Q: MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) freeze with Yosemite

Also, for those of you who are having the freeze-auto-restart problem but aren't seeing any logs, you have to wait until the machine restarts itself automatically for the logs to be created. If you manually force-shutdown the machine after it freezes, the GPU restart log won't be created. It seems that after the GPU hangs the machine still spends some time gathering diagnostic information and creating the log before restarting. If you are letting the machine restart itself and still aren't seeing any logs, then you may have a different problem.

How long does it usually take for the computer to restart itself when everything freezes except the mouse?  I have waited a few minutes and nothing so usually just force restart it.

It usually takes 15-20 seconds for me.

Update: the logs you are looking for are located in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports in Console (found from another thread). They should be of a form similar to: Kernel_[Date/Time]_[User Name's]-MacBook-Pro.gpuRestart

While I'm very glad to hear that Apple has initiated this program, I find it disappointing that Apple is dictating that a piece of diagnostic software be used as the sole arbiter of whether the computer has a problem that is covered under warranty. That would suggest that Apple thinks they know how to reproduce all variants of the problem reliably using this test, but Apple may be wrong on this. I think if Apple has known logic board problems that can cause GPU panics, and if your log shows frequent GPU panics, they have a responsibility to replace the logic board under warranty, which your Genius clearly agreed with.

I think anyone who takes their unit in should be prepared to demonstrate the problem, just in case the diagnostic software passes on their unit, using one of the methods that have been discussed in this thread. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was able to do that very reliably using the stress test in the GPU Test app while running solely on the Nvidia GPU, but your mileage may vary.

It's also interesting to consider that Apple has determined to its own satisfaction that they know the cause of these failures (or at least some of them), that the cause is a hardware malfunction of some sort, and that they know how to fix it reliably (although I don't think it's clear from the announcement if they are swapping logic boards or doing something else). If that's really true, then it seems like _none_ of the units that fail the diagnostics and are repaired under this program should ever exhibit this problem again, since presumably they aren't simply applying short-term patches but have addressed the issue permanently. It will be interesting to see if that's the case.

FYI, it's been 10 days since I had my mid-2012 Retina MacBook Pro logic board replaced (among other parts) and I've had zero instances of GPU Panics or any graphics-related lockup since then.

Last Friday - Feb. 20 - I checked to see if my serial number was among the machines affected. It was. I set up an appointment to talk with an Apple rep early in the day. She asked a number of questions to determine if my experience was consistent with that covered by the recall. It was. She took my address and will ship a package for me to use to return the machine to Apple. (I live about 2 hours drive from the nearest Apple store.) The rep did not know what repairs would be made but told me that it would take about a week. The entire process took about 20 minutes, even though the rep was clearly in training and paused often to get instructions.

OK people.

I have said it before, this is NOT a hardware problem (desktop freezes, mouse pointer works, and auto-reboot after 20-40 sek), it is a software problem with Yosemite.

The new apple repair program does not cover the problem this thread discusses, because its not a hardware or factory defect.!

Just use a minute or two to think about this:

1. Hardware defect or factory defect, these problems would occure almost instantly when you bought your mac (not many years later).

2. When you had OS X 10.8, 10.9 no problems, no freezes, nothing, mac worked optimal.

So when you updated to 10.10, the mac began to freeze, how can this be a hardware defect or factory defect?

Eks:

OS X 10.8 = NO problems

OS X 10.9 = NO problems

OS X 10.10 = Freeze problems <- SOFTWARE IS THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM.

So just go to genius bar or apple store to try to get it repaired, the diagnostics will show NO PROBLEMS, you'll not get it repaired. If they repair it, its still a software defect, and the freeze will sill occur.

Set automatic switching of graphic card to "OFF".  And wait for a software update from apple.!

I have identical symptoms (total freeze, restart after ~20 seconds) but I've never had any gpu panic logs and I've always let the computer restart itself. There are obviously multiple issues at play that all lead to similar but not identical symptoms.

