orlandi

User uploaded fileGlad worked for you.Seems to be a problem about which Apple engineers are gathering data.

Apple support was very helpful.

My Mac stayed cool but the 20-30 minutes in which it was unresponsive were very uncomfortable, thinking my new expensive computer was malfunctioning.

I expect there will be a hardware or firmware "fix" once the full parameters of the issue are known.

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Nov 30, 2012 10:08 PM in response to jstefanop

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue...

I recently purchased a Retina MacBook Pro and I have this issue too, with all recent updates installed. Sometimes it wakes up just fine, other times it takes nearly 15 seconds to load the login screen. :/


I actually noticed this behavior in Lion, when the MacBook Air refresh came to Apple Stores (I don't remember how long ago this was). I was at an Apple Store, closed the lid for about 10 seconds, opened it back up and it took some time to get started again. So much for the "instant wake time". I asked an Apple Store employee about this and they simply gave me a response along the lines of "oh it's just that these computers have some Apple Store-related software installed, so it needs to load that". Yeaaaah....no. -.-

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Dec 1, 2012 7:13 AM in response to Shootist007

No one has a defective mac. This is a long standing bug with Mac OS kernal /graphics frameworks that has been going on across multiple generations and multiple iterations of MacBook pros and Mac OS releases.


Getting a new mac won't fix the problem because they all have the same bug embedded deep in the core kernal of Mac OS that not even apple has found / fixed for the 5+ years this has been occurring.

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Dec 1, 2012 7:25 AM in response to jstefanop

jstefanop wrote:


No one has a defective mac. This is a long standing bug with Mac OS kernal /graphics frameworks that has been going on across multiple generations and multiple iterations of MacBook pros and Mac OS releases.


Getting a new mac won't fix the problem because they all have the same bug embedded deep in the core kernal of Mac OS that not even apple has found / fixed for the 5+ years this has been occurring.

Then why doesn't it happen on my late 2011 Macbook Pro with either Snow Leopard, Lion or Mt Lion installed. Or for that matter with a BC of Win 7. If it was purely a OS Kernel problem Every Mac would have it and they simply do not. That means it is a hardware problem.


In any event Good Luck.

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Dec 1, 2012 7:50 AM in response to jstefanop

I had this issue for a short while with my mid-2010 17-inch MBP, where it would take an inordinate time to sleep--waiting for the soothing pulse of the blue orb. Waking was actually on par with what I'm dealing with right now on my new MBPr, which is not good. "Instant on" slowed to "instant wait" as far as waking up so snappily out of the box. It was eventually fixed by some update or combo-update, and "instant sleep" returned.


But now, with a non-disc arrangement, both sleeping and waking should be instantaneous and there's no excuse for it not being--especially when out of the box it worked this way. Apple owns its own "ecosystem" and there are only a few new models to deal with, all of which they have utter and complete control over--unlike the PC world where systems can be cludged together from anywhere. Apple engineers and programmers really have no excuse whatsoever for not putting out a near perfect gadget. It's either design sacrifices, Q-C at the factory level or poor software engineering--or a "perfect storm" of all three.


It's definitely a flaw between hardware and kernel, but it's also this "handing-off" between the Intel and NVIDIA chipsets as well, which the EFI update fouled up. Not sure what they "fixed" with the recent EFI update, but as the ongoing Apple practice goes, "fix one thing, break two other things" that were working perfectly, continues unabated.


This would be par for the course in a Windows environment of the 1990's, but when a customer spends a lot of money for a "pro" level machine, it really should work well. What Apple is giving us now is great design and pretty machines, but beauty is only skin deep. It's a mess under the pretty aluminum and screen.

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Retina MacBook Pro wont wake from sleep

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