Closing tabs in Safari freezes Macbook

I've had a problem with Safari. I'm running El Capitan on a Macbook Pro 15" mid-2014. I noticed this problem on Yosemite as well, though. It hasn't happened a whole lot of times but TWICE today, so it's getting annoying. When I close a tab in Safari it freezes the browser and the entire Mac. Sometimes I can move the cursor but other times even that is frozen. Then I have to wait maybe 15-20-25 seconds before it unfreezes. I think it mostly happens on youtube actually. Is this something you're familiar with? Also, after it unfreezes my Mac runs slower, like laggy, so I have to restart.


Hope you can help.

Jonas

MacBook Pro with Retina display, iOS 9.0.2, Mid-2014

Posted on Oct 14, 2015 3:22 AM

Reply
68 replies

Apr 25, 2016 11:41 AM in response to jonasgs1

I have the exact same problem.

I don't really remember if I had this problem on Yosemite too.


I updated my Macbook from 10.11.2 to 10.11.4 yesterday, and it got even worse.

It just doesn't unfreeze anymore. It normally unfreezes after like a minute, but it really didn't wanna unfreeze today.


If you close the lid, the screen simply stays on and the Apple logo keeps on shining.

I was already feared that it was only my Macbook again and that I should take it to the Genius Bar...


It is mostly — if not always — when I'm on YouTube in Safari, but it doesn't have anything to do with Flash or the video's itself.

I was just reading something on somebody's channel, closed a tab (Facebook) and it froze again.


Weird that it's only this Mid 2014 Macbook, though.

My Late 2011 Macbook doesn't have this problem (it's running an older version of Yosemite).

Apr 25, 2016 2:07 PM in response to yellowdingo

It drives me crazy. I literally have to force shut down my Macbook two or three times a day sometimes.

I got this Macbook with 16 GB of ram, because I wanted this to become my daily driver, I spent a lot of (extra) money on it and it can't even close a YouTube tab without freezing...


Apple must have put some hardware in their 2014 Macbooks that doesn't work well with the software or something that causes this problem.

Only 2014 Macbook users experience this problem.


I have to watch a lot of educational videos on YouTube because of school + I like to watch some vlogs from the YouTubers I follow.

And I prefer Safari over anything for a variety of reasons... 😟

Apr 25, 2016 4:06 PM in response to burakkcr

The main thread for this subject is here: Safari keeps crashing/freezing after install of El Capitan


It's VERY aggravating considering how long the discussion has been going on for and how many people on that thread have written to Apple directly about the problem. A LOT of them (including myself) have posted a ton of info showing what's happening and have done clean installs.


I'm wondering if Apple doesn't want to handle this one because the cost for repair could be too high (if it's a hardware problem). However, if it *is* a hardware issue...why would other browsers work fine with YouTube??

Apr 26, 2016 11:29 AM in response to sirbrum

sirbrum wrote:

It is clearly El capitan problem, not hardware

Definitely not just an El Capitan problem.

Most, if not all, users had the same problem with Yosemite.

It's a combination of the software and hardware Apple is using in / since their 2014 MBP's.


If it was an El Capitan problem, I'd have the problem on my iMac, too.


yellowdingo wrote:

Return your laptop

I would love to do this, and I'm tryna figure out when I've got time to go to Brussels to take my Macbook to the Apple Store.

Unfortunately, I can't live without my laptop for two weeks or longer. I need it. 😟


sirbrum wrote:

Not exclusive to MacBook 2014.

My Mac is a brand new MacBook retina mid 2015. I didn't install any app, so it is clean.

When I close a YouTube video my Mac it freezes for a minute


So disappointed. Sitting here with my €2K laptop that you'd expect to work flawless but can't even close a YouTube video without having to force restart it...

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Closing tabs in Safari freezes Macbook

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