I'm in the UK so the repair program doesn't go live until the end of the week and I'm not going to get near an Apple Store for a couple of weeks after that. WE'll see what happens...

Dont bother, its not hardware defect. Software. The repair program does`t do anything.

As was already mentioned by some: the repair extension program page does not specify what kind of repair will be done and what apple regards as defect.

So i still think as some others, that this might be a combination of software / hardware issue. It *is* clear that the vast majority of issues came with Yosemite, but I guess it is not easily to be handled completely by a software update, otherwise they would not start this program with it´s cost. A software patch would be far cheaper i guess... so even the "isolation solution" might in scope.

For now, I am looking forward for the program to start in Germany... and probably will wait a bit for experiences of others (my learning point from so quickly jumping to Yosemite). Until then I will live with gfxStatus setting integrated graphics and not being able to use an external monitor as second screen...

PS: MB pro Retina Mid 2012 with freezes and subsequent restarts if not locked to integrated graphics - worst issue is, that after restart I have a blank screen and have to wait an hour or two for being ready to work again.

The people in this thread that allready got their IO board, motherboard, SSD and nvidia card changed still have the same freeze problem. Me inclusive.

So you can change every component in the macbook pro mid 2012, with old 2012 components (or newer, with same functions/specifications) and still the freeze problem will occur.

This is still a software problem.

This new repair program is not made for the problems mentioned in this threat. 

Still wait for å software update. This threat has focused on and found out that the area of failure is when macbook ties to switch from integrated graphic card to the Nvidia graphics card. And this failure was not present in OS X versions 10.8, 10.9. Factory or component defects DONT occur 2-3 years after purchase date, and when a user upgrades to OSX 10.10 (this is basic computer and testing "ISTQB" science, just like adding 1+1.).

We need to wait for å patch, or maybe they wouldn't not have a fix before the OS X 10.11 (or what name the next version of OS X will be).

I'm afraid you are totally right.

I've just picked up my Macbook Pro (Retina mid 2012) from Apple. They changed both Logic Board and Display (but the latter apparently was a separate issue) under my Apple Care Plan.

After an hour of simple usage (just Safari and Firefox running together) when I tried to watch a video on Safari, the Mac freezed.

(btw, Safari runs very slow compared to Firefox)

The only improvement I have experienced since the repair is that the fan won't go crazy like before, but again, I haven't been forcing the Mac much since I got it back (but I will).

I do not want to go into much details (I have, only a few) since I do not want to put in any trouble the very kind people at the store who assisted me.

They were genuinely convinced (this time) that the very new Logic Board they just got would have solved the issue.

But it has not.

I was convinced since the start that this was a software issue, since I had no problem whatsoever with Mavericks.

I am writing from Italy, where the repair program will start only on the 27th Feb, so I am now guessing if there will be a newer, hardware, solution to the problem from that day, but I would be surprised if there will be.

This is disappointing: I did not buy such an expensive Macbook not to be able to use both GPU or to be forced to remain on an old OS.

I will now try and escalate this with Apple. New appointment on the phone tomorrow morning with Apple Care and new appointment in the afternoon at the Genius Store where they repaired the Mac.

I'm not giving too much hope tough to a quick solution to this.

I've had my logic board, keyboard and battery replaced. I've had my SSD reformatted. I've uninstalled a number of applications at the request of Apple support. Still have the same problem.

1. When switching between GPUs, the system sometimes becomes unresponsive.

2. The screen is frozen except the mouse pointer still moves.

3. I've left the system for hours and it never spontaneously reboots.

4. Upon manual reboot (with the power button), the log is full of "GPU Reset" messages

4. Upon reboot the system works fine for some time.

5. Locking the system to either the integrated or discrete GPU stops the problem, but at the cost of reduced performance or reduced battery life.

Sometime after I force a shutdown and then reboot, I see that the Energy Saver panel reverts to an old style. Another reboot returns it to the Yosemite style. Here's an image.

I've also seen precisely this, "after I force a shutdown and then reboot, the Energy Saver panel reverts to an old style"